[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]




 
 SUPPORTING CAREERS IN CONSERVATION: WORKFORCE TRAINING, EDUCATION, AND
                           JOB OPPORTUNITIES

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

               SUBCOMMITTEE ON CONSERVATION AND FORESTRY

                                 OF THE

                        COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             SECOND SESSION

                               __________

                              MAY 25, 2022

                               __________

                           Serial No. 117-34
                           
                           
                           
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]   

                           


          Printed for the use of the Committee on Agriculture
                         agriculture.house.gov
                         
                         
                         
                         
                             ______                       


             U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 
48-008 PDF           WASHINGTON : 2022                          
                         


                        COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE

                     DAVID SCOTT, Georgia, Chairman

JIM COSTA, California                GLENN THOMPSON, Pennsylvania, 
JAMES P. McGOVERN, Massachusetts     Ranking Minority Member
ALMA S. ADAMS, North Carolina, Vice  AUSTIN SCOTT, Georgia
Chair                                ERIC A. ``RICK'' CRAWFORD, 
ABIGAIL DAVIS SPANBERGER, Virginia   Arkansas
JAHANA HAYES, Connecticut            SCOTT DesJARLAIS, Tennessee
SHONTEL M. BROWN, Ohio               VICKY HARTZLER, Missouri
BOBBY L. RUSH, Illinois              DOUG LaMALFA, California
CHELLIE PINGREE, Maine               RODNEY DAVIS, Illinois
GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN,      RICK W. ALLEN, Georgia
Northern Mariana Islands             DAVID ROUZER, North Carolina
ANN M. KUSTER, New Hampshire         TRENT KELLY, Mississippi
CHERI BUSTOS, Illinois               DON BACON, Nebraska
SEAN PATRICK MALONEY, New York       DUSTY JOHNSON, South Dakota
STACEY E. PLASKETT, Virgin Islands   JAMES R. BAIRD, Indiana
TOM O'HALLERAN, Arizona              CHRIS JACOBS, New York
SALUD O. CARBAJAL, California        TROY BALDERSON, Ohio
RO KHANNA, California                MICHAEL CLOUD, Texas
AL LAWSON, Jr., Florida              TRACEY MANN, Kansas
J. LUIS CORREA, California           RANDY FEENSTRA, Iowa
ANGIE CRAIG, Minnesota               MARY E. MILLER, Illinois
JOSH HARDER, California              BARRY MOORE, Alabama
CYNTHIA AXNE, Iowa                   KAT CAMMACK, Florida
KIM SCHRIER, Washington              MICHELLE FISCHBACH, Minnesota
JIMMY PANETTA, California            ------
SANFORD D. BISHOP, Jr., Georgia      ------
MARCY KAPTUR, Ohio
------

                                 ______

                      Anne Simmons, Staff Director

                 Parish Braden, Minority Staff Director

                                 ______

               Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry

               ABIGAIL DAVIS SPANBERGER, Virginia, Chair

CHELLIE PINGREE, Maine               DOUG LaMALFA, California, Ranking 
ANN M. KUSTER, New Hampshire         Minority Member
TOM O'HALLERAN, Arizona              SCOTT DesJARLAIS, Tennessee
JIMMY PANETTA, California            RICK W. ALLEN, Georgia
J. LUIS CORREA, California           TRENT KELLY, Mississippi
KIM SCHRIER, Washington              DUSTY JOHNSON, South Dakota
------                               MARY E. MILLER, Illinois
                                     BARRY MOORE, Alabama

               Paul Babbitt, Subcommittee Staff Director

                                  (ii)
                                  
                             C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page
LaMalfa, Hon. Doug, a Representative in Congress from California, 
  opening statement..............................................     4
Spanberger, Hon. Abigail Davis, a Representative in Congress from 
  Virginia, opening statement....................................     1
    Prepared statement...........................................     3

                               Witnesses

Crowder, Michael, President, National Association of Conservation 
  Districts, Washington, D.C.....................................     5
    Prepared statement...........................................     7
O'Neill, Shane R.C., Forest Industry Business Development 
  Manager, University of Maine; Member, Association of Public and 
  Land-grant Universities, Orono, ME.............................    10
    Prepared statement...........................................    11
Olander, Keith, Dean of Agricultural Studies, Central Lakes 
  College, Staples, MN...........................................    14
    Prepared statement...........................................    15
Holzer, Ph.D., Margaret A., Past Chair, K-12 Committee, Soil 
  Science Society of America; Science Standards Specialist; Great 
  Minds PBCTM, PhD Science', Madison, WI...    17
    Prepared statement...........................................    18
Jensen, Marissa, Manager, Education & Outreach Conservation 
  Leadership Program, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever, Saint 
  Paul, MN.......................................................    23
    Prepared statement...........................................    25
Schohr, Tracy K., Livestock and Natural Resource Advisor, 
  Agriculture and Natural Resources, Cooperative Extension, 
  University of California; Partner, Schohr Ranch, Gridley, CA...    28
    Prepared statement...........................................    30


 SUPPORTING CAREERS IN CONSERVATION: WORKFORCE TRAINING, EDUCATION, AND



                           JOB OPPORTUNITIES

                              ----------                              


                        WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2022

                  House of Representatives,
                 Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry,
                                  Committee on Agriculture,
                                                   Washington, D.C.
    The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 1:02 p.m., via 
Zoom, Hon. Abigail Davis Spanberger [Chair of the Subcommittee] 
presiding.
    Members present: Representatives Spanberger, Pingree, 
Kuster, O'Halleran, Panetta, Correa, Schrier, LaMalfa, 
DesJarlais, and Moore.
    Staff present: Paul Babbitt, Lyron Blum-Evitts, Prescott 
Martin III, John Busovsky, Patricia Straughn, Erin Wilson, 
Faisal Siddiqui, and Dana Sandman.

     OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. ABIGAIL DAVIS SPANBERGER, A 
            REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM VIRGINIA

    The Chair. This hearing of the Subcommittee on Conservation 
and Forestry entitled, Supporting Careers in Conservation: 
Workforce Training, Education, and Job Opportunities, will come 
to order.
    Welcome, and thank you for joining today's hearing. After 
brief opening remarks, Members will receive testimony from our 
witnesses today, and then the hearing will be open to 
questions.
    Good afternoon. I would like to welcome you to today's 
hearing focused on how this Committee and USDA can work with 
partners to better build and support a pipeline for careers in 
the conservation space, including at NRCS. I am looking forward 
to hearing from our witnesses about the work they are doing, 
the needs they see, and the opportunities we have to encourage 
careers in the conservation workforce.
    Our robust conservation workforce plays a critical role in 
helping America's growers, producers, and forest landowners 
implement conservation practices, practices that not only have 
improved environmental outcomes but also have improved their 
operations' bottom lines through increased crop quality, better 
yields, and other co-benefits. Since the 1930s, NRCS has 
provided producers with technical support and financial 
assistance to achieve the benefits of a healthy and productive 
landscape. In 2019 alone, NRCS and its partners worked with 
more than 500,000 producers, \1/2\ million producers, on more 
than 43 million acres to build conservation plans and implement 
practices that increase production, reduce input costs, 
conserve natural resources, and protect wildlife habitat. 
Together, these actions not only have a positive impact on 
farms but also on their neighbors, their watersheds, and the 
entire U.S. population through well-documented environmental 
benefits, including improved water quality through the 
reduction of runoff, increased resilience of the land against 
drought in dry years, and reduced carbon dioxide emissions in 
the environment through the sequestration of carbon from 
healthier soils.
    As we continue rebuilding our economy and finding solutions 
to the climate crisis, voluntary conservation programs can play 
a critical role in reducing our carbon footprint, making our 
food supply chains more resilient while growing our economy, 
especially in rural communities. But it takes a qualified 
workforce to make that happen. While farmers and producers 
stand ready to play their part in conservation, attrition in 
on-the-ground staff has reduced landowners' opportunities to 
learn from trained technical assistance providers who provide 
site-specific solutions to implement conservation practices 
effectively. Consider this: Between 2004 and 2019, staffing 
levels at NRCS have declined 24 percent. Unlike many other 
Federal agencies, nearly all NRCS staff or 98 percent are 
located outside of Washington, D.C. and, as such, attrition in 
NRCS's ranks is felt disproportionately by those who are 
seeking to implement conservation practices on their land.
    Farmers are the original conservationists and play a 
critical role in helping to safeguard our environment. In 2018, 
Congress reaffirmed the importance of voluntary incentive-based 
conservation in the farm bill by maintaining robust funding in 
the conservation title. Moving forward, it is critical that 
Congress adequately fund technical assistance at NRCS to ensure 
the effective implementation and to maximize accountability of 
these voluntary programs.
    However, while increasing funding can help reduce attrition 
within the conservation workforce at NRCS, it does not reach 
the underlying issue of the conservation workforce shortage. 
Instead, I have heard directly about the fierce competition 
between state agencies, nonprofit technical service providers, 
and NRCS for the same small number of specialists in 
communities across my district and the country. In order to 
meet the needs of farmers, it is essential that we do more to 
attract more young Americans into this field and grow the size 
of this essential workforce.
    Today, I am excited to hear from our witnesses who are 
working to build this pipeline, starting from K through 12 all 
the way through community colleges and land-grant universities. 
I am excited to hear how we can do more to retain those working 
in conservation already. We have seen the challenges of and the 
innovation sparked by a reduced workforce, and today's 
witnesses offer unique perspectives regarding these challenges 
and opportunities that will help us build a pipeline into the 
conservation workforce. As we look ahead to the 2023 Farm Bill, 
I am excited to learn more about how we can build this pipeline 
by meeting people where they are and making sure they have the 
necessary information to consider and prepare for careers in 
conservation.
    And just yesterday, I was in my district visiting with a 
career and technical education program where we were honoring 
students who were graduating and heading off into technical 
careers. Throughout my district, we have programs that are 
starting to get set up related to conservation and 
agricultural-related studies, and so there is this energy on 
the ground. I am excited to see it in Virginia, and I look 
forward to learning about what is happening across the country 
and what we should know as we head into the 2023 Farm Bill.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Spanberger follows:]

 Prepared Statement of Hon. Abigail Davis Spanberger, a Representative 
                       in Congress from Virginia
    Good afternoon, I would like to welcome you to today's hearing 
focused on how this Committee and USDA can work with partners to better 
build and support a pipeline for careers in the conservation space, 
including at NRCS. I'm looking forward to hearing from our witnesses 
about the work they are doing, the needs they see, and the 
opportunities we have to encourage careers in the conservation 
workforce. A robust conservation workforce plays a critical role in 
helping America's growers, producers, and forest landowners implement 
conservation practices--practices that not only have improved 
environmental outcomes, but also improved their operations' bottom 
lines through increased crop quality, better yields, and other co-
benefits.
    Since the 1930s, NRCS has provided producers with technical support 
and financial assistance to achieve the benefits of a healthy and 
productive landscape. In 2019 alone, NRCS and its partners worked with 
more than 500,000 producers--\1/2\ million--on more than 43 million 
acres to build conservation plans and implement practices that increase 
production, reduce input costs, conserve natural resources, and protect 
wildlife habitat.
    Together, these actions not only have a positive impact on farms, 
but also on their neighbors, their watersheds, and the entire U.S. 
population through well-documented environmental benefits, including 
improved water quality through the reduction of run-off, increased 
resilience of the land against drought in dry years, and reduced carbon 
dioxide emissions in the environment through the sequestration of 
carbon from healthier soils.
    As we continue rebuilding our economy and finding solutions to the 
climate crisis, voluntary conservation programs can play a critical 
role in reducing our carbon footprint, making our food supply chains 
more resilient, while growing our economy, especially in rural 
communities. But it takes a qualified workforce to make that happen.
    While farmers and producers stand ready to play their part in 
conservation, attrition in on-the-ground staff has reduced landowners' 
opportunities to learn from trained technical assistance providers who 
provide site-specific solutions to implement conservation practices 
effectively. Consider: between 2004 and 2019, staffing levels at NRCS 
have declined 24 percent. Unlike many other Federal agencies, nearly 
all NRCS staff, or 98 percent, are located outside Washington, D.C. As 
such, attrition in NRCS' ranks is felt disproportionately by those 
seeking to implement conservation practices on their land.
    Farmers are the original conservationists and can play a critical 
role in helping to safeguard our environment. In 2018, Congress 
reaffirmed the importance of voluntary, incentive-based conservation in 
the farm bill by maintaining robust funding in the conservation title. 
Moving forward, it is critical that Congress adequately fund technical 
assistance at NRCS to ensure the effective implementation and maximize 
accountability of these voluntary programs.
    However, while increasing funding can help reduce attrition within 
the conservation workforce at NRCS, it does not reach the underlying 
issue of the conservation workforce shortage. Instead, I have heard 
directly about the fierce competition between state agencies, nonprofit 
technical service providers, and NRCS for the same small number of 
specialists in communities across my district and the country. In order 
to meet the needs of farmers, it is essential that we do more to 
attract more young Americans into this field and grow the size of this 
essential workforce.
    Today, I am excited to hear more from our witnesses who are working 
to build this pipeline starting from K-12 all the way through our 
community colleges and land-grant universities. I am also excited to 
hear how we can do more to retain those working in conservation 
already.
    We have seen the challenges of, and innovations sparked by, a 
reduced workforce. Today's witnesses offer unique perspectives 
regarding these challenges and opportunities that will help us build a 
pipeline into the conservation workforce. As we look ahead to the 2023 
Farm Bill, I am excited to learn more about how we can build this 
pipeline by meeting people where they are and making sure they have the 
necessary information to consider and prepare for careers in 
conservation.

    The Chair. So with that, I would now like to welcome the 
distinguished gentleman, the Ranking Member, Mr. LaMalfa, for 
any opening remarks that he would like to make.

  OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. DOUG LaMALFA, A REPRESENTATIVE IN 
                    CONGRESS FROM CALIFORNIA

    Mr. LaMalfa. Well, thank you, Madam Chair. I hope you are 
doing well. We are out here on the West Coast where it is 
already getting hot, but thanks for this opportunity for having 
today's hearing and hopefully meet the goals of this issue.
    So we are talking about in the farm bill where we are going 
to have a heavy lift next year getting that done, so I am glad 
we are getting ahead of it with hearings on many aspects.
    Title II of the farm bill provides farmers, ranchers, and 
landowners with a variety of programs and tools to engage in 
voluntary incentive-based conservation activities. Some of them 
work very well in rice country where I live. These management 
activities stress various natural resources concerns and are 
really a win-win for both the producer, as well as 
environmentally, as benefits to both are indeed well-
established.
    Under the 2018 Farm Bill, the conservation title provides 
over $6 billion in funding for these programs each year. This 
funding supports working lands programs such as the EQIP, the 
CSP, the Regional Conservation Partnership Program. It supports 
nonworking land such as the CRP program and the Ag Conservation 
and Easement Program. In my home State of California, we 
continue to see the value of voluntary conservation and the 
great need for increased land management. Conservation 
activities and active management directly improve water and 
soil quality and encourage wildlife habitat and could help 
restore forest lands after wildfires, something we desperately 
need as the fires in this area are in the six-digit range in 
acres, the Dixie Fire just under 1 million last year, 1 million 
acres. We are far behind on this, so I hope that these 
programs, as well as the increased employment, can kick in and 
really help get us fast-forward on putting these lands back to 
something that I think the American people would like.
    So indeed, wildfires in crisis this year already. We have 
had several fires in the open space areas just in my district. 
Thankfully, they are not in the forest yet, but with the north 
wind and such, it is indeed a threat all the time, and I hold 
my breath as to what is coming here later this year.
    So we need every tool we can in order to help battle this. 
For example, in one of my counties from north Siskiyou County 
to Butte Valley south, the Joint Chiefs' Landscape Restoration 
Partnership project will assist private forest owners in 
treating acres adjoining public lands. In Modoc County, NRCS 
has been removing juniper trees in a multiyear project to 
improve sage grouse habitat and grazing for local ranchers 
post-fire. NRCS has worked with ranchers installing new water 
sources, notably, in Butte County where the Camp Fire, meaning 
the Paradise area, damaged what is known as the Miocene Canal.
    So indeed, on forest restoration, we are getting ahead of 
the curve so we don't have such devastating fires. As I 
mentioned with the sage grouse situation up there, the sage 
grouse at any moment could be listed, which will take a lot of 
ability away to manage lands and for ranchers to actually do 
their good work in conjunction with that.
    So I have a lot more I could say here, but I think I would 
like to get started with our witnesses here. So, I look forward 
to the discussion today and the opportunity for training the 
next generation of technical assistance providers is a big one. 
It is important that we meet the objectives of these 
conservation plans, and we need the people to do that, so it is 
the importance of indeed bringing more people into place.
    So I would like to welcome all of our witnesses here today 
and say thank you for joining us. I would also like to say 
thanks specifically to Tracy Schohr, who I will make the 
introduction for in a little bit, and for her for sharing her 
story with us.
    So, Madam Chair, I will yield back. Thank you.
    The Chair. Thank you very much, Mr. LaMalfa.
    The chair would request that other Members submit their 
opening statements for the record so witnesses may begin their 
testimony and to ensure that there is ample time for questions.
    I am pleased to welcome our panel of witnesses to the 
Agriculture Committee today and the Subcommittee on 
Conservation and Forestry. Our first witness today is Mr. 
Michael Crowder, who is the President of the National 
Association of Conservation Districts. Mr. Crowder, I look 
forward to your first time testifying before our Subcommittee. 
You have 5 minutes for your opening statements, and there will 
be a clock that appears on the screen. But in these virtual 
scenarios, I tend to yield to towards being a bit more generous 
with time in case you are keeping track of your comments and 
not the clock. But, Mr. Crowder, I open it up to you, sir. 
Please go ahead.

