Conservation in 2006: Consolidating the Gains

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

Washington, D.C.
January 18, 2006

Welcome to Washington! It’s great to have you all join us here.

We have a fantastic, jam-packed agenda planned, featuring a star-studded list of government officials involved in agriculture and the environment. This morning you’ll be hearing from

• Secretary Johanns, our keynote speaker
• Jim Connaughton, Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality
• Clay Johnson, Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget, and
• Tom Dorr, Under Secretary for Rural Development, who also chairs the USDA Energy Council.

They’ve agreed to be here to share their perspectives with you on what NRCS can do, where we fit in as an important part of delivering the Nation’s conservation agenda.

We’re also going to spend time together reviewing the NRCS Strategic Plan and focusing on human capital and the development of our Human Capital Strategic Plan. It’s going to be an exciting three days.


Personnel Changes


We’ve had a number of personnel changes since our meeting in Texas in October. I’ll warn you before I start that it’s a lengthy list—and also apologize upfront for any I’ve missed.


Retirements


First, I want to mention the retirements:

Charles Adams, National Employee Development Center

Joe Delvecchio, State Conservationist, New York

Jeri Berc, Natural Resource Manager

Charles Whitmore, Association Deputy Chief of Programs

Emma Corcoran, program analyst

Carl Hunter, resource conservationist

Mac Henning, CRP Manager

Smith Covey, National RC&D Coordinator

Prenella Adams, soil conservationist

Jesse Moore, soil conservationist

Mary Cressel, public affairs specialist

We’ll have a reception on Thursday to honor our retirees.


And now some other personnel changes—

At headquarters:

Rosendo Trevino is Special Assistant for International Programs

John Brenner is NRCS liaison to the Western Governors Association.

Dan Runnels is Director of the Operations Management and Oversight Division.

Steve Probst is the Director of the Budget Planning and Analysis Division.

Robert Glennon is Farm and Ranch Lands Program Manager.

Chuck Zelek is program specialist,

Denise Decker is program analyst, and

Roland Johnson has joined the Initiatives, Special Studies and Management Support Team.

Russ Collett is Conservation Technical Assistance Branch Chief in the Conservation Planning and Technical Assistance Division.

Harry Slawter is Director of the Financial Assistance Programs Division.

Leonard Jordan is Director of the Conservation Planning and Technical Assistance Division.

Andrew Johnson is Water Resources Programs Branch Chief in the Conservation Planning and Technical Assistance Division.

Selena Miller is supervisory budget analyst in the Financial Management Division.

Bruce Julian is program analyst for the East Region.

Katy Green is management analyst and Mary Grande is natural resources specialist
for the Programs Business Tools Team at Fort Collins.

Acting:

Special thanks to all those who are currently serving in an acting capacity:

Jane Hardisty is Acting Director of the National Employee Development Center.

Mary Combs is Acting Easement Programs Division Director

Kasey Reed is Acting CRP Manager

Kevin Wickey is Acting Programs Business Tools Team Leader, and

Jerry Thompson is Acting Native American Program Coordinator


Helping People Help the Land


For more than 70 years, NRCS has been committed to locally-led, cooperative conservation. Last year, one of our district conservationists put it in a nutshell. He sent an email to Dana York and suggested that we describe our mission as “helping people help the land.”

That phrase is succinct. And we’ve embraced that. So, we’ve done just as he recommended. “Helping people help the land” is our new mission statement.


Brad Harrison, a 25-year NRCS employee, helps people help the land in Adel, Iowa, and he’s with us today. Brad, please come forward and receive one of our new Circle of Excellence awards. This is a new award from the Chief, and I hope it will continue after I’m gone, to recognize NRCS staff who serve our agency with distinction. Charles Whitmore received the first, and now Brad Harrison is getting the second.


Consolidating the Gains


At the last NLT, we talked about our operational themes for FY 2006. Our overarching theme for this year is consolidating the gains.

We’re focusing this year on fine-tuning our business tools and fully realizing all the progress we’ve made. We want to make sure everything works smoothly—for our employees and our customers.

