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| Friday, Spetember 17, 1999 Washington, DC |
Governor, NRCS WV, Partners Take Action To Assist Drought Victims - West Virginia Governor Cecil Underwood and NRCS and its partners are pulling out all the stops to assist producers struggling with one of the worst droughts in the State's history. NRCS-designed flood control structures have become oases for farmers seeking water for livestock. More than 500, 300-gallon capacity water tanks and 25 pumps are available so that producers can transport water to their operations. The tanks and pumps are loaned without fee. NRCS has hired 22 part-time employees to deal with extra workloads. Governor Underwood signed an $11 million drought relief package, banned burning in the Eastern Panhandle, and authorized 100 members of the National Guard to be trained as fire bosses for the fall forest-fire season. To prepare producers for future droughts, the State will provide funding to farmers to match cost-shares for water development practices. So far, agricultural losses in West Virginia exceed $100 million. More than a third of privately owned wells are dry or hold marginal amounts of water. Your contact is Peg Reese, State Public Affairs Specialist, on (304) 291-4152x168.
Governor Praises Buffers, Agency; Pledges Support for Incentives - Kansas Governor Bill Graves praised landowners who use conservation buffers and NRCS personnel who work with those landowners. Graves made his remarks in Marysville at the Kansas Water Quality Buffer Initiative Field Day and Tour where he joined other legislators, government officials, reporters, and local citizens in celebrating the first anniversary of the State's buffer initiative. He pledged to continue his support for State efforts to provide incentives for establishing buffers. The State's buffer initiative, which is part of the Governor's Water Quality Initiative, is targeted at Atchison, Brown, Nemaha, and Marshall counties. Your contact is Mary Shaffer, State Public Affairs Specialist, on (785) 823-4571.
Wyoming Rancher Spells Success "C-T-A" - Dr. Larry Butler, Director of NRCS' Grazing Lands Technology Institute, recently got a good look at how good conservation technical assistance (CTA) can be. While visiting a rancher in Wyoming whom he and field office personnel had provided CTA 2 years ago, Larry learned that that assistance had boosted the rancher's earnings by $12,000 per year--75 to 80 percent of which was profit. For more information about this success story, contact Larry on (817) 509-3220, or at lbutler@ftw.nrcs.usda.gov
New Guidebook Aids Area-wide Planning - A new guidebook from NRCS Illinois will assist field staff, partners, and citizens with area-wide planning. "Resource Planning Guidebook" provides tips, suggestions, and guidance on a nine-step, three-phase area-wide planning process. Topics include ways to address community concerns, understanding NEPA, conducting inventories, and finding money to get things done. Staff skill-building also is emphasized. "Guidebook," which complements the "National Planning Procedures Handbook," is composed of fact sheets held in a three-ring binder. Duplication and distribution of the fact sheets are encouraged. Two copies of the guidebook have been distributed to NRCS State Conservationists and other NRCS offices. Your contact is Jody Rendziak, Community Planner, at (217) 398-5280.
Bringing Alaska Natives on Board with NRCS Local Work Group - Through the USDA Local Work Group process, NRCS Alaska's Delta Junction Field Office has brought locally led conservation to tribal corporations. At the field office's invitation, Tanana Chiefs Resource Committee Coordinator joined the Delta Junction Local Work Group. This has bridged communications between resource agencies and Tribal groups and generated interest among village leaders in the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program. Plans are underway to address the deterioration of fisheries in lakes in the Chisana River Watershed. Three of four primary subsistence lakes in the watershed have been lost to sediment, which has nearly depleted the white fish population. White fish is an important food for the Native village of Northway. Your contact is Phil Naegele, Delta Junction District Conservationist, on (907) 895-4241.
WHAT'S UP IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
Chief's Feedback System Ready To Receive Your Comments - NRCS employees, customers, and partners now have direct electronic links for sending comments to Chief Reed. Your comments will give the Chief information about the agency's everyday happenings and help improve products, services, and delivery methods. To assure your anonymity, your identity and location will automatically be stripped from your message before it is read, and no identifying information will be retained.
To submit your comments through NRCS' home page, click on either the "Feedback" box on the left side of the home page or the Quick Links box at the top of the home page. Please use chiefs.feedback@nrcs.usda.gov to submit comments by e-mail. Comments will be categorized as external, internal, or sensitive. Responses to comments submitted externally will appear on the frequently-asked-questions section of the web site. NRCS will use electronic mail to share comments, and any responses, of an internal nature. Comments of a sensitive nature will be handled, as appropriate, by NRCS leadership.
House Subcommittee To Hold Hearing on Duck Stamps - September 23, the Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife, and Oceans Subcommittee of the House Resources Committee will hold a hearing on North America Wetlands Conservation Act Amendment and H.R. 2496, a bill to reauthorize the Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program Act of 1994. The hearing is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. in Room 1334.
TECH TIP FROM THE NRCS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEPUTY AREA
The Farm Crisis, Diversification, and Conservation - When landowners and managers have extended time periods and are struggling to make ends meet, some may make decisions that push the land and related resources beyond normal capabilities. The result can be irreversible degradation of those resources. Farmers and ranchers who are financially sound and make good economic decisions have greater abilities to implement conservation measures. Operations that are diversified have less risk than those that are not. They don't put all their eggs in one basket? Therefore they are more likely to survive economic hardships that might adversely affect their traditional farming or ranching enterprise. These hardships can be natural disasters such as drought or flooding, high feed prices, low livestock prices, low crop prices, and many others. Diversification of farm and ranch enterprises can help farmers and ranchers to be financially sound and thus provide a greater opportunity to implement conservation and prevent potential degradation of the resources.
SPECIAL EVENTS
All my life through, the new sights of Nature made me rejoice like a child.
-- Marie Curie, Physicist, First Woman to Win a Nobel Prize
"NRCS THIS WEEK" WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU!
Please send correspondence and material for "NRCS This Week" to the editor by: e-mail to: brad.fisher@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
RECEIVE "NRCS THIS WEEK" BY E-MAIL!
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 Eleanor Roosevelt). 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, gender, 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 or 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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