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“TRIBUTE TO DAVE WHITE” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the Senate section on pages S7700 on Dec. 10, 2012.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO DAVE WHITE
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, after nearly four decades of service with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, NRCS, at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, last week, Mr. Dave White settled into retirement. He will be missed for his dedication, enthusiasm, and steadfast support of conservation causes, as well as his keen sense of humor and sharp wit, which kept both his staff, and Members of Congress, on their toes.
During his long career, Dave has shown great leadership in conservation, improving the Nation's land management policies and practices, and ensuring that we meet our shared goal for sustaining agriculture and natural resources. His work has ensured that private lands are conserved, restored, and more resilient to environmental challenges, a goal that has grown in importance as weather disasters like Tropical Storm Irene, Hurricane Sandy, and the record drought still gripping the Midwest become more frequent and severe.
Dave wore many hats during his time at NRCS. From 2002 to 2008, he served as the State Conservationist in Montana where he helped farmers and ranchers improve agricultural production, while at the same time reducing their impact on the environment. After learning about Dave's many outstanding achievements in Montana, my only regret was that we were not able to add NRCS State Conservationist in Vermont to Chief White's already sterling resume.
Later, in 2007 and 2008, Dave was detailed to Senator Harkin's office, where his help in drafting the conservation title of the 2008 farm bill was immeasurable. I am deeply thankful for his assistance on this vital legislation, and for his thoughtful consideration of programs that have been so vital to Vermont's conservation efforts, such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, the Farmland Protection Program, and Regional Equity, which have all contributed to the protection and improvement of Lake Champlain. President Obama then appointed Dave to lead NRCS, a role that he has filled admirably for 4 years working closely with Secretary Vilsack to advance voluntary, incentive-based private land conservation.
I would like to offer my sincere gratitude to Chief White for his years of dedicated service to this Nation. I wish him well in his retirement and I hope he will come visit us soon in Vermont to sample our many delicious ``value-added'' agricultural products.
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