New NRCS Chief Arlen Lancaster Makes Pennsylvania His First State Visit

HARRISBURG, August 29, 2006--Within less than a week of being appointed as the new Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Arlen Lancaster made Pennsylvania his first state visit to participate in a field tour with the USDA Agricultural Air Quality Task Force. The USDA Task Force was here to conduct a public meeting in Harrisburg on August 30-31, 2006.

Chief Lancaster spoke with the group at lunch in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. “It is a real honor to be the Chief of NRCS, an agency with a tremendous legacy of working with our nation’s farmers and ranchers on private working lands,” said Lancaster.  The Chief also spoke about the significance of air quality issues and the role of the USDA Task Force in providing recommendations to the Secretary of Agriculture on addressing the issues. 

Craig Derickson, State Conservationist, also introduced Merlyn Carlson, Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resources and the Environment at USDA, who attended the tour and the public meeting. Craig thanked Mr. Carlson for his leadership in conservation activities and for supporting NRCS in their work to help people help the land – the new mission statement outlined in the NRCS Strategic Plan.

The lunch activities were part of a private tour to showcase Pennsylvania agriculture operations that include air quality issues and the work done by producers to minimize them. Speakers from Penn State University, the State Conservation Commission, and industry representatives presented information on air quality research, industry concerns about air quality management, and Pennsylvania’s developing odor management program.

State Conservationist Craig Derickson (center) with Merlyn Carlson, USDA Deputy Under Secretary and Task Force Chair (right) and Dennis Wolff, Secretary of Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture

On Wednesday and Thursday, the Task Force held a public meeting in Harrisburg. More than a dozen representatives from state and federal agencies and private industry met with the Task Force to discuss current issues facing agriculture and the potential impacts to air quality from agricultural operations. Dennis Wolff, Secretary of Pennsylvania’s Department of Agriculture and Tom Fidler, Deputy Secretary of Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection were among many presenters that spoke to the group and identified several current issues and concerns facing agricultural operations.

The Agricultural Air Quality Task Force advises the Secretary of Agriculture on agricultural air quality issues. Its mandate is to strengthen and coordinate USDA's air quality research efforts and identify cost-effective ways to help the agriculture industry to improve air quality and meet federal and local air quality emissions requirements.

Producers, academics, industry representatives and other experts in agriculture and air quality comprise the task force. Representatives from various USDA agencies-Natural Resources Conservation Service, Forest Service, Economic Research Service, Agricultural Research Service and Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service-also participate on the task force.

Additional information about the Agricultural Air Quality Task Force can be found at http://www.airquality.nrcs.usda.gov/AAQTF or by contacting Diane Gelburd, NRCS Designated Federal Officer at 202-720-2587 or e-mail diane.gelburd@wdc.usda.gov.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service provides leadership in a partnership effort to help people conserve, maintain, and improve our natural resources and environment.