"As a nation we need to renew our acquaintance with the land and reaffirm our faith in its continuity of productiveness -- when properly treated. If we are bold in our thinking, courageous in accepting new ideas, and willing to work with instead of against our land, we shall find in conservation farming an avenue to the greatest food production the world has ever known -- not only for the war, but for the peace that is to follow."

–- - Hugh Hammond Bennett (1881-1960) from Soil Erosion A National Menace

Focus on the Field
California: California Web Resources
Mississippi: NRCS Meets Ralph Lauren
New Hampshire: Core Conservation Partnership Agreement Signed
Oklahoma: RC&D Model For Rural Economic Recovery
South Dakota: NRCS Assists in Supplying Water to Rural Community
Wisconsin: Major Wetland Restoration Underway

Word From Washington

New Mission Statement

National
Didja Know...

Tech Tip
Digital Wizardry Scopes-Out Prime Farmland

Sites to See

American Customer Satisfaction Index

Actor Morgan Freeman Narrates Public Service Announcements for NRCS
NRCS Legislative Summaries
AGRICOLA: USDA's AGRICultural Online Access
National Association of Conservation Districts e-Notes

Web-agri, the Smart Farming Search Engine

FOCUS ON THE FIELD

California Web Resources - NRCS biologist Ronald Schultze has completed development of the California Environmental Handbook, which locates all relevant permit, regulation, and related planning needs for field staff. The handbook will be distributed to all State field staff and is also available on the web at http://www.ca.nrcs.usda.gov/rts/ENVHNB/environhandbook1.html. Other resources can be found on the California resource technology homepage at http://www.ca.nrcs.usda.gov/rts/rts.html.
Your contact is Mark Parson, NRCS resource conservationist, at 530-792-5660 or mark.parson@ca.usda.gov.

NRCS Meets Ralph Lauren - NRCS public affairs specialist Jeannine May in Mississippi is bringing some of the top names in interior design together with the message of soil and water conservation on private lands. The unlikely association will occur at the Plan House Gallery -- a new concept in one-stop shopping where homeowners can design their homes or renovations and be able to select everything from lighting to roofing material at the same time in a "gallery" type setting. Now, thanks to Jeannine and gallery owner Jack Hughes, customers will also be able to get information on soils, conservation planning, building ponds, plant materials, backyard conservation practices, and where to get urban conservation technical assistance. NRCS technical staff and its conservation partners will also participate in workshops held on the weekends.
Your contact is Jeannine May, NRCS public affairs specialist at 601-965-4337.

Core Conservation Partnership Agreement Signed - Last week’s New Hampshire Association of Conservation Districts (NHACD) annual meeting was the setting for the signing of the New Hampshire Core Conservation Partnership Agreement. NRCS State Conservationist Calvin Perkins joined NHACD, the State Conservation District Employees Association of New Hampshire, the New Hampshire State Conservation Committee, the Southern New Hampshire RC&D Council, and the North Country RC&D Council in agreeing to work together in leading the conservation efforts in the State. The ceremony was covered by local press, who characterized the event "as a treaty that is forming a conservation alliance."
Your contact is Laura Morton, NRCS public affairs specialist, at 603-868-7581 ext. 104.

RC&D Model for Rural Economic Recovery - Due in large part to the efforts of the High Plains RC&D of Buffalo, Oklahoma, the State Economic Development Administration awarded $125,000 to fund the Prairie States Regional Center for Rural Entrepreneurial-Leadership (PSRCRL) Project. The project spans a region that includes parts of Oklahoma, Colorado, Texas, and Kansas that have been hard hit economically by an outmigration of business and labor. The project represents a significant step toward addressing economic development issues confronting the area. Especially distressing is the markedly increasing gap between average earnings per job in the impacted counties and the average in the non-impacted areas of the four States. This project will develop a model for developing strategies and providing training to identify business opportunities, and show how to gain access to capital in order to deal with problems plaguing rural counties in the four-State region.
Your contact is Terri Daniel, NRCS visual information specialist, at 405-742-1244.

