USDA official to host virtual office hours on conservation achievements, importance of reconnecting with Great Outdoors

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26, 2012 – This Thursday, Nov. 29, USDA Senior Advisor to the Secretary for Environment and Climate Change Robert Bonnie will host a live Virtual Office Hours session on Twitter to answer your questions about USDA’s record conservation achievements and efforts to reconnect Americans to the great outdoors.

USDA works with state and local governments and private landowners to conserve and protect our nation's natural resources, helping preserve our land, and clean our air and water. In 2011, USDA enrolled a record number of acres of private working lands in conservation programs, working with more than 500,000 farmers and ranchers to implement conservation practices that clean the air we breathe, filter the water we drink, and prevent soil erosion. President Obama launched the America's Great Outdoors initiative in 2010 to foster a 21st century approach to conservation that is designed by and accomplished in partnership with the American people. During the past two years, USDA's conservation agencies—the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Farm Service Agency—have delivered technical assistance and implemented restoration practices on public and private lands. We are working to better target conservation investments, embracing locally driven conservation and entering partnerships that focus on large, landscape-scale conservation.

Senior Advisor Robert Bonnie will answer Twitter queries on conservation and the importance of outdoor traditions, such as:

• What is USDA doing to help create and preserve wildlife habitats across the U.S.?

• How is USDA using cooperation and partnerships to protect endangered species on farms and ranches?

• What steps is the Department taking to mitigate future wildfires and is USDA prepared for next season?

• What changes are we seeing in the forests due to climate change? How will the Dept. mitigate these potential changes?

Submit your conservation-related questions in advance to the @USDA Twitter account using #AskUSDA.

More information on Department conservation efforts can be found here.

Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012

11 a.m. EST

WHAT: USDA Senior Advisor to the Secretary for Environment and Climate Change Robert Bonnie will host virtual office hours to discuss USDA record conservation achievements and the importance of reconnecting Americans to the great outdoors.

WHERE: Tune in online by following @USDA and using #askUSDA.