Department of Agriculture, Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment

Department/Agency: Department of Agriculture

Position:

Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment

Executive Schedule: Executive Level III - Presidential Appointment with Senate Confirmation

Major Responsibilities:

Direct the United States Forest Service
Oversee the Natural Resources Conservation Service
Supervise the development of forestry and conservation policy
Promote sustainable land management and prevent damage to natural resources

Key Competencies and Preferred Qualifications:

Environmental policy experience
Agri-business management experience

Insight:

The Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment oversees the USDA agencies responsible for forestry and conservation. The Bush administration’s Healthy Forests Initiative revamped existing forest policy to expedite the forest development projects it believed would minimize the growing threat of wildfires. The initiative drew criticism from some environmental groups who claimed it dangerously reduced environmental standards for developers.

“The initiative is based on the false assumption that landscape-wide logging will decrease forest fires,” the Sierra Club argues. “This premise is contradicted by the general scientific consensus, which has found that logging can increase fire risk.” The environmental group charged the administration’s “true goal” was “to use the forest fire issue to cut the public out of the public lands management decision-making process and to give logging companies virtually free access to our National Forests.”

The under secretary for natural resources, in conjunction with the chief of the Forest Service, is responsible for implementing the president’s initiative in the nation’s forest and grasslands, which are equivalent in acreage to the state of Texas.

For three straight years, the Forest Service has had to divert funds from other programs to meet the cost of fighting catastrophic fires. "We are spending more, managing less, burning more and as a result, having to cut funds to other important resource programs such as recreation, fisheries and wildlife to battle these wildfires," Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) was quoted by the Associated Press.

Blazes in California and New Mexico drove up the 2008 firefighting bill to nearly $2 billion. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) helped pass a supplemental appropriations bill in September 2008 with more than $900 million in emergency funding for the Forest Service. Feinstein’s home state battled wildfires on more than 1.2 million acres and lost the lives of 13 firefighters between June and September 2008, including nine in a helicopter crash.

In addition to overseeing the financially strapped Forest Service, the under secretary directs the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), originally the Soil Conservation Service. NRCS offers technical advice and financial support to land owners to help them develop and implement sustainable land management strategies. Wetland preservation is a critical goal of the NRCS. “We have gained wetland acreage, thanks to the stewardship ethic of the Nation’s farmers and ranchers,” Mark Rey, under secretary for natural resources during both of Bush’s terms, said in October 2008. “Because of this achievement, USDA was able to help President Bush exceed his goal of improving, restoring, and protecting at least 3 million acres of wetlands in less than five years.

The next under secretary will have to strike a balance between protecting valuable natural habitats like wetlands and promoting the economically beneficial use of natural resources. He or she must also help direct funds toward emergency recovery operations in the wake of such natural disasters as the California wildfires and Iowa floods, in addition to financing preventative measures such as sustainability education for American farmers.

Key Relationships – Within the Department or Agency:

Secretary
Under Secretary for Rural Development
Assistant Secretary for Congressional Relations
General Counsel
Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service
Chief of the Forest Service
Regional Foresters

Key Relationships – Within the Government:

Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency
Director of National Park Service, Department of the Interior
Director of Land Management Bureau, Department of the Interior
Congress

Key Relationships – Outside the Government:

Forest products industry
Developer
Conservation interest groups
Land owners
State government

Nomination Referred to:

Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

Current Position Profile:

1. Harris D. Sherman (Confirmed Oct 8, 2009). Former Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources and a member of Governor Ritter's Cabinet. He also served as the Director of Compact Negotiations for the Colorado Interbasin Compact Commission, Chairman of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and Co-chair of the Governor's Forest Health Advisory Council. For several decades, Sherman has been active in land conservation efforts with the Nature Conservancy, Colorado Open Lands, and the Trust for Public Land. Sherman received his B.A. degree from Colorado College and his law degree from Columbia University Law School.

Recent Position Profiles:

2. Mark Rey, M.S. (2001-2009). Former staff member with the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Former vice president for forest resources at the American Forest and Paper Association. Served as executive director for the American Forest Resource Alliance and vice president of public forestry programs for the National Forest Products Association. Worked at the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management.

3. James Lyons, M.A. (1993-2001). Former executive director of the Casey Tree Endowment Fund and staffer for the House Committee on Agriculture. Later professor at the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and vice president for policy and communications at Oxfam America.

4. Jim Moseley (1990-1992). Agricultural advisor to the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Former owner of Ag Ridge Farms and managing partner of Infinity Pork, LLC. Chaired industry negotiating team for America's Clean Water Foundation's National Environmental Dialogue on Pork Production. Current deputy secretary of agriculture.