HYDE-SMITH PUSHES FOR USDA TO FILL POST NEEDED TO ADVANCE MISS. CONSERVATION PROJECTS
Senator Says Lack of a USDA-NRCS Cultural Resource Specialist is Costing Miss. Farmers, Landowners
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) today stressed the importance of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) filling a key personnel post that, if left vacant, will imperil the ability of Mississippi landowners to participate in voluntary conservation programs.
Hyde-Smith addressed the need for the USDA to hire a Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) cultural resource specialist in Mississippi during a Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee hearing to review the FY2027 USDA budget request.
“The problem is primarily associated with NRCS’s working lands programs, which are so vital to allowing farmland to remain in production, while also addressing natural resource concerns specific to the area,” Hyde-Smith said.
“The problem is we’ve been without a NRCS cultural resources specialist in Mississippi for quite some time, which has resulted in many producers waiting far too long for the surveys needed to implement these projects that they are working on that are pretty vital to their operations,” the Senator continued. “Some landowners have spent tens of thousands of dollars on common-sense conservation improvements, knowing they would not impact cultural resources in any way, but yet still haven’t been approved, and have been informed they may never get approved.”
NRCS conservation programs, such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) or the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), require a cultural resource specialist to assess and certify projects for any potential impact on structural and nonstructural cultural resources.
“We both know every NRCS-funded or assisted project triggers federal reviews required by all the agencies, the National Historic Preservation Act, and all those things. So we know this position is critical for USDA to fulfill its contractual obligations with farmers and landowners,” Hyde-Smith told Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.
Rollins acknowledged this problem for Mississippi landowners and pointed to efforts within her office and USDA to address hiring needs and avoid such situations in the future.
“I know, specific to your case, Senator, I know there’s now a Tiger team in place. I know that we have updated our training manuals. Hopefully, this is across the country not just Mississippi, to ensure that if no one can approve the stack of applications, then that doesn’t help anybody. So, we need to amend that. We’re doing that right now. We are completely recalibrating our hiring processes and trying to get more people in right away in all of these offices, and I think we're making progress,” Rollins said.
“So, my hope is that by moving into this current technology phase, never taking away the face-to-face, especially for the older generation of farmers, but as the newer generation comes up, we’re going to be able to solve a lot of this with technology. But I hear you and I keep telling everyone, send me these stories of you guys not getting done what you need to get done, and we will solve for it,” the Secretary said.
Mississippi USDA-NRCS serves all 82 counties through partnerships with producers, landowners, conservation districts, state and local governments, and rural and urban citizens.
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