Shaping the Future of Conservation

Remarks by Bruce I. Knight, Chief, Natural Resources Conservation Service, at National Leadership Team Meeting

Corpus Christi, Texas
May 23, 2005

Welcome to the National Leadership Team meeting.

I’m glad we could arrange to meet concurrently with the National Cooperative Soil Survey Conference. We’ll be sharing breaks, and I’ll be speaking to the soil scientists later this morning.

We’ll be talking about implementing the “New Soil Survey” by:

• Putting the soil surveys on the web
• Using the new GIS mapping technologies and
• Establishing our MLRA Soil Survey offices across the nation.

I hope you’ll take advantage of our time together and take a look at some of the soil displays and demos available later today.

Personnel Changes

First, I want to recognize some changes in staffing since our last meeting in March.

At headquarters:

Gary Margheim has retired.

Will Rue has moved to the White House.

Dave Gagner has taken on the role of Chief of Staff.

Patricia Lawrence is now the director of the Strategic and Performance Planning Division.

Doug Lawrence is now directing the Resource Economics and Social Sciences Division, where Glen Carpenter had been acting.

Barry Kintzer is serving as acting director of the Conservation Engineering Division.

And in the States:

Ronald Harris is acting in Alabama, and Gary Kolbylski will be headed there soon to be the State Conservationist.

Theresa Chadwick is acting in Vermont, while continuing as State Con in New Hampshire, until Judy Doerner reports to work as State Conservationist in Vermont in September.

Ginger Murphy is going to be permanent in Maryland in place of David Doss who retired.

We will be appointing an acting State Conservationist in Delaware soon.

And Allen Green will be acting in California where Carlos Suarez is acting deputy.

We also have a new Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment. Merlyn Carlson was named to this post last week, and he’ll be joining the team next month.

And we have realigned a group of National Water and Climate Center employees (without changing duty stations) to the Water Quality and Quantity Team, West National Technology Support Center. This will enhance technology development and tools, focusing NWCC’s efforts on snow survey and water supply forecasting and climate data activities.

Conservation Policy in USDA

When we met in Reno the end of March, Secretary Johanns had been on board for just about six weeks. We’re now four months into his term as Secretary of Agriculture. And he’s made his commitment to conservation clear.

He announced our Conservation Security Program sign-up in his Agriculture Day speech on March 17. He spoke to the National Association of Conservation Districts at their meeting in Washington on April 4. And he showcased our wetlands program on Earth Day in Minnesota.
(Many thanks to Bill Hunt for the work you and your staff did organizing that excellent event.)

Our new Deputy Secretary—Chuck Conner—joined us on May 2. He comes from the White House where his official title was Special Assistant to the President for Agricultural Trade and Food Assistance. That’s a long way to say he was the President’s point man on farm bill issues.
He also has extensive experience on the Senate Ag Committee.

Both these men come from farm backgrounds and understand and value conservation.
I also expect them both to emphasize the Presidential Management Initiatives.

NRCS and FSA leadership met with Deputy Secretary Conner two weeks ago, and he made very clear the expectation that each agency would take the five initiatives very seriously. As you know, those initiatives include:
1. Strategic Management of Human Capital,

2. Competitive Sourcing,

3. Improved Financial Performance,

4. Expanding E-Government, and

5. Budget and Program Integration.

Deputy Secretary Conner also talked with us about the new strategic plan that USDA is developing. So the timing is good for us to be working on the NRCS strategic plan at this session.

I’m sure you’re all aware that Secretary Johanns has announced his intention to hold listening sessions this fall on the 2007 farm bill. The plan is to set forth a series of questions and then invite the public to respond to those questions during the listening sessions. Agencies will also be asked to respond to the questions.

NRCS Role

Over the next couple of days, we need to take a really hard look at where we are and where we’re going. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of getting conservation on the ground.
As I’ve said before, that’s Job 1 for our employees.

By the end of the 2002 farm bill, we will have $9 billion in conservation on the ground. And we need to do that as effectively, efficiently and prudently as possible. That’s the most important way for all of us to prepare the ground—literally and figuratively—for the next farm bill.

