August 8, 2003

The Natural Resources Conservation Service provides leadership in a partnership effort to help people conserve, maintain, and improve our natural resources and environment.

Scenic Clear Creek in California, site of the Lower Clear Creek Stream Restoration Project.  Click on image to enlarge.
 

Focus on the Field
Wetlands Reserve Program Helps New Yorkers Keep Habitat "Here Forever”
NRCS Program Helps Preserve 244 Acres of Wisconsin Farm Land
NRCS-designed Mudslide Prevention Project to Protect Lives and Property in Provo
Michigan DNR and NRCS Seal Mines to Protect People and Wildlife
South Dakota Conservation Districts and RC&D Target Cheyenne River Water Quality

Drought News and Assistance
USDA Announces Sign-up for Livestock Assistance Program
Links to USDA and NRCS Drought Information and Assistance

Word from Washington
USDA Releases Payment Rates for Technical Service Providers
NRCS Legislative Summaries, Testimony, and Reports

Tech Tip
Monthly Wind Summary Graphics Available Online

Upcoming Events
Major conferences and exhibitions of interest to NRCS and its partners are happening all across the Nation. Click here to find an event near you.

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Focus on the Field

Wetlands Reserve Program Helps New Yorkers Keep Habitat “Here Forever”

Wood ducks now have a special place in Mendon, New York, thanks to Ellen Smith, her husband, Tim Pryor, and the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP). Through a WRP easement, Smith and Pryor have turned 12 acres of their property, a former celery and onion farm, into a wetlands habitat for wood ducks, mallards, and other wildlife.

The couple chose a permanent conservation easement agreement. “We want to know that it’s (the habitat) going to be here forever,” Smith said. “It’s important to us to preserve things for future generations. We really feel that in our hearts.”

Construction of six, shallow, pond-like depressions called potholes and interconnecting ditches allowing ducks to swim from one to the other began July 7 and was completed July 17. The site also was seeded with a mixture of grasses, said Monroe County District Conservationist Beth Bellanca, who will monitor the site annually.

“It’s really stunning,’’ said Smith, who also planned to add perennial wild flower seeds.

A group from a local school already has visited. “It’s important for us that it be used for educational purposes,” Smith said.

(Image: Ellen Smith of Mendon, New York, shows a corner of the 12-acre, 6-pond Wetlands Reserve Program project on her property. Photographer: Burr Lewis. Courtesy Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.)


NRCS Program Helps Preserve 244 Acres of Wisconsin Farm Land
NRCS has awarded a nearly $340,000 grant from the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program to help preserve farmland under development pressure in south-central Wisconsin. A total of 244 acres along the Highway 12 corridor in Dane County will benefit from the funds. The county will provide matching funds.

“A cornfield can be turned into a parking lot in a few days, but it takes a long, long time to turn a parking lot back into a fertile field capable of producing food,” said State Conservationist Pat Leavenworth. “This is one of the best ways to keep prime farmland soils in agriculture and at the same time, keep farming communities thriving by relieving the development pressure.” (Dane County press release)


NRCS-designed Mudslide Prevention Project to Protect Lives and Property in Provo
Provo, Utah, officials are confident the new 1,500-foot-long diversion ditch carved along the mountainside near Buckley Draw will protect dozens of homes from debris flows. The diversion ditch would capture the flows and channel them away from the dozens. NRCS designed the ditch's specifications.

At a recent public event, city officials demonstrated the diversion ditch's capabilities by dropping two large balls, posing as mudslide debris, at the top of the channel. The balls then slowly rolled down the ditch.

"This is a great moment," Provo Mayor Lewis K. Billings told the audience. "It's a great moment because of what could have happened here. It's going to prevent people from being forced out of their homes." (The Daily Herald, Provo)


Michigan DNR and NRCS Seal Mines to Protect People and Wildlife
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR), in conjunction with NRCS, recently sealed an abandoned mine in Dickinson County. The West Keel Ridge mine site, near Iron Mountain, was sealed with a steel gate. State officials noted that sealing the mine ensures public safety and protects critical bat habitat. Hibernating bats often select abandoned mine sites due to the stable temperatures, constant relative humidity, and freedom from disturbance.

“This project serves two purposes very well,” said DNR Wildlife Biologist Bill Scullon. “The gate allows bats to come and go freely, but prevents people and large animals from entering the old mine shaft. Abandoned mines throughout the Upper Peninsula serve as an important habitat for hibernating bats.”

