The Power of Partnership

Remarks by Arlen Lancaster, Chief Natural Resources Conservation Service, at 2007 National Association of Conservation Districts Annual Conference

Los Angeles, CA
February 5, 2007


Thank you, I appreciate this warm welcome. Not just the welcome I received since I’ve become Chief, but this welcome here in California. And while the partnership has really met me with open arms, when I talk about warm receptions, I’m not only talking about the reception I had this weekend coming here, but also the weather. Doug McKalip and I have been on the road since Wednesday talking about the Secretary’s Farm Bill Proposal and everywhere but here we’ve been met with snow. So thanks again for the warm welcome.

What I thought I would do is share a little bit about myself and the direction that I see our agency heading, talk a little bit about the Administration’s proposal for the 2007 Farm Bill, and then share some thoughts on the partnership.

Five months ago I was appointed as Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service. A dream job for me. Some of you have had the chance to get know me as I traveled around the country; others don’t know much about me, other than what they have read in the bio.

The first question I get is what is your agricultural background? I have to admit that like most Americans I am a couple of generations removed from the farm. My grandparents farmed and their parents farmed. As you go through history we farmed in Idaho, Indiana, and North Carolina. I am, however, an outdoorsman, I am somebody who cares about the environment and cares about our natural resources. Coming from Idaho, I understand the value of agriculture and what it provides in terms of societal benefits, and not just food. What it provides to make sure we have a healthy, abundant, domestic supply of food, but also the environmental benefits agriculture provides. So, I clearly recognize the importance of that and what we are doing.

I first went to Washington, D.C. to work on public lands policy. Those who are from the West, you recognize what a big part of our states those public lands are; you also know that it is a divisive issue--very adversarial--something that intensifies when you go back to Washington D.C. Because, when you talk about our natural resources and how we protect them, folks have fervent views and they always say their views are right and your views are wrong. Then, I was given the opportunity to work on Ag conservation issues, and right away what you see is a partnership, and you see the power of partnership. You see the power of districts, the power of NRCS, and the power of folks who want to find solutions. We find ways to work together to find solutions.

In 2000 I became the Staff Director of the Senate subcommittee on Forestry, Conservation and Rural Revitalization, where I had the chance to really work with a number of partners and to again find solutions. In coming into this job as Chief, I know there are a lot of questions about me and my background. One of the things I heard, if you worked on the 2002 Farm Bill, your focus with NRCS is going to be farm bill driven. You’re going to talk about the 2007 Farm Bill. You’re going to look at getting more dollars in those financial assistance programs. That is an important part of my job, but it’s not it’s not my focus.

Again when I think about conservation, I think about where NRCS is and where it is headed, where the partnership is and where it is headed. You start to think about okay what is it that we’re really good at, what is it NRCS is really good at, what is it the partnership is really good at? Where will we be in 30 years from now, 100 years from now? What should we be focusing on? What it comes back to for me is that technical expertise within the agency. We are the ones who go out there. We look at this resource assessment information. We gather this technical data. We develop these technical standards. There is no one else that is going to be able to go out there and do that. So that’s our core strength. That’s our key mission--to develop that technical expertise and make that available. Two thirds of our country is in private hands. If you want to effect change on private lands, it’s not just that technical expertise that we have that is going to do it. It’s going to be those private land owners: the land owners who work with the partnership, who work with the districts, who work with NRCS to actually get practices on the ground. That’s where I think the power of partnership comes into play.

We have great technical expertise. Together we have great passion to see conservation enacted on the ground. But we rely on those private landowners to implement those practices, so for me our core function is to develop that technical expertise. But the second function is to make sure we have strong relationships with those landowners. NRCS cannot do it without the partnership.