We want to be sure our decisions and our processes are transparent. We want to be efficient and effective. And we want to focus on meeting our customers’ needs.


I want to talk about some specific issues and concerns we will be addressing at this meeting and over the next several months. First, the budget.


Budget


We have to face honestly the fact that in all likelihood our budget peaked last year. As a nation, we know we have incurred a lot of obligations. Those debts need to be paid, and we’re going to have to do what’s necessary to reduce the deficit.

That said, the 2006 budget is pretty much level. A level budget always means you can do a little less, thanks to inflation, higher energy costs. Basically, the higher cost of doing business means if you just stay even, you actually lose a little ground. Dana will be talking with you in detail about that shortly.

But it’s clear that it’s time to tighten up. It’s also time to make some adjustments in our formulas to better focus on our priorities. Some states will get a little more. Others—most of you—will get less.

Those of you who receive more must be sure that every additional dollar buys more conservation on the ground. You must be accountable to your neighbors who are getting less.


In the future, there will be greater variability in our budgets. Expect it. Prepare for it. Manage for it.


As priorities change, funding is going to change as well. As we solve problems in one place, we need to direct resources to the next priority.

We cannot—and you cannot—as frontline managers—manage from the status quo. And we need to start right away.


We’re going to make a couple of small, but symbolic changes. We’re going to begin with vehicle purchases.

I’ve been tracking these—and others outside the agency have also. The House Agriculture Committee majority staff regularly asks about this. Right now, we have 10,771 vehicles in our fleet, including 345 leased from GSA. That seems high when our field staff numbers 11,060.

So, as of today, we’re freezing all vehicle purchases for one year.


Second, I’m setting a flexible freeze on major asset purchases—new computers and office equipment. We’ve had several years of growth, and we’ve upgraded equipment. Now it’s time to get the most out of what we already have.


Third, I want everyone to proceed very slowly on hiring. Until the Green Book, Capital Fund Charges and Information Technology Services costs are finalized, we don’t know what our final numbers will be. We’re still negotiating, but the numbers range from $72.5 million to as high as $81.7 million—that’s $10 million riding on the cusp.

Remember, too, that while ITS will be making purchases, they will be billing us for what they buy—and some of the ITS funds are already at the state level.


So, I urge you, State Conservationists, program managers, everyone in management. Be cautious. Keep your options open. And build flexibility into your staffing plan.


One of the flexibilities I want to encourage is temporary employees. Some states have 10-20 percent. Others have none.

Those of you with fewer than 10 percent temporary employees need to look seriously at how you are managing your entire portfolio. We need to make decisions today to allow for the agency to thrive 5, 10 and 15 years from now. Look to temps as well as the 2500-plus Technical Service Providers to fill in gaps.


Beyond these national measures, I want every state conservationist to look at ways to tighten the belt within his or her state. Further, I want you to tell us in Washington ways we can make further efficiency gains.

Everything’s on the table. Nothing’s off limits. My Chief’s Advisory Team has agreed to accept your suggestions on how we can make those adjustments.


Emphasis on Energy


Speaking of cutting costs, one of the issues that’s on many farmers’ minds is the high cost of fuel and fertilizer. In early December, Secretary Johanns announced the USDA Energy Strategy, a concerted effort to look at both reducing demand for oil and natural gas and increasing supply through bio-fuels.

I’m very proud of the role that NRCS has had. We developed the three-click Energy Estimator tool which helps farmers and ranchers determine how much they could save by switching from conventional tillage to no-till or another reduced tillage system.

We’re also working on an enhancement that would help farmers figure out how much they could save through improved irrigation systems— which will be considerable—about $8 to $40 per acre. A second enhancement will enable producers to predict their savings from switching from fossil fuel fertilizer to manure.


Innovation and Partnership


Two weeks ago, we made up to $20 million in funding for proposals available under our Conservation Innovation Grants. Honestly, I wasn’t too fond of this program created by the 2002 farm bill—until I actually met some of the first grantees.