 STATEMENT OF MICHAEL CROWDER, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION 
          OF CONSERVATION DISTRICTS, WASHINGTON, D.C.

    Mr. Crowder. Thank you, Chair Spanberger, Ranking Member 
LaMalfa, and Members of the Subcommittee. Thank you for the 
opportunity to join you today to discuss the challenges 
currently facing the conservation workforce and opportunities 
to address and overcome these issues. My name is Michael 
Crowder, and I serve as President of the National Association 
of Conservation Districts and have been the general manager of 
the Barker Ranch in eastern Washington State for 22 years and 
have been a partner of my family's third-generation farm in 
Indiana since 2002. I have also served as an adjunct professor 
at Washington State University Tri-Cities where I taught 
graduate- and undergraduate-level classes in wildlife science, 
ecology, and wetland restoration. I have spent my entire career 
working on conservation, agriculture, and wildlife science 
issues, and I am very proud of Barker Ranch's summer internship 
program, which provides real-world experience and college 
credit for young men and women working in conservation 
practices. I take a lot of pride in my efforts to prepare the 
next generation of conservation leaders, and I am particularly 
proud to serve as NACD's President and work with local 
conservation districts at the local, state, Tribal, and 
national levels.
    NACD represents America's 3,000 conservation districts 
across the nation and the 17,000 men and women who serve on 
their governing boards, as well as their state and Territory 
associations. Conservation districts are local units of 
government that coordinate with many partners at all levels to 
help millions of cooperating landowners and operators implement 
conservation practices.
    Producers are on the frontlines of ensuring global food 
security, as well as protecting our country's natural 
resources. Our conservation workforce plays a critical role in 
achieving this goal by providing producers the resources and 
assistance necessary to implement effective conservation 
practices. NRCS works with partners such as conservation 
districts to implement critical USDA working lands conservation 
programs. These programs provide resources and support for 
producers to conserve the environment, protect water quality, 
and improve soil health. Unfortunately, only about \1/3\ of 
USDA working lands conservation programs applications are 
approved each year. As demand for conservation grows, resources 
and staff are often stretched thin, negatively affecting their 
ability to implement conservation programs and staff morale.
    NACD has asked Congress to include at least $1.2 billion 
for NRCS's conservation operations budget in the Fiscal Year 
2023 spending bill. This funding would allow USDA to hire 
staff, better administer conservation programs, and provide 
critical technical assistance. However, funding alone will not 
resolve all the challenges facing our conservation workforce. 
We are not cultivating the next generation of workers at the 
scale required to meet our goals and keep pace with attrition. 
From elementary school to colleges and beyond, we need to 
inspire, educate, and provide more opportunities for the next 
generation to enter the conservation workforce.
    NACD is proud to be taking action to achieve this goal. 
Each year, NACD works closely with the National Conservation 
Foundation to manage Envirothon, an international competition 
between 25,000 high school students across the United States 
and Canada to find creative solutions to complex natural 
resource issues. NACD also partners with Ag Future of America; 
Minorities in Agricultural, Natural Resources, and Related 
Sciences; NRCS; and the Forest Service to host the 
Sustainability Institute. This workshop provides students with 
important professional development opportunities and pathways 
to conservation careers.
    NACD is working closely with the NRCS to develop an 
education program to prepare underrepresented high school and 
college students for conservation careers. We also support 
NRCS's Pathways Program, which offers internships, fellowships, 
and other opportunities to inspire and prepare the next 
generation of conservation leaders.
    Although NACD and other conservation advocates have taken 
steps to address this growing issue, we recognize that there is 
much more left to do. Providing additional educational 
opportunities, introducing students to conservation careers, 
bolstering training programs, and increasing compensation for 
conservation professionals are just some of the things we need 
to make progress on if we are going to tackle this challenge. I 
look forward to working with our partners and Members of this 
Subcommittee to support those efforts.
    Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this 
hearing, and I look forward to your questions. Thank you.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Crowder follows:]

Prepared Statement of Michael Crowder, President, National Association 
              of Conservation Districts, Washington, D.C.
    Chair Spanberger, Ranking Member LaMalfa, and Members of the 
Subcommittee--thank you for the opportunity to join you today to 
discuss the challenges currently facing the conservation workforce and 
opportunities to address and overcome these issues.
    My name is Michael Crowder and I serve as the President of the 
National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD). I have been the 
General Manager of Barker Ranch in eastern Washington State for 22 
years, since graduating from Purdue University with a master's degree 
in wildlife science and a bachelor's degree in natural resources and 
environmental science. I have been a partner of my third-generation 
family farm in Indiana since 2002, and I also own farmland and 
conservation easements in Illinois.
    I have spent my entire career working on conservation, agriculture, 
and wildlife science issues. On Barker Ranch, we work very closely with 
the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) on wetland 
conservation easements and restoring wildlife habitat, as well as other 
practices such as prescriptive grazing, riparian fencing, irrigation 
water management, and many more. I served as an Adjunct Professor at 
Washington State University Tri-Cities for 8 years and taught classes 
in wildlife science, ecology, and wetland restoration at both graduate 
and undergraduate levels. On Barker Ranch, I am very proud of our 
summer internship program that is receiving national attention for 
training and providing real-world experience for young men and women in 
wetland and waterfowl habitat management. This year, we have six summer 
interns from five different colleges from across the nation. I am 
honored to serve as the President of NACD, and I am especially proud of 
the many years I have dedicated to working with conservation districts 
at the local, state, Tribal, and national levels.
    NACD represents America's 3,000 conservation districts and the 
17,000 men and women who serve on their governing boards, as well as 
their respective state and territory associations. Conservation 
districts are local units of government established under state law to 
carry out natural resource management programs at the local level. 
Districts work closely with Federal and state conservation agencies to 
help millions of cooperating landowners and operators protect land and 
water resources across the United States. NACD's mission is to promote 
voluntary conservation and the responsible management of natural 
resources on all lands by supporting locally led conservation districts 
and their associations through grassroots advocacy, education, and 
partnerships. We do this in close coordination with our national 
partners at NRCS, the National Association of State Conservation 
Agencies (NASCA), the National Conservation District Employees 
Association (NCDEA), and the National Association of Resource 
Conservation and Development Councils (NARC&DC).
    I sincerely appreciate the Subcommittee's leadership in championing 
voluntary, locally led conservation to improve our country's soil, 
forests, air, and water, and to mitigate the increasingly harmful 
effects of climate change.
    Producers across the nation are on the front lines of ensuring 
global food security and protecting our country's land, water, and 
other natural resources for future generations. Conservation districts 
play a critical role in achieving this goal by providing producers with 
technical assistance, resources, and tools to implement effective 
conservation practices on their lands. Conservation district 
professionals are trusted advisors within their local communities and 
play a key role in educating producers, facilitating the conservation 
planning process, and working with producers to design and implement 
the most effective conservation systems for their operations. These 
proven conservation practices--such as cover cropping, nutrient 
management, and forest stand improvement--can increase production, 
enhance resilience, and improve biodiversity, land, and water quality 
in communities across the country.
    Conservation districts are relied upon by USDA to administer 
conservation programs and to help people in their local communities 
implement conservation practices. Due to the pandemic, the last 2 years 
have been particularly difficult for many conservation professionals. 
In response to the challenges presented by COVID-19, our conservation 
workforce adopted innovative approaches to reach producers and support 
conservation in their communities.
    Our communities and conservation professionals are also 
experiencing an increasing number of devastating extreme weather events 
across the country, including hurricanes, tornados, droughts, 
wildfires, and floods. Conservation districts, in collaboration with 
Federal and local partners, have played a key role in helping 
communities respond to these disasters and build resilience against 
future extreme weather.
    The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Natural 
Resource[s] Conservation [Service] (NRCS) staff, in coordination with 
partners such as conservation districts, implement critical USDA 
working lands conservation programs, like the Environmental Quality 
Incentives Program (EQIP) and Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). 
These programs provide resources that allow farmers, foresters, and 
ranchers to conserve land and water, protect water quality, and improve 
soil health. NRCS employees often work hand-in-hand with conservation 
district staff to inform producers about conservation opportunities, 
develop conservation plans, and ultimately help landowners implement 
effective conservation practices.
    As producers face growing environmental challenges and uncertain 
markets, these conservation programs are increasingly utilized to 
bolster resilience, support the economic viability of family farms, and 
implement climate-smart conservation practices. Unfortunately, across 
the United States, only about \1/3\ of EQIP and CSP applications are 
approved each year because of limited funding.
    As producer demand for conservation grows, resources and staff for 
our Federal and local conservation workforces are often stretched thin. 
Over the past decade, USDA and their conservation partners have 
struggled to keep staffing levels on pace with attrition. Although NRCS 
has made progress by adding 3,000 workers over the past 2 years, there 
remain critical staff shortages at NRCS. This capacity issue has a very 
real impact on the administration of conservation programs, 
conservation planning, and producers' access to technical assistance, 
as well as staff morale.
    Conservation staffing concerns also extend beyond [NRCS]. Other 
state, local, and private conservation professionals, including 
conservation districts, often struggle to reach and maintain adequate 
staffing levels. A 2021 Soil and Water Conservation Society poll of 
1,715 public and private conservation practitioners found that 90 
percent of respondents reported that a lack of conservation 
practitioners negatively impacts conservation momentum. 78 percent 
agreed that a lack of field staff reduces an organizations' capacity to 
get conservation on the ground.
    USDA's Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 budget proposal requests a $41 million 
increase to secure 535 new NRCS staffers. The budget proposal also 
requests more than $1 billion for NRCS' Conservation Operations, which 
would allow NRCS to hire additional staff, ensure that staff are 
adequately trained, and provide conservation technical assistance to 
more producers across the country. It is critical that Congress passes 
an FY 2023 spending bill that increases funding for NRCS to hire and 
onboard additional employees. It is also important that USDA is 
provided with the direct hire authority needed to maintain adequate 
staffing levels.
    NACD has asked Congress to include at least $1.2 billion for NRCS' 
Conservation Operations. An increase in funding for NRCS' Conservation 
Operation will allow USDA to hire additional staff to more effectively 
administer oversubscribed farm bill conservation programs and provide 
producers with additional support. This funding also helps key 
partners, such as conservation districts, get more conservation on the 
ground. Districts conduct substantial outreach and educate cooperating 
producers on the benefits of conservation and help them access farm 
bill programs. They also walk the land with producers to provide the 
personalized technical assistance needed to develop conservation plans, 
and design and implement practices.
    However, funding alone will not resolve all the challenges facing 
our conservation workforce. As conservation professionals increasingly 
retire from or leave their positions, there is growing concern that the 
United States is not cultivating the next generation of this workforce 
at the scale required to meet our conservation goals.
    We need to inspire, educate, and provide more opportunities for the 
next generation to enter the conservation workforce. From elementary 
school to college--we need young people to understand the importance of 
conservation and provide them with the requisite tools and pathways to 
secure conservation careers.
    NACD is already taking action to bolster the conservation workforce 
pipeline.
    Each year, more than 25,000 high school students from across the 
United States, Canada, and China participate in Envirothon, which 
includes a competition to find creative solutions to complex 
environmental and natural resource issues. NACD works closely with the 
National Conservation Foundation to manage the Envirothon program, 
which provide students with hands-on outdoor field experiences, 
opportunities to engage with their local communities, education in 
environmental disciplines, and information to pursue conservation 
careers. The Envirothon also facilitates direct engagement between 
students and environmental and natural resource professionals, which 
helps students understand career opportunities. NACD is excited for the 
2022 Envirothon competition in July, which will be hosted by the Ohio 
Federation of Soil and Water Conservation Districts in Oxford, Ohio.
    For the past several years, NACD has partnered with Agriculture 
Future of America; Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and 
Related Sciences; NRCS; and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to raise 
awareness among college students about careers in conservation. Along 
with our partners, we have hosted career workshops for undergraduate 
students showcasing careers in conservation, agriculture, and natural 
resources management. Up to 50 college students are invited to 
participate in these workshops, which focus on professional development 
and allow students to engage with professionals from conservation 
districts, state conservation agencies, private companies, and Federal 
resource management partners like NRCS and the USFS. NACD was pleased 
to welcome a new class of 50 students to this year's AFA-NACD 
Sustainability Institute, which was held February 13 to 15.
    NACD strongly supports paid student internship programs--at both 
NRCS and conservation districts--to supplement relevant coursework. 
Retirement drives attrition in the conservation workforce, which will 
require training and hiring a significant number of younger people to 
address. We cannot recruit and onboard recent graduates quickly enough. 
While both NRCS and districts provide substantial on-the-job training, 
we have seen that students with real-world experience better understand 
producers' needs and are more productive from the start. We must 
bolster the student recruitment pipeline in order to effectively build 
capacity and deliver high quality service and technical assistance.
    NACD is also working closely with NRCS to develop an education 
program to prepare underrepresented high school and college students' 
for NRCS conservation careers. The program will promote NRCS and 
conservation districts as employers of choice for diverse populations 
and develop future leaders in agriculture and conservation. We are 
excited to continue working with NRCS and stakeholders to develop this 
initiative. NACD also works to support NRCS' Pathways Programs, which 
offer internships, development opportunities, and fellowships to 
inspire and prepare the next generation of conservation leaders.
    Although NACD has taken steps to address this growing issue, we 
recognize that there is much more left to do. Inspiring young children 
to become passionate about conservation, providing additional education 
opportunities, introducing students to conservation careers, bolstering 
training programs, and increasing compensation for conservation 
professionals are just some of the things we need to make progress on 
if we are going to tackle this challenge.
    Many of the other witnesses testifying today are taking big steps 
to prepare the next generation of conservation workers, and I look 
forward to working with them and Members of this Subcommittee to 
support those efforts. The future of our country's land and natural 
resources are depending on us.
    Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this hearing, and I 
appreciate the opportunity to submit written testimony.

    The Chair. Thank you very much, Mr. Crowder.
    Now, our second witness today is Mr. Shane O'Neill, the 
Forest Industry Business Development Manager at the School of 
Forest Resources of the University of Maine, who is testifying 
on behalf of the Association of Public and Land-grant 
Universities. And I am excited to learn more about your work 
regarding workforce resiliency.
    Mr. O'Neill, you have 5 minutes.