So I see the future of the agency very much in that technical expertise arena. With that in mind, I set out with three priorities for the agency as we look forward. Three things that I think we need to make sure that we are doing. One is to make sure we’re able to address emerging issues. Emerging issues being new customers, those folks we have not traditionally had to serve and new issues like addressing air quality or energy development. Making sure we not only have the infrastructure to address those emerging priorities but the technical capacity to do so. The second point I continue to make is we need to find ways to make conservation easier. Two thirds of our nation’s land is in private hands. Those landowners want to do the right thing for the environment. Every agricultural producer I know wants to pass their operation onto their children and their grandchildren. It’s our job to make sure we have the tools to help them do that--tools and information to make conservation easier so that when it fits in the economics of their operations, they will be implementing conservation practices. The third priority for me is accountability. By accountability certainly I mean being good tax stewards of taxpayer dollars, being able to explain where every penny we as a partnership get--where those dollars go. But also by accountability I mean quantifying what we are doing--accounting for the benefits that we are providing. Whether a dollar is invested in technical assistance or a dollar is invested in a particular practice, what does that result in? I think that would make a strong case for us as a partnership as we move forward. Look at the benefits we are providing. Look at the tangible real quantifiable benefits we are providing to society. Once we talk about that within the arena of agriculture, we are going to get landowners who are going to be able to be rewarded for what they’re providing. So those three things set me up well for discussing the Secretary’s Farm Bill proposal.

The Secretary’s farm bill proposal was released on Wednesday. Secretary Johanns is a strong supporter of agriculture and believes we need to support agriculture. We just need to do it in the right way. He went out and held listening sessions across the country. We took thousands of comments from the public. Those comments really did drive the direction of this farm bill proposal. As I talk about the conservation title I hope you’ll see that reflected. Secretary Johanns said, “We need farm policy that recognizes the tremendous potential of American agriculture. These proposals do just that. We listened to the people and now deliver our proposal for America’s Farm Bill.” The basic principles that we have talked about moving forward with this farm policy are: let’s make it more predictable, let’s make it more equitable, better able to withstand challenge, wisely and effectively spend our taxpayers’ dollars when it comes to conservation. I’ve added let’s make it easier.

With this Farm Bill we are demonstrating fiscal responsibility. We are also providing assistance for those people who need it when they need it. We’re supporting emerging priorities in here—I think conservationists will be pleased to see this investment in conservation.

• We tighten the payment limits. Again, to get the assistance to those folks who really need it.
• We make sure we have a safety net that works when people need the assistance—one that doesn’t over compensate them when they don’t need the assistance. Last year we saw over the course of the 2002 Farm Bill we saw record payments in years with record farm revenue and record yields. We need a policy that really supports people when they need that help not when they don’t.
• We increased conservation funding over the next 10 years by $7.8 billion dollars above what we are currently doing. We also simplify and consolidate our programs.
• We provide $1.6 billion in new funding for renewable energy research, development and production; provide a billion dollars in loans and $500 million in grants for rural communities.
• We dedicated nearly $400 million to trade efforts.
• $5 billion is targeted to support specialty crop producers.
• We have a number of provisions to assist and directly benefit beginning farmers, ranchers and socially disadvantage producers. Everywhere the Secretary went he heard about barriers to young people becoming involved in agriculture.

Now, I’ll focus on conservation. The Conservation Title is still the second title of the bill. We consolidate all our cost share programs into one. We consolidate working land easement programs into one. We leverage those unique functions of those programs. We simplify the Conservation Security Program. We add funding and through this we will be able to offer that program nationwide in every watershed every year. We continue to focus on our popular land retirement program so we increased the Wetland Reserve Program from the current cap to 3.5 million acres. We continue the Conservation Reserve Program we also added a priority for enrollment of cellulosic biomass production on those whole fields where it can support wildlife and build soil quality. I talked about market based and quantifying our practices, we are going to help set up the infrastructure so that can really become a reality where producers are rewarded for ecosystem services. We consolidate the ECP program and EWP program in to one so we have a one stop shop for folks when they have an emergency conservation need. We seek the authority to actually improve those conditions to the point you are not out there year after year fixing the same problem. I talked about those beginning farmers and ranchers and socially disadvantage producers, we set aside 10 percent of the entire conservation title for those individuals. Again, strong support throughout the title for beginning farmers and ranchers and socially disadvantaged producers—additional aide to help them overcome those barriers to entry into the program. That’s essentially the 2007 Farm Bill proposal for the Secretary. This has been the most detailed proposal I have ever been around in terms of an administration coming forward with a proposal. And it is rooted in what we heard. The information is on our website and is available in our offices. I think when you get a chance to look at it, like me, you will be excited by what you see.

