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In the News - NRCS Plant Materials ProgramUpdated 09/10/2008 Plant Materials Centers are making headlines around the country.If you encounter any problems with the files provided on this page, please contact Leslie Glass at 701-250-4330.
East Texas Plant Materials Center Offers Field DayBy Christine S. Diamond, Cox East
Texas Whether you've bought a few acres of East Texas weekend get-away property with dreams of creating a restored prairie, a wetland bog, or wildlife habitat attractive to quail and other birds, or are looking for native plants to help control erosion, or simply want to reseed a pasture area with native grazing grass — the source of good native seed stock originates at the East Texas Plant Materials Center, south of Nacogdoches... Read more... http://www.dailysentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2006/05/14/20060514NDSnativeplant.html
Wind Gusts Extinguish Firefighters' Plans to Practice Their Craft
BUTTE -- Wildfire: Burning grass, trees would have helped test interagency coordination. Winds brought an early halt to a live firefighting exercise set to burn more than 60 acres of dry grass and trees Saturday behind the Plant Materials Center on Bodenburg Loop... Read more... http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/matsu/story/7712995p-7624116c.html
Molokai USDA PMC Workers Discuss the Wasp That Threatens Our WiliwiliBy Brennan Purtzer The Erythrina gall wasp has been driving people nuts all across the state, said Kaweka Duvauchelle, resource specialist at the Moloka'i Plant Materials Center on their open house day, Tuesday, April 18. Now working around the wasp, which has decimated conveniently windbreaking and native wiliwili trees throughout the state by planting it's eggs... Read more... http://www.molokaitimes.com/articles/6424154643.asp
TAMU Ecologist Seeks Seeds for 'Urban Refugees'By Robert Burns STEPHENVILLE -- These days, many of his primary clientele are "urban refugees," said Dr. Jim Muir, forage ecologist with the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. "That's what I call them – the people who buy (farm) land and don't have an interest in making money on the land," said Muir, who is based at the Texas A&M University System Agricultural Research and Extension Center at Stephenville.
Employees Hired for the Great Basin Plant Materials Center in FallonReno Gazette Journal Steve Perkins and Harry Buck have been selected to set up the new Great Basin Plant Materials Center in Fallon.Perkins, a range specialist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service in Victorville, Calif., will be the new plant materials specialist for Nevada... Read more... http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060421/FALLON02/604210318/1029/FALLON
'Shoshone' Sainfoin a Nicely Adapted Forage for Wyoming and MontanaBy Fred Gray 'Shoshone,' a new variety of sainfoin with tolerance to the Northern Root-knot Nematode, jointly released by the University of Wyoming (UW) and Montana State University (MSU) and the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service, is well-adapted to both dry land and irrigated conditions in Wyoming and Montana. Read more... http://www.theprairiestar.com/articles/2006/03/02/ag_news/farm_and_field/farm11.txt
Modern MarvelsThe History Channel The History Channel's popular show Modern Marvels featured the Plant Materials Program's Mark Stannard. Mark is the Pullman, WA, PMC manager and spoke about the history of agriculture during the broadcast, which aired January 26, 2006, and may be repeated. The segment was entitled More Earth Movers. The History Channel is in over 90 million US homes. Stay tuned for the exact air dates... http://www.historychannel.com/modernmarvels/?page=upcoming
Homeowner Brings Snyder Pond Back to Natural HabitatBy Jane Moorman El Cerro Snyder's Pond was a gathering place for the youth of Tomé and Valencia County through the years. Now it has returned to being a wildlife preserve for migrating birds and other animals. "I've created eight irrigation zones in my yard that includes a wind row on the south side of the property by staggering three rows of native trees, a grass area of blue gramma and buffalo grass, and an area of 50 screw bean mesquite bushes," he said. He also has lined the driveway from Blackberry Lane to his house with cottonwood trees that he started in 1997 from poles provided in by the NRCS plant materials center in Los Lunas. This fall the trees yield poles that will be used for additional plantings. Read more... http://www.news-bulletin.com/news/57452-12-28-05.html
Native-Plant Experts Harvest AwardAnderson Independent-Mail A team of Forest Service and Natural Resources Conservation Service employees and S.C. Native Plant Society has been awarded the 2005 Regional Forester’s Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer. Dennis Law, Bill Hansen and Steve Dix, U.S. Forest Service Soil Scientist, Hydrologist and Seed Orchard Manager, respectively; Donald Surrency, NRCS Plant Materials Center at Americus; and Bill Stringer, S.C. Native Plant Society and Clemson University; received the award at ceremonies at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Atlanta on Nov. 16. Read more... http://www.scnps.org/news_state.html