       STATEMENT OF SHANE R.C. O'NEILL, FOREST INDUSTRY 
  BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER, UNIVERSITY OF MAINE; MEMBER, 
  ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC AND LAND-GRANT UNIVERSITIES, ORONO, ME

    Mr. O'Neill. Good afternoon, Chair Spanberger, Ranking 
Member LaMalfa, and Members of the Subcommittee, especially 
Maine's Representative Pingree. My name is Shane O'Neill, and I 
serve as the Forest Industry Business Development Manager at 
the University of Maine, an R1 research university, the state's 
land, sea, and space grant, and a proud member of the 
Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. Thank you 
for the opportunity to testify today on an issue of great 
importance to our state.
    Currently, Maine's forest products industry directly 
employs more than 13,000 people, but the nature of our industry 
and the jobs it supports is rapidly changing, and so too must 
our strategies for developing our future and incumbent 
workforce. Public perceptions and attitudes demonstrate a 
disconnect from the reality of modern forestry. Many people 
view forest management, harvesting, and products manufactured 
as ecologically detrimental and requiring low-tech, high-
exertion labor. In reality, the engine of the modern forest 
economy is knowledge and innovation. How we manage our forest 
resources and extend their product applications will require 
new practices, techniques, and be technology-driven. 
Accelerating innovation in forest products and training a 
skilled workforce which meets the current and emerging needs of 
these new products and practices is key to meeting the 
increasing global demand for low-carbon materials, chemicals, 
and fuels that can come from our forests.
    To build from our transitional assets and strengths and 
strategically transition to an entire forest products sector 
for local sustainability and global growth, in 2016 a unique 
cross-sector collaboration called Forest Opportunity Roadmap 
Maine, known as FOR/Maine, was initiated between industry, 
communities, government, education, and nonprofits with the 
support from the U.S. Economic Development Administration and 
our main Congressional delegation. Not surprising, preparing 
the workforce for the future forest products economy is one of 
the primary goals identified by FOR/Maine. As the largest 
generator of graduates in the state, a university can directly 
impact the size and skill of the sector's workforce.
    To inform how we specifically do this, I joined with 
university colleagues in developing the first-of-its-kind 
forest industry workforce development strategy for our state. 
Our research determined that by 2035, 37 percent of Maine's 
current workforce in the forest economy, 5,000 people, will be 
at or beyond retirement age. Furthermore, as we transition to 
new or emerging technologies, we will require an additional 
2,600 positions.
    In a separate UMaine study, surveyed forest products firms 
noted a strong need for employee soft skills, along with 
communication, database decision-making, and digital skills. 
Professional development strategies must include both the 
technical and soft skills.
    To meet this need, our report recommends the development of 
workforce pipelines through six strategic actions, many of 
which may be relevant to your own districts and states for this 
and other traditional industries. These actions are detailed in 
my written testimony and linked report,* but I would like to 
highlight a few key points, including implementing a 
coordinated marketing and branding campaign showcasing career 
opportunities in the sector to counter public misperceptions, 
fostering greater education, outreach, and awareness of forest 
sector opportunities with secondary school students, career 
changers, and underrepresented populations and working with 
rural communities on placemaking to support workforce 
attraction and retention.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    * Editor's note: the report is retained in Committee file and is 
available at https://formaine.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/FORMaine-
Workforce-Report-Final_Revised_06.
2021.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    To advance these actions and further scale and accelerate 
the FOR/Maine efforts, UMaine is currently leading our 
coalition in pursuing EDA Build Back Better Regional Challenge 
funding to develop a northern forest bioeconomy cluster and 
recently submitted our phase II proposal.
    Our work and the workforce we are developing together has 
never been more essential to Maine and applicable to our 
nation's ability to sustainably manage and utilize our forest 
resources; mitigate forest fire risks and invasives, sequester 
carbon; improve air, water, and habitat; and protect the 
economic foundation and identity of many of our rural 
communities.
    In closing, I would like to again thank the Committee and 
APLU for this opportunity to speak today and for your interest 
and support of our nation's forests and dependent citizens and 
communities. I look forward to answering your questions. Thank 
you.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. O'Neill follows:]

  Prepared Statement of Shane R.C. O'Neill, Forest Industry Business 
   Development Manager, University of Maine; Member, Association of 
             Public and Land-grant Universities, Orono, ME
    Good afternoon, Chair Spanberger, Ranking Member LaMalfa, and 
Members of the Subcommittee. My name is Shane O'Neill, and I serve as 
the Forest Industry Business Development Manager at the University of 
Maine: an R1 research university; the state's land, sea, and space 
grant; and a proud member of the Association of Public & Land-grant 
Universities (APLU), which helped invite me here.
    Thank you for the opportunity to testify on workforce challenges 
and opportunities in the forestry and conservation sectors, an issue of 
great importance to our state, which is nearly 90% forested--a number 
relatively unchanged since European settlement. Since then, Maine's 
forest has provided an ever-evolving suite of products of the highest 
quality to the world, as has our nearly 3,500 miles of coastline. The 
past and future health of Maine's rural communities is highly dependent 
on our so-called ``heritage industries'': farming, fishing, and 
forestry. Leveraging the vast natural resources from our fields, woods, 
and waters to sustain these special places through these sectors relies 
entirely upon our ability to innovate and access to skilled human 
capital.
    Currently, Maine's forest products industry employs more than 
13,000 people across the state. But the nature of the industry, and the 
jobs it supports, is rapidly changing--in great part through data-
driven modernization, application of AI and increasingly sophisticated 
technologies--and so too must our education and training practices of 
our future and incumbent workforce.
    Three key factors have converged over the last few decades that 
created the urgency, and opportunity, to transition to our next phase: 
a sustainable forest bioeconomy. They are not unique to Maine, nor are 
our strategies for moving forward. First, the impacts of climate change 
on forest health are increasingly evident, whether it is through 
temperature, drought, fire, invasive pests, muddy roads from early 
thaws that prevent passage of logs and equipment or heavy rain events. 
How we manage our forest resources and extend their application will 
require new practices, techniques and be technology driven. Second, the 
transition to a digital information age has drastically reduced the 
demand for print and graphic paper. Mills that couldn't adapt to these 
changing markets closed, causing their workers--more than 7,600 over 
the last 20 years just in Maine--to lose their livelihoods. Third, 
there is a growing understanding that sustainably managed forests and 
their products are a pathway to reduce carbon emissions, both in 
sequestration in a growing forest, and storage in long life cycle 
forest products. Adapting the management of our forests and advanced 
products manufacturing has become more technically intensive with 
increasing processing automation, advanced material science and 
engineering, remote sensing, machine learning modeling, and growth 
forecasting using advanced artificial intelligence systems.
    From these realizations and changing markets, exciting 
opportunities are emerging that if we strategically partner, invest, 
and innovate, will ultimately diversify, strengthen, and sustain the 
forest economy and the communities dependent upon it. Accelerating 
innovation in forest products and training a skilled workforce which 
meets the current and emerging needs of these new products and 
practices is key to meeting the increasing global demand for low-carbon 
materials, chemicals, and fuels that can come from forests
    Currently, public perceptions and attitudes demonstrate a 
disconnect from the reality of modern forestry. Many people view forest 
management, harvesting, and products manufacture as ecologically 
detrimental, and requiring low-tech, high-exertion labor. Some of these 
perceptions are informed by images from long ago, where strength and 
brawn were the tools required to be successful, and sustainability 
wasn't standard practice. In reality, the engine of the modern forest 
economy is knowledge: utilizing technology, automation, science and 
engineering to increase the precision and positive impact of forest 
management practices and commercialize new forest-based processes and 
value-added products under the most sustainable and environmentally 
friendly means possible. For example, the University of Maine is 
pioneering the development and commercialization of value-added forest 
bioproducts manufactured from low-value forest residuals, including 
cellulosic nanofibrils for use in a multitude of products, biofuels 
such as diesel and jet fuel directly offsetting petrochemical 
consumption, and advanced materials including large scale 3D-printed 
bioproducts for use in transportation infrastructure, housing and 
manufacturing.
    To build from our traditional assets and strengths and 
strategically transition our entire forest products sector through 
innovation and global assessment, in 2016 a unique cross-sector 
collaboration called Forest Opportunity Roadmap/Maine \1\ (FOR/Maine) 
was initiated between industry, communities, government, education, and 
nonprofits with support from the U.S. Economic Development 
Administration and our Maine Congressional Delegation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ https://formaine.org/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    As a founding member of FOR/Maine with extensive expertise, broad 
relationships, statewide reach, and research and development capacity 
across the forest economy and beyond (including that supported by 
McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry through USDA National Institute 
of Food and Agriculture), the University of Maine is critical to this 
collaboration, providing knowledge-based information and innovations to 
deliver on FOR/Maine's strategic objectives. And, as the largest 
generator of graduates in the state, we can most impact the size and 
skill of the workforce for this sector (and most others in Maine). To 
facilitate partnership and progress, the university created the 
position of Forest Industry Business Development Manager--the job I 
currently hold. By serving as a focused sector advocate with subject 
matter expertise and access to the full span of scientists and 
engineers within our system, my work plays an important role in 
bringing diverse stakeholders together to assess industry and community 
needs, and collaboratively develop solutions that address needs and 
include all vested voices, including those historically excluded.
    Not surprisingly, preparing the workforce for the future forest 
products economy is one of the primary goals identified by FOR/Maine, 
and our high-level strategies toward this include attracting young 
people into the industry in our oldest-in-the-nation state; ensuring 
that new, replacement, and incumbent workers have the skills needed for 
existing jobs, and preparing the workforce for emerging products and 
technologies in the industry. To inform how we specifically do this, I 
joined colleagues from UMaine's Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center \2\ 
and the University of Southern Maine Center for Business and Economic 
Research \3\ to develop the first-of-its kind forest industry workforce 
development strategy \4\ through analysis of current and projected 
workforce and population trends, defining skill demands for current and 
emerging careers, and directed surveys and interviews with forest 
industry employers in the state.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ https://mcspolicycenter.umaine.edu/.
    \3\ https://www.mainecber.com/.
    \4\ https://formaine.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/FORMaine-
Workforce-Report-Final_
Revised_06.2021.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Our research determined that by 2035, 37% of Maine's current forest 
economy workforce will be at or beyond retirement age, with the oldest 
workers currently concentrated in harvesting and logging. This 
translates to approximately 5,000 positions that will need to be filled 
in the next 15 years. As the older workforce exits, they take with them 
decades of learned experience that is not easily replicable, compelling 
companies to identify new ways to help transfer knowledge and train 
younger employees. Furthermore, as Maine transitions into newer 
emerging technologies, it is estimated that an additional 2,600 
positions will be added. Many of these will be highly skilled, 
specialized STEM positions like photogrammetry, industrial engineers, 
process technicians, and programmers. However, it should be noted that 
in a recent UMaine study of 177 forest product firms referenced in our 
report noted a strong need for employee soft skills such as managing 
uncertainty, flexibility, adaptability, along with communication, data-
based decision making and digital skills. Professional development must 
include both the technical and soft skills to increase employee 
success.
    To meet this need, our report recommends the development of 
workforce pipelines through six strategic actions, many of which may be 
relevant in your own districts and states for this and other 
traditional industries:

  (1)  Design, prepare, and execute a coordinated marketing and 
            branding campaign that showcases the career opportunities 
            in forest products in Maine, as careers in the sector are 
            often overlooked in part because of the negative publicity 
            in recent years due to mill closures or perceptions about 
            the types of jobs available;

  (2)  Foster greater education, outreach, and awareness of 
            opportunities in the forest products sector to Maine 
            secondary school students and advisors, leveraging the 
            younger generation's interest in sustainability and 
            stewardship;

  (3)  Cultivate out-of-state workforce pipelines and integrate with 
            statewide attraction and recruitment efforts, including 
            from labor pools in forest product cluster regions 
            elsewhere, Veterans looking to resettle after their 
            service, and those who enjoy the outdoors;

  (4)  Leverage existing workforce infrastructure to increase 
            coordination and engagement and expand existing internship, 
            apprenticeship, and training programs including through 
            university research learning experiences and inclusion of 
            justice or substance impacted individuals;

  (5)  Community placemaking is important in workforce attraction and 
            retention including access to affordable housing and 
            quality health care; and

  (6)  Maintain systems to continuously monitor and evaluate workforce 
            conditions and requirements across the industry to be 
            responsive in developing and adapting workforce development 
            initiatives.

    To advance these actions, and further develop and scale our FOR/
Maine efforts, UMaine is currently leading our coalition in pursuing 
EDA Build Back Better funding to develop a Northern Forest bioeconomy 
cluster, and recently submitted our Phase II proposal.
    Our work, and the workforce we are developing, has never been more 
essential to Maine and our nation's ability to sustainably manage and 
utilize our nation's forest resources, mitigate forest fire and 
invasive risks, sequester carbon, improve clean air, water, and 
habitat, and protect the economic foundation and identity of many rural 
communities.
    In closing, I would like to again thank the Committee and APLU for 
the opportunity to speak with you today, and for your interest and 
support of our nation's forests and the citizens and communities 
reliant on its rich resources. I look forward to answering your 
questions.

    The Chair. Thank you very much.
    Our next witness is Mr. Keith Olander, who is the Dean of 
Agricultural Studies at Central Lakes College in Staples, 
Minnesota. Mr. Olander, you are an innovator in this space, and 
I appreciate the opportunity to hear from you today. And I now 
recognize you for 5 minutes.

   STATEMENT OF KEITH OLANDER, DEAN OF AGRICULTURAL STUDIES, 
               CENTRAL LAKES COLLEGE, STAPLES, MN

    Mr. Olander. Chair Spanberger, Ranking Member LaMalfa, and 
Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to 
share my passion for agriculture and I am going to share a few 
of the practices we are employing to support workforce 
development and employer retention specific to Natural 
Resources Conservation Service, or NRCS.
    For context, I grew up on a farm and continue to farm 
today. I am an agriculture education educator of 28 years with 
experience in high school, community college faculty, and now 
as program administrator. I live my life in and around 
agriculture and have developed a passion for workforce 
development to make our youth aware of the opportunities that 
await them in agriculture, food, and natural resources, or 
AFNR. Furthermore, the work continues in connecting secondary, 
postsecondary, and industry partners, and our work focuses 
around streamlining these career pathways that minimizes 
barriers for our youth to gain successful careers in AFNR.
    Now, specific to the relationship that we had between 
Central Lakes College and Natural Resources Conservation 
Service, there are some specific practices I will go over, and 
I am going to cover three of them and try to break them out a 
little bit in an organization for you. First of all, we are 
enhancing college curriculum to better align the natural 
resource program outcomes with the NRCS employee 
qualifications. And really this is for on-farm production 
knowledge. The course work focuses on partnering concepts in 
natural resource management and agronomic practices on the farm 
in a way to develop a student's skill set that can assist 
farmers in problem-solving challenges for farmers who desire to 
both improve environmental impacts and maintain economic 
viability.
    Second, we are providing an internship program that is a 
direct-hire approach of community college students directly to 
NRCS, and that experiences include exposure to a broad array of 
NRCS employee opportunities collaborating with college faculty 
to assure a superior college education experience.
    And third, the one I want to spend just a few minutes on, 
is the practice where we provide professional development for 
early-career NRCS employees that is immersive in design. This 
supports employee success in connecting with farmers and 
improving job retention. Early results indicate that we have 
low confidence level in communicating with farmers about their 
particular operations simply due to a lack of farm literacy. 
All of these trainings take place on a 2,000 acre farm complex 
at Central Lakes College Ag and Energy Research Center.
    The employees experience over 30 hours of on-farm 
experience that include these particular pieces: First, tillage 
practices, tools, equipment, and technology. The employees are 
driving tillage machines with current technology to learn a 
farmer view of things like carbon sequestration as it relates 
to things like reduced tillage concepts.
    Second, planting operations and technology, they are 
describing, setting, and operating planters that are employed 
with GIS guidance, precision seed placement, and variable rate 
technology to better align the farmer profitability with 
environmental enhancements.
    Third, they experience crop harvest operations and data 
output. Operating harvest equipment to view and understand the 
yield, mapping technologies that produce yield maps, which 
supports the NRCS employees' ability to match field production 
capacity and environmental outcomes to find precision, site-
based solutions to enhance the farm's ability in improving soil 
health and water quality.
    And the fourth component of this particular immersive 
training is soil health, cover crops, and livestock grazing. So 
this component is the idea that we educate the cover crop 
varieties through identification and potential adoption 
species.
    Additionally, we have plots in place where we are able to 
take the employees out to places where they are planted within 
row crops, variable row width scenarios, and different planting 
times to ascertain the best outcomes for both the agronomic 
crop and the cover crop success.
    And then finally, we demonstrate raising of cover crops 
that we have created an initial set of economic data with the 
outcomes of pairing row crop production with cover crops and 
livestock grazing into our system. And that was a desired 
outcome of the state leadership of NRCS.
    So as we look to all three of these particular practices, 
the curriculum changes, the internships, and the professional 
development have had a positive impact according to our pre- 
and post-surveys. This includes feedback from the students in 
the course, the interns, and the employees that participated in 
the trainings. Our goal is to expand these programs with NRCS, 
and we hope to see the option for their staff to learn and grow 
in a professional setting to strengthen the agency overall.
    I am also aware that through our partnerships with other 
community colleges in other states like the C2A3 Alliance 
(Community College Alliance for Agriculture Advancement), that 
there is interest in replicating elements of our work in their 
regions to serve students better and support NRCS and its 
mission. Currently, this type of partnership across the country 
is in its infancy.
    Madam Chair, I appreciate the opportunity that I have had 
to share comments, and I look forward to answering questions.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Olander follows:]

  Prepared Statement of Keith Olander, Dean of Agricultural Studies, 
                   Central Lakes College, Staples, MN
    Thank you, [Madam Chair], Member[s] of the Committee, for the 
opportunity share my passion for agriculture and a few of the practices 
we are employing to support workforce development and employee 
retention.
    For context, I grew up on a farm and continue to farm to this day. 
I am an agriculture education educator of 28 years with experience in 
high school teaching, as a community college faculty, and as a program 
administrator. I live my life in and around agriculture and have 
developed a passion of workforce development to make our youth aware of 
the opportunities that await them in Agriculture, Food, and Natural 
Resources (AFNR) careers. Furthermore, the work continues in connecting 
our secondary, post-secondary, and industry partners. Our work focuses 
around streamlining a career pathway that minimizes the barriers for 
our youth to gain a successful career in AFNR.
    Specific practices we are deploying to meet workforce challenges 
are threefold:

  1.  We are enhancing community college curriculum to better align 
            natural resources outcomes with NRCS employee employment 
            qualifications, i.e.,--farm production knowledge. This 
            coursework focuses on partnering concepts in natural 
            resource management with agronomic practices on the farm in 
            a way to develop students skillset who can assist farmers 
            in problem solving challenges for farmers who desire to 
            improve environmental impacts and maintain economically 
            viability.

