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Outreach efforts are ensuring <br />that Native Americans receive <br />NRCS services <br />NRCS held workshops in Billings, <br />Montana and Aberdeen, South <br />Dakota, to discuss the new Technical <br />Service Provider process with American <br />Indian customers. About 85 individu- <br />als, representing 21 Tribes, attended <br />the two workshops, along with repre- <br />sentatives from the Farm Service <br />Agency and the Department of <br />Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs. The <br />workshops provided an overview of <br />the program and its impact on the <br />agency. The purpose of the workshops <br />was to ensure that American Indian <br />customers were aware of the opportu- <br />nity to become Technical Service <br />Providers and to obtain assistance <br />from non -NRCS providers. The <br />Technical Service Provider provision of <br />the 2002 Farm Bill directed the <br />Secretary of Agriculture to establish a <br />process through which participants in <br />USDA conservation programs could <br />obtain technical assistance from non - <br />Federal parties to implement USDA <br />conservation programs. <br />Funding for Goal 4 <br />Figure 11 shows the programs that fund <br />NRCS's activities in resources inventory <br />and technology development. The pro- <br />grams that make up the Conservation <br />Operations account — Conservation <br />Technical Assistance, Soil Survey, Plant <br />Materials program, and Snow Survey and <br />Water Supply Forecasting — provide the <br />technology and inventory data that are <br />the basis for all conservation activities of <br />NRCS, its partners, and many other pub- <br />lic and private resource managers. The <br />Biomass program is a new grants program <br />conducted jointly with the Department of <br />Energy to promote greater innovation and <br />development related to biomass. <br />See "FY 2003 Performance Measures" for addi- <br />tional data and maps relating to the perform- <br />ance measures that support this strategic goal. <br />Figure 11. Program funds for NRCS's activities in resources inventory and <br />technology development in FY 2003. <br />CTA — <br />56% <br />Biomass — <br />6% <br />Source: FY 2005 Budget Explanatory Notes <br />16 Fiscal Year 2003 Performance Report <br />Plant <br />Materials <br />4% <br />Soil Survey <br />34% <br />