Inouye: Nearly $5 Million Slated for Maui WatershedsThe Maui News Maui County’s share of more than $34 million in federal money for Hawaii-related agriculture initiatives includes nearly $5 million for watershed projects on Maui, according to U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye. The bill provides that the Hawaii Plant Materials Center would receive $108,000 in federal funding to expand its seed production, continue seed production training and increase seed deliveries to Kahoolawe. The center propagates native plants with the dual objective of supporting the federal cleanup and revegetation of Kahoolawe and establishing economically competitive native plant nurseries. Read more... http://www.mauinews.com/story.aspx?id=13938 Oceanic Ecosystem in the Wake of HurricanesBy Allison Cooper A federal program to rebuild the ecosystems of the Louisiana Delta at the mouth of the Mississippi River took a hit last month when Hurricane Katrina roared through the gulf. The Golden Meadow Plant Materials Center, which is charged with rebuilding an ever-eroding Louisiana coastline, lost about one-third of its 50,000-to-80,000 plants Read more... http://www.physorg.com/news6907.html Using Nature as Protection from its BlowsBy Jacqueline L. Urgo For the year-round residents of the Jersey Shore 43 years ago, a ferocious Ash Wednesday northeaster was their Katrina. Up and down the 127-mile New Jersey coast, sand dunes were the only defense between people and the sea. More ruinous than any hurricane ever to hit New Jersey, the March 1962 storm brought nearly nine-foot flood tides that kept the barrier islands underwater for three days. The storm caused more than a billion dollars in damage at the Shore and affected coastal areas from... Read more... http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/12682157.htm Swainton Center Marks 40th AnniversaryRichard Degener Harry de Butts wasn't here for the 1962 storm, but he knows the damage it caused and how an obscure government operation off the beaten path in Swainton has helped prevent it from happening many times since. Read more... http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/capemay/story/5603161p-5582500c.html Buckwheat Growers to Gather in Big FlatsBy Larry Wilson Program on Tuesday brings together people from all over Northeast. Buckwheat production in New York and Pennsylvania has declined to the point where most growers no longer know each other. But Thomas Bjorkman, a Cornell University scientist at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, wants to change that. Read more... http://www.stargazettenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050818/NEWS01/508180304 NRCS, UNR Continue Work on Plant Materials Center in FallonLahontan Valley News The University of Nevada, Reno has now done its part to make sure Fallon becomes a key site for extensive alternative crop research in northern Nevada by the summer of 2007. Now the U.S Natural Resources Conservation Service has to seal the deal. Read more... http://www.lahontanvalleynews.com/article/20050817/News/108170014/-1/rss02
Revegetation on Bench Takes RootBy Burke Wasson An overabundance of dust and weeds has been a problem at Swingle Bench for years as irrigation water has been bought and former farm fields dry up. But according to the Lahontan Conservation District, it's a situation that is slowly being cured. Read more... http://www.lahontanvalleynews.com/article/20050801/News/108010005
Dryland Buffer ResearchAgroforestry Newsline of AFTAWeb.com The NRCS Plant Materials Center at Pullman, WA is tackling the challenge of finding suitable species for conservation buffers that are adaptable to low rainfall and poor soil conditions in areas of south central Washington. Read more... http://www.aftaweb.org/newsline1.php?getid=26
Plant Materials Center at Newlands Ag Center Awaits Final Approval from UNR ChancellorBy Burke Wasson By 2007, Fallon should become a key site for extensive alternative crop research in northern Nevada. All that needs to be done to make it official is University of Nevada, Reno Chancellor Jim Rogers' signature. Read more... http://www.lahontanvalleynews.com/article/20050727/News/107270015
Coastal Crisis: Vanishing LandsThe Discovery Science Channel The Discovery Science Channel is highlighting the dedicated work of the NRCS Golden Meadow Plant Materials Center (PMC) in its ongoing battle to restore the eroding Louisiana Delta. Every year an area bigger than the island of Manhattan disappears under the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. At this erosion rate within 50 years the entire delta, one of the largest wetlands on earth, will be gone resulting in disastrous economic and environmental consequences for the nation. Plant Materials Specialist Gary Fine of the Golden Meadow PMC, located in the heart of the Louisiana delta, talks about what types of plants work best in halting this catastrophic erosion. Having premiered on June 11 of this year, the documentary is to be aired throughout the year on the Discovery Science Channel. Please check your local listing for future broadcast dates. Stay tuned for the exact air dates... http://www.discovery.com
Feds Save Ash Seeds in Case Trees are LostAssociated Press/Detroit News Officials prepare to reintroduce trees if the emerald ash borer kills off Great Lakes species. So what if the worst case happens, and the emerald ash borer kills off the Great Lakes region's entire ash tree stock? Federal officials are preparing for such a doomsday scenario by collecting and safekeeping seeds to reintroduce the tree years from now. Read more.. (no longer available) *Story picked up by major television news networks and principal newspapers in Michigan, Illinois, Ohio and Indiana
Environment:  Vanishing Louisiana Delta is an Environmental Threat to Nation
RedNova.com Gary Fine, manager of the Golden Meadow Plant Materials Center: "We're losing a land area the size of Manhattan every year on the Louisiana delta..." Read more... http://www.rednova.com/news/science/153383/nativeamerican_nicknamesmascots/ Controlled Fires Refurbish Local LandBy Melissa Batulis If you were out and about on I-86 in Chemung County Wednesday, you may have noticed some major fires. Not to worry though, the controlled burns were set by the Big Flats Plant Material Center. Read more... http://www.weny.com/News-Local.asp?ARTICLE3864=43060&PG3864=10
Documentary Targets Coastal CrisisBy Amy Wold The science of coastal restoration and why people should care about it are the subjects of a documentary broadcast at 8 p.m., June 11 on the Discovery Science Channel. Read more... http://www.americaswetland.com/article.cfm?id=218&cateid=3&pageid=3&cid=18 *Story also covered in The Washington Post
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