  1.  Second, we provide an internship program that is a direct hire 
            approach of community college students directly into NRCS 
            experiences that include exposure to an array of NRCS 
            employee opportunities collaborating with college faculty 
            to assure a superior educational experience.

  3.  Our third practice provides professional development for early 
            career NRCS employees that is immersive in design. This 
            supports employees' success in connecting to farmers and 
            job retention. Early results indicate many have a low 
            confidence level in communicating with farmers about their 
            particular operations due to lack of farm literacy. All of 
            these trainings take place on a 2,000 acre complex, the 
            Central Lakes College Ag & Energy Research Center.

      a.  Employees experience over 30 hours of on-farm experiences 
            that include:

          i.  Tillage practices, tools, equipment, and technology.

              1.  Driving tillage machines with current technology to 
            learn farmer 
                        view of carbon sequestration/reduced tillage 
            concepts.

          ii.  Planting operations and technology.

              1.  Describing, setting, and operating planters that are 
            employed 
                        with GIS guidance, precision seed placement, 
            and variable rate 
                        technology to better align farmer profitability 
            with environ-
                        mental enhancements.

          iii.  Crop Harvest operations and data output.

              1.  Operating harvest equipment to view and understand 
            the yield 
                        mapping technologies that produce yield maps, 
            which supports 
                        the NRCS employee's ability to match field 
            production capacity 
                        with environmental outcomes to find precision 
            site-based solu-
                        tions to enhance the farms profitability and 
            improving soil health 
                        and water quality.

          iv.  Soil Health, Cover Crops, and Livestock grazing.

              1.  A final component to this professional development is 
            the edu-
                        cation of cover crop varieties through ID, and 
            potential adoption 
                        of species.

              2.  Additionally, walking through plots where cover crops 
            have been 
                        planted within row crops, variable row width 
            scenarios, and dif-
                        ferent planting times to ascertain best 
            outcomes for agronomic 
                        crop outcomes and cover crop success.

              3.  Finally, we demonstrate grazing of cover crops and 
            have created 
                        initial data on the economic outcomes of paring 
            row crop produc-
                        tion with cover crops and livestock grazing 
            into that system.

    All three of these practices: curriculum changes, internships, and 
professional development have had a positive impact based on pre/post 
surveys. This includes feedback for students in the course, on 
internship, and the employees that participate in the trainings.
    Our goal is to expand this program with NRCS and we hope to see 
option for their staff to learn and grow in their professional setting 
them to strengthen the agency.
    I am also aware that through our partnerships with other community 
colleges in other states that there is interest in replicating elements 
of our work in their regions to serve students better and support NRCS 
in its mission. Currently this type of partnership across the country 
is in its infancy.
    [Madam Chair:] I thank you for your time and I am open to any 
questions that the Members may have.

    The Chair. Thank you very much.
    Our fourth witness today is Dr. Margaret Holzer, who is a 
member of the K-12 Committee of the Soil Science Society of 
America. Dr. Holzer, as an experienced educator, you have so 
much to offer regarding this topic, and I thank you for being 
here. I now recognize you for 5 minutes.

   STATEMENT OF MARGARET A. HOLZER, Ph.D., PAST CHAIR, K-12 
 COMMITTEE, SOIL SCIENCE SOCIETY OF AMERICA; SCIENCE STANDARDS 
         SPECIALIST, GREAT MINDS PBCTM, PhD 
                SCIENCE', MADISON, WI

    Dr. Holzer. Okay. Thank you, Chair Spanberger, Ranking 
Member LaMalfa, and Members of the Subcommittee. Thank you for 
inviting me to speak today. My name is Dr. Margaret Holzer, and 
I serve on the Soil Science Society of America's K-12 
Committee.
    The Soil Science Society of America is an international 
scientific society that fosters a transfer of knowledge and 
practices to sustain global soils. We are based in Madison, 
Wisconsin, and founded in 1936. We are a professional home to 
over 6,000 members and over 800 certified professionals 
dedicated to advancing the field of soil science. Our 
organization is dedicated to making soils science a dinner 
table topic in every household.
    For more than 16 years, our K-12 Committee has been in the 
frontline designing instructional resources, providing 
professional development for teachers, and supporting soil 
scientists as they provide K-12 outreach. Through my 
professional affiliations, I was asked to serve on this 
committee in 2006, excitedly said yes given my passion for soil 
science, and I have served on it ever since.
    The charge of our committee is to increase interest and 
awareness in soil science as a scientific pursuit and career 
choice, especially among K-12 teachers and their students and 
to work to integrate more information on soil science into 
biology, chemistry, physics, and Earth science areas taught at 
multiple grade levels. Please see the appendix of my written 
testimony for detailed description of these activities, many of 
which the NRCS funding assisted us in developing.
    As impressive as our work is, there are challenges to 
overcome in building awareness of soil science and conservation 
and the career possibilities in each. I personally love soil 
science and connecting my students with the role soils play in 
every aspect of their lives. But how do we engage classrooms 
located where the landscape includes lawns, asphalt, concrete, 
and their agricultural products come in little cellophane-
covered trays?
    There are four challenges and potential solutions to 
consider when designing solutions for our workforce needs. 
Earth and space science courses are on equal footing with life 
science and physical sciences through middle school grades. 
However, high school students have limited access to full-year, 
high school-level Earth science courses where soil science and 
conservation are key topics within those courses. The solution 
to this challenge is for school districts across the country to 
reconsider their high school science course sequence. This is 
key, especially for districts where the local landscape 
includes lawns, asphalt, and concrete.
    For many teachers who would like to include soil science in 
their curriculums, there is a challenge in accessing outdoor 
spaces and laboratory materials needed to run basic soil 
laboratories in their classrooms. Our K-12 Committee efforts 
have most certainly played a role in the needed effort for 
support, but those state and local entities that can share 
their expertise, provide access to soil samples, basic 
laboratory supplies, their efforts are welcome, too. County 
extension offices might consider an awareness campaign to alert 
schools to the resources they may have to offer.
    If high school coursework is limited to soil science and 
conservation, a workaround is to engage students in events that 
are extensions of the classroom. A few are already mentioned 
but I will reiterate. For example, the competitive World Food 
Prize Global Youth Institute is a phenomenal opportunity for 
students from around the world and outside our country to 
discuss solutions for food security issues and learn about 
extensive opportunities and careers available in agriculture.
    Another impactful program is the national competition 
called Envirothon, which has five topic areas, of which soils 
and land use is one. Students participating in this competition 
learn about available careers while working directly with real 
issues that are meaningful to their lives. In each of these 
competitions mentors support students and are role models that 
could influence the career choices of their mentees. Ongoing 
funding of these programs such as these, as well as Future 
Farmers of America and 4-H, will ensure that our students are 
engaged with soils and our environment.
    And finally, if students are unaware that they could major 
in soil science or it is buried in another major, they are 
going to be unaware of career choices they might have, and they 
are not going to choose a college that has soil science as a 
major.
    Solutions that may encourage additional majors in soil 
science from a secondary level are strategic marketing of 
higher education soil science and conservation programs, 
connecting soil science professionals with high school 
students, support for dual-credit programs that provide high 
school students with college-level soil science and 
conservation courses and the college credit that goes with 
them, and provide high school students with internships in 
conservation fields. The solutions could work for students who 
live in rural, suburban, and urban regions of our country.
    However, the key is that we are going to need a portfolio, 
identify a portfolio of solutions that is difficult to clearly 
identify what connects a student to college and career. We on 
the Soil Science Society K-12 Committee are committed to 
finding and supporting the items found in a portfolio of 
solutions that help build that pipeline of our next-generation 
of soil science and conservation careers and stewards of our 
natural environment. We love soils and want others to love it, 
too. Thank you very much.
    [The prepared statement of Dr. Holzer follows:]

   Prepared Statement of Margaret A. Holzer, Ph.D., Past Chair, K-12 
     Committee, Soil Science Society of America; Science Standards 
  Specialist, Great Minds PBCTM, PhD Science', 
                              Madison, WI
    [Chair] Spanberger, Ranking Member LaMalfa and Members of the 
Subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to speak to you today. My name 
is Dr. Margaret Holzer, and I serve on the K-12 Committee of the Soil 
Science Society of America K-12 Committee. For over 30 years, I taught 
secondary and higher education courses in Earth and space science, 
environmental science, and physical geography. Currently I am a science 
standards specialist at Great Minds PBC.
    The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) is an international 
scientific society that fosters the transfer of knowledge and practices 
to sustain global soils. Based in Madison, WI, and founded in 1936, 
SSSA is the professional home for 6,000+ members and 800+ certified 
professionals dedicated to advancing the field of soil science. The 
Society provides information about soils related to conservation, crop 
production, environmental quality, forestry, ecosystem sustainability, 
bioremediation, waste management, urban uses, mining and reclamation, 
and more. SSSA is dedicated to making soil a dinner table topic in 
every household. Members share the story of soil through the Soils 
Matter blog and through outreach to K-12 students and teachers in 
addition to supporting scientific knowledge exchange through an annual 
meeting and several scholarly journals.
    Soils are more than the material under our feet; as a matter of 
fact, without soils, we would be ``Hungry, Naked, Homeless, and 
Breathless,'' as a colleague on our committee stresses during his K-12 
outreach programs. By acting out this little skit, students come to the 
``ah-ha'' moment that soils are vital to our survival. We can no longer 
assume students will learn about the soil beneath their feet through 
the light touches found in textbooks and local curricula; we need to 
explicitly integrate soil science across all grade levels taking 
advantage of a variety of entry points in doing so. For more than 16 
years, the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) K-12 Committee has 
been on the frontline designing instructional resources, providing 
professional development for teachers, and supporting soil scientists 
who provide K-12 outreach. I am excited to share a little about our 
organization, our committee, our work, and some challenges ahead in 
encouraging our next generation of soil scientists and 
conservationists.
    In July 2008, Dig It! The Secrets of Soil exhibition opened for an 
18 month run at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of 
Natural History (of which SSSA was a Founding Sponsor). In preparation 
for the exhibit, SSSA was eager to build resources for those viewing 
the exhibit and resources for K-12 teachers. Thus, the SSSA K-12 
Committee was formed in 2006 and is made up of a group of SSSA members 
passionate about telling the story of soils. Through my professional 
affiliations, I was asked to serve on this committee in 2006, and I 
have served on it ever since. Soil science has been a part of my life 
since I was a little girl when my father was a Ph.D. candidate at 
Rutgers University studying soil science applications for his 
dissertation. Soil samples and soil sieves were regularly fixtures in 
our kitchen. Once I became a teacher, soil science was always a central 
part of my curricula.
    The charge to our committee is to increase interest and awareness 
of soil science as a scientific pursuit and career choice, especially 
among K-12 teachers and their students and work to integrate more 
information on soil science into biology, chemistry, physics, and Earth 
science areas taught at multiple grade levels. In addition, the 
American Society of Agronomy and Crop Science Society of America have 
also developed K-12 committees to provide teachers with resources for 
their classrooms and spark interest in their specific sciences as a 
pathway to career interest. Since the committee formed, we have 
developed:

   Three K-12 websites (with over 800,000 visits in 2020)

   Published four K-12 focused books (for use in formal or 
        informal classrooms or at home)

   Developed two train-the-trainer workshops, two webinars, and 
        two teachers guides

   Curated over 200 lessons, activities, and reading resources 
        for K-12 teachers

   Developed state soil booklets for all 50 states and Guam

   Partnered with other organizations to develop and 
        disseminate materials for K-12 teachers

   Produced I ``Heart'' Soil stickers in 15 languages and have 
        distributed over 500,000 stickers

   And developed twelve 2 minute animated videos on various 
        aspects of soil, as part of the 2015 International Year of 
        Soils.

    (Please see the Appendix for a detailed description of these 
activities.)

    As impressive as our work is, there are challenges to overcome in 
building awareness of soil science and conservation, and the careers 
possibilities in each. I personally love soil science and connecting my 
students with the role soils play in every aspect of their lives. But 
how do we engage classrooms located where the landscape includes lawns, 
asphalt, and concrete, and agricultural products come in little 
cellophane covered trays? Fortunately, those who wrote the A Framework 
for K12 Science Education (2012) \1\ and the subsequent standards 
adapted or adopted in 44 states and the District of Columbia 
(represents 71% of our students), included soil science in the Earth 
science core ideas for learning. Although Earth and space science is on 
equal footing with life and physical science in elementary and middle 
school, at the high school level, it has taken a backseat to biology, 
chemistry, and physics in many states. The intention is for all 
students to develop proficiency in all science standards, and therefore 
our high school biology, chemistry, and physics teachers must integrate 
teach Earth and space science topics in their courses, while having 
little to no training in the Earth and space sciences. The domino-
effect of this course sequence is that our high school students are not 
introduced to fields of study such as soil science and conservation. A 
solution to this career barrier is to rethink our high school science 
course sequence such as combining physics and chemistry into one 
course, which will ensure students receive quality instruction in Earth 
and space science while in high school and build that awareness of 
career pathways in this field of study.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ National Research Council. 2012. A Framework for K-12 Science 
Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. 
Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/
10.17226/13165.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In my situation, it was easy to get my students outside to dig soil 
samples, and handle soil with the purpose of figuring out the role 
soils play in their existence, and to recognize that we need to 
conserve it through effective strategies in land-use development, 
forestry, and agriculture. However, for many teachers who would like to 
include soil science in their curriculums, there is a challenge in 
accessing outdoor spaces and laboratory materials needed to run basic 
soil labs in their classrooms. Our K-12 Committee efforts have most 
certainly played a role in this needed support, but those state and 
local entities that can share their expertise, provide access to soil 
samples, and basic laboratory supplies, their efforts are welcome too. 
Teachers need to know that these resources are available, and county 
extension offices might consider an awareness campaign to alert schools 
to the resources they may have to offer.
    As much as the career pipeline for soil science and careers is in 
the forefront of our work on the K-12 Committee, there is a challenge 
to connect our efforts with the efforts elsewhere. Our instructional 
materials include careers; however, it is up to the classroom teacher 
to enact our materials. A workaround for this is to engage students in 
events that are extensions of the classroom. For example, the World 
Food Prize Global Youth Institute is a phenomenal opportunity for 
students from around and outside our country to discuss solutions for 
food security issues and learn about the extensive opportunities and 
careers available in agriculture. This awareness is especially 
impactful for those students who live in areas covered by lawns, 
asphalt, and concrete. Another impactful program is the national 
competition called Envirothon which has five topic areas, of which 
soils and land use is one. The mission of the Envirothon is as follows:

          ``The Envirothon mission is accomplished by developing in 
        young people an understanding of the principles and practices 
        of natural resource management and ecology and through practice 
        dealing with complex resource management decisions. The 
        following goals and objectives should be used as a guide to 
        develop effective curricula, educational resources, and testing 
        scenarios.'' \2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ Envirothon webpage: https://envirothon.org/about-us/missions-
goals-and-objectives/.

