National Ecosystem Based Assistance Team

Staffing Report

Indianapolis, Indiana
February 14-16, 1995

Table of Contents

Introduction

• Team Charge
• Possible Uses of Document
• Team Goal
• Team Comments

Resource Concerns/Expertise and Attributes/Skills Needed

• Soils
• Water
• Air
• Plants
• Animals
• Humans

List of Attributes/Skills Needed to Provide EBA

Manager's Guide to Selection of Skills/Disciplines for EBA

Manager's Matrix for Selecting Needed Disciplines

Introduction

Team Charge:

To describe as specifically as possible the desired skills, knowledge and abilities of the future Natural Resources Conservation Service field office in order to carry out ecosystem based assistance on the farm, ranch, watershed, or other level of detail.

SOME USES OF THIS DOCUMENT MAY BE TO:

• Design training sessions;
• Develop recruitment efforts;
• Influence college curriculum;
• Set up of new institutes/centers;
• Show others how comprehensive the Natural Resources Conservation Service is;
• Information for National Employment;
• Staffing;
• Help managers develop key job/skill needs.

TEAM GOAL:

To identify skills that Natural Resources Conservation Service field employees need to provide ecosystem based assistance.

The second part of the team goal was to develop a process for managers to use in determining skills needed to solve specific resource concerns. A model for this process follows on pages 16-18.

The team realizes that improvements can and will be made since we had only a few hours to get it to this point. A tremendous "Thank you" is given to the ES&P staff at the West National Technical Center for the initial work on the proposal.

TEAM COMMENTS:

As the team completed its deliberations the following general comments were summarized of previous discussions that are not included elsewhere in the report, but were deemed important:

1. More interdisciplinary teamwork must be practiced in the future.
2. It is important that we work at local, state, regional and national levels to partner with others as a way of getting help from them (and for us to help them with their objectives).
3. The Natural Resources Conservation Service needs new skills/attributes at levels higher than awareness.
4. We need to consider an internal skills assessment system to insure quality and we need to know individual skills in order to mesh with the matrix concept found later in this report.

After considerable "storming" the team decided to use the SWAPA+H model as the logical way to discuss and list expertise needs.

Resource: Soil

Resource: Water

Resource: Air

RESOURCE: PLANTS

RESOURCE: ANIMALS

RESOURCE: HUMANS

List of Attributes Needed to Provide EBA

Manager's Guide to Selection of Skills and Disciplines For Ecosystem Based Assistance (EBA)

Ecosystem Based Assistance (EBA) will be the Natural Resources Conservation Service's way of doing business in the future. EBA is very similar to the total resource management concept described in the national Planning Procedures Handbook (NPPH). The Natural Resources Conservation Service will need to make some changes to fully implement EBA.

EBA will require a more balanced approach involving alternatives that provide more biological diversity and in some cases, less productivity. This will require a shift in the staffing mix (types of disciplines, attributes, skills) that Natural Resources Conservation Service field employees need to implement EBA.

The Manager's Guide is based on the process below.

Process to Determine Staffing Mix For EBA

Assumptions

• EBA is implementable within Natural Resources Conservation Service using the total resource management concepts contained in policy and guidelines.
• EBA will be done at least on a whole farm unit basis and on a watershed basis.
• EBA includes SWAPA+H.
• EBA technology will be implemented at the field level.
• Field area = the planning and application area.

Methods For Determining Staffing Mix

• Inventory.
• Resource concerns of the field area (such as watershed, township, farm or ranch).
• Human characteristics of the field area (community profile).
• Availability of technical support outside the field area
• within Natural Resources Conservation Service;
• outside Natural Resources Conservation Service;
• current partners;
• potential partners.
• Stakeholders (vested interests).
• Present field area's capability (with Natural Resource Conservation Service) to implement EBA.
• Existing mandates, laws, regulations, and locally approved plans, etc.

The following matrix is an example of the way this Manager's Guide can be implemented. Resources (SWAPA+H) and concerns of the field, or planning and application area, are listed on the left - specific attributes across the top. A determination is made as to how important each attribute is to meeting the resource and concern (see matrix footnote). Those with the highest numerical score provide the manager with decision choices.

(1) Attribute: The skill, quality, trait, or discipline required to insure adequate ecosystem based assistance.

Manager's Matrix for Selecting Needed Disciplines

Needed Attribute ^*

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