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| Friday, September 28, 2001 Washington, DC. |
"A man's feet should be planted in his country, but his eyes should survey the world."
–- George Santayana (1863-1952), Spanish philosopher, poet, and novelist.
FOCUS ON THE FIELD
Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Program Stops Fires - A firelane, completed with EWP funds just a few days before a fire in Clark County, Arkansas, is credited with confining a blaze that threatened more than 200 acres of timber worth more than $800,000. The threatened area is home to two colonies of red cockaded woodpeckers an endangered species. After last December's ice storms, NRCS requested EWP funds to assist landowners with reducing the risk of wildfires by clearing away brush and other debris on private forestlands. Your contact is Sonja Coderre, NRCS public affairs specialist, at 501-301-3133.
How Ya Gonna Keep 'em Down on the Farm? -
Anyone who's driven east on U.S. Interstate Highway 90 can gaze upon the steel mills and oil refineries of Whiting and Gary, Indiana, for one minute and find themselves in lush fields of corn, wheat, soybeans, and fruit tree orchards the next. That's why, when the State redrew the boundaries of its first U.S. Congressional district to include three primarily agricultural counties, it was time for NRCS and its Indiana conservation partners to help familiarize U.S. Representative Peter Visclosky with natural resources issues. Representative Visclosky admits he's more accustomed to talking with steel and refinery workers but also told NRCS State Conservationist Jane Hardisty that he is trying to learn as much as he can about natural resource conservation on private lands in the area so he can better represent his new constituents. And, he added, "I also like to eat." Your contact is Mike McGovern, NRCS Public Affairs Specialist, at 317-290-3222, ext. 324.
Comanche Pool Prairie Resource Foundation Organized - Five Comanche County, Kansas, ranchers and NRCS have organized the Comanche Pool Prairie Resource Foundation to broaden support for range management in south central Kansas and north central Oklahoma by providing natural resource conservation technical assistance, demonstrations, and education, with the wider goal of promoting rural economic growth. Within the Red Hills region of south central Kansas and north central Oklahoma, the foundation has focused its efforts on an area that has a unique topography, vegetation, soils, and wildlife. Additionally, they have successfully developed cooperating relationships among local ranchers, urban dwellers, the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and forged a cooperative agreement to hire a full-time rangeland specialist.
Your contact is Loren Graff, NRCS District Conservationist, at 620-582-2211.
Coalition Works to Restore Galveston Bay Wildlife - Stripped of the protection offered by emergent marsh, Galveston's bay shoreline has been eroding as waves wash away unprotected soil, resulting in a loss of over 35,000 acres of wetlands and marine life and waterfowl. The primary cause of marsh and wetland loss in the bay was the dumping of millions of tons of dredging spoil from a channel widening project during the 1980's, which smothered vegetation that had helped filter sediments and nutrients from the water, provided nursery areas for marine life, and moderated the wind and wave action on the sand and clay soils of the shoreline. Now, NRCS and a coalition of Federal, State and local agencies are pooling their technical skills and resources to create a new 4,500-acre intertidal salt marsh to replace those lost through years of poor conservation. The Beneficial Uses Group cautions that while the project is going to be a "muddy mess" while material is being pumped to create the marsh, the long-term benefit of the marshlands will far outweigh any adverse short-term impacts. From a recent Houston Chronicle article. Your contact is Fred Jacobs, NRCS public affairs specialist, at 202-720-6794.
Conservation at Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University - NRCS was a major partner in the first Virginia Tech Farm and Family Showcase held recently at Kentland Farm, located just west of the Blacksburg campus, staffing three separate demonstration areas covering forage and grassland management, backyard conservation, and stream protection. At the main exhibit area, the more than 10,000 people who attended the event could learn about practices they could use in their own backyard and how wetlands play an important role in filtering and cleaning our water. Climbing aboard hay wagons, visitors could tour a riparian buffer, stream crossing for livestock, a solar pumping station, a heavy equipment tire trough, wildlife plantings, and could view warm season grasses. The Roanoke Times, in addition to reporting on NRCS participation at the event, also recognized the agency and its conservation partners for their assistance with the Toms Creek Streamside Conservation Project.
Your contact is Pat Paul, NRCS public affairs specialist, at 804-287-1681.
