Arlen L. Lancaster was appointed as the Chief of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resource Conservation Service by USDA Secretary Mike Johanns on August 23, 2006.[1] Prior to the appointment, he served as USDA Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional Relations. Before that, Lancaster worked as a congressional aide for Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Bob Bennett (R-UT) and on the Senate Subcommittee on Forestry, Conservation, and Rural Revitalization.[1] He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Utah in 1998.