NRCS This Week - 05/18/01

News

Friday, May 18, 2001 Washington, DC.

"With the public demanding that we do more to protect the environment, from reducing farm runoff into our lakes and rivers to restrictions on the burning of wheat and rice straw, we must strive to strike a better balance between our investment in retiring land and our investment in managing producing land."

– Secretary Ann Veneman, from remarks at the 9th Annual Food & Agriculture Policy Conference, April 17, 2001 Washington, D.C

Focus on the Field

California: FFA Students Bright Eyed at Agriscience Day

Nebraska: Santee Sioux Conservation Work Impressive

Nevada: Nevada Adopts a State Soil

Ohio: Ohio Witnesses Record Buffer Tree-Planting

Connecticut: Welcome Home Alewives – 200 Years Later

South Carolina: National Organization of Professional Black NRCS Employees Chartered

Texas: Texans Compete at Forestry Clinics

What's Up in Washington

Celebrate American Wetlands Month (AWM)

Tech Tip

New Technology in Soil Mapping

USDA/NRCS 'NetNewsLinks

NRCS National Water and Climate Center Snow-Precipitation Update for the West: ftp://ftp.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/data/snow/update/ws.txt.

NRCS Legislative Summaries: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/about/legislative/Summary106.html.

Also on the 'Net:

AGRICOLA: USDA's AGRICultural Online Access

e-Notes from NACD: Weekly news briefs from the National Association of Conservation Districts: http://www.nacdnet.org/eNotes/.

Conference & Training Connection!

See the May 18 "Conference & Training Connection" for an alphabetical-by-subject list and a chronological-by-date-random-subject listing of upcoming events.

FOCUS ON THE FIELD

FFA Students Bright Eyed at Agri-science Day - One hundred and fifty California high school students from the FFA program, their teachers, and other educators participated in the Agri-science Field Day and Counselor Career Awareness Tour sponsored by Modesto Junior College. In an effort to raise awareness of agricultural sciences, the college's Agriculture Department organized the event. NRCS' Joe Mota, Mary Jane Nelson, and Jolene Lau presented "What on Earth is Soil?" a discussion on the importance of natural resources, soil erosion, water quality, the role of NRCS, and the educational background required for a career in conservation. Students also had the opportunity to hear representatives from the University of California Cooperative Extension and the Farm Bureau. School counselors toured the West Stanislaus Hydrological Unit Area to observe how farmers address the problem of irrigation-induced erosion and its impact on water quality. Farmers and wildlife habitat managers explained to counselors about the need for conservationists in agriculture and asked them to encourage students to pursue careers in conservation. Your contact is Mike McElhiney NRCS District Conservationist, at 209-491-9320 ext. 102.

Santee Sioux Conservation Work Impressive - Within the last 2 years, the Santee Sioux Tribe has signed 10 Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) contracts on 187.5 acres. Additionally, during the 12th, 14th and 15th CRP sign-ups, the Tribe had 10 other CRP contracts approved that are still active today. The Tribe has installed field windbreaks, restored wetlands, initiated range seeding, saved rare and declining habitat, and established permanent wildlife habitat and wildlife food plots. The Tribe is also working on the implementation of a Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program contract on 471 acres that includes rangeland improvement that will benefit cattle and wildlife and create two large cottonwood tree plantings, one for 800 trees which will be installed this spring. These plantings are designed to provide nesting habitat for eagles, which are culturally significant to the Tribe. In addition, the Tribe used Lewis & Clark natural resource district funds and NRCS technical assistance to install a grade stabilization structure and have worked through the Northeast Nebraska Resource Conservation and Development district to install a cedar tree revetment streambank erosion project along Bazille Creek. Your contact is Pat McGrane, State Public Affairs Specialist, on (402) 437-5328, and at pat.mcgrane@ne.usda.gov

Nevada Adopts a State Soil - On May 8, Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn and the State Legislature approved SB152, which designated the Orovada series as the official State soil. This represented the successful culmination of several years of work and effort by NRCS Resource Soil Scientist, Paul Blackburn, and Orovada Elementary School teacher, Mike Teichert, and his students to get the governor and the legislature to designate Orovada as the State soil. Teichert and his students will participate in a proxy signing of the bill in June. A legislative history of the bill can be found at http://www.leg.State.nv.us/71st/Reports/history.cfm?ID=3689. Your contact is Liz Warner, NRCS Public Affairs Specialist, at 775-784-5288.

Ohio Witnesses Record Buffer Tree-Planting - A record 104 miles of trees have been planted this year in nine northwestern Ohio counties to protect farmland soil from erosion through the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and USDA. The 61 field windbreaks (rows of trees and other vegetation that slow wind velocities on farm fields in order to reduce soil erosion) was the largest annual planting in the program's 25-year history. A total of 54,000 seedlings, including hardwood trees, conifers, and shrubs, were planted in Allen, Defiance, Fulton, Henry, Paulding, Putnam, Van Wert, Williams, and Wood counties. Since 1977, more than 700 row miles of windbreaks have been planted by landowners, participating in the program voluntarily, in 17 Ohio counties where wind erosion is a problem. Agencies cooperating in the program include local soil and water conservation districts, NRCS, Farm Service Agency, Pheasants Forever, and ODNR's divisions of Forestry, Wildlife, and Soil and Water Conservation. Your contact is Gregg Maxfield, ODNR Division of Forestry, at 419-424-5004.

