TY - JOUR T1 - Public-private sector technical assistance should be nurtured JF - Journal of Soil and Water Conservation SP - 70A LP - 72A VL - 62 IS - 4 AU - Dennis Pate Y1 - 2007/07/01 UR - http://www.jswconline.org/content/62/4/70A.abstract N2 - The ad above could be run by nearly every private landowner in the country. And I don't believe the landowners care whether the private sector or public sector provides the assistance. Landowners simply want good, qualified people to help them. They want people who are technically sound, understand local, state, and national rules, and can get the work done in a timely fashion. They prefer to pay little for this assistance, since it has been provided at little or no cost to them in the past by the USDA. Before I explain my current views and concerns on public and private sector technical assistance for conservation on private lands, let me say that three years ago when I worked for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), I would not be writing what I am now. I believed then that conservation technical assistance-especially for any type of conservation planning assistance-was the sole purview of government and particularly NRCS. However, since retiring from NRCS and spending some time trying to help a private sector technical service provider (TSP) operate, my views have changed. I've personally seen the services and expertise the private sector has to … ER -