State Conservationist's Corner

August 2004

by Cecil B. Currin

While we are still swamped with FY2004 Farm Bill projects, we must already look ahead to FY2005, which is just around the corner. Next fiscal year we will still be very busy with EQIP, WHIP, FRPP and GRP along with beefing up our technology, training for technical assistance, and improving Farm Bill program delivery, not to mention ushering in the Conservation Security Program (CSP).

The latest NRCS reorganization has established or reestablished technology centers across the country. We will be served primarily by the center in Greensboro, North Carolina. Bill Puckett, recently selected as the director, expects to open the doors on September 20th and be fully functional early in the fiscal year. The multidisciplinary staff will help us with technical issues and problems associated with planning and applying conservation systems.

The Greensboro center will have national assignments in animal waste management and social sciences. The other two centers will be in Ft. Worth, Texas and Portland, Oregon. The present structure of NRCS, with six regional offices, will change to three regions with the regional assistant chiefs headquartered in Washington, DC.

There are a few NRCS people in the agency who fondly remember attending a “Conservation Boot Camp.” When I began my career in 1965, the Soil Conservation Service was phasing out the boot camps in favor of shorter training sessions for engineering, conservation planning, leadership development, etc. I participated in a four week National Professional Engineering and Geology session but did not get the “boot camp” training.

NRCS leaders have decided that the six-week long concentrated training program for all new field office employees is just what we need to reemphasize technical expertise in NRCS. Massachusetts’ Public Affairs Specialist Diane Baedeker Petit has helped to establish the communications portion of the curriculum and will be a part of the instructor cadre. After the pilot session this fall in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, we expect to enroll a couple of employees when the program is up and running.

USDA has made a decision to consolidate the technical side of EQIP with the business and administrative portion. The change, being referred to as “EQIP migration,” will place the entire EQIP package with NRCS. Beginning October 1st all activities related to EQIP, including applications, eligibility determinations, contracts and payments, will be handled by NRCS. This is intended to provide better service to farmers with “one-stop,” one agency efficiency. This will create a workload, particularly in the payment process which will be handled electronically.

The Conservation Security Program (CSP) is the latest thing coming out of NRCS. The rollout of CSP in 2004 was severely limited by congressional funding. Instead of spreading the funds to many small contracts with minor impacts in every state, the agency decided to provide funding to only 18 watersheds nationwide to pilot the program. Massachusetts did not receive CSP funds in 2004; however, our prospects are much better for 2005.

Many of our farmers are doing a great job of protecting the land for future generations. We hope to reward those farmers financially and with technical assistance.

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