Simplifying our programs means less time at the computer in offices dealing with the administrative functions and more time working with landowners. I think we really did listen to what we heard and I certainly listened to what I heard from the conservation partnership about how these programs ought to work. It really is reflected here.

Speaking of the Farm Bill I would say that NACD will have a strong seat at the table. She probably won’t like me for singling her out, but I’ve known Krysta Harden long before I came to NRCS and USDA and I can tell you, you have someone who opens doors on Capitol Hill and who will ensure that the districts will have a seat at the table when we talk about the Farm Bill.

I was going to say that I’m going to miss Billy Wilson, but I know that’s not true--he’s got my cell number, I have his and we will continue to work together. I want to thank him for the leadership he’s shown for what he’s brought to the partnership. Billy welcomed me with open arms and always shared his thoughts in a frank and direct manner. Something that any Chief needs: someone who is going to tell it like it is. I appreciate his guidance through the early months.

I’m also excited to work with Owen. Owen talked about our interactions. I will say that Utah did beat Wyoming in basketball recently. Unfortunately they lost during football season, but there’s always next year. But with Owen I know I have someone that I can continue to work together closely with to strengthen the partnership.

I have a long list of accomplishments that we as a partnership have accomplished. Some of what we have done in 2006: we reduced soil erosion by more than 75 million tons, applied conservation to more than 26.5 million acres of grazing lands, treated nearly 15.4 acres of Habitat on non-Federal lands, wrote conservation plans on more than 47 million acres of crop lands, hay lands and grazing lands, created, restored or enhanced 318 thousand acres of wetlands, applied conservation buffers on nearly 225 thousand acres, protected nearly 113 thousand acres of farmland and grazing land through conservation easements, applied a little more than 11 thousand comprehensive nutrient management plans. This is a short list that is the beginning of what we as a partnership can continue to accomplish when we recognize there is strength in this partnership--our ability to reach out to landowners and share with them the knowledge that we have. To help them reach their conservation goals.

So if you like what you’ve heard today, I should offer my caveat, which is my boss is actually here this week. So if anything I’ve said actually conflicts with what my boss will say, clearly you did not hear me correctly. I see some confused faces about my boss. No, Secretary Johanns is not coming as much as we would like to have him here. No, Mark Rey is not coming. Later today Secretary Johanns will announce the new Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resource and Environment, and if you are nervous you should be. This is a person who knows the partnership, who knows NRCS. A person who is a great conservationist, who is a role model for all of us. But when I say you should be nervous I say that because this is someone who knows your weaknesses as well. I’m going to ask Gary Mast to stand. Gary Mast former president of NACD, truly a conservationist, someone who is well versed in agriculture and now well versed in NRCS, someone who going to be a tremendous partner to the partnership, a tremendous asset to me. I’m not saying that because he is my boss and I need to score points.

We’ve got tremendous leadership here. I think with the state of the partnership, we are poised to take this partnership to the next level so we can meet all these new emerging demands. I think we are poised to look at the 2007 Farm Bill as we make our programs more useful, so we can continue to focus on that key Technical Assistance and use the farm bill programs as tools.

I’m very excited about where we are in Agriculture today. I look at where commodity prices are; I look at the advent of renewable energy; I look at the opportunity now with what we are proposing to help reward folks for those environmental benefits they are providing. So I think the agriculture economy is well poised.

I think we as a partnership recognize our strengths and our weaknesses together and will work closely to continue this partnership to continue to reach out to landowners and be a resource for them to continue to see conservation down on the ground. Again two thirds of our lands are in private hands. Those are the folks we will all continue to work with, help them reach their conservation goals and in return, my personal priorities. I should’ve said this in the beginning. If you would’ve ask me this on my first day what my priorities were, I would’ve said water conservation. I mean you don’t have to look further than L.A. to see how important water is to our nation and how important it is we find measures to make sure water is available to everyone. I would’ve talked about invasive species and wildlife habitat. However, I think by focusing on that technical assistance, by focusing on that partnership, that relationship with the landowner all those concerns that I had would be addressed. Those concerns you all have would be addressed.

I appreciate the opportunity to be here today. This is the first step, I think, in a very strong partnership and I’m looking forward to working with each of you. And, while I don’t enjoy the plane rides and hotel rooms, I’m looking forward to visiting your states. Thank you again.