    Students participating in this competition learn about available 
careers, while working directly with real issues that have meaning to 
their lives. In each of these competitions, mentors support students 
and are role models who could influence career choices of their 
mentees. Ongoing funding of programs such as these will ensure more 
students are engaging with soils and our environment.
    While students are in high school, they are gravitating towards 
their initial college major and are considering colleges that house 
those majors. Students do not know what they do not know. For example, 
if they are unaware that they could major in soil science or are 
unaware of the myriad of career choices they would have, then they are 
not going to select a college to major in soil science. Similarly, if 
soil science is intertwined in an agriculture department in a 
university, and students are not interested in agriculture as a major, 
then they will not select that university. Solutions that may encourage 
additional majors in soils science and careers, are strategic marketing 
of higher-education soil science and conservation programs, connecting 
soil science professionals with high school students, build awareness 
in teachers of soil science and conservation careers, support for dual-
credit programs that provide high school students with semester or 
year-long soil science and conservation courses and the college credit 
that goes with them, and provide high school student internships in 
conservation fields. These solutions could work for students who live 
in regions of our country where agriculture is prominent, or in regions 
of our country where urban and suburban landscapes are most prominent. 
However, the key is that we need to identify a portfolio of solutions 
since it is difficult to clearly identify what connects a student to a 
college or a career. For some students it may have been the dynamic 
teacher, or participating in a competition, or visiting a college soil 
science laboratory that provided that needed connection. We on the SSSA 
K-12 Committee are committed to finding and supporting the items found 
in a portfolio of solutions to help fill the pipeline with our next 
generation of soil science and conservation careers and stewards of our 
natural environment. We love soils, and we want others to love it too!
    My intention was to provide an outline our committee work and 
highlight some career challenges and solutions through the lens of the 
K-12 arena. Our discussions today will bring to the table additional 
lenses as others share their experiences, and together we can build a 
robust portfolio of solutions to the soil science and conservation 
career pipeline issue. Thank you for the opportunity to testify before 
this panel. I would be glad to address your questions and I look 
forward to the discussion.
                                Appendix
Soil Science Society of America K-12 Committee Additional Information
History
    In July 2008 through December 2009, Dig It! The Secrets of Soil 
exhibition was presented at the Smithsonian Institution's National 
Museum of Natural History (of which SSSA was a Founding Sponsor). In 
preparation, the SSSA Board of Directors approved a K-12 Committee in 
2006 and a group of SSSA members got to work. The charge to the 
committee was to increase interest and awareness of soil science as a 
scientific pursuit and career choice, especially among K-12 teachers 
and their students and work to integrate more information on soil 
science into biology, chemistry, physics, and Earth science areas 
taught at multiple grade levels. The American Society of Agronomy and 
Crop Science Society of America have also developed K-12 committees to 
provide teachers with resources for their classrooms and spark interest 
in their specific sciences as a pathway to career interest.
Activity Centers
    Activities center around five areas:

   Assessment and Standards--connecting soil to state and 
        national standards

   Curriculum Development--developing new curricula for K-12 
        instruction

   Website Development--enhancing the K-12 website resources

   Books--publish books relevant to the K-12 audience

   Develop and Disseminate Soils Information--for all audiences
Accomplishments
    During the 16 years the SSSA K-12 Committee has been active, they 
have achieved an exceptional amount. Read on to learn more.
Publications and Lesson Plans
Soil! Get the Inside Scoop and supplemental Teachers Guide
    The book explores the basics of soil and how soil is part of our 
life--the food we eat, the air we breathe, the water we drink, the 
houses we live in, and more. A free online teachers guide is available 
for each chapter of the book--with accompanying PowerPoints, 
definitions, activities, quiz questions, and more.
Know Soil, Know Life and supplemental Educators Guide
    This 200-page book is targeted at high-school students. Chapters 
include Physical Properties of Soil and Soil Formation, Soil 
Ecosystems/Biology, Chemical Properties of Soil and Soil Fertility, 
Classification/Soil Mapping/Interpretation, Environmental Science/Soil 
Conservation/Land Use Management, Soils and Biomes, Soil in History and 
Modern Life, and Career Opportunities. An online educators guide is 
free for all educators to use, with overviews, PowerPoints, activities, 
standards integration, and worksheets.
Curated Collection of Resources
    We've curated a collection of lessons, hands-on activities, labs, 
readings, and more--all about soils and topics related to soils--and in 
a searchable database. Some are posted directly by SSSA others we have 
reviewed and recommend. Searchable areas include by grade level, topic 
area, resource type, and NGSS standard. Over 200 resources are in the 
database. In addition, the SSSA K-12 committee reviews submissions for 
the addition of resources to the database.
Soils Unit
    Designed for middle-school, this soils-focused unit with lessons 
that provide students with a basic understanding of the fundamentals of 
soil science through the integration of disciplinary core ideas, 
science and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts in the 
lessons, investigations, and activities
Coolbean the Soybean (Crop Science Society of America)
    Coolbean the Soybean is a super bean! Find out how Coolbean became 
so special with the help of scientists, how to farm to help the 
environment, photosynthesis, how agronomists keep Coolbean safe, a 
soybean's life cycle, and how soybeans feed billions of people and are 
used for many products. All in alignment with common core standards for 
reading and science. Aimed at Grades 3-5.
Agronomy Grow with It! (American Society of Agronomy)
    Explore the science of agriculture--Agronomy! Agronomy is the 
science we use to grow the crops that feed us, feed our livestock, and 
even fuel our cars. It's a science that tackles the big challenge of 
our future: How can we grow enough food to end world hunger--and, at 
the same time, adapt to a changing climate and protect our environment? 
Meet 20 real agronomists who face that challenge every day. Seven 
sections cover main topics in agronomy and align with basic science 
topics in the Next Generation Science Standards: Agronomists Feed the 
World  Crops: Sooo Much More than Food  Problems with 
Pests  Bringing Crops and Livestock to the Farm . . . Together 
 Water Matters! Getting Enough . . . Keeping it Safe  
Soil: We Gotta Have It, But Will We?  Coping With Climate 
Change Audience: Aimed at Grades 6-8, of interest to older and younger 
students alike!
State Soil Booklets
    An in-depth, easy to read booklet (4-8 pages each) with information 
on each state soil. The booklets include a brief history of the origin 
of the state soil, where the state soil is found, importance and uses, 
limitations, management, soil formation, ecoregions and land use, a 
glossary, and additional resources.
Webinars
    The K12 committee has produced two webinars for K-12 educators, 
focused on soil science at different grade levels:

   Soils: Fundamental for Life

      This webinar focused on basics, formation, characteristics, and 
        fertility (the ability of a soil to sustain plant growth by 
        providing plant nutrients and favorable habitats for plant 
        growth).

   Soil Physics, Chemistry, and Biology . . . Oh My!

      Soil is so much more than what food is grown in, we walk on, or 
        move out of the way to build houses or buildings on. It's 
        complex, life-giving, and is critical for a balanced ecosystem. 
        Attendees learned about each area, why each is important, and 
        ideas for classroom activities. In addition, they heard about 
        career opportunities in soil science.
Partnerships
   National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD)--
        Stewardship Week on Soils (2009), review panel on scientific 
        resources

   National Science Teachers Association (NSTA)--exhibiting, 
        annual workshop

   National Earth Science Teachers Association--webinars, 
        share-a-thons, articles, promotions

   American Geological Institute (AGI)--AGI hosts Earth Science 
        Week in cooperation with sponsors as a service to the 
        geoscience community. As an AGI member we develop a soil 
        science activity for the annual calendar and contribute to the 
        Earth Science Week kits which are distributed to 10,000+ 
        teachers. Earth Science Week is held annually in October with 
        each year having a unique theme.
Dig It! Exhibition Activities
    Two Train-the-Trainer Workshops were conducted at the Smithsonian 
Exhibition--with over 60 teachers in the Washington DC area 
participating, January and June 2009, with Project Learning Tree 
members as the facilitators of the workshop.
    The exhibit has also traveled to the Durham Museum, Omaha, NE, 
Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, Spokane, WA and will be heading 
to the Bell Museum, St. Paul, MN. Staff and Members have participated 
in educational events (such as ``Let's Get Dirty'' day) and SSSA has 
provided educational materials, promotional items and books for 
giveaways and raffles.
Outreach Activities
Websites
    Soils for Teachers: Our teachers website features soils topic 
areas, lessons/activities collection, free classroom resources, 
definitions, an Ask a Soil Scientist feature. www.soils4teachers.org.
    Soils for Kids: Our kids website features areas including all about 
soil, fun with soil (activities), soil experiments, soil games, career 
exploration, and soil in your community. www.soils4kids.org.
    Agronomy for Teachers and Students: Our Agronomy and Crop Science 
K-12 website features sections on what is agronomy, understanding 
crops, pests and weeds, livestock, nutrients, water, soil health, 
climate change and provides lessons and activities--both for teachers 
and for students at various grade levels. It also features scientists 
in different careers. www.agronomy4me.org.
Member Outreach Activities
   Developed an online Career Profiles format for members to 
        tell their career story and have them upload to the SSSA 
        websites.

   Ask a Soil Scientist program online--members volunteer, 
        select regions and topic areas--answer questions from general 
        public, students, and teachers. They may also volunteer to 
        speak in classrooms. 135 Members have registered to date.

   A group of committee members participated in a NGSS 
        standards review via the SSSA Science Policy Office.
International Year of Soils--2015
    The Soil Science Society of America played an integral part the 
success of the 2015 International Year of Soils! We worked on raising 
awareness of and promoting the sustainability of our limited soil 
resources. SSSA members, recognizing that we all have a valuable role 
in communicating vital information on soils, came together to develop 
new activities and pull together already developed resources to assist 
everyone interested in learning more about soils. All the resources on 
our site are available for use. Key components included:

   12 monthly videos on various aspects of soil and associated 
        activities.

   K-12 Educators kit of resources

   Coloring and Activity Book

   Careers in Soil Science Career Poster
I ``Heart'' Soil
    https://www.soils.org/stickers
    Fifteen ``I Heart Soil'' stickers in different languages--another 
fun way to get people excited about Soils!

    The Chair. Thank you so very much.
    Our fifth witness today is Ms. Marissa Jensen, the 
education outreach program manager at Pheasants Forever and 
Quail Forever. Ms. Jensen, you bring a unique perspective to 
this hearing, and I recognize you now for 5 minutes.

  STATEMENT OF MARISSA JENSEN, MANAGER, EDUCATION & OUTREACH 
               CONSERVATION LEADERSHIP PROGRAM, 
      PHEASANTS FOREVER AND QUAIL FOREVER, SAINT PAUL, MN

    Ms. Jensen. Thank you so much, Chair Spanberger, Ranking 
Member LaMalfa, and Members of the Conservation and Forestry 
Subcommittee. I am the Education and Outreach Conservation 
Leadership Program Manager with Pheasants Forever and Quail 
Forever based in St. Paul, Minnesota. I am here today 
representing 750 community-based Pheasants Forever and Quail 
Forever chapters and 400,000 members, volunteers, and 
supporters who work every day to promote and implement 
conservation and outdoor-related programs. Additionally, I am 
here representing over 400 of my colleagues, many of whom 
deliver boots-on-the-ground conservation on private and public 
lands.
    As one of the nation's largest employers of conservation 
professionals, we know firsthand the importance of developing 
and recruiting the next generation. Our organization's mission 
goals are made possible through partnerships and funding from 
our chapters and volunteers, NRCS conservation technical 
assistance, and farm bill conservation programs. In addition to 
funding and programs administered the Farm Service Agency, U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, state wildlife agencies, and many 
more.
    Since the inception of our farm bill biologist program in 
South Dakota in 2003, we have leveraged funding and impacted 
over 22 million acres in 40 states. This broad team of partners 
delivers Federal and state voluntary conservation practices at 
the community level, much of which comes from Title II farm 
bill conservation programs. I am thrilled to be here 
representing our efforts to reach future conservation 
professionals.
    I personally began my education and career in the 
veterinary field. However, I found my true calling in wildlife 
biology, and eventually, my journey with Pheasants Forever and 
Quail Forever 4 years ago. I live in Omaha, Nebraska, with my 
son and two bird dogs, and although my connection to the 
outdoors was strong as a child, I did not grow up in a family 
of hunters and was not interested in hunting for most of my 
life. Once I learned about a hunter's role in conservation, 
coupled with my love for the outdoors and the ability to 
connect all of this to food, I went on my first hunt at the age 
of 30, and I haven't looked back since.
    Today, I would like to share what we are doing for the 
future of conservation professionals. In 2006, our organization 
began providing education for high school students through our 
National Youth Leadership Council. This group of 25 students 
from across the country have served as leaders within their age 
group by providing inspiration, education, and advocacy for our 
organization's mission. Many of these students have since 
chosen a career in conservation or agriculture and have become 
leaders among their peers in college and careers.
    Through our National Youth Leadership Council and our 
organization's commitment to developing conservation 
professionals, we evaluated our efforts to grow this program. 
Now, building on past success, we are expanding and 
transitioning our National Youth Leadership Council into a new 
program that will reach hundreds of students, Journey to 
Conservation Careers. This exciting new program is currently in 
its pilot phase and is aimed at reaching a larger, more diverse 
audience of students who might not be familiar with what 
conservation career opportunities even exist.
    Our organization, like many other sectors, is recognizing a 
downward trend of resumes and applications for open positions. 
To address this concern and elevate our efforts, we have 
partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to recruit 
the next generation of leaders through this unique and dynamic 
program. We recognize the importance of meeting students where 
they are at, to help break down barriers and participation and 
work toward building an inclusive community and workforce. To 
do this, we have developed a self-paced online certificate 
program with Bellevue University in Nebraska. As part of the 
course, students will have the opportunity to directly connect 
with conservation professionals and gain hands-on experience 
through job shadowing.
    Earlier this year, we hosted our first conservation college 
and virtual career fair. With minimal promotion and effort, the 
event had over 160 registrations representing participants 
across 34 states with requests for a repeat event. Journey to 
Conservation Careers will offer scholarship opportunities to 
help break down barriers and participation and reach 
historically underrepresented communities. We'll do this by 
working with high schools, environmental education associations 
through marketing efforts and help from our partners.
    I need to emphasize that the success of these programs and 
efforts would not be possible without the numerous partnerships 
that we have with the governmental and nongovernmental 
entities. We are stronger together, and these programs and 
practices emphasize the effectiveness of a partnership model. 
We also must have sound conservation policies, science, and 
adequate support to ensure that conservation programs are 
effectively and efficiently implemented.
    Finally, we recognize the importance of providing resources 
and guidance for the next generation. Journey to Conservation 
Careers can do just that, by delivering tools to meet students 
where they are at.
    Thank you, and I look forward to answering any questions 
you may have.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Jensen follows:]

