Dave White, Acting Chief

Dave White began his 32-year career with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) as a conservation aid in Missouri. Subsequently, he has served the agency in South Carolina, Montana and its Washington, D.C. headquarters. As Acting Chief, he leads 12,000 employees and manages a budget in excess of $3 billion.

From 2002 to 2008, Mr. White was assigned as the NRCS State Conservationist in Montana. For much of 2007 and 2008, he was also detailed to Senator Tom Harkin’s Capitol Hill office, where he helped the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry craft the Conservation Title of the 2008 Farm Bill.

His earlier jobs in the Washington, D.C. area include two details to the staff of Senator Richard Lugar, in support of agriculture committee work on energy and alternative fuels and the 2002 Farm Bill, and a tour as Director of Communications for the White House Task Force for Livable Communities.

Mr. White is an honors graduate of the University of Missouri, where he studied agriculture. He and his wife have a grown son and daughter.

NRCS provides leadership in a partnership effort to help America's private land owners and managers conserve their soil, water, and other natural resources.