NRCS This Week - 02/02/01

See the alphabetical-by-subject list of upcoming events. . See NEW listings under Riparian and Floodplain Restoration and Grazing Land and Grassland.

FOCUS ON THE FIELD

NRCS Helps Restore Fish Habitat - NRCS in Connecticut has joined forces with the Connecticut River Watershed Council and a dozen or so other partners to work together on a fishway project that focuses on the restoration of the habitat for river herring, Atlantic salmon, and American shad. Through the Council's Migratory Fisheries Restoration Initiative and the NRCS Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP), the partners will restore spawning access in the Eight Mile River drainage, which is a tributary of the Connecticut River (an American Heritage River). According to the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, Fisheries Division, four miles of spawning habitat will be opened to migratory fish. The reestablishment of self-sustaining populations of anadromous fishes to upstream spawning habitats will have widespread ecological benefits to freshwater and marine ecosystems. The quality of the sportfishing in the Eight Mile River, the Connecticut River, and Long Island Sound will also benefit. Your contact is Howard B. Denslow, NRCS Resource Conservationist, at 860-871-4059.

NRCS Video Receives Award - The Missouri NRCS video "How to Build A Wetland" has been awarded the prestigious Silver Telly award. Tellys are non-broadcast video "Oscars." Dreamworks, SKG, Disney, Eastman Kodak, and Touchstone Pictures are among the ranks of Silver Telly award winners. Norm Klopfenstein, NRCS State Public Affairs Specialist, was the executive producer and co-authored the script. The video was an NRCS partnership venture with the Missouri Land Improvement Contractors' Association, the Missouri Department of Conservation, University of Missouri Extension and Outreach, and Ducks Unlimited. EQIP educational assistance funds were used to finance the video. Your contact is Norm Klopfenstein, State Public Affairs Specialist, at 573-876-0911.

Rootwad Study in Pennsylvania - Thanks to a Growing Greener Grant from Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection, NRCS will evaluate the performance of rootwad revetments (using the lower portion of a tree including its rootwad for streambank stabilization) that have been installed at streambank sites throughout the State. The sites vary according to geology, stream classifications and sizes, types of construction equipment used, and types of upper bank treatments. This study is part of a cooperative agreement between NRCS and Penn State University.

Rootwads have often been studied as habitat, but guidance is not available for their design, based on scientific analyses and field verification. With the results of this study, NRCS hopes to develop methods and criteria for the design of rootwad revetments. These criteria will be included in the Pennsylvania Technical Guide of Conservation Practices and sent to the Watershed Science Institute for possible use with national standards. Growing Greener Grants will distribute approximately $650 million over the next 5 years to promote watershed activities that will improve the quality of riparian corridors in Pennsylvania. Your contact is Alan Wood, NRCS State Project Engineer, at 717-237-2211.

Joint Conference Highlights "Many People, Limited Resources" - The annual joint conference of the South Carolina Conservation Partnership was held recently and was appropriately titled "Many People, Limited Resources." The event highlighted natural resource conservation, weather, water quality, and other agricultural and land use issues facing landusers throughout the State. The South Carolina Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society also held a symposium entitled, "Farm Bill 2002 - What Should it be for South Carolina?" Gary A. Margheim, NRCS Special Assistant to the Chief, provided symposium participants with his views and experience regarding the Farm Bill. Overall, the conference provided conservation leaders, legislators, and farmers with an opportunity to exchange ideas and to discuss ongoing challenges facing conservation in South Carolina. Your contact is Perdita Belk, SC Public Affairs Specialist, at 803-765-5402

RC&D Council Receives Grant for Nature Park - The Smoky Mountain Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Council in Tennessee has received a grant through the Tennessee Valley Authority to help establish the Jones Nature Park in Cocke County. The park will provide a learning laboratory for the children and faculty of Cocke County's Del Rio Elementary, as well as schools in neighboring counties. Learning laboratories like Jones Nature Park provide local children with an opportunity to bond with nature, their teachers, each other, and their community, through a greater appreciation of their surroundings. Your contact is Eston Williams, NRCS RC&D Coordinator, at 865-674-8890.

Session on Watershed Planning for NACD Conference - The National Coordinated Resource Management (CRM) Team is sponsoring a one-day session on watershed planning using CRM at the National Association of Conservation Districts annual meeting in Fort Worth, Texas, on February 6. The session is designed to help conservation districts and NRCS staff involved in or initiating watershed planning efforts. The session will introduce the basics of CRM, facilitation techniques, and the role of districts in watershed planning, with a "hands on" exercise at the conclusion. There is no charge for this session, but participants must register before the session to ensure that there are adequate course materials available. To register or for more information, please contact rgay@wyoming.com or visit the conference website at http://www.nacdnet.org/meetings/01annual/CRM.htm.

