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“We are part of the earth and it is part of us... what
befalls the earth befalls all the sons of the Earth.”
Chief Seattle, 1852
In This Issue
- Accolades
Producer Named to National Grazing Lands Coalition (GLCI)
Focus on the Field
Connecticut: Plant Symposium Nurtures a Growing Partnership
Maryland: Inaugural Coastal Heritage Conference
South Dakota: Fire Recovery Assistance Center for Black Hills
Landowners
Word From Washington
-
Technical Service Provider Assistance
Interim Final Rule Published
Earth Team Has Record-Breaking Year
Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI) Progress Report
Released
November is American Indian Heritage Month!
Tech Tip
HortNote Newsletter Provides Woody Plant Information
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
Special NRCS
Klamath Basin Reports
NRCS
Legislative Summaries
AGRICOLA: USDA's AGRICultural OnLine
Access
National Association of Conservation
Districts e-Notes
-
Accolades
Producer Named to National Grazing
Lands Coalition (GLCI)
Producer Keith Bartholomay has been named to the GLCI steering committee
representing the Society for Range Management. “My goals are to support the
GLCI mission to garner more funding for technical assistance on private grazing
lands,” Bartholomay said. “GLCI believes assistance should be provided to
landowners in a manner that is voluntary and grassroots driven,” he added. GLCI
is a national effort providing voluntary technical grazing assistance to private
landowners. GLCI is supported by nine member organizations, including the
American Farm Bureau Federation, American Forage and Grassland Council, American
Sheep Industry, Dairy Industry, National Association of Conservation Districts,
National Cattlemens Beef Association, National Farmers Union, Society for Range
Management, and the Soil and Water Conservation Society. Keith and his wife
Sandi live on their farm with their five children about 50 miles southwest of
Fargo. Keith Bartholomay is also a director with the North Dakota Stockmens
Association, and serves on the State Soil Conservation Committee. He was active
in founding the North Dakota Private Grazing Land Coalition and is a past
chairman of that group.
Your contact is David Keith, NRCS public affairs specialist, at 605-352-1228, or
david.keith@sd.nrcs.usda.gov.
Focus on the Field
Plant Symposium Nurtures a Growing
Partnership
The Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group, including member organization
NRCS, recently held a "Invasive Plants in Public Landscapes – Meeting the
Challenge” symposium in Burlington, Connecticut. The diversity of partners in
the working group resulted in a successful event attended by more than 230
participants, who received packets of information, viewed displays, and had the
opportunity to interact with Federal, State, and local natural resource
agencies, and private sector stakeholders. Symposium speakers addressed a wide
range of topics, including updates on applicable State-wide invasive plant laws
and policy, avenues of invasive plant spread, and considerations for growing and
selecting alternative plant materials. Dr. Charlotte Pyle, from the NRCS
Connecticut State office, moderated a symposium session on “Practical
Applications and Solutions."
Your contact is Dr. Charlotte Pyle, NRCS landscape ecologist, at 860-871-4066,
or charlotte.pyle@ct.usda.gov.
Inaugural Coastal Heritage
Conference
The Restore America's Estuaries organization will host its inaugural
conference on coastal estuarine habitat restoration, “Saving Our Coastal
Heritage,” April 13-16, 2003, in Baltimore, Maryland, at the Hyatt Regency Inner
Harbor Hotel. This will be the first national gathering of the coastal and
estuarine habitat restoration community, including field practitioners,
community leaders, consultants, scientists, regulators, program managers,
educators, volunteers, and others who engage in many aspects of habitat
restoration. Conference participants will convene for the first time to advance
the practice, knowledge, and success of habitat restoration. Incorporating
nonprofit, government, business, and academic sectors, this gathering will
enable networking and communication throughout the growing habitat restoration
community. For detailed conference information or to register online, visit the
conference website at
http://www.estuaries.org/nationalconference.php.
Your contact is Heather Bradley, conference coordinator, at 703-524-0248, or
hbradley@estuaries.org.
