Performance Plan Workshop - A national workshop on developing performance plans required under the Government Performance Results Act (GPRA) will be held in Washington, D.C., on April 22-23. Participants will include Regional Operations Management Coordinators and National Program Managers. The training is in preparation for developing the NRCS performance plan which must be submitted with the agency's FY 99 budget request in July.

Review of CRP 15th Signup Ongoing - In March, Oversight and Evaluation (O&E) Teams in each NRCS Region conducted a review of the 15th Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) signup. The objective of the review was to determine the accuracy and consistency of land eligibility determinations and Environmental Benefit Index (EBI) calculations. Based on the inconsistencies and miscalculations that the teams did find, they developed a list of recommendations to eliminate similar problems in future signups.

NRCS Civil Rights Implementation Team - The NRCS Civil Rights Implementation Team met this week in Atlanta, GA, to develop goals and action items for addressing the areas of the Civil Rights Action Team Report that apply to NRCS.

American Soybean Association Briefed - On April 8, Chief Paul Johnson and other NRCS and FSA program managers and a representative of the Fish and Wildlife Service met with representatives of the American Soybean Association to brief them on several conservation issues and new initiatives such as the Conservation Buffer Strip Initiative.

NRCS To Air Programs on Channel Earth - NRCS is working with Channel Earth to provide a 10-minute conservation segment for a show called "From the Grassroots." We will provide one segment a month for the next 6 months. The first segment will focus on conservation buffers and the CRP continuous signup. It will include an interview with Chief Paul Johnson. Each conservation segment will air at least three times on the third Monday of the month. "From the Grassroots" is shown from 5:30-6 a.m. (central time) and repeated at 11:30 a.m.-Noon and 4:30-5 p.m. (central time).

Channel Earth, the first DIRECTV channel devoted exclusively to farmers, ranchers, and other rural residents, went on the air March 28. Well-known agricultural broadcasters Orion Samuelson and Max Armstrong lead the Channel Earth team with programs airing Monday through Friday and weekend mornings. With more than 2 million subscribers nationwide, DIRECTV--using the Digital Satellite System--is the most popular small-dish satellite television service available.

Drinking Water Fund Guidelines Issued - The 1996 amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act authorize a Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) program to help public water systems finance the cost of drinking water infrastructure. The amendments put a strong emphasis on preventing contamination and enhancing the management of water systems by allowing States to use some of the DWSRF funds for source water protection, capacity development, and operator certification programs. The DWSRF is a tool for NRCS to consider in providing assistance with watershed protection. The Fund has been authorized at $9.6 billion from fiscal year 1994 through fiscal year 2003. A total of $1.275 billion has been appropriated for fiscal year 1997. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued final program guidelines last month and expects to begin awarding State capitalization grants this month. The guidelines are available on EPA's World Wide Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/OW/regs/pol.html.

United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development - NRCS will be represented on the U.S. Delegation at the second week of the 5th Session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) during the week of April 14-18 at United Nations (U.N.) Headquarters in New York City. Dialogue sessions with major groups mentioned in Agenda 21 are planned for the week. Agenda 21 is the international plan of action for sustainable development worldwide that resulted from the U.N. conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992.

A Farmers' Dialogue is scheduled for the afternoon of April 16. USDA has worked with Non-Governmental Organizations to ensure that U.S. farmers are represented at this discussion. Also, negotiations on the text of the Report of the UNCSD to the U.N. General Assembly Special Session on Agenda 21 (scheduled for June 23-27, 1997) will begin. USDA members of the U.S. delegation will work to negotiate a text on agriculturally related topics such as Land and Sustainable Agriculture, Water Resources, Air Quality, Biodiversity, and Trade and the Environment.

IN THE FIELD

Utah Public Affairs Work Honored - The NRCS-Utah public affairs staff recently won several awards from two prestigious professional international organizations. For video production, the staff received a Telly Award for "Growing with Conservation." For script writing and photography, the staff received two awards of excellence in the 1997 DALTON Pen Communications Award Program. Professional communicators from major corporations in the United States, England, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and other countries vied for these honors.

"Incubator Kitchen" Aids Budding Entrepreneurs - April 10 marked the grand opening of "New Hampshire Cooks" in Epping, NH. The "New Hampshire Cooks" program is sponsored by the Southern New Hampshire Resource Conservation & Development Council to provide an "incubator kitchen" for budding entrepreneurs in the food production area. An incubator kitchen provides a certified place for people to produce their food products until they can accumulate enough capital to open their own place.

LEGISLATIVE NEWS

Congress Returns From Easter Recess - The Senate was out of session for the Easter District Work period until April 6th. The House returned to business on April 7th.

Senate Sends Irrigation District Bill to The President - The Senate, by voice vote and without debate, passed H.R. 412, which would grant title to a Washington State irrigation project to the Orovillee-Tonasket Irrigation District. The transfer was initiated by the Department of Interior and required congressional action by April 15, 1997. The President is expected to approve the measure.

