September 6, 2002

"Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land."

--from A Sand County Almanac, by Aldo Leopold, (1887-1948), American author and conservationist.

Focus on the Field

Agriculture Water Quality Alliance (AWQA) Unveiled
Watsonville, California, was the location of a successful press conference and field tour to showcase the achievements of the newly formed Agriculture Water Quality Alliance (AWQA). The group – a unique partnership of farmers, ranchers, community members, and government agencies in 6 counties – addresses concerns in the watersheds that drain into the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Seventeenth District Congressman Sam Farr joined California Farm Bureau Federation President Bill Pauli and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Superintendent Bill Duoros in praising AWQA's projects and results. NRCS offices serving Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz counties partnered with resource conservation districts, the University of California's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, and others to provide conservation technical assistance for projects mandated in the Sanctuary's Agriculture and Rural Lands Plan.
Your contact is Daniel Mountjoy, NRCS resource conservationist, at 831-754-1595.


STAR Now Spelled with Two “S’s”
Chantel Davis, an NRCS soil conservationist in Tunica, Mississippi, thought that the Southeast Region’s Student Trainees in Agricultural Resources (STAR) program needed a better name. Realizing that 2 “S’s” were better than one, Chantel renamed the program, Student Trainees in Agricultural Related Sciences (STARS) to reflect the scope of study by students working not only in agricultural resources, but ag-related sciences as well. The STARS program was developed in 1999 by NRCS Southeast Regional Conservationist Charles R. Adams to give high school students throughout the Southeast opportunities to learn about and experience the work done by NRCS. To date, approximately 39 students have gone through the STARS program and worked as Earth Team volunteers in their hometowns. As a result, several students are working toward college degrees in agricultural-related sciences and plan to work for the agency after graduation.
Your contact is Lesia Young, NRCS outreach coordinator, at 404-832-3707 or lesia.young@se.nrcs.usda.gov.


Roy School Outdoor Classroom
Realizing school kids need to understand the importance of native grasses, legumes and shrubs, the Roy School FFA chapter created an outdoor laboratory to provide hands-on plant appreciation and experience for students of all ages. Using their four-row plot planter, the FFA and Bridger Plant Materials staff planted 30 plant species behind the high school in Roy, Montana – a rural town of 200. Students learned how the mechanical planter worked to place seed properly for successful plant establishment and took turns riding the drill. Students also will be able to participate in a variety of activities ranging from learning about the forage benefits of tame pasture grasses to understqnding the value of protein in winterfat for winter grazing. The FFA advisors at Roy and Grass Range will also use the garden laboratory to help teach plant propagation, morphological development, identification, and the value and uses of forage plants. Equipped with their new lab, the FFA Chapters hope to see a day in the near future when students and chapter members will become top competitors in plant identification, rangeland management, and ranch planning.
Your contact is Larry Holzworth, NRCS Plant Materials Specialist, at 406-587-6838 or Larry.Holzworth@mt.usda.gov


Innovative Partnering Pays Big Conservation Dividends
Thanks to help from the NRCS Wy’East Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D) Council in Oregon, the Deschutes Resources Conservancy (DRC) and The Climate Trust recently entered into an innovative Carbon Dioxide Offset Purchase Agreement. Under the agreement, The Climate Trust will provide the DRC with carbon dioxide offset funds to help landowners in the Deschutes Basin restore riparian areas. The majority of the landowners will be concurrently enrolled in the NRCS-administered Conservation Reserve Program or the Continuous Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program. The RC&D council will also be providing conservation technical assistance. These programs will reimburse landowners for the costs incurred while implementing a conservation plan on their land. This includes the cost of trees, planting, weed and animal control, and fencing. The Climate Trust funds will be matched over a 5-year period by Federal funds available through the DRC. The Climate Trust will acquire the sequestered carbon offsets from the DRC and, by 2006, 1,500 to 1,800 acres of riparian habitat will be restored and actively sequestering carbon.

The DRC developed this innovative project thanks to help from the NRCS Wy'East RC&D. Dan Erickson, RC&D President, said, "Our purpose is to demonstrate how riparian restoration projects can be designed and implemented across a mix of public and private lands to achieve multiple benefits." Some of these benefits include reforestation of riparian areas, improved water quality and habitat for fish and wildlife, and carbon sequestration to offset global carbon dioxide emissions. Further information about this and other offset projects funded by The Climate Trust is available at www.climatetrust.org.
Your contact is Merlin Berg, NRCS Wy’East RC&D coordinator, at 541-296-2391
ext. 117 or merlin.berg@or.usda.gov.

A Sinkhole Grows in Rosinville
County crews dumped 20 truckloads of dirt without any success at filling the seemingly bottomless, 15-foot deep sinkhole by the edge of a dirt road in Dorchester County, South Carolina. That’s when county public works director Danny Thrower called for help from NRCS resource soils scientist Bob Eppinette. “I knew this was something that involved conservation,” Bob laughed, “but after Danny told me about the 20 truckloads of fill, I wondered if this wasn’t maybe an exception to the law of conservation of matter they talk about in chemistry. I’ve seen sinkholes 10- to 20-feet wide in other parts of Dorchester County, but nothing like this so close to Rosinville.” he added. Bob recommended giving the hole another week or two to settle before trying to fill it again and crews closed the road which runs through an unpopulated area of the county. Eppinette explained that “this year’s drought in South Carolina has lowered the water table causing limestone outcroppings to collapse causing the sinkholes.” (Based on a September 5, Associated Press wire story.)
Your contact is Bob Eppinette, NRCS resource soil scientist, at 843-549-1821 ext. 113.
Read more about Bob at the following links:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20020905&Category=APN&ArtNo=209050681&Ref=AR&SectionCat=NEWS03>&Category=APN&ArtNo=209050681&Ref=AR&SectionCat=NEWS03
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/4007538.htm