NLT Agenda

We have three major topics for this meeting:

• the next NRCS Strategic Plan,
• the 2007 Farm Bill, and
• the Conservation Technical Assistance State allocation formula.
   

We’re going to tackle the next NRCS Strategic Plan first. As you look ahead, I want to encourage you with some advice from that great conservationist President Teddy Roosevelt:

“Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.”

In NRCS, we look at the ground a lot. What we may need to do more is focus on the stars.

As you work to formulate our next strategic plan, I want you to be bold, be visionary. Dream big.

Think about a 10 to 20 year horizon—not just the next five years. Consider all the factors that will affect conservation over the next couple of decades.

Remember that ecosystems take decades to form. And environmental issues may take years to improve. So, please take a broad perspective and a long-term approach as you plan.

Conservation Technical Assistance

Tomorrow, we’re going to be discussing allocations for Conservation Technical Assistance. This follows on our formal CTA policy with five priorities, which we distributed to States in January. Having a formal policy and priorities makes it easier for us to show results, which is critical in funding decisions.

As you all know, in FY 2003, CTA received an overall rating of “Results Not Demonstrated” under the Program Assessment Rating Tool – PART. Improving our management of CTA integrates our budgeting and programs, as required under the President’s Management Initiatives. The good news, of course, is that the President’s proposed budget for 2006 includes an increase for CTA, with $37 million focused on animal feeding operations.

That certainly makes sense in light of the Waterkeeper court decision that came down this past February. We’re still talking with EPA about this decision, and I think we’re making progress.

Now it’s time to take the strategies proposed by the working group and develop an allocation formula that is:

• Transparent
• Accountable
• Flexible
• Natural-resource driven
• Aligned with performance measures, goals and priorities
• Designed to improve our PART score
• Easy to maintain and update

As we consider how to allocate money, we need to think about the needs of our customers in the days ahead. And Waterkeeper is one of the issues we need to bear in mind.

This decision could result in an enormous impact on our resources if CAFO operators come to us for help with comprehensive nutrient management plans. We need to think about that as we allocate CTA money. This decision will also play a role in allocating EQIP funds.

We also need to think strategically when it comes to hiring. For instance, are we filling positions based on the fact that we’ve always had someone holding that job? Or are we basing decisions on the needs of our community five, ten, fifteen years out?

For example, if you haven’t had a watershed earmark in three years and your state doesn’t have anyone on the appropriations committee, is it the highest and best use of your resources to hire someone to manage this program?

2007 Farm Bill

Our third topic in Corpus Christi is the 2007 farm bill. It seems everyone either wants to know what’s going to be in the next farm bill—or thinks they already know!

And groups all across the country are lining up to put in their two cents—or get their two cents!
Before we put in OUR two cents, I want to give you a little test. See if you can guess who made these comments:

“Commodity programs can be eliminated in the next farm bill.”
-- Ken Cook, Environmental Working Group

“The next farm bill will render commodity programs unchanged.”
-- Otto Doering

“The next farm bill should amend the Grassland Reserve Program that functions like national parks or preserves. The next farm bill should institute a new concept called ‘green payments.’”
-- EPA economist in last month’s SWCS Journal

“The next farm bill will amend the green payment programs already administered by USDA.”
-- Congressional Research Service

No surprise, people are all over the map. And to separate useful information from the stock is virtually impossible at this time.

If you want to know what the next farm bill is going to look like, you can believe any one—or none—of those folks. Or you can rely on your own crystal ball. Or you can try to get your answers from the Magic 8 ball here.

NRCS Discussions

As French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupery [aNtwan de Santuh Zoopray] put it, “As for the future, your task is not to foresee, but to enable it.”

I agree. You have me talking about enabling.

We want to be part of shaping the future of conservation, not just predicting it. And we enable the future by what we do today—both in our planning and in our work to get as much conservation on the ground under the 2002 farm bill as we can.

To put our time together in context, it might help to remember that the 2002 farm bill process actually began two years ahead when the House Agriculture Committee began a series of public listening sessions about the future of farm policy in March 2000. The process concluded with President Bush signing the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act into law on May 13, 2002.