  Prepared Statement of Marissa Jensen, Manager, Education & Outreach 
 Conservation Leadership Program, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever, 
                             Saint Paul, MN
    [Chair] Spanberger, Ranking Member LaMalfa, and Members of the 
Conservation and Forestry Subcommittee, my name is Marissa Jensen and I 
serve as the Education & Outreach Conservation Leadership Program 
Manager with Pheasants Forever (PF) and Quail Forever (QF) based out of 
St. Paul, Minnesota.
    I am here today representing our 750 community-based Pheasants 
Forever and Quail Forever chapters; and 400,000 members, volunteers, 
and supporters who work every day to promote and implement conservation 
programs across the country. Additionally, I am here representing over 
400 members of my team who work for Pheasants Forever and Quail 
Forever, many of whom deliver boots-on-the-ground services on private 
and public lands. This team works one-on-one with state and Federal 
partners, and landowners to help deliver critical conservation 
practices. As one of the nation's largest employers of conservation 
professionals, we know first-hand the importance of developing the next 
generation who will work with agriculture producers and land managers 
to implement conservation programs now and into the future.
    As ``The Habitat Organizations,'' Pheasants Forever and Quail 
Forever's mission is to ``conserve pheasants, quail, and other wildlife 
through habitat improvements, public access, education, and 
conservation advocacy.'' This is meaningful work, and one we do not and 
cannot accomplish alone. Beginning in South Dakota in 2003, our Farm 
Bill Wildlife Biologist program has helped leverage funding with state 
and Federal agencies and numerous partners, with the Natural Resources 
Conservation Service (NRCS) being a significant partner in these 
efforts. These partnerships have worked to develop cooperative 
biologist positions that provide one-on-one conservation technical 
assistance to private landowners interested in implementing 
conservation practices. Supported by funding from NRCS Conservation 
Technical Assistance and farm bill conservation programs, as well as 
the Farm Service Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, state wildlife 
agencies, and others, our staff have directly impacted over 22,000,000 
acres, with active partnerships in 40 states. This dedicated team 
delivers Federal and state voluntary conservation practices and 
programs at the county and community level, much of which comes from 
farm bill conservation programs that reduce soil erosion, improve water 
quality and wildlife habitat, and provide a host of other ecosystem 
benefits. Thanks to these partnerships over the last nearly 20 years, 
they have been one of the most successful, and largest boots-on-the-
ground implementation efforts in the country.
My Journey to Conservation
    I am thrilled to be here today, representing my team of 
conservation professionals, members, and volunteers. In addition, I 
would like to share my journey to a career in conservation. I am a 
biologist by education and worked as an emergency veterinary technician 
prior to my career shift into wildlife and habitat conservation. 
Throughout my career, I have learned how to navigate temporary 
positions through Nebraska Game and Parks Commission in various roles. 
Four years ago, I began my journey with Pheasants Forever and Quail 
Forever, and I am excited to help the next generation of conservation 
leaders find their place in their careers.
    I live in Omaha, Nebraska with my son and two bird dogs. Although I 
have lived a life in the city, my parents were born and raised in the 
small, rural town of Minden, Nebraska and I continue to stay connected 
to this community. This town has provided me with a framework of 
knowledge regarding land management and conservation practices that 
benefit us all, which I continue to build upon to this day. At an early 
age, I learned the importance of habitat from my father and 
grandfather's backyard garden full of milkweed and monarchs, and along 
with this, the knowledge of the impact one has, even from our own 
backyards.
    Although my connection to the outdoors was strong, I did not grow 
up in a family of hunters and was not exposed to or interested in 
hunting for most of my life. With no previous knowledge of how 
conservation happens or is funded, I never made the connection between 
the outdoors, wildlife, funding, and conservation. Once I gained this 
knowledge, coupled with my love for spending time outdoors and the 
ability to connect this to food, I went on my first hunt at the age of 
thirty and have not looked back since. In an effort to inspire others, 
I joined colleagues in the field to share my story as an adult-onset 
hunter. This video can be viewed, here.\1\
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    \1\ https://projectupland.com/hunting-videos/never-too-late-an-
adult-onset-hunter-story-2/.*
    * Editor's note: the video is retained in Committee file.
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National Youth Leadership Council
    Today, I want to tell you about what we are doing as an 
organization to ensure that there are passionate people in the field of 
conservation into the future. In 2006, PF & QF began a new endeavor to 
work with and provide education for the next generation of conservation 
leaders through our National Youth Leadership Council. This group has 
historically included about twenty-five high school students from 
across the country who are interested in being leaders within their age 
group and providing inspiration, education, and advocacy for our 
organization's mission.
    Our group of talented youth have made the trip to Washington, D.C. 
to see first-hand, how important the legislative and administrative 
processes are in our great Country. They develop their professionalism 
and learn how to be leaders for the conservation values we share. Many 
of these students report back years later, sharing the impact just one 
trip to Washington, D.C. had on their career path.
    Many of these young adults have since chosen a career path in 
conservation or agriculture, and as such, have become leaders among 
their peers in college and careers. Additionally, some of our students 
have shown their leadership skills by serving our country in the 
military. All of them will be--and have been--future leaders in 
conservation, either professionally, or in their personal lives as 
supporters and volunteers in their communities.
    Through our National Youth Leadership Council and the 
organization's growth in conservation leaders, we had the ability to 
evaluate and refocus our efforts and grow this program to include 
hundreds of students who want to make a difference in their communities 
and beyond. We will do this as we transition our National Youth 
Leadership Council into Journey to Conservation Careers--a program 
designed for high school students who have an interest in a career in 
conservation.
Journey to Conservation Careers
    This exciting new addition is currently in its pilot phase and is 
aimed toward reaching a larger, more diverse audience of students. We 
recognize the importance of meeting students and participants where 
they are at, to help break down barriers in participation and work 
toward building an inclusive community and workforce.
    To do this, we have partnered with Bellevue University (Bellevue, 
NE) to develop a self-paced, online curriculum where students will 
cover three unique modules: Conservation Past, Present, and Future; 
Upland Bird Biology and Ecology; and Conservation Responsibility. 
During the third module, students will have the opportunity to gain 
hands-on experience and start learning how to network and build their 
community through a job shadowing opportunity with those in the 
conservation field within Pheasants Forever, Quail Forever, the U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, and hopefully other Federal and state 
agencies, and conservation organizations.
    Monthly virtual webinars will take place as part of this program, 
where students will have the opportunity to ``meet'' conservation 
career professionals and leaders from across the country. Through these 
sessions, students will have the chance to ask questions and learn what 
tools and resources are available to set them up for success.
    Additionally, Journey to Conservation Careers will offer 
scholarship opportunities for students in our efforts and priority to 
reach historically underrepresented communities and break down barriers 
to participation in the program. We will do this by reaching out and 
working directly with high school teachers and counselors, 
environmental education associations within each state, marketing and 
outreach efforts, and with the help from many of our partners.
    Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever, like many other sectors, are 
recognizing a downward trend of resumes and applications for open 
positions. We know that our partners with Federal and state agencies 
are experiencing the same phenomenon. To elevate our efforts, the 
organization partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to host 
its first Conservation College and Virtual Career Fair, as part of our 
Journey to Conservation Careers efforts, in February of 2022.
    This pilot event focused on ten ``virtual'' booths which included 
nine of our partners from Federal to state agencies, universities, and 
nonprofit organizations. With minimal promotion and effort, the event 
had over 160 registrations with an 82% attendance rate on the day of 
the event. Additionally, over 34 states were represented in attendance.
    The event was open to the public in an effort to gauge interest in 
this type of event. The participants' education and experience levels 
ranged from high school to post-doctorate students and career 
professions. High school teachers logged on with classrooms to provide 
an educational experience for their students throughout the day.
    Every year, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever hosts National 
Pheasant Fest and Quail Classic, which historically brings in over 
30,000 attendees, as well as state, Federal, and nonprofit partners. 
Our vision for the future with Journey to Conservation Careers is to 
host a Natural Resources Conference for these students on the front end 
of Pheasant Fest and Quail Classic. With students arriving ahead of the 
show, they will have an opportunity to meet leaders and inspiring 
speakers, connect with like-minded students, and start building their 
own conservation community.
Closing Statement
    I want to emphasize that the success of these programs and efforts 
would not be possible without the numerous partnerships that we have 
with the governmental and non-governmental entities, including the 
Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
state fish and wildlife agencies, the National Fish and Wildlife 
Foundation, and other national, state, and local agencies and 
organizations.
    We also need sound conservation policy, science, and adequate 
support to ensure that conservation programs are effectively 
implemented. We need to ensure that the next generation of conservation 
leaders have the education and experience to become champions of our 
natural resources.
    Finally, we all know the importance of inspiring the next 
generation of conservation leaders and land stewards, and with the 
partnerships and resources we have developed, we can provide the tools 
and guidance necessary to help these students begin their journey with 
the right foot forward. Journey to Conservation Careers can deliver 
these resources and guidance, to meet students where they are at.
    Thank you and I look forward to answering any questions you may 
have.

    The Chair. Thank you so very much.
    And at this time I will yield to Ranking Member LaMalfa to 
introduce our sixth and final witness.
    Mr. LaMalfa. Well, thank you again, Madam Chair. As I 
mentioned, Tracy Schohr is someone I have known for many years, 
her and her family here in the same county I live in here in 
northern California. She is currently on the University of 
California Cooperative Extension with the livestock and natural 
resources as an advisor for Butte, Plumas, and Sierra Counties 
here in northern California. In this role, she provides 
conservation technical support to ranchers, land managers, and 
agencies regarding livestock production and conservation. Tracy 
conducts research in the region focused on irrigated pasture, 
invasive species, predators in mountain meadows. Recent 
catastrophic fires, the Camp Fire, in 2018, the Walker Fire in 
2019, the North Complex Fire in 2020, Dixie Fire in 2021 have 
led her to work with producers on disaster preparedness, 
livestock shelter management, and the research on fire 
implications to natural resources. Tracy is also a managing 
partner in her family's ranch, the Schohr Ranch, a 
multigenerational family farm which raises rice, walnuts, 
registered Hereford cattle, and commercial cattle. She has a 
master's degree in horticulture and agronomy from the 
University of California at Davis and a bachelor of science 
from California State University at Chico.
    So with that, Tracy, take it away. Thanks for joining us 
today. I yield back, Madam Chairman.
    The Chair. Ms. Schohr, you are recognized for 5 minutes.

 STATEMENT OF TRACY K. SCHOHR, LIVESTOCK AND NATURAL RESOURCE 
               ADVISOR, AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL 
  RESOURCES, COOPERATIVE EXTENSION, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA; 
               PARTNER, SCHOHR RANCH, GRIDLEY, CA

    Ms. Schohr. Perfect, thank you all. And good afternoon, 
Chair Spanberger, Ranking Member LaMalfa, and Members of the 
Subcommittee. And thank you for hosting this hearing 
recognizing the importance of supporting careers in 
conservation.
    My name is Tracy Schohr, and I am excited to be here in 
three capacities. As Representative LaMalfa said, I am 
University of California Cooperative Extension Livestock and 
Natural Resources Advisor serving in three counties, Plumas, 
Butte, and Sierra, which is within the First Congressional 
District in California. In this position, I conduct research 
and bring science-based information into the hands of ranchers, 
land managers, and community members. Second, I am a managing 
partner of Schohr Ranch, a fifth-generation family farm that 
grows rice, walnuts, and raises cattle. And last and most 
importantly, I am a product of career technical education. I 
grew up as an active member in the West Gridley 4-H Club and 
Gridley FFA. Mr. Dillabo and Mr. Risso's high school 
agricultural classes gave me the foundation for my career.
    After attending Chico State, I worked in the policy arena 
building bridges between the environmental community and 
ranchers. This inspiring work led me back to UC Davis to earn a 
master's degree so that I can offer greater help to farmers, 
ranchers, and land managers to meet contemporary and emerging 
issues.
    Congress needs to support programs that train the workforce 
for exciting careers and conservation. How can this be 
accomplished? One is to make investment where it counts. 
Examples that I am passionate about include 4-H Youth 
Development that was created by the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 as 
part of the Federal-state-local partnership in the land-grant 
university system. 4-H Youth Development is in both urban and 
rural areas, bringing hands-on experiential learning in areas 
such as agriculture, STEM, robotics, computer coding, and 
natural resources management. 4-H members build confidence and 
leadership skills and are exposed to a variety of potential 
careers.
    Another is the National FFA Program, federally funded under 
Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act. FFA 
programs across the nation are training the future workforce in 
every spectrum of careers in sustainable agriculture, data 
science, resource conservation, forest health, while building 
professional skills such as public speaking, critical thinking, 
and research. These two programs expose youth of all 
backgrounds and ethnicities to the breadth of careers and 
conservation.
    And number two, Congress needs to support continued 
investments in research and extension funding. I am proud to be 
an extension agent, continuing a 130 year tradition of 
connecting research and outreach important to local communities 
at the intersection of long-term agricultural sustainability 
and public-good benefits such as clean water, healthy soils, 
working landscapes, and wildlife conservation.
    As an extension advisor, I help ranchers overcome 
challenges they face such as animal health, irrigated pasture, 
predators, regulatory compliance, applying for Federal farm 
bill programs, and managing landscapes in the aftermath of the 
Camp Fire, North Complex Fire, and Dixie Fire. An example is 
personally leading the first study on water quality post-Camp 
Fire that informed downstream ranchers that water flowing 
through their private range lands was safe for cattle to drink. 
And then the picture behind me here today is on that working 
ranch where one of those research sites took place.
    And for three generations my grandfather, dad, and brother 
have called on our local extension agents for advice on rice 
diseases, water management, and invasive weeds to improve our 
family farm. We even lend our fields to UC for research trials 
where the results help our entire industry, the environment, 
and improves the sushi rice you eat. Extension provides 
critical people power, research talent, and enables states to 
connect the power of local universities with people on the 
ground. Together, we must train and educate a workforce that is 
adapting to our changing environment: weeds, pests, drought, 
and the aftermath of catastrophic fires. We must train on the 
evolution of land management, including the need to actively 
manage our forests, recognizing livestock grazing can be a 
sustainable land management tool and look at agriculture as a 
solution, not the problem.
    In closing, the demand for future job opportunities and 
conservation are endless. As the Committee writes the next farm 
bill, I encourage you to invest in training for more 
practitioners like myself who work hand-in-hand with farmers, 
ranchers, and natural resource managers to make conservation 
happen while supporting healthy landscapes, protecting 
watersheds, and enhancing profitable agricultural businesses.
    Thank you again for the opportunity to testify before the 
Committee, and I am happy to answer any questions.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Schohr follows:]

 Prepared Statement of Tracy K. Schohr, Livestock and Natural Resource 
  Advisor, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Cooperative Extension, 
      University of California; Partner, Schohr Ranch, Gridley, CA
    Good afternoon, Chair Spanberger, Ranking Member LaMalfa and 
Members of the Subcommittee. Thank you for hosting this hearing today 
recognizing the importance of ``Supporting Careers in Conservation.'' I 
am pleased to be here to offer testimony before the Subcommittee.

    My name is Tracy Schohr and I am here today in three capacities--

    I am a University of California Cooperative Extension Livestock and 
Natural Resources Advisor serving three counties in Northern 
California--Butte, Plumas, and Sierra, which happens to be within Rep. 
LaMalfa's Congressional district. My role as a cooperative extension 
advisor is to conduct research and bring science-based information into 
the hands of ranchers, land managers, and community members.
    Second, I am a managing partner of Schohr Ranch, a 5th generation 
family farm that grows rice, walnuts, and raises cattle.
    Last, and most importantly, I am a product of career technical 
education. I grew up as an active member in the West Gridley 4-H Club 
and Gridley FFA. Mr. Dillabo's & Mr. Risso's high school agricultural 
classes exposed to me livestock grazing management, genetics, 
agricultural business management, and plant identification--giving me 
the building blocks necessary for my career.
    After attending California State University, Chico, I worked in the 
policy arena where I had the opportunity to build bridges between the 
environmental community and ranchers. This inspiring work led me to go 
back to college to earn a Master's in Horticulture and Agronomy at 
University of California, Davis so that I could become a cooperative 
extension advisor, also known as an extension agent in other states.
    I chose this career path because, farmers and ranchers, along with 
land management agencies, need a trained workforce that can help them 
meet contemporary and emerging issues. Climate resiliency, wildfire 
mitigation, drought, producing a safe, abundant, and affordable food 
supply, all require a workforce that is highly trained.
    Congress needs to support programs that train the next generation 
for exciting careers in conservation. How can this be accomplished . . 


  1.  Make investments where it counts, examples I am passionate about 
            include:

        4-H Youth Development that was created by the Smith-Lever Act 
            of 1914 as part of a Federal-state-local partnership and 
            the land-grant university system. In California, 4-H Youth 
            Development is in both urban and rural areas--bringing 
            hands-on, experiential learning in areas such as 
            agriculture, STEM, robotics, computer coding, and natural 
            resources management, to name a few. 4-H members build 
            confidence and leadership skills and are exposed to a 
            variety of potential careers.
        Another is the National FFA Program federally funded under Carl 
            D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act. FFA 
            programs across the nation are training the future 
            workforce in every spectrum of careers in sustainable 
            agriculture--data science, natural resources conservation 
            and forest health, while building professional development 
            skills such as public speaking, critical thinking, and 
            research.
        These two programs expose youth of all backgrounds and 
            ethnicities to the breadth of careers in conservation.

  2.  Support continued investments in research and extension funding. 
            I am proud to be part of the [land-grant] partnership that 
            was developed between states and the Federal Government 
            with the 1862 Morrill Act, the 1887 Hatch Act and the 
            previously mentioned 1914 Smith-Lever Act.

        For over 130 years extension agents have conducted research and 
            outreach important to our local communities at the 
            intersection of long-term agricultural sustainability and 
            public good benefits such as clean water, healthy soils, 
            working rangelands, resilient forests and wildlife 
            conservation.
        My colleagues and I work and live in the communities we serve 
            and have formed long-standing and trusted relationships. 
            Cooperative extension is a boundary spanning organization 
            working with diverse stakeholders such as, Tribal, 
            environmental, agricultural, and all levels of government.
        As an extension advisor, I help ranchers overcome challenges 
            they face on topics such as animal health, irrigated 
            pasture, predators, regulatory compliance, applying for 
            Federal farm bill programs and managing landscapes in the 
            aftermath of the 2018 Camp Fire, the 2019 Walker Fire, the 
            2020 North Complex Fire, and the 2021 Dixie Fire. I 
            personally led research on fire implications including the 
            first study on water quality post Camp Fire that informed 
            downstream ranchers that water flowing through their 
            private landscapes was safe for cattle to drink. Last week 
            I launched a research project, working closely with 
            ranchers and the Plumas National Forest. We are using GPS 
            collars on cows to investigate how catastrophic fires that 
            burn dense forests change landscape vegetation, which 
            impacts livestock grazing. Data collected from the GPS 
            collars will inform future post-fire grazing practices.
        When disaster strikes, ranchers and emergency services call on 
            cooperative extension. During the North Complex Fires when 
            the Plumas Sheriff Department and Animal Control needed 
            help evacuating cattle, they knew I had strong 
            relationships in the community and could quickly call on 
            people to bring their personal cattle trailers to help move 
            a large herd out of harm's way. During the Dixie Fire, for 
            weeks, I worked with Incident Command Teams serving as a 
            liaison to ranchers needing to move, care and treat animals 
            behind evacuation lines. I mention this because it is a 
            prime example of how cooperative extension advisors are 
            valued members of the community and that our relationships 
            are grounded in trust. It is what makes us effective in all 
            aspects of our work.
        For three generations--my grandfather, dad, and brother--have 
            called on our local extension agents on issues such as rice 
            disease, water management, and invasive weeds. Our family 
            has immense trust with UC's Cooperative Extension services, 
            which provides critical advice that helps us improve our 
            multi-generational family farm. Our family farm also lends 
            our fields to UC for research trials, where the results 
            help our entire industry, the environment, and, in the case 
            of our rice crops, improves the sushi rice you eat!

  3.  We must train and educate a workforce that is adapting to our 
            changing environment--weeds, pests, drought, and the 
            aftermath from catastrophic fires. We must train on the 
            evolution of land management, including the need to 
            actively manage our forests, recognize that grazing can be 
            a sustainable land management tool, and look at agriculture 
            as a solution--not the problem. Last, we must train a 
            workforce skilled in emerging technology that can assist 
            with conservation and farming needs. For example, there is 
            exciting work being done to consider ways to put artificial 
            intelligence tools to work on the farm reducing pesticide 
            use and to help decipher copious amounts of data to 
            minimize nitrogen applications, improving agricultural 
            sustainability while maintaining productivity.
Conclusion
    In closing, the demand and future job opportunities are endless . . 

