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"Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land."
--from A Sand County Almanac, by Aldo Leopold, (1887-1948), American
author and conservationist.
Focus on the Field
Agriculture Water Quality Alliance (AWQA) Unveiled
Watsonville, California, was the location of a successful press conference and
field tour to showcase the achievements of the newly formed Agriculture Water
Quality Alliance (AWQA). The group – a unique partnership of farmers, ranchers,
community members, and government agencies in 6 counties – addresses concerns in
the watersheds that drain into the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
Seventeenth District Congressman Sam Farr joined California Farm Bureau
Federation President Bill Pauli and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
Superintendent Bill Duoros in praising AWQA's projects and results. NRCS offices
serving Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Santa
Cruz counties partnered with resource conservation districts, the University of
California's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, and
others to provide conservation technical assistance for projects mandated in the
Sanctuary's Agriculture and Rural Lands Plan.
Your contact is Daniel Mountjoy, NRCS resource conservationist, at 831-754-1595.
STAR Now Spelled with Two “S’s”
Chantel Davis, an NRCS soil conservationist in Tunica, Mississippi, thought that
the Southeast Region’s Student Trainees in Agricultural Resources (STAR) program
needed a better name. Realizing that 2 “S’s” were better than one, Chantel
renamed the program, Student Trainees in Agricultural Related Sciences (STARS)
to reflect the scope of study by students working not only in agricultural
resources, but ag-related sciences as well. The STARS program was developed in
1999 by NRCS Southeast Regional Conservationist Charles R. Adams to give high
school students throughout the Southeast opportunities to learn about and
experience the work done by NRCS. To date, approximately 39 students have gone
through the STARS program and worked as Earth Team volunteers in their
hometowns. As a result, several students are working toward college degrees in
agricultural-related sciences and plan to work for the agency after graduation.
Your contact is Lesia Young, NRCS outreach coordinator, at 404-832-3707 or
lesia.young@se.nrcs.usda.gov.
Roy School Outdoor Classroom
Realizing school kids need to understand the importance of native grasses,
legumes and shrubs, the Roy School FFA chapter created an outdoor laboratory to
provide hands-on plant appreciation and experience for students of all ages.
Using their four-row plot planter, the FFA and Bridger Plant Materials staff
planted 30 plant species behind the high school in Roy, Montana – a rural town
of 200. Students learned how the mechanical planter worked to place seed
properly for successful plant establishment and took turns riding the drill.
Students also will be able to participate in a variety of activities ranging
from learning about the forage benefits of tame pasture grasses to understqnding
the value of protein in winterfat for winter grazing. The FFA advisors at Roy
and Grass Range will also use the garden laboratory to help teach plant
propagation, morphological development, identification, and the value and uses
of forage plants. Equipped with their new lab, the FFA Chapters hope to see a
day in the near future when students and chapter members will become top
competitors in plant identification, rangeland management, and ranch planning.
Your contact is Larry Holzworth, NRCS Plant Materials Specialist, at
406-587-6838 or
Larry.Holzworth@mt.usda.gov
Innovative Partnering Pays Big Conservation Dividends
Thanks to help from the NRCS Wy’East Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D)
Council in Oregon, the Deschutes Resources Conservancy (DRC) and The Climate
Trust recently entered into an innovative Carbon Dioxide Offset Purchase
Agreement. Under the agreement, The Climate Trust will provide the DRC with
carbon dioxide offset funds to help landowners in the Deschutes Basin restore
riparian areas. The majority of the landowners will be concurrently enrolled in
the NRCS-administered Conservation Reserve Program or the Continuous
Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program. The RC&D council will also be
providing conservation technical assistance. These programs will reimburse
landowners for the costs incurred while implementing a conservation plan on
their land. This includes the cost of trees, planting, weed and animal control,
and fencing. The Climate Trust funds will be matched over a 5-year period by
Federal funds available through the DRC. The Climate Trust will acquire the
sequestered carbon offsets from the DRC and, by 2006, 1,500 to 1,800 acres of
riparian habitat will be restored and actively sequestering carbon.
