NRCS Report to MACD June 4, 2014

NRCS Report to MACD June 4, 2014

NRCS Priorities

NRCS Chief Jason Weller has three priorities driving NRCS’s focus.

·  Implement the 2014 Farm Bill

·  Move forward with the Conservation Delivery Streamline Initiative

·  Carry out Administrative Transformation

Staffing Update

In 2013, Montana NRCS had a net loss of 7 permanent employees. In 2014, that trend has continued with the net loss of another 11 permanent employees. While we are striving to reverse that trend with the issuance of several vacancies, staffing is down overall. Future budget projections and sequestration will force NRCS to downsize and strategically use more partnership positions, if funding permits, to do our job.

One change we have made is establishing shared management offices in 11 locations across the state. These locations have a GS-12 supervisory district conservationist who supervises all employees within the two or more shared offices while each location maintains a GS-11 district conservationist to serve the conservation district. The purpose is to reduce the number of employees who must deal with administrative issues and increase the staff time for direct conservation assistance. The shared management locations are as follows:

·  Deer Lodge-Whitehall

·  Dillon-Sheridan (planned)

·  Conrad-Cut Bank-Browning

·  Great Falls-Stanford

·  Chester-Havre-Rocky Boy

·  Townsend-Bozeman

·  Helena-White Sulphur Springs

·  Joliet-Columbus

·  Forsyth-Hysham-Lame Deer

·  Miles City-Terry

·  Plentywood-Scobey

State Leadership Team Changes: Tim Ouellette, assistant state conservationist for programs retired at the end of 2013 and was replaced by Erik Suffridge. Jerry Schaefer, state resource conservationist, retired in early May. We are in the selection process now.

Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey

The Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey from 2013 identified some areas of concern for employees. To ensure those issues are taken seriously, Joyce Swartzendruber, state conservationist, developed an action plan that includes soliciting suggestions from employees to make improvements.

In February, Joyce established a Montana Advisory Committee, which includes five field and area office employees from across the state to provide input and suggestions for Montana NRCS operations. Members that will serve the first year are Kristine Handley, engineer, Missoula; Joyce Trevithick, agronomist, Great Falls; Rob Bray, district conservationist, Culbertson; Scott Morton, district conservationist, Fort Belknap; and Chuck Roloff, district conservationist, Big Timber.

Joyce is holding listening sessions open to employees to participate. The listening sessions will be held in an environment that provides participants a way to openly express their thoughts without fear of negative repercussions.

Sessions have been held in Bozeman, Miles City, and Helena. Forthcoming sessions are scheduled for Missoula, Shelby, Lewistown, Kalispell, Deer Lodge, Billings, Forsyth, and Culbertson.

Administrative Transformation

Since the 90s, NRCS has seen its business expand and diversify due to an increase of Farm Bill programs. Meanwhile, our business and administrative structure hasn’t kept pace to best support our mission. Now NRCS is looking ahead and building a better business and administrative structure for the future.

Transformation will create a set of twelve teams to help make our Budget and Financial Management, Procurement and Property, Human Resources, and Operations more effective and consistent across the nation. A new local staffing team with three new roles will continue to provide the on-the-ground support for each state.

Local staff will still provide support to NRCS employees and to our conservation partners. The assistant state conservationist for operations and the state administrative officer duties will be absorbed into a new assistant state conservationist for business leadership position.

Farm Bill Program Update

Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP): The application period is open until June 6. ACEP now covers the following former programs – Farm and Ranchlands Protection Program (FRPP), Grassland Reserve Program (GRP), and Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP). WRP became the ACEP-Wetlands Reserve Easements (WRE). FRPP and GRP became the ACEP Agricultural Land Easements (ALE). In early May, Montana NRCS held a meeting with all of the land trust entities in Montana who have been involved in FRPP and GRP in the past. The purpose was to cover the new program and to discuss the ACEP deadlines.

Conservation Stewardship Program: Applications were due Feb 7, 2014. Montana was allocated more than 500,000 acres for the 2014 sign-up. Application ranking and funding will occur from May through July.