Word from Washington

Arbor Day Website Links Visitors with NRCS
The redesigned National Arbor Day Foundation website, at www.arborday.org, now allows visitors to link to the NRCS website. During a virtual tour, Arbor Day Farm website visitors with an interest in conservation can link to relevant NRCS website information. Visitors need only click on “Arbor Day” or “Programs” on the front page of the foundation’s website and follow “Arbor Day Farm” and “Take a Tour of Arbor Day Farm.” This provides access to a map of Arbor Day Farm that highlights many conservation and other points of interest. When visitors click on such topics as “The Living Snowfence,” “Agroforestry Field,” “Stream Bioengineering,” “Field Windbreak,” and “Oak Savanna,” they access a short message about a conservation practice or practices and a hotlink that takes them to a related element of the NRCS website for further information. Also featured on the map is the new ArborLinks golf course that exemplifies how such facilities can be constructed and managed in more environmentally friendly ways and used to educate golfers about conservation.
Your contact is Max Schnepf, NRCS National Conservation Buffer Initiative Coordinator, at 515-289-2331 ext. 15, or maxs@swcs.org


New Water Web Pages for Children
The National Drinking Water Clearinghouse (NDWC) has devoted a new section on its webpage to teaching children about water. "Drinking Water Kids" includes a list of illustrated children's books such as Excuse Me Sir, That's My Aquifer; The Raindrops ‘ Adventure: from Raindrops to Rainbows; and The Water's Journey. The site also contains a list of websites that offer fun ways to learn about the water cycle, groundwater, and conservation. The information will expand as NDWC collects additional resources. The site is located at http://www.nesc.wvu.edu/ndwc/ndwc_Kids_DWinfo.htm. For more information, or to have your organization’s youth education materials added to the site, contact Michelle Moore at michelle.moore@mail.wvu.edu.
Your contact is Stacy Mitchell, NRCS public affairs specialist, at 717-237-2208 or smitchell@pa.nrcs.usda.gov.

Accolades

Soil Staff Honored by International Organization
Staff from the NRCS National Soil Survey Center (NSSC) in Lincoln, Nebraska, was honored by the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) at the 17th World Congress of Soil Science held last month in Bangkok, Thailand. Dick Arnold, former Director of the NRCS Soil Survey Division, was made an honorary member of the IUSS and Carolyn Olson, National Leader, Soil Survey Investigations, was elected vice-chair Commission C2.4- Soil Mineralogy. Bob Ahrens, Director, NSSC, was elected chair of the Commission C1.4- Soil Classification and Cathy Seybold, NRCS soil scientist, received a red ribbon for her poster, “On-Farm Indicators of Cover Crop Effects on Soil Quality.” The award-winning poster depicted the objective, methods, and results of a study to determine if on-farm tests (soil respiration, infiltration rate, bulk density, soil water content, soil slaking, aggregate stability, soil pH, electrical conductivity of 1:1 soil-water mixture, and soil nitrates) could detect change in soil properties after 1 or 2 years of adding a cover crop to a vegetable cropping system compared to a system with no cover crop.
Your contact is Dr. Sheryl H. Kunickis, NRCS soil scientist, at 301-504-4787 or shk@ars.usda.gov.

More International Honors
The Executive Board of the International Cooperative Administrative Support Services (ICASS) recently presented NRCS Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) district conservationist, Philip Giles, with their Outstanding Leadership Award. The ICASS Executive Board recognized Phil’s hard work, dedication, and positive impact on local employees thereby helping overcome obstacles between the U.S. and the FSM., resulting in improved quality and delivery of essential conservation and other services to the region. Giles has been serving as a district conservationist in the FSM. since August 1996. The ICASS system is the principal means by which the U.S. provides cost share for common administrative support at its more than 200 diplomatic and consular posts overseas.
Your contact is Gail Roane, International Programs Division, at 202-690-2212.

Tech Tip

NRCS Network Facilitates Technology Transfer
An informal NRCS Community Collaboration Network has been formed to provide
peer-to-peer support for interested NRCS staff related to their community collaboration planning activities. Resources available via the Network include e-mail contacts and a website. Additional activities are in the planning phase. Network developers hopes to enhance technology transfer within NRCS while sharing ideas, strategies, tools, resources, and other information related to community collaboration and planning.

The NRCS Community Collaboration Network is maintained and supported by eleven committee members and sponsors, including staff from the Watershed Science Institute, Connecticut State office, RC&D program, Social Sciences Institute, and the Farmland Preservation and Community Planning Division. The Network website is located at http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/watershed/. NRCS staff interested in participating in the network should provide name, title, address, telephone and fax number, voicemail number, and e-mail address to Phil Morneault.
Your contact is Phil Morneault, NRCS community planner, at 860-871-4028 or phil.morneault@ct.usda.gov.

NRCS Drought, Flood, Fire & Snowpack News

Georgia: Never Seen It So Dry (Main Street News, Danielsville) http://www.mainstreetnews.com/Active/Mad.html

This Week's NRCS NewsLinks!
Colorado: Planes to Seed Burn Area from Sky (Durango Herald)
Illinois: RC&D Can Help with Local Problem-solving (Journal Standard)
Louisiana: Project Aims to Restore Wetlands near Gibson (The Courier, Houma)
Texas: Planners Study Ways to Get Access to Private Property (Abilene Reporter-News)
West Virginia: Meetings Will Address Disappearing Farmland (Dominion Post, Morgantown)

(NOTE: Links are tested at the time NRCS This Week is cleared. However, by the time readers try the link, the story may be off its server. In most cases, readers can go to the paper's homepage, where they will be able to access the story through the paper's archives).

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