NRCS Employees Receive USDA Honor Awards

Secretary Ann M. Veneman honored Department of Agriculture employees from across the Nation in Washington D.C., this week for their exemplary service and achievements at the 58th Annual USDA Honor Awards Ceremony.

The Honor Awards, presented each year, are the most prestigious awards given by USDA. This year’s award winners represent outstanding service in many fields, including stewardship of natural resources, scientific research, disease control, environmental innovations, educational outreach, emergency response to disasters, food safety, farm and food program delivery, trade and export development, and rural economic development. USDA also honored employees who had performed individual acts of heroism and courage.

The following is a list of USDA NRCS Honor Awardees.

2003 Presidential Award of Rank Executive Service Meritorious Executive
Gary Margheim -- for his exceptional leadership and dedication in accomplishing the mission and goals of the agency, Department of Agriculture, and the Administration during a critical year for the implementation and administration of the 2002 Farm Bill. Each year, the President recognizes a small group of career Senior Executives with the President's Rank Award for exceptional long-term accomplishments. Beginning with awards granted in 2003, eligibility for this award is extended to other categories of high-performing senior career employees. Winners of this prestigious award are strong leaders, professionals, and scientists who achieve results and consistently demonstrate strength, integrity, industry, and a relentless commitment to excellence in public service.

Category: Supporting Increased Economic Opportunities and Improved Quality of Life in Rural Areas

USDA Plow Award Group Winner
Pohnpei Field Office, Pohnpei, Micronesia
Group Leaders: Philip G. Giles, Jed R. Johnson -- For developing a program to convert seawater to fresh water using solar distillation, which provided severe drought relief to residents and agricultural operations on remote islands.

Group Winner: Lower Hamakua Ditch Watershed Implementation Team, Honolulu, Hawaii
Group Leader: Douglas W. Toews
Group Members: Keith Y. Harada, Andrew R. Stout, Carol T. Kawachi, Gary K. H. Kam, Carl L. Rossetti, Michael T. Hayama, Dudley Kubo, Harry S. Toki, Stephen R. Skipper -- For effectively managing the installation of a regional agricultural water management project resulting in economic revitalization, cultural enhancement, and environmental restoration in Hamakua, Hawaii.

Category: Protecting and Enhancing the Nation’s Natural Resource Base and Environment
Individual Winner: James A. Doolittle, Newtown Square, Pennsylvania -- For developing new, non-invasive subsurface observation technology, contributing to much higher levels of efficiency and effectiveness within the nation’s soil survey program.
Individual Winner: Helen R. Flach, Davis, California -- For aggressively leading innovative and strategic approaches to implementing conservation cost-share and easement programs, reaching the largest possible number of California's 74,000 agricultural producers.
Individual Winner: John Jeffery Goebel, Beltsville, Maryland -- For coordination and development of the concepts, design, and statistical procedures used for implementing the continuous data collection effort of the National Resources Inventory, which provides critical natural resource monitoring information for the Nation.
Individual Winner: Hal W. Gordon, Portland, Oregon --
For leadership in the development and coordination of tools, models, and guidance documents used by resource managers to protect and conserve our Nation’s natural resources.
Group Winner: North Carolina Phosphorus Loss Assessment Team, Raleigh, North Carolina
Group Leader: John L. Havlin
NRCS Group Members: Roger J. Hansard, Lane C. Price
North Carolina State University, Department of Soil Science Group Members: Wendell J. Gilliam, David Crouse, Amy Johnson, Eugene J. Kamprath, Nathan Nelson, Deanna L. Osmond
North Carolina State University, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering Group Members: Robert O. Evans, John E. Parsons, Wayne R. Skaggs, Philip W. Westerman
North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Agronomic Division Group Members: Richard C. Reich, David H. Hardy
North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Division of Soil and Water Conservation Group Members: Steve Coffey, Carroll Pierce
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences Group Member: Steven C. Hodges -- For outstanding interagency effort to develop and implement a scientifically flexible and credible nutrient management tool, which has resulted in substantial benefits to North Carolina’s agricultural economy.

Group Winner: Resource Conservation and Development Coordinators, Emmett, Idaho
Group Leader: Russel Manwaring
NRCS Group Members: Polly A. Huggins, William O. Moore, Paula A. Jones, Kim E. Golden, Scott E. Ferguson, Steven W. Smart, Daniel R. Pierce
Forest Service Group Member: Julie A. Thomas -- For leading communities toward wildfire prevention and suppression in rural/urban interface areas resulting in statewide assessments, educational programs, and fuel reduction demonstrations

Group Winner: Rhode Island Eelgrass Restoration Partnership, Warwick, Rhode Island
Group Leader: Andrew A. Lipsky
NRCS Group Member: Joseph A. Bachand
University of Rhode Island, Graduate School of Oceanography Group Members: Michael S. Traber III, Stephan Granger, Scott Nixon
Save the Bay Group Members: Michelle Denault, Ralph Riccio, Wenley Ferguson, Marcy Cole -- For restoration of valuable eelgrass beds for waterfowl, finfish, and shellfish habitat purposes in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.

Group Winner: Shasta County Conservation Partnership, Redding, California
Group Leader: Robert M. Bailey
NRCS Group Members: Todd W. Golder, Gerald E. Hubatka, Dale E. Kroschel, Jr.
Fall River Resource Conservation District Group Members: Bob Rynearson, Jim Rickert, Bill Buckman, Ralph Taylor, Robert Holscher, Tom Smith, Travis Quarter, Tim Weaver, Terri Hubauer, Carrie Rose
Western Shasta Resource Conservation District Group Members: Stuart Gray, Tom Engstrom, Phil Schoefer, Bruce Wendt, Dave Soho, Dave Drennan, Dave Allen, Mary Schroeder, Michael Harris, Jack Bramhall, John Ribinsky, Chris Glover, Candy Jeffries, Priscilla Benson -- For outstanding leadership and accomplishments in developing and implementing locally led watershed planning, watershed protection and restoration, fuel reduction, and conservation easement programs that benefit residents, landowners, and the habitat throughout Shasta County.