Welcome Home Alewives – 200 Years Later - The Pond Lily Fishway in New Haven, Connecticut, was recently the site of an unusual homecoming. Alewives, a herring-like fish, have been prevented from reaching productive upstream spawning habitats in the West River by a dam built over 200 years ago. But fortunately, through the NRCS's Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program and a partnership involving other Federal, State, and local organizations, an Alaskan Steeppass fishway has been installed. This provides both upstream and downstream passage of anadromous fish including the alewives. At the happy occasion of the recent ribbon cutting for the fishway no alewives were available for comment, but the consensus among the attendees was that the little fish were glad to be back. Your contact is Todd Bobowick, NRCS Resource Conservationist, at 860-626-8258.

National Organization of Professional Black NRCS Employees Chartered - The South Carolina Chapter of the National Organization of Professional Black NRCS Employees (NOPBNRCSE) recently became the 20th chapter nationally to be chartered. William Hunt, NRCS Minnesota State Conservationist, and NOPBNRCSE national president and Jim Tatum, immediate NOPBNRCSE national past president, recently traveled to South Carolina to present the charter, induct officers, and provide words of encouragement. Providing leadership for the State chapter are Wilfred Pace, President; Perdita Savage Belk, Vice President; Dorothea Martinez, Treasurer; Sharon Lane, Secretary; Cleveland Mitchell, Parliamentarian; and James Williams, Historian. The charter will be officially presented again at the November national NOPBNRCSE meeting in Memphis, Tennessee. Your contact is Perdita Belk, NRCS Public Affairs Specialist, at 803-765-5402 or pbelk@sc.nrcs.usda.gov.

Texans Compete at Forestry Clinics - NRCS, the Texas Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, the Texas Forest Service, and Stephen F. Austin State University recently hosted 60 teams from the eastern part of the State at the 2001 State Woodland Clinic. The middle- and high school-age team members from the 4-H Club and FFA competed in separate divisions in a number of forestry exercises at the Stephen F. Austin Experimental Forest near Nacogdoches. The clinic witnessed the Texas Forestry Association Landowners Council's first award of the Texas State Woodland Clinic Scholarship to high school senior and FFA member, Brad Cook, who scored highest overall at the clinic. Each year, woodland clinics are held throughout east Texas culminating in the State clinic. The clinics provide an excellent opportunity for students to learn about forest management from professional foresters involved managing of public, private, industrial, and non-industrial forestlands. Your contact is Susan Baggett, NRCS State Forester, at 936-291-1901 ext. 3.

WHAT'S UP IN WASHINGTON

Celebrate American Wetlands Month - Each May, thousands of individuals celebrate the uniqueness, beauty, and importance of wetlands. The theme of American Wetlands Month 2001 is American Wetlands - Keep 'em Native. A wetland can be as tiny as a small wet spot or puddle or as large as the Everglades. They are found in every State in the U.S. This celebration is an ideal time to emphasize programs and activities that support voluntary wetland restoration and protection. Landowners are voluntarily restoring wetlands on an unprecedented scale. During May, conservation districts, grassroots organizations, and government agencies join individuals and educators across the country to acknowledge the importance of this valuable natural resource and the role wetlands play in the health of our Nation. Discover more about wetlands activities and programs on the NRCS wetlands website at http://www.nhq.nrcs.usda.gov/CCS/wetlands01.html.

Did You Know...

...that half to two-thirds of America's wild ducks hatch in the prairie pot hole region marshes in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa?

...that wetlands provide habitat for about one-half the fish, one third of the birds, one-fourth of the plants, and one-sixth of the mammals on the U.S. threatened and endangered species lists?

...that conversion of wetlands to agricultural uses has slowed dramatically since the 1970's?
sented to the winners on May 30 in Washington. Your contact is Terry Cagle, NRCS OSDBU Coordinator, at 301-504-2214.

TECH TIP

New Technology in Soil Mapping - SoLIM (Soil-Landscape Inference Model) is a model under development by scientists at the University of Wisconsin at Madison in a partnership with the NRCS Soil Survey Division to assist in producing more accurate, higher quality soil maps. These digital maps do not replace soil scientists, but combine their knowledge of soils with digital elevation models and key environmental information (geographic information system layers) that determine conditions where soils form. SoLIM applies a fuzzy inference engine to produce an "inferred" soil map that soil scientists verify and can easily revise as they increase their knowledge of soil-landscape relationships. Initial field site investigations in Wisconsin, confirmed that maps produced using SoLIM correctly identified over 80 percent of the soil series as compared to 60-70 percent accuracy with conventional maps. Differences (referred to as mismatches) between the two maps showed that SoLIM-derived maps were correct 71 percent of the time as compared to 17 percent for conventional maps.

In the face of increasing demands for soil survey information, lean budgets, and a dwindling soil science workforce, the higher cost and greater amount of time required to produce conventional soil maps is no longer practical. Moreover, SoLIM eliminates the time-consuming manual cartographic work involved with conventional maps allowing soil scientists to spend more time in the field. Your contact is Dr. Sheryl H. Kunickis, NRCS Soil Scientist/Landscape Analyst, at 202-720-6370 sheryl.kunickis@usda.gov.

CONFERENCE & TRAINING CONNECTION

May 18, 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

Date Order By-Subject	Date Order Random Subject Order
Agricultural Economics Agricultural Engineering Agroforestry/Forestry Coastal Zone Management Conservation Reserve Program Geographic Information Systems Locally Led Conservation Nutrient Management Research Rural History Soil Science/Erosion Control Special Emphasis Program Training Volunteers Water Quality Watersheds Wetlands Wildlife and Natural Resource Conservation	May 2001 June 2001 July 2001 August 2001 September 2001 October 2001 November 2001 December 2001

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/.