I fell in love with the potential of CIG to advance the cause of conservation. This is a great way to test drive new conservation approaches and technologies with a view toward sharing them with farmers and ranchers who could benefit. I need you to help drum up lots of proposals.

The deadline is March 20.


Similarly, we have $4 million available under our Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative with a deadline of March 7. Grants under CCPI go to state and local governments and agencies, Indian tribes and non-governmental organizations involved in agriculture. For 2006, we have a two-pronged focus: conservation priorities and rapid watershed assessments.

Yesterday, Deputy Secretary Chuck Conner announced in Indiana funding for two additional grant programs—the Wetlands Reserve Enhancement Program at $9.5 million and the Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative at $4 million.

Encourage our customers, encourage our partners who might be interested to apply for these programs.


Human Capital Strategic Plan


We’re going to be talking a lot over the next few days about the NRCS Human Capital Strategic Plan. As I’m sure you’ve heard, over the next five years, more than half of federal employees could retire. We need a plan to address the potential loss of so many employees. Further, we need a strategy that will make NRCS the employer of choice for everyone interested in serving in conservation.

Kevin Brown, Associate Deputy Chief for Management, is working with a core team to develop our Human Capital Strategic Plan. The core team is a diverse group—ethnically, geographically, professionally. They are working with a contractor and meeting here monthly to tackle this challenging job.

You’ll hear more from Kevin and from Frank Clearfield on the employee survey tomorrow.

More than half our staff nationwide took the time to fill in the survey to give us valuable information on their career and retirement plans. Thanks to all of you who did that.

The goal is to produce a Human Capital Strategic Plan by early summer. Your input tomorrow on the initial work will help build a plan that makes sense for NRCS.



Market-Based Approaches to Conservation


We talked about our venture goals. One of these is market-based approaches to conservation. Last week, Dana and I attended a Forest Service retreat in Mexico focused on markets for ecosystem services. Ricardo Bayon, who’ll be here on Friday, walked us through where markets are developing and where that can go. The possibilities are exciting, and I’m looking forward to exploring them further.


2007 Farm Bill


In the last half of 2005, Secretary Johanns and other top USDA officials held 53 listening sessions in 48 states to determine what our customers want to see in the next farm bill. Conservation was clearly very important to farmers and ranchers who shared their thoughts and their concerns in those sessions.

Our responsibility is clear—and I’ve said this repeatedly over the past year—I’m sure some of you are tired of hearing it. The most important thing you all can do in preparation for the next farm bill is to do your jobs. If we do them well, good things will follow.

Transparency is essential. Wise management of resources is critical. We need to get all the contracts we’ve completed implemented and put on the ground.


Strategic Plan


As we look forward, to the next farm bill and beyond, we need a multi-year map to guide us on the road ahead. That’s the function of our new Strategic Plan that Dick Coombe and Kathy Gugulis have poured their hearts and souls into over the last year.

This is a bottom-up plan with a clear vision: productive lands and a healthy environment. Our steering team and core team have taken their direction in large part from the grassroots. The plan flows from our employee survey, meetings with stakeholders, focus groups with farmers and ranchers, meetings with the conservation and environmental community as well as commodity groups.

You’re going to notice differences from the draft shared at the last NLT. Three of our six mission goals are foundation goals, traditional NRCS concerns—high quality, productive soils; clean and abundant water; healthy plant and animal communities.

The other three we’re calling venture goals, focusing on emerging resource concerns related to current economic or demographic trends. These include air quality, an adequate energy supply and preserving working farms and ranch lands.


The plan identifies three strategies we will use to address these concerns: cooperative conservation, a watershed approach and a market-based approach.

Developing this plan has taken a tremendous amount of work at every level of the agency. But I’m excited about it. And I think the results are worth it.

We now have a carefully crafted assessment of the resource concerns we face today and in the years ahead and a well-thought-out plan for how we can address those concerns and help people help the land.

Now we just need to put it into practice. I’d like the team to come forward now and share this plan with you.