Group Winner: SmarTech Development Team, Fort Worth, Texas
Group Leader: Arnold D. King
Group Members: Carolyn A. Adams, Jack R. Carlson, Wendall R. Oaks, Larry D. Butler,
David L. McKay, James C. Wood, Craig R. Derickson, Victor D. Simpson, Robert T. Escheman, Gary D. Wooten, James Bunch, Margo L. Wallace, J. Marc Safley, Jr., Dawn M. Wickum, Kipen J. Kolesinskas, George L. Peacock, Jr., Beth C. Sauerhaft, Charles W. Bell, Alan P. Ammann, Carroll W. Scott, Jose A. Castro, Daniel C. Mountjoy, Keith D. Rogers, Larry S. Holmes, David J. Summers, Joseph A. Neafsey, William W. Boyer, Diane E. Gelburd, Lawrence E. Clark -- For development of an electronic Field Office Technical Guide, thereby improving conservation technology transfer to producers nationwide.

Group Winner: Southeast Region American Indian Initiative Workgroup, Atlanta, Georgia
Group Leader: Charles R. Adams
NRCS Group Members: Jose J. Acevedo, Ervin J. Ricks, Jr., Prenella S. Williamson, Gail D. Luster, McKinley Posley, John D. Dondero
Office of the Secretary Group Member: Annabelle J. Romero -- For innovation and creativity in expanding the partnership with American Indians, which has resulted in enhanced communications and improved delivery of conservation assistance on tribal lands in the southeast region

Group Winner: Sustainable Coffee Production Team, Atlanta, Georgia
Group Leader: Charles R. Adams
NRCS Group Members: Jose J. Acevedo, Juan A. Martinez, Frank B. Clearfield, John D. Dondero, Pedro Martinez, Edwin G. Mas
Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service Group Members: Miguel Monroig, Ariel Ramirez
University of Puerto Rico Group Members: John Fernandez-VanCleve, Gladys Gonzalez
Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture Group Member: Luis Rivero-Cubano -- For providing leadership for the rebirth of Puerto Rico’s coffee industry, influencing long-term change that is resulting in an economically and environmentally sustainable production system.

Category: Supporting the President’s Management Agenda and Civil Rights

Group Winner: Streamlining and Cost Savings Initiative Team, Fort Worth, Texas
Group Leader: Humberto Hernandez
Group Members: Richard W. Van Klaveren, Charles R. Adams, Christine Pytel,
Richard D. Swenson, Pearlie S. Reed, Richard W. Sims, Janet L. Oertly, Patricia S. Leavenworth, Homer L. Wilkes, Russell A. Collett, Donald W. Gohmert, Rafael J. Guerrero, W. Gary Kobylski, Linda R. DiPietro, J. Keith Laird, Bradley E. Anseth, Wendall R. Oaks, Norman R. Klopfenstein, Jody L. Christiansen, Barbara L. Higgins -- For developing recommendations that significantly improved Natural Resources Conservation Service's efficiency and effectiveness through streamlining operations, processes, and activities.

Group Winner: Zone 2 – District Conservationists and Tribal Resource Conservationists, Stillwater, Oklahoma
Group Leader: Mark J. Habiger
Group Members: Loran L. Zweiacker, Matthew A. Ward, Karla R. Stephens, Danny A. Stone, Erik N. Friend, Gerald A. Washington, Eric W. Daniels, David M. Hungerford, Ryan B. Pannell, Joe E. Stinchcomb, Jr., Mark J. Maples, Nathan C. Colwell, Gary B. Bishop, Arnold L. Hamilton, Steven D. Clark, Ronald D. Goedecke, Andrew R. Inman, Audra Q. Goff, Marty D. Hern, Stacy M. Riley, Melanie D. Oliver, Lester D. Ligons, Brandy L. Pietz, Gregory P. Kindell -- For exemplary support of the United States Department of Agriculture’s civil rights policies and tremendous outreach efforts, which have resulted in increased assistance to the 17 Tribal Nations and underserved communities in the northeast area of Oklahoma.

NRCS Employees Receiving USDA Honor Awards as Part of an Interagency Group

Category: Protecting and Enhancing the Nation’s Natural Resource Base and Environment
Group Winner: Animal Waste Management Team, Washington, D.C.
Submitted By: Economic Research Service
NRCS Group Leader: Daniel Meyer
NRCS Group Members: Glenn H. Carpenter, Larry Edmonds, Robert Kellogg, Lynn Knight,
Barry Kintzer, Charles H. Lander, Patty Lawrence, Jerrell L. Lemunyon, Jeffrey R. Loser,
David C. Moffitt -- For innovative, timely analysis of the economics of animal waste management, which provided the basis for landmark USDA/EPA programs to protect water resources from nutrients contained in animal waste.

Category: Heroism and Emergency Response
Group Winner: Afghanistan and Iraq Agriculture Reconstruction Team, Washington, D.C.
Submitted By: Foreign Agriculture Service
NRCS Group Member: Manuel Ayala Jr. -- For outstanding support to the United States Department of Agriculture initiatives in reconstructing the agricultural sectors of Afghanistan and Iraq, resulting in the noticeable rehabilitation of the agriculture and related environmental areas of both nations.

NRCS Employees with 50 or More Years of Service
Charles H. Andrews Cobleskill, New York
James P. Pannell Durango, Colorado
Your contact is Ted Kupelian, NRCS public affairs specialist, at 202-720-5776, or ted.kupelian@usda.gov.