Reenrollment of Expiring Conservation Stewardship Program Contracts: The NRCS national office has been working on guidance for the new farm bill provision that allows for the reenrollment of expiring CSP contracts into new contracts. NRCS anticipates reenrolling contracts beginning later this year.

Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP): NRCS is operating under previous farm bill rules for all programs except where those policies directly conflict with the new law. For EQIP, this means that the agency will move forward with obligating EQIP contracts as soon as our internal software programs have been updated to handle the new farm bill provisions. This will begin in late May and all funds will be obligated by early September.

Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP): We expect the Department to announce program funding in late May. Through RCPP, conservation partners will have the opportunity to seek funding for large-scale projects on a watershed basis or other defined scale. The partners can request funds through CSP, EQIP, or ACEP (or any combination of these) to implement the proposed projects.

Conservation Delivery Streamlining Initiative (CDSI) - Client Gateway

In August 2014, NRCS plans to release the Client Gateway, a web-based tool that allows landowners to have 24/7 online access to Farm-Bill programs and services. Through the gateway, landowners can view soils and natural resource information, ask technical or financial assistance questions, check on program eligibility issues, apply for NRCS programs and assistance, schedule appointments, view plans and contracts, electronically sign plans and contracts, and check the status of payments.

Sage-Grouse and Predictability

NRCS and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reached an agreement to offer “predictability” to landowners who implement conservation practices through NRCS’s Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW) initiative. Landowners who voluntarily sign up for WLFW receive Endangered Species Act predictability that they will be exempt from any incidental take of the species caused by the implementation of WLFW conservation practices in the event the bird is listed in September 2015. This agreement covers practices for sage-grouse, currently a candidate species.

Sage-Grouse Progress

Since 2010, NRCS has invested $10.1 million into cost-share assistance to private landowners to implement conservation practices on nearly 450,000 acres that benefit sage-grouse. The county breakdown is below:

Number of Contracts / Number
of Acres / Contract Dollars / Counties
8 / 22,429 / $823,634 / Blaine, Rosebud, Fallon, Carbon, Powder River
7 / 2,915 / $257,767 / Phillips
12 / 132,931 / $2,276,923 / Fergus, Petroleum
10 / 97,737 / $3,256,265 / Musselshell, Golden Valley
5 / 35,781 / $886,541 / Musselshell, Petroleum
6 / 116,309 / $1,750,537 / Garfield, Rosebud
3 / 30,976 / $564,451 / Beaverhead, Madison
1 / 9,277 / $266,403 / Carter
52 / 448,354 / $10,082,520 / Total

Clean Water Act

The March 2014 Interpretive Rule of the Clean Water Act published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recognizes that agricultural conservation activities implemented consistent with NRCS conservation practice standards provide many benefits for water quality. The exemption for these identified conservation practices is self-implementing, meaning that a producer does not need to notify the regulatory agencies, seek a jurisdictional determination, or submit an application for a CWA section 404 permit. Producers must determine that the practice implemented is in accordance with the applicable NRCS national technical standards. These exemptions apply to producers involved in NRCS planning/programs as well as those not involved. This list is in addition to all previously exempt agriculture, silviculture, and ranching practices covered by section 404(f). The interpretive rule does not eliminate or limit any existing exemptions, it only adds to the existing exemptions. The interpretive rule and associated MOU became effective April 3, 2014. It does not change agency roles and responsibilities. NRCS is not authorized to administer the Clean Water Act and will not confirm or verify that practice standards meet the exemption. NRCS will not conduct field visits of producers who do not receive technical or financial assistance. The interpretive rule was published in the federal register on April 21, 2014 and comments can be made until June 5, 2014. A list of NRCS conservation practice standards exempt from permitting under the Clean Water Act is attached. More detailed information is available in the attached Clean Water Act Questions and Answers. Montana’s fence practice standard is also attached as an example. The national practice standards can be found on the NRCS website. If you would like the link sent to you electronically, let Joyce or Elena know.