The Chase County Natural Resources Conservation Service field office is on the chopping block, a state official announced this week.
As part of a proposed consolidation plan, Chase County’s field office in Cottonwood Falls will close and merge with Lyon County’s office located in Emporia. Harold Klaege, state conservationist for the NRCS in Kansas said there is one employee who works out of the Chase County office. That employee will be transferred to the Emporia office based on workload, Klaege said Friday morning. If the employee wants to work someplace else, she will be given that option.
Other counties proposed for consolidation include Comanche, Geary, Gove, Johnson, Leavenworth, Morton, Wabaunsee and Woodson. Before the consolidations can take place, the National Food and Agriculture Council must approve the proposal. Following the approval, the offices cannot be closed for 120 days.
“It would be hard to start consolidation much before Oct. 1, 2007,” Klaege said.
Even though NRCS offices will consolidate, Klaege said the conservation districts in affected counties have decided to remain open. In Chase County, Klaege said, the conservation district will secure its own office in the county. Through a partnership effort, NRCS employees will make regular visits to the district offices to provide technical assistance to producers as well as the local conservation district.
“As far as I know they are going to continue to stay there and have a presence in the county,” he said.
In a news release, Klaege also discussed mobile office technology.
“It is hard to move bricks and mortar,” he said. “But we started a pilot project this year that uses mobile offices so our field staff can go where the workload is. Mobility allows our staff to meet with a farmer or rancher on the land and develop a conservation plan on-site.”
There are 15 employees assigned pickups equipped with portable computers, scanners, printers, cell phones and global positioning satellite receivers. This technology gives NRCS employees immediate access to natural resource data such as soils, range sites, aerial photography and field office technical guide information.
“This technology is providing flexibility for our employees and enabling them to provide more technical assistance on the land,” Klaege said.