Jon Hall Named State Conservationist for NRCS Maryland

Maryland Media Liaison:

Carol Hollingsworth, 443-482-2902

Annapolis, MD (June 28, 2007) ---- Jon F. Hall, a 33-year career employee with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has been selected as the State Conservationist for NRCS Maryland at the State Office in Annapolis, Maryland.

Hall succeeds Virginia (Ginger) L. Murphy who began a one-year assignment to the office of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein in Washington, D.C, where she will assist with agriculture and conservation issues. Hall previously served as the NRCS State Conservationist in Delaware and will also serve in that position until a new State Conservationist is selected for Delaware.

“The FY 2007 budget for Maryland is structured to provide appropriate funding to meet our administrative needs and strong technical and financial support for natural resource conservation programs used to enhance current state and local conservation efforts,” said Hall. “This budget also includes special initiatives to improve service to customers and outreach to undeserved and underrepresented groups in the state.”

“All government agencies are being asked to improve their performance and we’ve seen quite a number of management innovations within the agency to address accountability and improve performance. This year is no different. We are once again being asked to stretch and reach beyond expectations. The most consistently successful strategy to reach beyond has proven to be the use of teams and teamwork.”

“My role in Maryland is to optimize the use and management of the agency’s conservation programs and to enhance the NRCS’s role and relationship in the Maryland Conservation Partnership to put conservation practices on the ground,” said Hall. “I plan on helping NRCS Maryland employees continue to provide the technical excellence and expertise that folks here have come to expect and deserve in achieving natural resources goals for Maryland.”

“I am looking forward to working with employees, farmers, and partnership members in cooperative conservation efforts,” said Hall. “Annapolis is not very far away from Delaware and I expect to continue working with DelMarVa conservationists as our paths cross while “Helping People Help the Land”.

Throughout his career, Hall has worked on special assignments to NRCS National Teams in Washington, D.C. He was instrumental in developing the agency’s Strategic Plan and currently has team leadership on the NRCS State Efficiency Plan activities.

A native of Tampa, Florida, Hall received a Soil Science Degree from Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida and began his NRCS career as a student trainee while in college.

He worked at NRCS field offices in Florida and Minnesota before accepting a full-time career position as a Soil Scientist in Minnesota.

Hall transferred within NRCS to the Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan area and worked in a variety of positions for 25 years from 1980 through 2005. He served as a Soil Scientist Project Leader in Casa Grande; and then changed his career direction to work as a Soil Conservationist and a District Conservationist in Phoenix.

As he progressed in leadership responsibilities with NRCS, Hall served as a Coordinator for the Resource, Conservation and Development (RC&D) Program in Chandler, Arizona and as the Assistant State Conservationist for Operations at the NRCS State Office in Phoenix.

In 2005, he accepted the position as the State Conservationist in Delaware.

He is a member of the National Association of Conservation Districts, the Soil and Water Conservation Society, the National Organization of Professional Black NRCS Employees, the National Organization of Professional Hispanic NRCS employees, and the National Organization of Federally Employed Women. His professional publications include the Soil Survey for the Western Part of Pinal County in Arizona.

Hall and his wife, Sharon, live in Camden, Delaware.