NRCS Assists in Supplying Water to Rural Community - Thanks to NRCS and the Fall River Conservation District, the Fall River Water Users District (FRWUD) in Fall River County, South Dakota, is selling water, having recently completed the initial phase of a rural water system. This was good news for the city of Oelrichs, which due to high nitrate levels in the water supply, found itself unable to meet State drinking water standards. The city was instructed to provide bottled water to pregnant women and infants under the age of one. Through its locally led conservation efforts, technical assistance, and high-priority EQIP contracts addressing water quality and quantity problems and grazing distribution concerns, NRCS was instrumental in the formation of the FRWUD. Three years after reaching the maximum contaminate levels of nitrates, Oelrichs is now receiving clean, drinkable water that easily complies with South Dakota standards for drinking water.
Your contact is Joyce Watkins, NRCS public affairs specialist, at 605-352-1228.

Major Wetland Restoration Underway - NRCS and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources have teamed up to create the largest individual Wetland Reserve Program easement in Wisconsin. According to Greg Igl, NRCS district conservationist in Elkhorn, "The wetland will extend for more than five miles in the northwest part of Walworth County." The planned restoration work on the 1,800 acres of prime wetland in the southeastern part of the State will most likely be phased-in over a 3-year period with seeding, drainage ditch filling, tile disabling, and construction activities beginning next spring. The herons and blue-wing teal are not back yet; but, once completed, the wetland will become an irresistible attraction for these water birds and other wildlife. Emerging as the centerpiece of the new Turtle Valley Wildlife Area, the restored wetland will provide outdoor recreational opportunities such as hiking, hunting, and wildlife viewing for the most populated part of the State having the least amount of public recreational land.
Your contact is Renae Anderson, NRCS Public Affairs Specialist, at 608-276-8732, ext. 227.

New Mission Statement - The new mission statement was posted electronically to the NRCS Electronic Directives System. The policy is 130, Part 400, Subpart A, Mission Statement, (Amend. 5, dated December 2001), and is located at http://policy.nrcs.usda.gov/scripts/lpsiis.dll/EDSnf/GM_130_400_a.htm.

Didja Know…

- Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA) provides the primary means and resources for the Federal government to participate as an active partner with local soil and water conservation districts, State governments, and other conservation organizations in formulating and implementing local conservation programs on private and public lands?
- In FY 2001, NRCS provided assistance to nearly 4.1 million customers?
- CTA supports some part of the technical assistance provided to all NRCS customers, either directly or through development of the technical tools on which the assistance is based?
- Technical assistance provided to landusers enabled them to plan and apply conservation systems that protect and enhance our country’s natural resources?
- In FY 2001, a total of 9.5 million acres of cropland and 11.3 million acres of grazing land were treated to the resource management system level (sustainable management)?
- On 3.5 million acres of cropland that had been eroding at excessive rates, NRCS technical assistance enabled farmers to reduce erosion to the tolerable rate or less, thus preserving the productive capacity of the soil?
- Overall, NRCS provided planning assistance on more than 31.4 million acres of land in all uses and application assistance on more than 28.6 million acres?
- Conservation systems to address water quality concerns were applied on 8.6 million acres?
- Nutrient management systems were applied on 5.4 million acres and 10,521 waste management facilities were planned and installed?
- Improved irrigation water management was applied on 1.3 million acres and buffers were applied on 524,343 acres?
- All of these activities were supported by CTA, either directly or indirectly; in some cases, funds from other programs were also utilized?

Your contact is Walley Turner, NRCS National CTA Manager, at 202-720-1875.

Digital Wizardry Scopes-Out Prime Farmland - A new report script is available in National Soil Information System that will help soil scientists determine which soils qualify as prime farmland. The script evaluates soils using the prime farmland criteria printed in Title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations-Part 657 dated January 1, 2001. The report produces a table of soils data and prime farmland classification by Major Land Resource Area (MLRA), soil survey, or County/Parish. These tables will help scientists identify errors or inconsistencies in the soil database. The reports will also help scientists coordinate prime farmland map units across county and State lines throughout each MLRA. Since many of the same soil and environmental characteristics used in the prime farmland criteria are also used to place soils into the Land Capability Classification system or assess soil productivity ratings, the script can also help scientists determine Land Capability Classification and develop productivity ratings. The MLRA table is especially useful because it reduces the time required to search the database for soils in the MLRA.
Your contact is Ray Sinclair, NRCS soil scientist, at 402-437-5699.

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.

You can receive NRCSTW via e-mail by sending an e-mail to: 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 Oren Lyons). 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" is 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, or 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.

< NRCS This Week Archives