Glickman Names Acting Chief of NRCS - Following the departure of NRCS Chief Paul Johnson, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman named Thomas A. Weber, Deputy Chief for Management, to serve as acting chief for NRCS from November 12, 1997, until a new chief is appointed and begins working. An announcement of the new chief is expected shortly with a reporting date sometime after January 1, 1998.

"NRCS is a dynamic and progressive natural resource organization," said James R. Lyons, Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment. "Tom's leadership and expertise is what we need in this interim period for NRCS to continue to aggressively implement the vision for NRCS crafted under Paul Johnson's leadership."

"I am extremely proud to have the opportunity to lead this great agency," Weber said. "Our Nation's commitment to conservation on private lands has never been stronger and our partnerships with conservation districts, State conservation agencies, Resource Conservation and Development Councils, and other organizations is a model for working productively with local people."

The NRCS Human Resources Management Division announced that Gary A. Margheim will continue to serve as Acting Associate Chief; P. Dwight Holman, Regional Conservationist for the Southeast, will serve as Acting Deputy Chief for Management; and Charles R. Adams, Director, National Employee Development Center, will serve as Acting Regional Conservationist for the Southeast.

Telemedicine '97 - Historic Hoosier Hills Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D) Council jointly sponsored a conference on November 8, in North Vernon, IN, to provide an update on telecommunications and information technology for 30 health care professionals including physicians, nurses, administrators, and health care planners and educators. The conference agenda focused on current available technology for remote health care delivery, professional education, and consumer information. Attending health care professionals learned ways to integrate new information and communication technologies into their practices and organizations. The conference was jointly sponsored by the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine; Indiana State Department of Health; Indiana University School of Medicine; The Jewish Hospital of Louisville, KY; and the Historic Hoosier Hills RC&D.

Catalog of Federal Funding Sources for Watershed Protection - The Office of Water of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently published the "Catalog of Federal Funding Sources for Watershed Protection." The catalog is intended to provide information to State/local water resource professionals and watershed groups on Federal funding that may be available for watershed protection projects. This version of the catalog updates EPA's "Watershed Protection: Catalog of Federal Programs" printed in 1993.

The new catalog contains one-page fact sheets for each of the 52 funding sources (grants and loans). Each fact sheet gives the type of projects funded, eligibility, a contact, and an Internet site for additional information. NRCS State, regional, and RC&D offices will be receiving a copy of the catalog.

Additional copies of the catalog are available from the National Center for Environmental Publications (NCEPI) in Cincinnati. Order by phone at 513-489-8190 or 800-490-9198 or by fax at 513-489-8695. Please include the EPA document number (EPA841-B-97-008) when ordering. The catalog is also on the EPA Watershed Academy's homepage at:

http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/watershed/wacademy/fund.html.

10th International Soil Conservation Organization (ISCO) Conference - NRCS and USDA's Agricultural Research Service; the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service; and the Forest Service are among the sponsors of "Sustaining the Global Farm," the 10th International Soil Conservation Organization Conference to be held May 23-28, 1999, at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. ISCO is an independent organization that promotes international exchange on the science, technology, policy, and application of land and water conservation.

The scope of the 10th ISCO conference may encompass, but is not limited to, the following:

science and technology for conservation planning and assessment, soil survey and natural resource assessment for environmental protection, socioeconomic elements of land and water conservation, and conservation action: sustaining our land and water.

A "dare-to-share" fair during the conference will include poster papers, technology demonstrations, and educational displays. Also planned are a mid-week tour. One-page abstracts for oral presentations, poster papers, and "dare-to-share" fair demonstrations and displays will be accepted by the organizing committee until September 1, 1998. Guidelines for the submission of abstracts will be distributed in late 1997. All abstracts accepted for presentation during the 10th ISCO conference will be published in a book of abstracts that will be available to participants at the beginning of the conference.

For more information contact ISCO conference organizers by telephone at 765-494-8683, by fax at 765-494-5948 c/o ISCO99, or by e-mail at isco99@ecn.purdue.edu. Send correspondence to ISCO99, Purdue University, 1196 SOIL Building, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1196. Check the ISCO Web site at http://soils.ecn.purdue.edu/~isco99 or http://128.46.135.45/~isco99.