For the 2007 bill, the House Agriculture Committee plans to begin the process of public input late this year. As I mentioned earlier, the Secretary will be holding listening sessions on the new bill this fall. We’ll have plenty of opportunity to have our say.

But we also need to be prepared to respond to the many questions we’re going to be receiving.
At this stage in the ramp up to the new farm bill, we need to anticipate what our customers—and others—will ask of us.

We don’t want to be surprised. We want to be ready.

For example, I think we can expect to get questions on what we’ve done regarding:

• The Klamath Basin
• Drought in the Pacific Northwest
• Air quality issues
• The San Joaquin Valley
• Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico
• The President’s Great Lakes Initiative
• The President’s Wetlands Initiative
• Pollution in the Chesapeake Bay

We need to be ready to answer.

In a few minutes, we’re going to spend time brainstorming and discussing options. Our goal is to develop the key themes, the central messages, and the common points, based on our experience with the current farm bill programs, that we believe should be part of the next farm bill.

I want us to develop our concept of the best possible future for conservation on working lands.
And when we do, we need to bear globalization in mind.

Our primary customers live and operate, succeed or fail, in a global market. We’re all wearing some item of clothing and carrying some electronic device that was made somewhere else.
Our very lives are globalized.

Globalization impacts the challenges of conservation and the environment. The traditional mindset is to idle productive capacity to conserve it. But if we do that, we set in motion an international chain reaction.

For example, livestock production may move to another country where there is less environmental integrity. We need to bear in mind that there are drivers on our outcomes and mission that come from external sources—not just our passion for conservation and our fondness for the agency.

As we consider what the next farm bill should look like, I want us to conduct a gap analysis:

• Do we need additional authorities?
• Do we have more authority than we need—a need to narrow our focus?
• What’s the scope of financial resources needed?

Discussion Process

You all received a list of five questions to guide us in our discussions:

1. What are people/groups in your state saying about the 2007 farm bill?

2. What key modifications to existing programs do you believe would most benefit implementation in your state?

3. What do you feel are the most important items that should be included in the 2007 farm bill?

4. Name three innovative ideas that you believe should be included in the farm bill.

5. What areas of work and tasks does NRCS currently perform that should be eliminated as part of the 2007 farm bill?

Administration Farm Policy

I want to say just a word about development of the administration’s farm policy. As NRCS employees, we have to be very circumspect at this stage in the process. It’s critical in our public statements to avoid speculation and prognostication.

That’s not always easy. It’s flattering when folks ask our opinion on what the conservation titles are going to—or should—look like.

But we need to keep our agency message clear and consistent and avoid speculation or comments before USDA policy is formulated and announced.

It’s also important for our employees to recognize that non-federal organizations, including agency partners, have a separate role to play as the 2007 farm bill is formed. Each of these groups will participate in listening sessions and developmental hearings. It’s very important to keep the role of USDA employees entirely separate from the roles played by others.

The ideas we generate today will be channeled appropriately through the Administration’s farm policy development team. And the Department will release the policy at the right time. USDA will also provide input as an official participant in Committee hearings and through the Conference Committee process.

Of course, our work today is just part of the agency’s input. As we move ahead, we’ll be taking the ideas generated, compiling data on current program implementation and developing program modification concepts and issue papers. Carole Jett will be overseeing an internal working group, and some of you may be called to help.

We all want to see programs developed that benefit producers and the environment. And we will do our best to share your best ideas in ways that have the greatest chance of success.

The key for NRCS employees who are not directly involved in the policy development process is to simply do their jobs well. Get as much conservation on the ground as possible. I can’t emphasize that enough.

Conclusion

Finally, as we look ahead to the 2007 farm bill, we should bear in mind that we’re not going to get everything we want. We may have some great ideas that may go no further than this room.
We may have some that won’t pass muster with the Department or OMB. Or even if they make it over all those hurdles, they won’t fly on the Hill.

The 2007 farm bill won’t be a perfect bill. There’s no such thing.

That doesn’t mean we can’t aim high. It just means that we need to bear in mind that we may need to fight some battles more than once. As Miguel de Cervantes put it,

“Those who lose today may win tomorrow.”

Our job is to come up with the best ideas, do our best to sell those ideas, and then do our best to implement whatever

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