Central National Technology Support Center Staff

Lyn T. Kirschner

Soil Conservationist

Updated 07/07/2005

My experiences in the last 15 years included involvement in the development and implementation of the Crop Residue Management (CRM) Campaign. This campaign was funded by NRCS and brought the agricultural industry to the forefront of promoting crop residue management in conjunction with conservation compliance of the Farm Bill. This campaign provided the framework to integrate government programs and private sector efforts to increase conservation tillage acreage across the U.S.

I also was responsible for the development of the Know Your Watershed (KYW) strategic plan. This strategic planning effort for a public/private partnership, which included 60 partners, took over a year to establish. This endeavor was supported by NRCS, U.S. EPA, and five other federal agencies, in cooperation with agricultural companies and organizations. It was the first large-scale public/private program to comprehensively address agricultural nonpoint source pollution through locally led watershed partnerships. I coordinated the development of the National Watershed Network, which was a database of over 1200 watershed partnerships across the U.S. and of "watershed kits" which consist of a series of guidebooks to step watershed groups through a process to develop a watershed partnership and plan

Most recently, I was the NRCS Coordinator to the Farm Assessment (Farm*A*Syst) program, which evolved into the Livestock Environmental Management System (LEMS) project. The experience that I gained from working with the Farm*A*Syst program and the LEMS project has given me new insight into working with other sectors of the agricultural industry. Coordinating with organizations at all levels to address the needs of animal operations to limit their impact on the environment. I coordinated approaches to address potential pollutants from animal operations through state, federal, and private technical assistance providers. I was responsible for integrating these approaches to enhance NRCS conservation programs by providing farmers with the tools and technologies to identify their own environmental needs.

Background

In 1981, started career as soil conservationist in NE Louisiana. Became District Conservationist (1985) in NE Indiana. Served as NRCS/EPA Water Quality Specialist at Conservation Technology Information Center from 1989 to 2001, under Indiana State Conservationist. Provided coordination and technical assistance to CTIC and EPA addressing agricultural water quality issues and served as technical advisor to "Know Your Watershed" Program. Moved to Madison, Wisconsin, in 2001, as NRCS coordinator of Farm Assessment System and Agricultural Environmental Management System Programs. Programs are producer driven to identify and address environmental risks on agricultural operations. Have been on Central National Technology Support Center, as soil conservationist, since September 2004.

Education

Purdue University, with B.S. in Environmental Science in 1980.

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