The Leader in You Satellite Seminars - To be broadcast from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. Eastern time on December 9, 1997, will be "Overcoming the Urgency Addiction: Moving from Time Management to Life Leadership." The speaker will be Sean Covey of Covey Leadership. NRCS does not have taping rights for this seminar.

The Leader in You training seminars are sponsored by the NRCS Social Sciences Institute, National Association of Conservation Districts, National Association of State Conservation Agencies, American Society for Training and Development, and the United States Chamber of Commerce. For more information, contact the Social Sciences Institute by phone at 616-942-1503, by fax at 616-942-0586, or by e-mail to.

New RCA Book Looks at Future of Crop and Livestock Technologies - What's ahead for crop and livestock technologies during the next 50 years? More than 100 scientists, researchers, and specialists in crop and livestock technology from universities, private institutions and companies, and Federal agencies offer their answers to this question in "Crop and Livestock Technologies: RCA III Symposium," recently published by the Iowa State University Press.

Based on projections gathered at the 1995 Resource Conservation Act (RCA) symposium, the book examines how crop and livestock yield potentials could be increased through advancements in agricultural technology. NRCS senior program analyst Liu-Hsiung Chuang of the agency's Resource Economics and Social Sciences Division in Washington, D.C., was one of the book's three editors.

NRCS sponsored the symposium. Financial support for the book came from the USDA's Agricultural Research Service; Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service; Economic Research Service; and NRCS. The price of the book is $54.95. To order a copy of the book, call the Iowa State University Press on 1-800-862-6657 and give them ISBN no. 0-8138-2239-4, or use the Internet at http://www.isupress.edu.

http://www.ftw.nrcs.usda.gov/nedc/homepage.html - NRCS National Employee Development Center in Ft. Worth, TX.

November - Native American Heritage Month

December 3-6 - 17th International Symposium of the North American Lake Management Society, Houston, TX. Contact Dr. Robert Doyle at 972-436-2215, or send e-mail to loyler@EX1.wes.army.mil, or contact Dr. Alan Groeger at 512-245-2284, or send e-mail to AG11@swt.edu.

December 6-10 - The 59th Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference, Milwaukee, WI. For information visit this Internet site: http://www.dnr.state.wi.us (see "Fish" or "Wildlife"), or call Alan Crossley at 608-275-3242.

December 8-12 - Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Workshop, Westin Crown Center Hotel, Kansas City, MO. For more information contact Larry Babich at 202-720-8770 or Judy Foland at 202-720-9482.

December 10-13 - National Organization of Professional Black Natural Resources Conservation Service Employees Sixth Annual Training Conference, "Bridging the Gap to the New Millennium: A Field of Dreams." Renaissance Atlanta Hotel-Concourse, One Hartsfield Centre Parkway, Atlanta, GA. Hotel reservations due by November 25. Call 404-209-9999.

January 26-28, 1998 - National Conservation Buffer Initiative Science and Technology Conference and Workshops, San Antonio, TX. Contact the Conservation Technology Information Center at 765-494-9555, or visit the CTIC Web site at http://www.ctic.purdue.edu. The Web address for conference information is http://www.ctic.purdue.edu/Releases/BufferConf.html.

February 10-12, 1998 - "Managing Manure in Harmony with the Environment and Society," Soil and Water Conservation Society West North Central Manure Management Conference, Iowa State Center, Scheman Building, Ames, IA. Contact: Bob Ball, NRCS, Parkade Center, Suite 250, 601 Business Loop 70 West, Columbia, MO 65203. Phone: 573-876-0900.

March 26-29, 1998 - Timber Utilization Conference and Equipment Exposition, Fountainhead Resort, Eufaula, OK, sponsored by Ouachita Mountains RC&D, Inc. For information call 580-873-9277, send e-mail to omrcandd@icok.net, or visit this web site: icok.net/~omrcandd/.

"I must be the world I want to see."

--Gandhi

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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