    Reflecting back to the family farm, we are working with USDA 
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) staff with conservation 
careers to implement farm bill programs for irrigation efficiency, soil 
health, pollinators, air quality and wildlife habitat.
    There is a need for a skilled workforce to put money on the ground 
managing our forests to create more fire resilient landscapes. UC 
Cooperative Extension is actively working to build and train this 
workforce, but there is a strong need to make sure that USDA programs 
continue to be funded. This will ensure that there will be resources to 
train the next generation of conservation professionals who can assist 
farmers to stay at the cutting edge of research and farm practices.
    The Federal investment into the Smith-Lever Act, for example, is 
one way the Federal Government through the USDA provides critical 
``people power'' and research talent to enable states to connect local 
issues with the power of university research. This Federal investment 
in cooperative extension is heavily leveraged by state, county, and 
local support--a high return on the Federal Government's investment.
    There is a strong need for additional funding to be provided to 
ensure that our nation will have a conservation workforce that can 
serve agricultural needs into the future. For example, there is a need 
to hire more researchers like myself, who work hand-in-hand with 
farmers, ranchers, and natural resource managers, who benefit from 
cooperative extension--to make conservation happen, while supporting 
healthy landscapes, protecting watersheds, and enhancing profitable 
agricultural businesses.
    As the Committee writes that next farm bill, I encourage Congress 
to continue to invest in the programs that support the creation of a 
strong conservation workforce. Doing so will help to ensure farmers and 
ranchers and the agriculture sector can continue to thrive and provide 
food for our nation using sustainable management practices. Thank you 
again for the opportunity to testify before the Subcommittee. I am 
happy to answer any questions.