Flood Control Projects And The Endangered Species Act - House Resources Committee (Don Young, R-AK) held a hearing on a bill that would amend the Endangered Species Act to make it easier to build and renovate flood-control projects and still comply with the act. The bill, H.R. 478, would allow repair and flood control efforts to be exempt from the Endangered Species Act. Representatives Wally Herger and Richard Pombo (both of California) sponsored the legislation and conducted the hearing. Witnesses included numerous local government officials from California who were linked to the committee hearing by satellite.

Implementation of Risk Management Provisions - Risk Management and Specialty Crops Subcommittee (Chairman Ewing, R-IL) of the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing on the implementation of risk management provisions in the 1996 Farm Bill. Witnesses included Brooksey Born, chairperson, Commodity Futures Trading Commission; and Kenneth D. Ackerman, acting administrator, USDA Risk Management Agency.

Legislation of Note-

The following bills introduced are of significance to NRCS and conservation:

S. 485 - McConnell (R-KY)

Would provide increased competitive grants to promote agriculture research projects regarding precision agriculture and to provide for the dissemination of results of the research projects.

S. 499 - Chafee (R-RI)

Amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a tax exemption for inheritance of lands in a qualified conservation easement.

H.R. 1155 - Fazio (D-CA)

Would exempt certain maintenance, repair, and improvement of flood control facilities in California from the Endangered Species Act of 1973 during the flood emergency period.

H.R. 11645 - Herger (R-CA)

Would provide landowners engaged in certain agriculture-related activities a credit against income tax for property used to control environmental pollution and for soil and water conservation expenditures.

H.R. 1185 - Minge (D-MN)

To ensure that land enrolled in the land conservation program of the State of Minnesota, known as Reinvest in Minnesota, remains eligible for enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Program upon expiration of the Reinvest in Minnesota contract.

CONSTITUENCY AND PARTNERSHIP NEWS

Call for Abstracts for "Watershed '98" Conference - "Watershed Management: Moving from Theory to Implementation" will address watershed planning, protection, restoration, and education May 3-6, 1998, in Denver, CO. Specific subjects include watershed approaches, Federal and tribal land management, agricultural initiatives, mining, coastal issues, water reuse, and industrial and commercial development. Submit abstracts by June 16, 1997. Call the Water Environment Federation at (800) 666-0206 for more information, or e-mail confinfo@wef.org.

UPCOMING EVENTS

April - Keep America Beautiful Month

April 22 - Earth Day

April 25 - National Arbor Day

May 1 - Satellite broadcast on Riparian Restoration and Management; airs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time. Contact: Doug Blankenship, Bureau of Land Management, 202-452-5079, or Bill Boyer, NRCS, 202-720-0307.

May 4-10 - Drinking Water Week

May 7-9 - An American Wetlands Month Celebration -- "Communities Working for Wetlands," Radisson Plaza Hotel, Alexandria, VA. Call: 800/726-4853 or FAX: 703-548-6299 or e-mail: terrene@gnn.com.

May 8-10 - Public Service Recognition Week, National Mall Event, Washington, D.C.

May 18-21 - Fifth National Watershed Conference, "Living in Your Watershed." Sponsored by the National Watershed Coalition, Reno, NV. Contact: Jim Fisher, 303-988-1810.

May 18-20 - The Wildlife Habitat Council (in cooperation with the Wildlife Society and sponsored by NRCS and other Federal, State, and private organizations) 1997 Wildlands Conference, "Exceeding Expectations," Swissotel, Atlanta, GA. Call: 201-588-8994.

June 3-5 - International Symposium commemorating the 50th Anniversary of USDA's Wind Erosion Research at Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS. Contact: The Wind Erosion Research Unit (WERU) by phone: 913-532-6495; FAX: 913-532-6526; e-mail: sym@weru.ksu.edu; or on the World Wide Web: http://www.weru.ksu.edu.

June 15-18 - National Association of RC&D Councils Conference, St. Paul, MN. Contact: Becky Lane, 202-546-8800 or write to: National Association of RC&D Councils, 509 Capital Court, NE, Suite 100, Washington, D.C. 20002.

June 24-26 - National Agricultural Resource Management Planning Conference, Omni Royal Orleans, New Orleans, LA. Call Lyn Kirschner at 765-494-1827 or send e-mail to: kirschner@ctic.purdue.edu.

July 17-19, 1997 - Land Improvement Contractors of America Summer Meeting, Providence, RI. Contact Wayne F. Maresch at 301-248-9313 or e-mail to: Wayne F86@aol.com.

July 22-25 - The 52nd Soil and Water Conservation Society Annual Conference; Interactions, Managing Ecosystems on a Watershed Basis; Toronto, Canada. Contact: Jennifer Pemble, 800-843-7645. Conference information can also be found at: http://www.swcs.org/AnnCon.htm.

QUOTE

"The reward of a thing well done is to have done it." --Ralph Waldo Emerson

NRCS This Week is issued weekly by the Conservation Communications Staff, NRCS headquarters, Washington, D.C., and posted on the NRCS Home Page at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov. Please send correspondence and material via e-mail to: nancy.garlitz@usda.gov or mail to Editor, "NRCS This Week," NRCS, P.O. Box 2890, Washington, DC 20013 or FAX to Editor, "NRCS This Week," 202-690-1221.

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