Public Domain Picture: 20110706-OSEC-LSC-0196

Ross Racine (second from right), Intertribal Agriculture Council, MT, attended a meeting at the White House, in Washington, DC, on July 6, 2011. He was asked to participate along with President Barack Obama, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, the President's Domestic Policy Adviser Melody Barnes and rural communities leaders from across the country for the White House Rural Champions of Change event to strengthen rural communities and promote economic growth. Ross Racine is the Executive Director of Intertribal Agriculture Council (IAC). He assumed those duties in January 2001. He served as the IAC Natural Resources Director beginning in 1991, and as the IAC Director of Programs since 1999. Ross is a Blackfeet Indian, veteran of the USMC, and has spent many years working on farms and ranches in the Browning, Montana area. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture/Animal Science in 1982 at Montana State University. His professional career began with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Browning, Montana as a Soil Conservationist working with Indian livestock producers on the Blackfeet Reservation. He received a Northwest Regional Award of the Intertribal Timber Council for his work on models for Tribal planning on land use. Ross’ entire professional career has been spent working with Indian farmers and ranchers in the development and management of their resources and he has extensive cross-cultural experience. He serves on the NRCS Chiefs Reinvention Forum Executive Committee, the Chief’s team regarding negotiation of the NRCS-Conservation District agreements; the early SCS Harmony workshops, and is co-chairman of the BIA’s writing team on regulation creation for resource planning required under PL103-177. Other involvements include National Agriculture Statistics Service Advisory Committee, Extension Indian Reservation Program Advisory Committee, Indian Land Tenure Foundation Board Member, Chairman of the Agriculture Committee for the National Congress of American Indians and also serves on his local school board. USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.

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May 12, 2014