NRCS Leadership

Updated 07/09/2008

• Office of the Chief
  The Chief provides overall leadership for the activities of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to help people conserve, maintain, and improve our natural resources and environment. The Associate Chief works with the Chief in planning, coordinating, and directing the activities of NRCS, as well as coordinating the work of the divisions and staffs within the Office of the Chief. The offices that operate directly under the Office of the Chief include Strategic Natural Resource Issues, Legislative Affairs Division, Public Affairs Division, and Civil Rights Division.
• Management Deputy Area
  The Management Deputy area is responsible for the development of national policies, establishment and promulgation of procedures, guidelines and standards. This deputy area also provides agency and operational leadership for management services, human resources management, financial management, information technology, ethics programs, and headquarters administrative support. The Management Deputy Area is also responsible for assessing emerging legislation, policy, and operations issues and conditions, and develops management options and plans for managing NRCS.
• Programs Deputy Area
  The Programs Deputy area mission in NRCS is to manage natural resource conservation programs that provide environmental, societal, financial, and technical benefits that not only include on-site benefits such as sustaining and improving agricultural productivity, but also other benefits such as cleaner, safer, and more dependable water supplies, reduced damages caused by floods and other natural disasters, and enhancing the natural resource base to support continuing economic development, recreation, and other purposes.
• Science and Technology Deputy Area
  The Science and Technology Deputy area is responsible for animal husbandry and clean water, ecological sciences, engineering, resource economics, and social sciences. In addition to these responsibilities this deputy area manages technical service provider activities, and technology support for NRCS science and technology activities and for the National Centers and the National Technology Support Centers.
• Soil Survey and Resources Assessment  Deputy Area
  The Soil Survey and Resource Assessment (SSRA) Deputy area is responsible for Divisions, Institutes and Centers related to soil science, soil survey and resource assessment, technical assistance to foreign governments, and international scientific and technical exchange. SSRA has technical leadership for the use of geospatial technologies (GIS, GPS, remote sensing) in NRCS and for establishing geospatial data standards for the agency. SSRA also conducts the National Resources Inventory (NRI) for assessment of natural resource conditions and trends in the United States. Drawing on the NRI and other data sources, SSRA leads the agency’s resource analysis effort to support USDA in policy making for resource conservation. SSRA works in coordination with the NRCS Science and Technology deputy area to set research and technology development priorities for the agency. SSRA also has leadership for NRCS homeland security operations.
• Planning and Accountability Deputy Area
  The Strategic Planning and Accountability Deputy area ensures accountability for performance and results through the integration of strategic planning, budget formulation, operations management, and oversight and evaluation. This includes: establishing and communicating agency direction in the agency strategic, performance and business plans; estimating and requesting resources required to accomplish goals and objectives; ensuring agency operations are efficient and effective; measuring and reporting on performance and customer satisfaction; and providing oversight and evaluation of agency operations.