Fire Recovery Assistance Center for
Black Hills Landowners
Thanks to the efforts of Black Hills Resource Conservation & Development
(RC&D) Coordinator Kurt Buer, landowners affected by this past summer’s forest
fires in western South Dakota now have a source for technical information from
Federal, State, and local agencies. With a $100,000 grant from USDA and $20,000
in-kind funds, Buer and the Black Hills RC&D council opened the Fire Recovery
Assistance Center in Rapid City. The center provides landowners with a place to
turn when they have fire recovery questions related to tree removal, grass
seedings, noxious weed control, and erosion control. In addition to post-fire
information, landowners can acquire information pertaining to making their land
less susceptible to future fires. The center is one of four in the Nation
established within the last 3 years.
Your contact is Kurt Buer, Black Hills RC&D Coordinator, at 605-348-2611.
Word from Washington
Technical Service Provider
Assistance Interim Final Rule Published
USDA has published the interim final rule for certifying third parties to
provide conservation technical services for certain conservation programs. The
2002 Farm Bill expanded the availability of technical assistance to producers by
encouraging the use of third parties – called technical service providers – to
assist USDA in delivering conservation technical services. The interim final
rule for technical service provider assistance was published in the Nov. 21
Federal Register. “The technical service provider process is a key provision of
the Farm Bill,” said Secretary Ann Veneman. “It allows us to provide more
resources for technical assistance from the private and nonprofit sectors and
State and local government to help farmers and ranchers reach their conservation
goals.”
The interim final rule sets forth the process NRCS will follow for administering
this provision of the Farm Bill and seeks public comments. In addition to
establishing the certification process, the final interim rule also establishes
criteria for evaluating all potential providers of technical assistance,
distinguishes between certification of an individual working under his or her
own auspices and that of an organization, and sets forth conditions and
procedures for NRCS to use to assure that certified technical service providers
deliver high quality technical services to producers and to decertify those who
fail to meet the quality standards.
NRCS State conservationists will certify technical service providers within
their jurisdiction to provide technical assistance on behalf of USDA, including
conservation planning and the design, layout, installation and checkout of
approved conservation practices. Once certified, their work must meet NRCS
standards and specifications, program requirements, and relevant laws and
regulations. “This unique process will allow other groups and individuals to
help us do conservation planning and implementation work for producers,” said
NRCS Chief Bruce Knight. “Program participants may still use NRCS for technical
assistance or may select a certified technical service provider. This will
allow much needed assistance to carry out these new Farm Bill programs.”
Additional information on technical service providers is on the Web at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov.
Detailed information on conservation programs authorized in the 2002 Farm Bill
and a list of published rules and public notices are available at
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/farmbill/2002/.
Your contact is Mary Cressel, NRCS public affairs specialist, at 690-0547, or
mary.cressel@usda.gov.
Earth Team Has Record-Breaking Year
The NRCS Earth Team volunteer program had a record-breaking fiscal year
2002, with more than one million hours of service donated to conservation
activities. The National Earth Team Status Report for fiscal year 2002 shows a
19 percent increase in the number of volunteers, a 17 percent increase in the
number of volunteer hours, and a five percent increase in the number of NRCS
offices using volunteer services over the previous year’s figures. For fiscal
year 2002, the total value of volunteer time was more than $17 million, based on
the $16 hourly rate established by the Points of Light Foundation. The total
amount invested nationally in the Earth Team is approximately $199,000, which
gives NRCS a return on its investment equal to $86 for every $1 spent. Since
the Earth Team began in 1982, the number of volunteers has gone from 327 to more
than 38,000 and the number of hours donated has jumped from 29,100 to
1,089,100.
Your contact is Michele Eginoire, NRCS National Earth Team Coordinator, at
515-289-0325, ext. 29, or eginoire@swcs.org.
Grazing Lands Conservation
Initiative (GLCI) Progress Report Released
The recently released fiscal year 2002 GLCI progress report, detailing the
organization’s accomplishments, said that during the past fiscal year, over
50,000 individuals received technical assistance contributing to conservation
systems applied to 19.1 million acres of grazing land and planned for an
additional 21.5 million acres. Approximately 850 grazing land demonstration
projects nationwide now employ grazing land technologies and management.
In the area of public education and awareness, over
1,600 workshops, field days, and tours were conducted during FY 2002, with over
84,000 individuals participating in grazing land activities. Over 1,300
newspaper and magazine articles with the GLCI message reached over 10.4 million
households and over 350 radio and television spots and programs played reaching
an audience of over 4.7 million.
