January 10, 2003

“The Natural Resources Conservation Service bases its entire philosophy on the conservation ethic of producers.” 

from remarks by Chief Bruce Knight, at the  USDA Symposium on Natural Resource Management to Offset Greenhouse Gasses, Raleigh, North Carolina; November 20, 2002

In This Issue

Focus on the Field
Alabama: Hunters Helping the Hungry
Arizona: NRCS Helps with Fire Recovery
California: First Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) Project for California County
Massachusetts: Good Horse Keeping

Tech Tip
New Conservation Course Available Soon

Sites to See
Find out what conservation events and activities are occurring this month and in the upcoming months with the Events and Activities page on our NRCS website

Visit the National Agricultural Library’s new super resource center, DIGITOP
USDA’s Farm Bill 2002 Website
NRCS Legislative Summaries
AGRICOLA: USDA's AGRICultural OnLine Access
National Association of Conservation Districts e-Notes

 

 

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Focus on the Field

Hunters Helping the Hungry
The Northwest Alabama Resource Conservation and Development Council (RC&D) is cooperating with the Hunters Helping the Hungry program by contributing funds to process more than two tons of venison to feed needy residents in the council area.  Processors participating in the program are paid $1 per pound to de-bone and grind the venison into deer burger.  Many sportsmen don’t like to kill more deer unless the meat will be eaten, so the Hunters Helping the Hungry program offers an opportunity to continue hunting while feeding the hungry at the same time. 
Your contact is Teresa Stewart, NRCS RC&D coordinator, at 256-383-1446, or teresa.stewart@al.usda.gov.

NRCS Helps with Fire Recovery
NRCS engineers from Montana and Minnesota at the Recovery Information Center in Overgaard, Arizona, have provided technical assistance to more than 300 landowners in the northeastern part of the State whose homes and land were burned by wildfires last year.  NRCS engineers are working 6 days a week visiting landowners in Heber, Overgaard, Linden, and surrounding areas in Navajo County to install conservation practices to prevent erosion and sedimentation damage that can occur when vegetation is burned away and to accelerate fire recovery.  As soon as last year’s wildfires were extinguished, Navajo County officials requested NRCS assistance through the Emergency Watershed Protection Program.  The primary conservation measures used for fire recovery in the area included seeding, mulching, straw wattles, strawbale diversions, and strawbale check dams.  As of last December, more than 14,500 pounds of seed; 14,000 bales of mulch; 3,000 straw bale structures; and more than 3,800 feet of straw wattles had been used to prevent erosion, sedimentation, and promote new vegetative growth in areas affected by the Rodeo-Chediski fire. 
Your contact is Ron Joy, NRCS public affairs specialist, at 602-280-8778, or ron.joy@az.usda.gov. 

First Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) Project for California County
The first WRP project in Kings County, California, is now under construction on land located between the city of Lemoore and the nearby U.S. Naval Air Station.  More than 900 acres of marginal farmland that historically had been wetlands is being restored to its original condition.  It will open in spring 2003, providing habitat for waterfowl and shore birds as well as native vegetation.  An extra benefit will be that the public can view the reserve from along Highway 198.  The total cost of the project is $1.5 million.  Navy Sea Bee engineers and students from West Hills Community College are donating labor and equipment to do final grading.
Your contact is Jolene Lau, NRCS public affairs specialist, at 831-754-1595, or jolene.lau@ca.usda.gov.

Good Horse Keeping
Massachusetts horse owners are teaming up with the Patriot RC&D Council to improve animal waste management in the outskirts of Boston in Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, and Suffolk counties.  Launched in December, the Horse Manure Management Initiative (HMMI) brings together members of the horse community, the Massachusetts Farm Bureau, the Massachusetts Stable Owners, the Operators and Instructors Association and other interested parties.  The principal goal of HMMI is to improve surface and groundwater quality in the three counties. The first step will be to identify horse owner concerns regarding animal waste mitigation measures.  Having taken into consideration animal owner concerns, the HMMI will then use education, outreach, and public policy to influence animal owners to improve manure mitigation measures.  This spring, the Patriot RC&D Council will produce and distribute a Good Horse Keeping video and a Horse Owner Directory and Resource Guidebook in support of HMMI outreach and education efforts.  Growth in sponsorship and participation will hopefully allow the project to expand throughout the State.
Your contact is Wendi Kroll, NRCS public affairs specialist, 413-253-4371, or wendikroll@ma.usda.gov.

Tech Tip

New Conservation Planning Course Available Soon
A new NRCS conservation planning course – planned for release in April – has been developed specifically for cropland.  The course, to be available on the NRCS website and CD, will focus on the specific tools and processes used to assess, formulate, and implement cropland resource management systems as they apply to soil, water, air, plant, animal, and human resources.  The course will build on the existing Conservation Planning Course and is designed to bring the participant to a cropland conservation planning 2 or 3 skill level. 

This new National Employee Development Center course is ideal for employees who have recently completed the conservation planning course and want to improve their proficiency to plan cropland.  It will advance the understanding of how resource management systems are formulated against quality criteria and further build conservation planning skills on cropland to more effectively carry out the conservation provisions of the 2002 Farm Bill.  In addition, this new course will be of significant benefit to those technical service providers who need either a better understanding of the NRCS conservation planning process on cropland or more in-depth conservation planning training. 
Your contact is Dennis Neffendorf, NRCS cooperating scientist, at 817-509-3225, or dennis.neffendorf@ftw.nrcs.usda.gov.

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