The ongoing program of gating old mine shafts in the Upper Peninsula is funded in part by grants from the DNR Nongame Fish and Wildlife Trust Fund.  (Michigan Department of Natural Resources press release)


South Dakota Conservation Districts and RC&D Target Cheyenne River Water Quality
Three conservation districts and a resource conservation and development council will join a Federal, State, and local study to determine the source of water-quality problems in the Cheyenne River in western South Dakota. The study will also establish baseline data in preparation for any future coal-bed methane water discharges into the Cheyenne in Wyoming.

The 2-year study, to begin this fall, will help locate the source of the pollutants, establish the maximum allowable load of pollutants the Cheyenne can accept and still meet water-quality standards, and identify ways to reduce pollutants. Irrigators along the Cheyenne in South Dakota and Wyoming and others say coal-bed methane water is often salty and has a tendency to accumulate more sodium, which can ruin land for irrigation.

An oversight committee will include representatives from the Black Hills Resource Conservation and Development Association, the Fall River, Custer, and Pennington conservation districts, the South Dakota State Conservation Commission, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Geological Survey, the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the Angostura Irrigation District. (Rapid City Journal)

Drought News and Assistance

USDA Announces Sign-up for Livestock Assistance Program
On Aug. 5, 2003, Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman announced the commencement of sign-ups for the Livestock Assistance Program (LAP). This program was authorized by the Agricultural Assistance Act of 2003 and $250 million were made available to livestock producers for grazing losses that occurred in either 2001 or 2002. The sign-up period ends October 24, 2003.

“This program will provide additional relief to livestock producers who suffered grazing losses due to drought, severe weather, and related causes, and have limited safety net and risk management tools available,” said Veneman.

Under LAP, a producer’s grazing land must be located in a county that was declared a primary disaster area under a Presidential or Secretarial declaration. The county must have been approved after January 1, 2001, and a designation requested no later than February 20, 2003, and subsequently approved. Contiguous counties are not eligible.

Link
USDA news release (August 5, 2003)

Links to USDA and NRCS Drought Information and Assistance
Defending Against Drought
NRCS Colorado Drought Information
USDA Disaster Assistance Web Site
National Drought Monitor Web Site
 

Word from Washington

USDA Releases Payment Rates for Technical Service Providers
On August 6, NRCS released “not to exceed” payment rates for certified technical service providers to offer technical services for certain conservation practices. “These payment rates will be provided to USDA conservation program participants to help them choose competitively priced services,” said NRCS Chief Bruce Knight. “We worked hard to ensure these rates reflect current market conditions for the delivery of these services. Technical service providers can help us get the maximum amount of conservation on the ground at the least cost.”

“Not to exceed” payment rates for categories of technical services were established for each State. As part of the process to ensure consistency across State lines, NRCS reviewed payment rates between adjacent States where similar resource conditions and agricultural operations exist, taking into account differences in State laws, the cost of doing business, competition and other variables.

Links
NRCS news release (August 6, 2003)
“Not to exceed” rates
Information on the technical service provider process
Information on the Farm Bill
"Making the Technical Service Provider Process Work," Remarks by NRCS Chief Bruce I. Knight at the NRCS Technical Service Provider Coordinator Conference, Washington, DC, June 18, 2003

NRCS Legislative Summaries, Testimony, and Reports
Click here for timely and accurate information from NRCS Legislative Affairs.

Tech Tip

Monthly Wind Summary Graphics Available Online
Monthly wind summary graphics, called wind roses, have been developed for nearly 250 weather stations in all 50 States as well as Guam and Puerto Rico.

Wind roses provide a graphic summary of how wind speed and direction are typically distributed at a particular location. Each wind rose presents the wind speed and frequency of time (in percent) that winds blow from particular directions. The graphic resembles a wheel, with the spokes representing the 16 cardinal wind directions (N, NNE, NE, and so forth).

Wind roses provide a snapshot view of wind conditions at various locations. They can be a useful planning tool for a variety of air quality and wind erosion related tasks including site placement of livestock and poultry facilities, preparing windbreaks, and estimating drift from pesticide applications.

These graphics were developed using 30 years (1961-1990) of hourly wind data for each station. Recently, the use of wind roses has been integrated into the NRCS buffers courses, providing needed wind information for planning windbreaks.

Click here to enter the National Water and Climate Center's Wind Rose Data page.

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The people of NRCS, along with the agency’s partners, help owners of America’s private lands conserve soil, water, and other natural resources. NRCS is known worldwide for its accomplishments and innovations in conserving soil, protecting wildlife, improving water quality, restoring wetlands, preserving farmland, enhancing grasslands, and taking other actions to keep natural resources productive and plentiful. Click here to learn more about the Natural Resources Conservation Service!

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