Message from Kevin Wickey

I woke up this morning to a dusting of snow on my patio. One of the things I like about West Virginia is a climate with a full 4 seasons. Change is in the air.

We had a very successful year in FY2007 and I’m very proud of our accomplishments, but we can’t stay in FY07. I announced some major changes in the Management Team earlier this week. Changes that I believe will make us more efficient and effective. Some additional changes will be following.

The Soil Survey program had a banner year in FY2007. SSURGO seemed like a pipe dream 18 years ago and now we have reached it here in West Virginia. Change is coming though, with two new MLRA offices in Huntington and Morgantown.

The US Senate is debating the next Farm Bill this morning. We are still under a Continuing Resolution. Our staff numbers have decreased by 13 since I started here in January with more retirements expected soon. Changes are coming with our budget and our programs and staffing.

We are wrapping up construction activities for the year and it has been our culture in NRCS to slow down between fall and late winter. We have to change. We need to be busy writing conservation plans, ranking EQIP applications, and making CSP and other program payments and getting ready for the huge construction season we will have next year. We have another enormous opportunity with EQIP funds here in West Virginia again right now. The challenge to conservationists is to write good plans that address the resource concerns and advance the quality of our natural resources here in West Virginia.

I heard a former Chief say that many of us have “conservationist” in our titles. We are not “administrators”. That is not meant to belittle or reduce the importance of administrators or the administrative duties that are necessary to our successful operations. Rather, it is to emphasize that our goal in NRCS is not to write contracts and spend money. We do that; and we do that very well. We have made great strides as an agency in developing tools and policies that have streamlined the administrative tasks we perform and more are coming. We have more accurate information regarding the management of contracts than we have ever had allowing us to be more effective. Our goal, however, in NRCS is to help people help the land. It is very important that we keep that in focus. Contracts are only useful as tools to achieve that end – getting conservation on the land. They are not an end in themselves. The people in NRCS here in West Virginia are what make the difference – you decide whether we are having a positive effect on our natural resources or simply chasing paperwork.

And that brings us back to the opportunity we have right now here in West Virginia. One thing that hasn’t changed is our mission. Keep that in focus. We still help people help the land. Don’t miss the opportunity we have to achieve that mission; to make a difference here in Wild and Wonderful West Virginia.

Kevin Wickey
State Conservationist
West Virginia

< Back to November News and Views