The DRC developed this innovative project thanks to help from the NRCS Wy'East
RC&D. Dan Erickson, RC&D President, said, "Our purpose is to demonstrate how
riparian restoration projects can be designed and implemented across a mix of
public and private lands to achieve multiple benefits." Some of these benefits
include reforestation of riparian areas, improved water quality and habitat for
fish and wildlife, and carbon sequestration to offset global carbon dioxide
emissions. Further information about this and other offset projects funded by
The Climate Trust is available at www.climatetrust.org.
Your contact is Merlin Berg, NRCS Wy’East RC&D coordinator, at 541-296-2391
ext. 117 or merlin.berg@or.usda.gov.
A Sinkhole Grows in Rosinville
County crews dumped 20 truckloads of dirt without any success at filling the
seemingly bottomless, 15-foot deep sinkhole by the edge of a dirt road in
Dorchester County, South Carolina. That’s when county public works director
Danny Thrower called for help from NRCS resource soils scientist Bob Eppinette.
“I knew this was something that involved conservation,” Bob laughed, “but after
Danny told me about the 20 truckloads of fill, I wondered if this wasn’t maybe
an exception to the law of conservation of matter they talk about in chemistry.
I’ve seen sinkholes 10- to 20-feet wide in other parts of Dorchester County, but
nothing like this so close to Rosinville.” he added. Bob recommended giving the
hole another week or two to settle before trying to fill it again and crews
closed the road which runs through an unpopulated area of the county. Eppinette
explained that “this year’s drought in South Carolina has lowered the water
table causing limestone outcroppings to collapse causing the sinkholes.” (Based
on a September 5, Associated Press wire story.)
Your contact is Bob Eppinette, NRCS resource soil scientist, at 843-549-1821
ext. 113.
Read more about Bob at the following links:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20020905&Category=APN&ArtNo=209050681&Ref=AR&SectionCat=NEWS03>&Category=APN&ArtNo=209050681&Ref=AR&SectionCat=NEWS03
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/4007538.htm
Word from Washington
Arbor Day Website Links Visitors with NRCS
The redesigned National Arbor Day Foundation website, at
www.arborday.org, now allows visitors to
link to the NRCS website. During a virtual tour, Arbor Day Farm website visitors
with an interest in conservation can link to relevant NRCS website information.
Visitors need only click on “Arbor Day” or “Programs” on the front page of the
foundation’s website and follow “Arbor Day Farm” and “Take a Tour of Arbor Day
Farm.” This provides access to a map of Arbor Day Farm that highlights many
conservation and other points of interest. When visitors click on such topics as
“The Living Snowfence,” “Agroforestry Field,” “Stream Bioengineering,” “Field
Windbreak,” and “Oak Savanna,” they access a short message about a conservation
practice or practices and a hotlink that takes them to a related element of the
NRCS website for further information. Also featured on the map is the new
ArborLinks golf course that exemplifies how such facilities can be constructed
and managed in more environmentally friendly ways and used to educate golfers
about conservation.
Your contact is Max Schnepf, NRCS National Conservation Buffer Initiative
Coordinator, at 515-289-2331 ext. 15, or
maxs@swcs.org
New Water Web Pages for Children
The National Drinking Water Clearinghouse (NDWC) has devoted a new section on
its webpage to teaching children about water. "Drinking Water Kids" includes a
list of illustrated children's books such as Excuse Me Sir, That's My Aquifer;
The Raindrops ‘ Adventure: from Raindrops to Rainbows; and The Water's Journey.
The site also contains a list of websites that offer fun ways to learn about the
water cycle, groundwater, and conservation. The information will expand as NDWC
collects additional resources. The site is located at
http://www.nesc.wvu.edu/ndwc/ndwc_Kids_DWinfo.htm. For more information, or
to have your organization’s youth education materials added to the site, contact
Michelle Moore at
michelle.moore@mail.wvu.edu.
Your contact is Stacy Mitchell, NRCS public affairs specialist, at 717-237-2208
or smitchell@pa.nrcs.usda.gov.
