Chief Lancaster Visits All 50 States During His Tenure

During his tenure as NRCS Chief, Arlen Lancaster visited NRCS offices and projects in all fifty States and the Caribbean Area. He has been very impressed by the diversity and richness of NRCS conservation programs and practices and the agency’s key role in conserving the natural resources of the Nation.  Chief Lancaster views NRCS employees as the agency’s most precious asset.  Here is a sampling of his visits to the field.

Wisconsin -- (above left) Chief Arlen Lancaster and Wisconsin State Conservationist Pat Leavenworth at a ceremony celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the Coon Creek Watershed Demonstration Project.  (below left) Chief Arlen Lancaster fishing on the West Fork of the Kickapoo River in Wisconsin.


South Carolina -- (right) During a visit to South Carolina for a Wetlands Reserve Program ceremony in the Four Holes Swamp in Dorchester County, Chief Lancaster released a rehabilitated Osprey back into the easement area.  The Four Holes Swamp is the world’s largest virgin cypress-tupelo swamp forest.


 

Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut -- (right) Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources Assistant Commissioner, Scott Soares, National Association of Conservation Districts Past President John Redding, NRCS Chief Arlen Lancaster, and Massachusetts NRCS State Conservationist Christine Clarke pose by a cranberry bog during a three-State conservation tour through Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.  Local NRCS staff, State officials, conservation district representatives and agricultural leaders met with the visitors as they viewed conservation projects and practices on cranberry bogs, dairy farms, fish passages, and shellfish operations.
 

Virginia -- (left) Chief Lancaster pauses to talk to reporters at the Outdoor Writers Association of America meeting in Roanoke, Virginia.
 

Hawaii -- (right) Chief Lancaster visited Kona for the Coral Reef Task Force meeting and the 75th Annual Western Snow Conference.  In celebration of Earth Day (from left), land owner and Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program participant Richard Stevens, Doug McKalip, Chief Lancaster, and Pacific Islands Area NRCS Director  the Larry Yamamoto planted native Hawaiian trees.
 

California -- (right) Chief Arlen Lancaster and California State Conservationist Ed Burton (left) honored John DeBoni, of the Ventura County Resource Conservation District  for his 50-plus years of service in conservation in that State.