AWARDS & ACCOLADES

NRCS Awards Northern Indiana Crop Advisor - NRCS Indiana State Conservationist, Jane Hardisty, recently presented certified crop advisor John Anglin with the Indiana Conservation Stewardship Award at the Mid-America Ag Show in Indianapolis. Anglin received the award for his outstanding efforts in promoting and applying nutrient management principles (NMP). Hardisty presented the award before a group of about 150 certified crop advisors (CCAs) attending an agronomy training session as a way to bring attention to the subject and to encourage CCA's to incorporate NMP in their operations. Anglin owns and operates Clunette Elevator in Kosciusko County, a full service livestock feed, plant food and ag chemical application business. Your contact is Mike McGovern, NRCS Public Affairs Specialist, at 317-290-3222, ext. 324.

WHAT'S UP IN WASHINGTON

Celebrate Black History Month! - National Black History Month is celebrated during February for Americans to salute and honor the contributions that African-Americans have made in this country. This year's theme is "Creating and Defining the African-American Community: Family, Church, Politics, and Culture." Black History Month, originally called Negro History Week, originated in 1926. Its founder, Harvard educated Dr. Carver G. Woodson, began the observance to instill a sense of pride, heritage and honor in African-Americans and encourage other racial groups to learn more about the African-American culture. In 1976, the week-long event was expanded to the month of February to allow more time for observances. Dr. Woodson's choice of February honors two other well-known Civil Rights leaders, Frederick Douglas (February 14) and Abraham Lincoln (February 12), born during the month.

The annual Black History Month celebration is sponsored by the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History (ASALH) in Washington, D.C., which Dr. Woodson founded in 1915. Each year, the ASALH designates the official theme for the celebration. Your contact is John Glover, NRCS Acting National Black Emphasis Program Manager, at 301-504-2181 or john.glover@il.usda.gov.

"To Err Is Human - To really mess things up requires a computer." This may fall under the category of an "all those who are not present, please raise your hand" type-message, but due to the list server computer crash in Colorado, we have lost many of our valued NRCS This Week subscribers. For those of you reading this message, please pass this bit of news on to your non-NRCS colleagues and associates who may have been subscribers, so that they can re-subscribe. They can do this by sending an e-mail to: listproc@nrcs.usda.gov. Do not use a subject line and put the following in the body of the message: subscribe NRCS-THIS-WEEK Firstname Lastname (for example: subscribe NRCS-THIS-WEEK Carol Smith). Your contact is Tom Rudnick, NRCS Telecommunications Specialist, at 970-295-5427 or trudnick@itc.nrcs.usda.gov.

CONFERENCE & TRAINING CONNECTION

February 2, 2001

As a service to NRCS personnel and the agency's partners, "NRCS This Week" offers the following by-subject list of conferences and training sessions. To add an event, please send an e-mail message to fred.jacobs@usda.gov

AFO/CAFO

Agricultural Economics

Agricultural Engineering

Agricultural Outlook/Policy

Agroforestry/Forestry

Air Quality

Coastal Zone Management

Forestry
Geographic Information Systems

Global Climate Change
NEW! Grazing Land & Grassland

Invasive Plant Species

Irrigation Management

Locally Led Conservation

Nutrient Management
Partnerships

Range Management

NEW! Riparian and Floodplain Restoration

Rural History

Soil Science/Erosion Control

Water Quality

Watersheds

Wetlands

AFO/CAFO

Dairy Manure Systems: Equipment and Technology Selection

March 20-22

Rochester, New York

an educational

Dairy Manure Systems: Equipment and Technology Selection is a conference intended for farm managers and their advisors, soil and water conservation district staff, nutrient management consultants, cooperative extension educators, equipment distributors, university specialists, farm system designers and builders, and environmental professionals. It will examine technology and equipment selection for manure handling, treatment, land application, and odor control.. The conference will focus on a systems approach to planning. For more infomration call 607-255-7654 or visit the conference website at http://www.nraes.org/conferences/manure.html.

Agricultural Economics

American Agricultural Economics Associtaion Annual (AAEA) Meeting

August 5-8

Chicago, Illinois

AAEA seeks submission for posters, papers, organized symposia and free sessions for the 2001 annual meeting in Chicago. For more information, contact Nancy Herselius at 515-233-3202, or nancy@aaea.org or visit the meeting website at http://www.aaea.org/meetings/.