Last fiscal year, nearly one thousand NRCS employees
spent the majority of their time providing technical assistance to private
landowners and related GLCI activities. Roughly one-third of these employees
were range conservationists, forage agronomists, or grazing land specialists.
Over 27,000 individuals, including NRCS staff, personnel from other agencies,
private grazing landowners, and managers, received grazing land science and
technology training.
GLCI technical assistance helps landowners with better
grazing management, improved livestock production, and more energy-efficient
ways to produce food and fiber that, in turn, protect soil from erosive wind and
water, reduce the impact of drought, and discourage the invasion of weeds. GLCI
technical assistance additionally provides opportunities for conserving water,
habitat for wildlife, and protecting stream banks and water quality.
Your contact is Mitch Flanagan, NRCS, soil scientist, at 202-690-5988, or
mitch.flanagan@usda.gov.
November is American Indian Heritage
Month!
In 1986, President Reagan designated November 23-30 as "American Indian
Week." Four years later, President George H. Bush proclaimed the first National
American Indian Heritage Month. Each year since, U.S. Presidents have
proclaimed November as "American Indian Heritage Month."
Listed below are some websites that deal with American Indian history,
knowledge, lifestyles, current events and tradition.
http://www.aianea.com/ American
Indian/Alaskan Native Employees Association for the NRCS.
http://www.aihec.org. American Indian Higher
Education Consortium. This educational organization represents 32 colleges in
the U.S.A. and Canada.
http://www.aises.org. American Indian
Science and Engineering Society. This professional organization nurtures
building of community by bridging science and technology with traditional Native
values.
http://www.americanindian.net. Look
up dates in North American Indian history. Links to numerous other web sites
dealing with Tribal Peoples.
http://www.americanindiantribe.com.
Gives you a head start in research on the historical background of many American
Indian Tribes.
http://www.ammsa.com/windspeaker/.
Canada's national aboriginal news source.
http://www.cherokee.org. Official website
for the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.
http://www.indiancountry.com. Website
of "Indian Country" magazine. Current news articles about tribes, laws and
lifeways.
http://www.indianz.com. Headline news of
current events affecting American Indians and mainstream USA.
http://www.iaiancad.org. Institute of
American Indian Arts. Established by the U.S. Department of the Interior's
Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1962. In 1975 it became a 2-year college in Santa
Fe, NM.
http://www.nativepeoples.com. The
forum is packed with interesting topics.
http://www.nativeweb.org. Resources for
indigenous cultures around the world. 3,505 web listings available.
http://www.tribalfires.com. Promotes
the publishing of Native American creative writers.
Tech Tip
HortNote Newsletter Provides Woody
Plant Information
HortNote is a new practical electronic newsletter from the Plant Materials
Program about tree and shrub horticulture. Developed and produced by the Plant
Materials Center in Bridger, Montana, HortNote provides timely information on
various woody plant and conservation horticulture topics. The third issue,
recently distributed, explains the use of microinjection as a tool for
controlling woody plant pests and diseases. Two earlier HortNotes are filled
with helpful tips for maximizing survival, health, and performance of bareroot
seedlings and watering techniques for plant establishment. Future issues of
HortNote will address such topics as windbreak design, installation, protection
and maintenance; species selection; greenhouse operations; plant propagation and
production; and native, low maintenance, and xeriscape landscaping. Three
HortNotes are available on the Plant Materials Program Web site. Visit
http://plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/pubs/mtpmcarhortnote1.pdf for HortNote
No. 1;
http://plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/pubs/mtpmcarhortnote2.pdf for HortNote
No. 2; and
http://plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/pubs/mtpmcarhortnote3.pdf for HortNote
No. 3.
Your contact is Joe Scianna, NRCS horticulturist, at 406-662-3579, or
joe.scianna@mt.usda.gov.
Please send correspondence and material for "NRCS This Week" to the editor by: e-mail to:
fred.jacobs@usda.gov or by fax to: Editor, "NRCS This Week," 202-720-1564; or by mail to: Editor, "NRCS This Week," NRCS, P.O. Box 2890, Washington, D.C. 20013.
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The NRCS Mission: The Natural Resources Conservation Service provides leadership in a partnership effort to help people conserve, maintain, and improve our natural resources and environment.
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