Accolades
Soil Staff Honored by International Organization
Staff from the NRCS National Soil Survey Center (NSSC) in Lincoln, Nebraska, was
honored by the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) at the 17th World
Congress of Soil Science held last month in Bangkok, Thailand. Dick Arnold,
former Director of the NRCS Soil Survey Division, was made an honorary member of
the IUSS and Carolyn Olson, National Leader, Soil Survey Investigations, was
elected vice-chair Commission C2.4- Soil Mineralogy. Bob Ahrens, Director, NSSC,
was elected chair of the Commission C1.4- Soil Classification and Cathy Seybold,
NRCS soil scientist, received a red ribbon for her poster, “On-Farm Indicators
of Cover Crop Effects on Soil Quality.” The award-winning poster depicted the
objective, methods, and results of a study to determine if on-farm tests (soil
respiration, infiltration rate, bulk density, soil water content, soil slaking,
aggregate stability, soil pH, electrical conductivity of 1:1 soil-water mixture,
and soil nitrates) could detect change in soil properties after 1 or 2 years of
adding a cover crop to a vegetable cropping system compared to a system with no
cover crop.
Your contact is Dr. Sheryl H. Kunickis, NRCS soil scientist, at 301-504-4787 or
shk@ars.usda.gov.
More International Honors
The Executive Board of the International Cooperative Administrative Support
Services (ICASS) recently presented NRCS Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)
district conservationist, Philip Giles, with their Outstanding Leadership Award.
The ICASS Executive Board recognized Phil’s hard work, dedication, and positive
impact on local employees thereby helping overcome obstacles between the U.S.
and the FSM., resulting in improved quality and delivery of essential
conservation and other services to the region. Giles has been serving as a
district conservationist in the FSM. since August 1996. The ICASS system is the
principal means by which the U.S. provides cost share for common administrative
support at its more than 200 diplomatic and consular posts overseas.
Your contact is Gail Roane, International Programs Division, at 202-690-2212.
Tech Tip
NRCS Network Facilitates Technology Transfer
An informal NRCS Community Collaboration Network has been formed to provide
peer-to-peer support for interested NRCS staff related to their community
collaboration planning activities. Resources available via the Network include
e-mail contacts and a website. Additional activities are in the planning phase.
Network developers hopes to enhance technology transfer within NRCS while
sharing ideas, strategies, tools, resources, and other information related to
community collaboration and planning.
The NRCS Community Collaboration Network is maintained and supported by eleven
committee members and sponsors, including staff from the Watershed Science
Institute, Connecticut State office, RC&D program, Social Sciences Institute,
and the Farmland Preservation and Community Planning Division. The Network
website is located at http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/watershed/. NRCS staff
interested in participating in the network should provide name, title, address,
telephone and fax number, voicemail number, and e-mail address to Phil Morneault.
Your contact is Phil Morneault, NRCS community planner, at 860-871-4028 or
phil.morneault@ct.usda.gov.
NRCS Drought, Flood, Fire & Snowpack News
Georgia: Never Seen It So Dry (Main Street News, Danielsville)
http://www.mainstreetnews.com/Active/Mad.html
This Week's NRCS NewsLinks!
This Week's NRCS NewsLinks!
Colorado: Planes to Seed Burn Area from Sky (Durango Herald)
Illinois: RC&D Can Help with Local Problem-solving (Journal Standard)
Louisiana:
Project Aims to Restore Wetlands near Gibson (The Courier, Houma)
Texas:
Planners Study Ways to Get Access to Private Property (Abilene Reporter-News)
West Virginia:
Meetings Will Address Disappearing Farmland (Dominion Post, Morgantown)
(NOTE: Links are tested at the time NRCS This Week is cleared. However, by the
time readers try the link, the story may be off its server. In most cases,
readers can go to the paper's homepage, where they will be able to access the
story through the paper's archives).
Please send correspondence and material for "NRCS This Week" to the editor by: e-mail to: fred.jacobs@usda.gov or by fax to: Editor, "NRCS This Week," 202-720-1564; or by mail to: Editor, "NRCS This Week," NRCS, P.O. Box 2890, Washington, D.C. 20013.
You can receive NRCSTW via e-mail by sending an e-mail to: listproc@nrcs.usda.gov (NHQ personnel should send their e-mail to: GW:"listproc@nrcs.usda.gov@i"). Do not use a subject line and put the following in the body of the message: subscribe NRCS-THIS-WEEK Firstname Lastname (example: subscribe NRCS-THIS-WEEK Rachel Carson). To get help with other commands that are available at the "listproc@nrcs.usda.gov" address, send a message with no subject and the word HELP on a line by itself in the body of the message. "NRCS This Week" is posted on the NRCS Homepage.
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