Morgan Freeman Wins Two "Tellys" for NRCS TV Spots - You've seen him with Clint Eastwood in "Unforgiven." With Jessica Tandy in "Driving Miss Daisy." And with Brad Pitt in "Seven." And if you were on the campus of Mississippi State University last Saturday, you could've seen him with NRCS State Public Affairs Specialist Jeannine May as she presented him with some very special awards. Actor, conservation farmer, and agency customer Morgan Freeman received two Telly Awards for public service announcements he narrated for NRCS. "Morgan is very proud of these awards and was honored to receive them," says Jeannine. "He is a dedicated conservationist, and the public affairs staff in Mississippi is honored to work with him on spreading the word about our agency's assistance to landowners." The Telly Awards is an annual video and film production competition that gives recognition to outstanding non-network and cable commercials. Mr. Freeman has also narrated radio spots that highlight the benefits of NRCS conservation programs and recruitment announcements for the Earth Team volunteer program.
Your contact is Jeannine May, NRCS public affairs specialist at 601-965-4337.
Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month! - Hispanic Heritage Month 2001 has arrived and Latino communities nationwide are celebrating. The month of celebration began September 17, lasts through October 15, and encompasses several historical events including Mexican Independence Day on September 16, and El Dia de la Raza, celebrated October 12. Expanded to a month in 1989, the Hispanic heritage observance was initiated by the U.S. Congress as Hispanic Heritage Week to encourage Hispanic awareness among all U.S. citizens. The event has grown to a month-long opportunity for Americans to learn more about Hispanic culture and customs and enjoy community events featuring Latino music, arts, and cuisine.
North American Fire Ecology - Over 79,600 fires burned over 6,862,600 acres (at this rate it would take only 280 years for the entire land area of the U.S. to burn) in the U.S. during 2000. It was one of the worst years on record in terms of homes destroyed and property damaged. Wild fires last year created concern over the impact fire in North America is having on air quality, resource damage, and property loss. It raised the question, what is the fire return interval in North America and what should we expect to see in the future? Recent work by Cecil Frost, James Agee, John Lehmkuhl, and many others, indicates that North America was dominated by fire dependant ecosystems. This body of work shows that the average fire return interval for southern canebrakes and pocosins was 1 to 2 years, with the same interval for the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains. The Willamette Valley of Oregon, the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and the piedmont prairies of the Carolinas probably were burned from 1 to 3 year intervals by Native Americans. The 1-to 3-year fire frequencies of the Great Plains are well documented, and research indicates that even the Chihuahuan desert may have burned as often as 7 to 12 years. Parts of the Mojave and Great Basin may have burned as often as every 26 to 100 years. Only areas in New England, the upper Great Lakes and Cascades may have had fire frequencies exceeding 100 years, with parts of the Mississippi Valley, Sonoran Desert, and Salt Desert showing no fire return histories.
The occurrence of fire in the urban/wildland interface is becoming more and more common, which brings with it the opportunity for beneficial or disastrous affects on life and property. It is important for NRCS employees to understand the role of fire in their areas and help our cooperators and other clients understand it as well. We need to work with our clients with the use of fire from the resource maintenance, improvement and restoration standpoint, as well as a resource and property protection standpoint. To help meet this need, the Grazing Lands Technology Institute (GLTI) is working with National Employee Development Center and several universities around the country to develop and refine the Prescribed Burning courses to cover more fire ecology and fire effects on the resources. The GLTI has also developed an Introduction to Prescribed Burning course, and has plans to develop this as a web course available to all NRCS employees. Wildfire will always be a part of the ecology of North America, we must learn how to use prescribed fire to achieve resource objectives and minimize the adverse affects of wildfire.
Your contact is Pat Shaver, Rangeland Management Specialist, at 541-737-7355.
If you are not a NRCS employee, you can receive NRCSTW on an e-mail by contacting: listproc@nrcs.usda.gov (NHQ personnel should send their e-mail to: GW:"listproc@nrcs.usda.gov@i"). Do not use a subject line and put the following in the body of the message: subscribe NRCS-THIS-WEEK Firstname Lastname (example: subscribe NRCS-THIS-WEEK John Muir). To get help with other commands that are available at the "listproc@nrcs.usda.gov" address, send a message with no subject and the word HELP on a line by itself in the body of the message. "NRCS This Week" will continue to be posted on the NRCS Homepage.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD).
To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call 202-720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
Addresses and telephone numbers for NRCS' Civil Rights Staff are: NRCS Civil Rights Program Compliance Division, 5601 Sunnyside Avenue, Mail Stop 5471, Beltsville, MD 20705-5471; phone: (301) 504-2287. NRCS Civil Rights Employment Division, 5601 Sunnyside Avenue, Mail Stop 5472, Beltsville, MD 20705-5472; phone: (301) 504-2181.
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