Holiday Message from Acting Chief Tom Weber -

Dear NRCS Employees:

This is the time of year when we follow traditions of giving. But to you and our partners, giving is a year-round tradition--and this year was no exception.

You gave your knowledge and abilities to putting Farm Bill programs to work for our Nation's land and people. Because of your efforts in implementing them, as well as continuing your work with the agency's other conservation activities, the NRCS remains the Federal government's leading organization for conservation on private lands.

Many of you provided emergency assistance in response to Hurricane Fran, floods in the Red River and Ohio River Valleys, blizzards in Montana, flooding in the Northwest, and tornadoes in Arkansas. I offer my sincere thanks and appreciation for all of the work--both on and off the clock--that you did to bring safety and hope to so many people.

You shared responsibility for the largest Conservation Reserve Program signup in the Department's history. The technical assistance that you provided our customers under CRP was a key factor in making the signup a success.

Many of you helped to officially launch the National Conservation Buffer Initiative. Thanks to the attention that you and our partners are giving to this initiative landowners will share with people in their watersheds a future that has healthier land and cleaner water and air.

Your commitment to locally led conservation helped bring people together to find common-sense solutions to common problems. Through your leadership and encouragement, our customers are discovering that they can make a difference in improving the health of natural resources and quality of life in their hometowns.

Many of you gave your time and talents to ensuring that NRCS offers equal opportunity in the work place and improving our outreach to underserved customers. Your work stands as a shining example of what can happen when good people set out to achieve important and noble goals.

Many of you supported the work of field-level employees and customers through high-quality professional assistance in administrative, technical, and management activities. Your dedication to excellence and service is extraordinary.

We gave fond goodbyes to colleagues who left the agency to pursue new careers or the more enviable pursuits that come with retirement. One friend who will be conspicuously absent from our ranks is former Chief Paul Johnson who, after four years of outstanding service, returned to his Iowa farm. We certainly will miss his vision, insights, and passion for the agency and its work.

Last, but most important, you continued to maintain a record of outstanding and dedicated service to our customers and fellow employees and kept our commitment to improving and sustaining America's private lands.

In the coming year, NRCS will establish new traditions of service that I believe will be even greater than those that began this year and the others that brought success to the agency during its first six decades. It is a privilege to serve with you. I look forward to working with you on the challenges and opportunities ahead.

Happy holidays!

NRCS This Week Next Year - NRCS This Week will not be published for December 26, 1997, or January 2, 1998. The next issue to be published will be for the week ending on January 9.

Terry Johnson Agroforestry Award - Nominations are being accepted for the Terry Johnson Agroforestry Award sponsored by the National Woodland Owners Association, NRCS, and the Forest Service. The purpose of the award is to enhance agroforestry identity among agricultural professionals and practitioners in the United States. The award will be granted to a professional, landowner, or individual who has provided sustained quality, innovative applications, renowned research, outstanding technology transfer, exemplary education, or other notable actions in the field of agroforestry. Nominations of professionals, landowners, or individuals should be sent by July 1, 1998, to: Keith Ticknor, USDA - NRCS, ECS Div., P.O. Box 2890, Washington, DC 20013.

Nominations must include the individual's name, address, phone number, and a short description of the noteworthy agroforestry accomplishments that can be directly associated with the nominee.

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 1-5 - "Setting the Stage for Conservation," National Association of Conservation Districts' 52nd Annual Meeting, Opryland Hotel, Nashville, TN. For information contact Robert Raschke or Linda Neel at 303-988-1810.

February 10-12 - "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.

February 18-21 - Land Improvement Contractors of America annual convention, Opryland Hotel, Nashville, TN. Call Wayne Maresch at 301-248-5749 or send e-mail to WayneF86@aol.com).

February 21-24 - Winter Meeting of the National Governors'Association, Washington, D.C. February 23-24 - Agricultural Outlook Forum 98, Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, D.C. For registration details call 202-720-3050, send e-mail to agforum@oce.usda.gov, or write to Outlook Forum 98, 5143 South Building, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-3812.

March 22-24 - North Central RC&D Association Meeting, Traverse City, MI.

April 6-7, 1998 - First National Mitigation Banking Conference, J.W. Marriott Hotel in Washington, D.C. Conference registration is being handled by the Terrene Institute, 4 Herbert St., Alexandria, VA 22305; phone: 703- 548-5473; fax: 703-548-6299. For more information contact Gary Wooten, Watersheds and Wetlands Division, National Headquarters, at 202-690-1588, or send e-mail to gary.wooten@usda.gov.

May 23-28, 1999 - "Sustaining the Global Farm," 10th International Soil Conservation Organization (ISCO) Conference Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. For 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.

"Each day provides its own gifts."

--Martial, Epigrams (A.D. 86)

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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