    The Chair. Thank you so very much for your opening 
statements. Thank you for your testimony.
    So at this time we will go into Member questions. Members 
will be recognized for questions in the order of seniority, 
alternating between Majority and Minority Members. You will be 
recognized for 5 minutes each, in order to allow us to get in 
as many questions as possible. Please keep your microphones 
muted until you are recognized in order to minimize background 
noise.
    And I will begin by recognizing myself for 5 minutes. So I 
just want to say thank you again to our witnesses for being 
here. I have so many questions I would love to ask. But Dr. 
Holzer, I would like to begin with you. I have three children 
in K through 12 who have a real interest and curiosity in 
natural spaces and in the land around them, and so I found your 
testimony to be particularly interesting. In the long-range 
planning, how might partnerships with NRCS or state agencies 
and public land-grant universities help bolster the curriculum 
that you discussed in your testimony, especially as we look 
towards career development later in a child's educational 
career, and how can we ensure that educators, that they have 
the tools to ensure that students understand the litany of 
prospective jobs that are available to them into their future, 
be it just a few years away, or for some a decade or more?
    Dr. Holzer. Thank you very much for that question, Chair 
Spanberger, fabulous question. And my initial thought is 
communication. I think what needs to happen is that the K-12 
audience needs to know what is available and what is out there. 
You don't know what you don't know. And if a teacher has made 
their way into the classroom without having any kind of 
experience in any of the fields that we discussed today--and I 
was just so inspired by all the speakers--if they don't know 
that, how are they going to introduce that to our children? 
They might have a curricula that introduces it to them. There 
might be a module or something, but I am wondering if locally 
that there can be some forms of communication between entities, 
between the school districts and the extension offices.
    I know we have the Soil Conservation District in our state, 
and I used to tout them in meetings and get soil conservation 
books. Before you can get everything online, I would have them 
come visit my students. They have this beautiful model and 
these wonderful books where students can identify the soil that 
is in their backyard. But I knew to do that, and if a teacher 
doesn't know to do that--so outreach is the key.
    One of the things that we are doing right now with the 
support of NRCS is we are developing a model for soil 
scientists to use to do outreach. And we are visiting Tennessee 
first in Memphis, at a location in Memphis, and we are going to 
give it a dry run. And then over the summer we are going to 
iterate on the success of that. We have an evaluator that is 
looking at our program, and we are going to do it again in 
Chicago, totally different entities in which we are running it. 
And then after that, we are going to be coming out with this 
model of professional development, full day professional 
development for teachers. Everything is going to be ready for 
them. We will have slide decks, we will have activities, 
everything that they would possibly need. That is one small 
piece, but I know my friends and colleagues that are on this 
call today, they may have other ways of sneaking into that K-12 
pathway. Maybe it is through their kids, maybe it is through 
just celebrating what they do to the greater audience.
    The Chair. So, Dr. Holzer, I am going to follow up with you 
with questions for the record, so written questions. I think 
you mentioned a variety of different resources in your opening 
testimony, but just to even be able to provide back to my local 
community, I would be interested in if there are any other 
organizations that some of our school districts could be 
looking to for advice. I am intensely interested in this 
question, but I am going to try to move onto one more kind of 
tangentially related. And Mr. Crowder or Ms. Jensen, I will 
point this one over to you. What more do you think that NRCS 
could be doing to leverage the work of outside organizations 
that outside organizations are already doing to create a 
pipeline?
    Mr. Crowder. Chair Spanberger, one of the important things 
that I would always come back to is making sure that the 
conservation operations fund is there. All the conservation 
technical assistance comes through that. So much of NRCS staff 
programs come through that. As you know, all of the 
conservation agricultural programs, all that work is funded 
through CTA right up until the farm bill programs are there, so 
all of--not all of NACD's work but a lot of our partnerships 
with NRCS come from that conservation operations fund, so it is 
vitally important that we get that.
    The Chair. Thank you very much. And in my remaining 19 
seconds I am going to go to Mr. O'Neill. Would you have any 
other comments related to K through 12 education?
    Mr. O'Neill. Thank you for the question, Representative 
Spanberger. One of the big things for K-12 is really targeting 
kids before they start setting their career pathways. One of 
the areas that we are really targeting is middle school area, 
the 6th, 7th, 8th grade where they are mature enough to be 
thinking about their future but they are still early enough on 
before they set their pathways going into high school, so 
really targeting the outreach into the guidance counselors 
especially because guidance counselors in the middle school 
area are typically much more hands-on with the kids and much 
more in that developmental stage, much more engaging as opposed 
to in high school where it is not the same level of engagement 
with the student. And so really inspiring young people in that 
middle school area to be interested in forest-based careers and 
whether that be in the wood side of it, in the utilization side 
of it, in the conservation components of it, but just to be 
interested in it.
    The Chair. Thank you, Mr. O'Neill. And I am now going to 
recognize Mr. LaMalfa for 5 minutes.
    Mr. LaMalfa. Thank you. I wanted to come back to Tracy 
Schohr here once again. Let's talk a little bit about the 
issues of fire emergencies, especially in our forested areas. 
We have seen some really devastating effects on one particular 
cattle ranch right here in Butte County and we know that story 
extremely well locally here with [inaudible] up in the 
foothills [inaudible], Tracy. And this year we already have--
the National Interagency Fire Center has reported 1.7 million 
acres having burned in the West already, and so there will be 
much recovery work involved with that, with the previous fires 
that we listed a little while ago.
    So would you emphasize a little bit more on the fire work 
that you have done, whether it is during a fire or fire 
emergency and certainly the post-fire recovery that is so 
important as we drive around northern California and see mile 
after mile of blackened, dead trees and what used to be 
mountainous forest. It will look like high-elevation rolling 
hills once those trees all either topple by themselves as they 
tend to on Federal lands or maybe the work can get done.
    So would you talk a little bit more, please, about fire 
emergency and post-fire recovery work and why more people in 
this field, especially with the challenges we have with numbers 
of personnel, why would that be important?
    Ms. Schohr. Yes, Doug, so I think numbers are a big one, 
number of people, but also the funds and the flexibility. And 
so during disasters, I have been called on by emergency 
services personnel specifically in Plumas County by the 
sheriff's department to help evacuate cattle, having those 
relationships within my community, being able to get cattle out 
of the fire's path. During the Dixie Fire, I spent 3 weeks with 
incident command serving as a liaison to make sure agricultural 
producers can continue their operations behind fire lines, 
evacuate cattle, treat them, and also continue business 
operations, shipping them as part of their marketing and 
production strategies.
    Getting onto the ground side of it on natural resources, 
during the Camp Fire, Cooperative Extension and myself and some 
colleagues were able to initiate rapid response. I mentioned 
the water quality study. We also had a forage study looking at 
the ash that was falling on the forage. Was it safe for 
livestock to eat? And we are able to get answers in the hands 
of producers right away and let them know that we didn't find 
anything working with the Department of Food and Ag at our 
laboratory on campus at UC Davis.
    During the fires, I have gone out multiple times with 
colleagues to be on the ground as the flames were still burning 
around us to work with producers on how to restore their meadow 
after a dozer line to fix it for re-seeding, to relay the sod, 
to prevent erosion before the first rains came.
    And so I think the key message that I would have, and it 
really goes back to a seminar we had 2 weeks ago on post-
wildfire working with colleagues at community colleges and our 
local RCDs in the Forest Service. The message that came across 
is after a fire we must act now. Otherwise, it is going to be 
too late. For example, replanting success really happens in the 
first year. We know that meadows have to be fixed right away 
before the first rains. And we can't wait for funding to come 
months down the road. And so I think that is important for NRCS 
to be able to join hand-in-hand with resource conservation 
districts and Cooperative Extension to get practices on the 
ground during these disasters to help mitigate long, ongoing 
concerns but also for our Farm Service Agency to be able to get 
funds and relief in producers' hands that have been impacted by 
the fire to continue business continuity because we know these 
disasters take not only an ecological toll, a financial toll, 
but an emotional toll on the ranchers and farmers that are in 
their path.
    Mr. LaMalfa. Tracy, let's talk a little bit about--I 
imagine, as the ones you just mentioned, they have a pretty 
good working relationship. Don't they run into a wall with 
trying to get this work done when we are talking about people 
that are neighboring Federal lands, for example? How is the 
relationship with Federal lands on accomplishing things in a 
landscape format that actually does some good? If people are 
doing it on their private land but the Forest Service is moving 
sloth-like on theirs, how does that play out?
    Ms. Schohr. I think they are moving sloth-like because 
there is not enough of them, and I think the challenges that 
they are facing--so we are able to get action done on the 
ground on private lands really quick, but if we could have more 
resources and expertise and skilled workforce and more hands or 
boots on the ground could really help us improve our forests 
after the catastrophic fires that we faced.
    Mr. LaMalfa. Good, okay. And let's get more personnel. And 
we are certainly working on the pay scale side of things to try 
and be more attractive there as well. So Tracy Schohr, thank 
you very much, and, Madam Chair, I will yield back.
    The Chair. All right. The chair now recognizes Ms. Pingree 
for 5 minutes.
    Ms. Pingree. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I am very 
pleased to have this hearing today, and thank you for holding 
it. And we are so happy to have our colleague in Maine, Mr. 
O'Neill, here to talk to us, so thank you for joining us, and 
thank you for the beautiful picture of the Maine forest behind 
you. Some people don't know that Maine is a 90 percent forested 
state, so these issues are critical to us, and you did a really 
good job of outlining that.
    A couple things I would love to hear you talk more about 
one thing just briefly, the EDA grant that Maine got to start 
the Forest Opportunity Roadmap I think has been really 
critical, and you kind of laid that out, for our state being 
able to project the enormous transition going on in the forest 
products industry, what the future looks like, and the topic 
you are talking about today is really how to predict our 
workforce. And I just say to my colleagues that is not 
necessarily a topic of this hearing, but just to have that 
ability in the state or to have Federal support for states that 
want to do that without these projections, I think it leaves us 
much more vulnerable.
    But if you want to talk a little bit about how you have 
been doing these productions--it also, by the way, created your 
position, which is I think particularly good because having you 
there helps us a lot. But you talked about some of the 
challenges in workforce recruitment, and one of them you 
mentioned was placemaking. Again, we don't often talk about 
that, but because we are often talking about people coming or 
living in rural communities where I am sure like Maine there 
are huge housing shortages, sometimes the local hospital is a 
long ways away, those seem to be barriers at time to 
recruitment, particularly for the higher tech jobs you are 
talking about that are sort of the industries of the future. So 
I have already talked too much. I will let you go forth.
    Mr. O'Neill. Thank you very much, Representative Pingree. 
Definitely one of the big challenges about attracting people to 
work within a sector or within a location is not only just the 
jobs but the components around that job, the community that you 
are coming into, the services that are available. People don't 
necessarily want to just live in a bubble where they just go to 
work and they come home. There are all the other things like 
you had mentioned, that housing is affordable, broadband 
access, just to be in touch with family and friends around the 
world. The access to healthcare that is good quality 
healthcare, the ability to move freely, these are all things 
that people look for in communities. What is the community 
itself like?
    And so one of the things with this EDA funding that we 
received through 2016, the FOR/Maine construction, was this 
community building component where we are working directly with 
municipalities and communities on positioning themselves to be 
attractive not only for business attraction and development but 
also for the citizens within their communities to want to 
retain those workforce, current and future. If you don't have 
amenities in your community, it is very tough to keep people in 
that community. And so setting that placemaking aspect of it is 
critically important. It is not like in the old days where if 
there is a job, people are going to show up. You need all the 
other stuff along with it.
    Ms. Pingree. Yes, thank you so much for that answer. And I 
know we can't fix all of those things with this Committee, but 
certainly for the Agriculture Committee, broadband has been one 
of our big considerations moving forward.
    I don't have a lot of time but let me do a couple quick 
things here. So, Mr. Olander, I won't get a chance to ask you a 
question, but I just want to say I really appreciated your 
testimony because I think one of the things we hear often about 
is that people who work in some of the NRCS and other agencies 
often don't have this background in the future of agriculture, 
so for you to talk about training young people at a community 
college in tillage methods and the value of cover crops so they 
can see it firsthand, I think it is really valuable. And I want 
you to know this is from Staples, Minnesota. And even though I 
am a hard-core Mainer, I spent a lot of my summers in Brainerd 
so not too far away, or near Brainerd, one of those many 
beautiful lakes in Minnesota.
    And, Dr. Holzer, I am not going to get a chance to ask you 
a question either, but I just also want to say I really 
appreciated your testimony. I think it was very comprehensive. 
I am a certified soil geek myself, so I think it is just so 
critically important we approach this from that perspective. 
And also, I have a background in environmental sciences, and I 
think often we don't teach people anything about the soil when 
we are teaching them about weather patterns and the ocean and 
all kinds of other things related to the environment, so I 
really think that is so important that you and others on this 
panel are promoting that and how we get that into earlier and 
earlier grades in school, so kids who are desperately 
interested to learn more about climate change and about the 
environment understand the really important role of 
agriculture.
    So I will yield back the time I don't have, and thank you 
very much, Madam Chair, and to all of the panelists. You were 
all great.
    The Chair. Thank you, Ms. Pingree. The chair now recognizes 
Representative Moore for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Moore. Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate everyone 
having this Committee and obviously attendance and our 
witnesses. So I want to lead out with a question for Ms. 
Jensen. You mentioned earlier in your testimony the importance 
of partnerships with both government and nongovernmental 
entities. What kinds of new partnerships do you envision 
[inaudible]----
    The Chair. Mr. Moore, we are losing our ability to hear 
you.
    Mr. Moore. I apologize, Madam Chair. [inaudible] Can you 
hear me now okay? [inaudible].
    The Chair. Mr. Moore, if you want to try and--chair 
decision here. If you want to try and turn off your camera and 
hold it your ear, that might help us hear you better. I think 
that would be acceptable under these circumstances. We have 
already seen you on camera.
    Mr. Moore. Okay. Is that any better?
    The Chair. That is better.
    Mr. Moore. Oh, great, great. I am glad to hear it. Sorry 
about that. We have some bad weather in Alabama today. It is 
kind of thunderstorms moving through, so we can hear okay 
sometimes, sometimes we can't.
    So, Madam Chair, I have a question for Ms. Jensen. She 
mentioned earlier in her testimony the importance of 
partnerships with both government and nongovernmental entities. 
What kinds of new partnerships do you envision and with who, 
and how might they help to support careers in conservation?
    Ms. Jensen. Thank you, Representative Moore. That is a 
wonderful question. Our organization, as I mentioned in my 
testimony, just knows firsthand the partner of partnership. 
Simply put, we couldn't do what we do without the help from all 
the incredible partners that we have. And so, we really want to 
look towards the future, and we are excited for the future to 
welcome anyone and everyone who wants to be a part of this 
program because we know that we can make a much larger impact 
the more help that we get. So anyone that is interested, we 
would love to hear more from you. And, my contact information 
is in my written testimony, and I would love to have the 
opportunity to discuss this further with others.
    And, as far as your question as it relates to what that 
might look like, as we continue to grow this curriculum, we 
continue to grow resource professionals that we can connect 
with for job shadowing opportunities and to serve as 
conservation leaders for these kids, the more individuals that 
we partner with, the larger reach that we have, so we really 
are excited for that opportunity in the future.
    Mr. Moore. Okay, thank you. And let me say, Madam Chair 
also, as a graduate of a land-grant university, we sure 
appreciate folks working with land-grant universities. And my 
background is actually science in this part of the world, but 
we do some environmental remediation projects, so we are always 
open to anything we can do to help train the future workforce 
to come in. And so we are going to continue to do that. And 
with that, Madam Chair, I am going to yield back just because 
the weather is something crazy out here. And so thank you all 
so much for participating. And with that, I will yield back.
    The Chair. Mr. Moore, please stay safe. Thank you for 
joining us, and certainly thank you for bringing your 
perspective to the hearing and the Committee.
    Mr. Moore. Thank you.
    The Chair. The chair now recognizes Ms. Schrier for 5 
minutes.
    Ms. Schrier. Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to thank you 
for holding this hearing. This is a really vital issue in my 
district. I also want to thank all of our witnesses and give an 
especially warm welcome to my fellow Washingtonian, Mr. Michael 
Crowder, who I will have some questions for in a minute. 
Michael is such a smart, trusted leader in our state and in my 
office on conservation issues and frankly trusted throughout 
the country, so I am really glad to see him here today.
    As mentioned, this is an incredibly important topic. I 
can't tell you how many conversations I have had with farmers 
and forest landowners in my district about the need to increase 
the capacity for on-the-ground technical assistance in order to 
meet the demand for conservation work. And I just want to 
highlight that part again and put added emphasis that demand 
far, far outstrips capacity for conservation programs. Our farm 
owners and our landowners are responsible stewards of the 
lands, and they want to participate in Federal and state 
programs, and they just need help to do it.
    I got some great feedback from Pierce County Conservation 
District in my Congressional district and also Washington State 
University that I just want to share with the Committee today. 
Both pointed to expanding the definition of what we define as a 
conservation job, and we have heard some of this today. For 
example, more conservation is happening in urban areas, and 
touching on fields like engineering and sociology, urban 
studies. And agricultural sciences, often led by our wonderful 
land-grant universities like Washington State University are 
really changing the way that conservation work is being done.
    Another key issue that they mentioned is that we need to 
expand training opportunities to allow people to transition 
into the workforce or learn new skills who are already in other 
jobs and beyond engaging youth and college students, workforce 
development, and worker retraining needs to include 
conservation.
    Mr. Crowder, I have a question for you. In your testimony, 
you noted several NACD efforts to bolster the conservation 
workforce pipeline. And I want to ask you, as this definition 
of a conservation worker is changing and expanding, what is 
happening on the ground in Washington State to recruit and 
train a diverse, skilled conservation workforce? And also, how 
are those efforts incorporating the need for expertise in urban 
agriculture and engineering and other areas that aren't 
necessarily thought of as conservation fields?
    Mr. Crowder. Thank you, Representative Schrier. Good to see 
you again, and it is great to be with self-proclaimed soil 
geeks and duck folks and nerds like that. I love being around 
folks like that. So I am part of an organization just like all 
my other witnesses. We love what we do. And I have to shout out 
to my partners in Washington State. Roylene Comes At Night, she 
is our State Conservationist to Chris Pettit, Executive 
Director for the Washington State Conservation Commission. You 
have Tom Salzer, the Executive Director for WACD.
    So 20 years ago, conservation districts were primarily for 
agriculture and farming families. Now, districts are more in 
suburban and urban areas, so we are transitioning. Our 
supervisors are transitioning. Our clients are transitioning 
into these more urban areas. NACD has given 25 urban technical 
assistance grants to Washington State for $1.1 million to 18 
districts, and that includes your districts in Pierce, 
Thurston, and Snohomish Counties, so a lot of technical 
assistance is going into that.
    Washington State Conservation Commission is bolstering 
regional engineering teams in the districts. Executive Director 
Pettit is looking to hire an ag engineer to steer the program. 
As you know, we have Voluntary Stewardship Program in 
Washington. The legislature has appropriated $2.7 million a 
year for engineering, and we are working on the Sustainable 
Farms and Fields, so so much is going on at the local level to 
make sure that we have a broad representation and that we bring 
in those underrepresented, nontraditional supervisors and 
clients for our districts, and can't be happier with the work 
that we are doing.
    Ms. Schrier. Thank you, in my 4 seconds, just for helping 
farmers manage extreme heat and prepare for those challenges in 
the future. Thanks for being here today. I yield back.
    The Chair. Thank you very much, Ms. Schrier. The chair now 
recognizes Mr. Panetta for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Panetta. Outstanding. Thank you, Madam Chair, and 
thanks to all of our witnesses for being here. And thank you 
for being a part of this what I believe, especially coming from 
the Central Coast here in California, is a very, very important 
topic, so I appreciate your time and your discussion today.
    I think clearly it is obviously very important and it is 
critical that we continue to talk about workforce development 
and all of the programs that are taking place, be it at the 
USDA or other conservation organizations that are out there. 
There is no doubt that these programs are vital to protecting 
our farmlands and developing effective conservation practices 
that have serious implications for Americans on and off the 
farm. And one of the many things that we are seeing especially 
here in my district on the Central Coast though is that 
electronic enrollment platforms are really evolving, and 
technology is becoming more and more accessible and prevalent, 
which is a good thing. That is one of the reasons why it is 
critical for the NRCS to be ready to deliver technical 
assistance to private landowners working to implement and 
design conservation programs.
    Now, please know and realize that many of my colleagues and 
I are committed to investing in essential technical experts, 
especially when it comes to working with the 2023 Farm Bill. It 
is going to take a wide range of solutions. I think we 
understand that when it comes to executing our conservation 
goals and bringing in the Federal dollars to our rural 
communities, our farmers, and our ranchers who are working hard 
to implement conservation programs and programs on their own 
lands.
    But we can also do this as we better manage our forests, 
too, from the increasing threats of wildfires that we see out 
here on the Central Coast, and that is why I introduced the 
Save Our Forest Act (H.R. 5341), the bill that would help deal 
with the staffing shortages in National Forests and Grasslands 
and provide for natural resource managers and other 
conservation experts.
    Now, as we look to protect our environment, farmers have a 
big role to play, but so does our government, and I think we 
understand that and that is why we are having this important 
hearing. We have to make sure that we provide the resources and 
the critical support to our farmers, to our ranchers, to our 
foresters, and all those impacted by the threats of climate 
change and environmental degradation.
    Now, on another note, it is important that we train the 
next generation of the conservation workforce. That is why in 
December I cofounded with another Agriculture Committee Member 
the bipartisan Congressional FFA Caucus to help fund FFA and 
other similar organizations through the Carl D. Perkins 
Vocational and Technical Education Act. Our blue jackets do 
more than just raise livestock, we know that. FFA is training 
the future of the conservation workforce across all spectrums 
of the agricultural industry from hard sciences to STEM career 
pathways and the natural resource planning and conservation 
that is so important to us, and then providing obviously those 
public speaking skills and critical thinking skills and also 
community engagement, which is important.
    So I want to hit on Ms. Schohr if I could. In your 
testimony you mentioned that the education that you received 
through your FFA experience and high school agricultural 
education classes really laid the foundation for your career. 
Do me a favor and speak more to your experience as a member of 
FFA and how it impacted your journey to the seat that you are 
sitting in today and also how can we in Congress ensure that 
urban and suburban students have more access to these types of 
programs which can really, to be frank, enlighten them to the 
work that our farmers and our foresters are doing?
    Ms. Schohr. Switch that up a little bit. Thank you for that 
question. So I think the first line, how do we get more urban 
people involved is one of them is just getting more ag in urban 
classrooms. And so I think what is really exciting about a lot 
of the FFA courses now, I have a lot of friends that decided to 
go back into ag teaching. Most of their classes actually cross-
count for college education, and so I think that is really 
exciting is that there are dual options in enrollment.
    And so how did FFA really inspire me? So sitting in Mr. 
Dillabo's and Mr. Risso's classrooms, that is where I started 
learning about invasive weeds and plant ID and how do you 
manage those weeds using the whole toolbox with integrated 
management, with grazing or herbicide use. I learned about 
genetics. And one of the research projects I am working on 
right now with the Forest Service and colleagues at University 
of Arizona is actually GPS tracking cattle and looking at their 
DNA to see if they have genetic markers that make them hill 
climbers so they can do a better job of managing our forests 
and the grasslands to reduce the threat of catastrophic fire.
    And so those lessons learned a couple years ago in those 
classes really were an inspiration, and they got me out of 
Gridley to go experience the state, participate in national FFA 
conferences and contests around the country. So I am forever 
indebted to my ag teachers who gave up a lot of their weekends 
and evenings as amazing teachers to help me get to where I am 
today.
    Mr. Panetta. Outstanding. And it is nothing too bad with 
staying in Gridley, but I understand your point, especially 
being from the Central Coast rather than the Central Valley, 
but obviously looking forward to working with you and others 
from the Central Valley and all across our country to make sure 
that we support our conservation efforts.
    Thank you, Madam Chair. I yield back.
    The Chair. The chair now recognizes Mr. Correa if he is 
there. I saw him on camera earlier. Mr. Correa, are you there? 
He is not.
    Mr. Correa. Yes, I am.
    The Chair. Oh, you are.
    Mr. Correa. I was trying to hit that button there.
    Madam Chair, and I want to thank all of you for holding 
this important hearing, and listening to your comments about 
constituents that have lawns in my district, we have very few 
lawns. We have a lot of condominiums. We have probably one of 
the densest populations in the State of California. And the 
challenge is, as you have all put it, how do you get these 
young people to understand the value of agriculture, the 
outdoors, and I am trying to figure out how can we get that 
experience, how do we get some of these kids to go out and 
spend a week or 2 of the summer in Mr. LaMalfa's district to 
know what it is to be a farmer, to grow some rice, to get an 
appreciation of good public policy when it comes to 
agriculture? Because at the end of the day public policy really 
is dependent on us as individuals knowing what the agriculture 
industry really needs and the environmental challenges that we 
have.
    So I guess my question, thoughts, comment, elicited a 
comment from the folks here as our guests is how do we get our 
kids to go out in the outdoors and spend a few weeks out there, 
student exchange, summer exchange, get them out there, roll up 
their sleeves and do some good work? Thank you very much. 
Comment, question?
    Ms. Schohr. Well, I will answer that really quick. It just 
brought to my mind an opportunity that we have in California is 
actually as a 6th grader in our very rural agricultural 
community, they sent every 6th grader for a week to an outdoor 
environmental camp. And so we go camping, learn about forestry 
and forest health. We are there learning about where our food 
comes also, but the bugs and the trees and the water system, 
and so I think that was something also I had great experiences 
in both 4-H and FFA, but that weeklong of being there I know 
inspired some of my classmates to choose careers to go back 
into teaching and education and found inspiration in that week. 
And that is a program that is still continuing on to this day 
in our community.
    Mr. Correa. I think I need that program, too. When I was in 
the state senate with Mr. LaMalfa, I think I spent a week out 
in Shasta County out in the forest and got a heck of an 
appreciation for the forestry, the lumber industry, and ag. 
What I learned, though, I am trying to figure out how we bring 
back that kind of experience to our inner-city youth, get them 
out. So any ideas how to multiply those kind of experiences? I 
would love to hear from you. Thank you very much. And thank 
you, Madam Chair, for holding this hearing.
    Mr. Crowder. Representative Correa, we all love to brag on 
what we know, and my local conservation districts, the Benton 
and Franklin Conservation Districts, we have programs like 
Salmon in the Classroom, and we reach 4,500 students and 22 
schools in our local district. We have Wheat Week that we talk 
about wheat with the help of the Washington Grain Commission, 
and we teach them about farming and Drain Rangers. There is so 
much that we can do, just to get folks outside and then find 
those ones that are interested and love that and then let's 
find mentors to do that. We have lots of programs at NACD, but 
we have to get the kids interested and then mentor them to get 
them outside and into conservation careers.
    Mr. Correa. Thank you.
    Dr. Holzer. I will pipe in just quickly. Here in New Jersey 
most sixth-graders are going to go away for a few days into the 
forest. We do have forested places here in New Jersey, I swear 
we do, and they spend the 3 days just working with each other 
in team-building, but they also are there to do water quality 
testing. They will do all kinds of little conservation 
activities and enjoy themselves. So that is one small step. But 
I also think there are a ton of programs out there that it has 
to be--the message about those programs needs to get to the 
right people. And so if it is getting to the teacher, getting 
to a science supervisor in a school district to get the word 
out to the students, and I think we can get the kids out there, 
especially for, as you mentioned, Representative Correa, 
especially our kids that are in the city. They need to know 
that they can get out and that there are tons of activities out 
there for them or opportunities out there for them to try.
    Mr. Correa. Thank you. And just one last comment for you. 
Two weeks ago, my staffers went out to visit an urban garden in 
my district, 1,200\2\. Thank you very much.
    With that, Madam Chair, I yield. Thank you.
    The Chair. Excellent. Well, before we adjourn today, I 
invite Ranking Member LaMalfa to share any closing comments 
that he may have.
    Mr. LaMalfa. I have to get that technology turned on. Well, 
Madam Chair, I appreciate again the opportunity to talk about 
how we do need to stock up our ability to get people to enjoy 
the outdoors, appreciate my colleague Mr. Correa's comments on 
the enlightenment he got from being here in northern California 
and the great efforts our forest industry will do to bring 
people. And so let's lean on that some more because I think 
most people love the great outdoors, and what could be better 
than a job in them helping to manage our resources, whether it 
is for water, for wildlife, for better forest management so we 
don't burn a million acres every year with the lousy air 
quality and all the things that go with it. So I would like 
that so we can help move this in this direction and incorporate 
some of these things into the farm bill.
    Tracy's comments on more flexibility, please talk to us and 
help us put that on paper and put it into action and make these 
work just a bit better. I think there was a certain willingness 
to have these various programs that we have talked about for 
conservation, and we have had great success by and large, and 
we need to just keep expanding and keep making sure there are 
no barriers for their success.
    So with that, Madam Chair, thank you again, and I will 
yield back.
    The Chair. Thank you very much, Mr. LaMalfa. And in 
closing, I again want to thank all of our witnesses for being 
here today. Certainly, I think that the whole Committee is in 
agreement that truly technical assistance is incredibly 
important, be it at NRCS helping out in our communities but 
that the pipelines that are utilized to get us to this 
tremendous resource across our communities is incredibly 
important.
    I truly appreciated Mr. O'Neill's comments related to 
following up specifically on Dr. Holzer's comments related to 
middle schoolers and recognizing that at times we do a lot of 
work perhaps in career and technical programs and community 
colleges and land-grant universities, but sometimes it is just 
planting that seed at the middle school age, and we have heard 
about a couple different states' specific programs where 
students even recognize that this is an option, that this is a 
career path being in the outdoors, focusing on conservation, 
that that is an option they could even pursue.
    Certainly, I have been working on trying to ensure 
[inaudible] more funding for [inaudible], but I want to thank 
you for the tremendous insight that you all have provided into 
your work. Your emphasis on how important it is to have a well-
trained conservation workforce that works closely with 
producers and foresters to achieve desired resource 
conservation on their lands I think is a clear point that you 
all have made through your answers to our questions today. The 
thoughts that you have shared will certainly enable us to 
develop policies that will help improve today's conservation 
workforce and build a sustainable pipeline of employees.
    Certainly, your written testimony is valuable. I am 
grateful for the questions that you answered today but 
certainly your written testimony is particularly valuable as we 
are spending time really thinking towards that 2023 Farm Bill 
and across the country when we are looking at how is it that we 
administer and deliver successful and meaningful conservation 
programs, especially when some of them have grown increasingly 
complex over the years. Your thoughts have been very helpful to 
us. Certainly, the forces acting on our soil, our water, our 
air are becoming more extreme, and we are seeing more frequent 
and intense impacts as a result of the climate crisis, frequent 
storms, flooding, extreme weather, hurricanes in the Southeast, 
extreme weather variations, fluctuations, and of course 
historic wildfires in the West and notably in Mr. LaMalfa's 
district and region and state.
    Certainly, these changes further underscore the need for 
greater investment in our conservation workforce and the 
challenges facing them, but it is not just about the workforce, 
it is not just about the conservation. It is truly about 
creating jobs into the future where people are focused on the 
health of a community, the agricultural and economic drivers of 
a community, so I truly appreciate the very different 
viewpoints, though everyone is in general agreement, but the 
different perspectives to this conversation today. So 
hopefully, as we look towards the 2023 Farm Bill, I look 
forward to all of the Committee Members working together to 
focus on opportunities to grow our workforce and really ensure 
that producers have the support that they need to implement on-
farm conservation programs and that the future in our schools, 
elementary, middle, high school and on up, recognize the 
incredible breadth an opportunity that exists in these fields. 
So again, I thank you so much for your time.
    And under the Rules of the Committee, the record of today's 
hearing will remain open for 10 calendar days to receive 
additional material and supplemental written responses from the 
witnesses to any question posed by a Member.
    This hearing of the Subcommittee on Conservation and 
Forestry is adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 2:33 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]