Arkansas Conservation News -- Summer 2006

Conservation Corner

Kalven L. Trice
State Conservationist

Dear Arkansas NRCS Staff,

With summer more than half over and the end of our fiscal year fast approaching, I want to pause and reflect on the past few months. First and foremost, I want to thank all of you for your dedication through this year of tight budgets. I know it is stressful to forgo or delay travel, and purchasing supplies and equipment. Unfortunately, based on National Headquarters projections I do not see an increased budget for fiscal year 2007. This year, as in prior years, we will work together to balance the budget and continue to service the needs of farmers and ranchers in Arkansas.

With all the budgetary and workload challenges, we must be able to adjust to changing circumstances. Change will continue to occur at all levels of the organization. As you know Chief Bruce Knight is going through confirmation hearings for a new position. I was excited to announce the reorganization of the Management Team. It represents a shift in responsibilities and staff to meet the demands of the Farm Bill and ongoing workload. The reorganization places a firewall between programs and technology. NRCS is a technical agency and we need to refocus our efforts. I look forward to selecting the person to fill the position of State Resource Conservationist as Jim Caudle moves to Assistant State Conservationist for Programs. A new member on the team always stimulates discussion and brings a fresh perspective to the table.

We will also see additional changes as Ray Linder retires. Ray has done an outstanding job and we will miss his thoughtful approach. Doris Washington was recently selected for the Corps of Engineer, NRCS Liaison position at the National Water Management Center. Doris too has done an outstanding job and has acted as glue in holding the Management Team together to make sure work got done. I want to say thank you in advance to each member of the Management Team for stepping in and doing whatever is necessary to get the job done.

The impact of all our efforts has been tremendous. Arkansas NRCS has received a lot of recognition for what we accomplished during 2006. The first recognition was a national award from the Tree Farmers of America for our efforts and partnerships working on non-industrial forest. Next, we received a national award from Ducks Unlimited for our efforts in implementation of the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP). Through Jim Caudle’s leadership and all the NRCS staff that works on WRP, Arkansas is one of the nations WRP leaders. Arkansas is ranked number two with over 200,000 acres enrolled in WRP.

It was my honor to accept the Rural Advocate of the Year Award at the recent Rural Development Conference. I accepted the award on behalf of you, the Arkansas NRCS employees. I dedicated the award to my mother, who in her own right, was a rural leader and advocate. Only through your commitment, creativity, and enthusiasm have we done so much. I am proud of Arkansas NRCS and what we have accomplished in conservation and in rural Arkansas. Keep up the great work.

I look forward to seeing many of you and the members of the district boards at the AACD meetings in August.

Wetlands project connects fragmented bottomland forest

The Natural Resources Conservation Service through the Wetlands Reserve Program is partnering with The Nature Conservancy to restore thousands of acres in the Big Woods of Arkansas – a 550,000-acre corridor of floodplain forest along the Mississippi River.

Of the 550,000 acres of bottomland forest still standing, about 300,000 acres is contiguous. The remainder exists as islands among agricultural fields -- less than 10 percent of Arkansas’ original 8 million acres of forested wetlands remain.

A 404-acre WRP project in Woodruff County is designed to tie some of the fragmented areas together by converting the agricultural fields back to wetlands.

“This practice is a win-win situation for everyone involved -- especially for the wildlife that inhabit these areas,” said Jerry Hogan, a Field Representative for The Nature Conservancy.

“We have installed four levies and planted approximately 70,000 trees,” said David Fowlkes, Conservation Agronomist at the Jonesboro Technical Service Center.

“By incorporating five water control structures into the plan, we can control the water level with flashboard risers to flood fields for waterfowl and shorebirds,” Fowlkes said. “By dropping the water slowly we can create several different ages of forage for the birds.”
Shallow water areas with mounds also provide semi-permanent to permanent water on the site for a variety of birds, amphibians and other animals.

“Our goal with each WRP project is to return the land to its natural state,” Fowlkes said.

To accomplish this, a mixture of bottomland hardwood species was planted to provide cover and a food source for the wildlife.

The NRCS and The Nature Conservancy are working on five other WRP projects in the Big Woods area to restore nearly 6,000 acres.

State Forester assists Afghans with natural resource planning

State Forester Nancy Young spent three months in Afghanistan as a forestry consultant through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to assist the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, and Food’s Forest and Range Department with natural resource planning and project proposal writing as well as forestry technical assistance.

By Nancy Young
State forester

Living conditions/security

I lived in a 10 by 16 foot half of a shipping container “hooch” at the U.S. Embassy compound in Kabul. Meals were at the cafeteria on the compound (I was not allowed to go to restaurants in the city). The compound also had a small convenience store and a nurse’s office (no doctor). Medical emergencies were taken care of at the military base. I was allowed to go to the PX at Camp Eggers to shop for personal items and the bazaar there on Fridays.

600 State Department, USAID, Marines, Blackwater Security, and local Afghan personnel work inside the Embassy grounds. This is the largest U.S. Embassy contingent in the world.

I lived under guard on the Embassy compound so I traveled from the guarded compound in an armored vehicle every day to the guarded compound at the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture. I was not allowed to stop anywhere along the way or to shop at the city bazaars. A female international worker was kidnapped in 2005 at one of the bazaars, and security no longer allows U.S. personnel to go there. I was told to vary my arrival and departure times every day so that terrorists could not easily plan an attack against me.

If I had to work in the city, I was guarded by private Blackwater Security guys provided by USAID. When I went outside of Kabul, I was required to have military escort. It was interesting being escorted by four humvees and 15 to 16 soldiers whenever I traveled. They would search a room before I entered it for a meeting and some of them would stay in the room with me throughout the meeting. Others would stand outside the window where they could see me, and some would be stationed all around the building. They did not like guarding me while I was in the forest, though. They were wary of ambushes.

Twice the military camps where I stayed came under rocket attacks from Taliban forces. Apparently, the Taliban are not very good shots with the rockets, and no damage was done to the camps. It was an interesting experience being hustled into the bunker in the dark with my flak jacket and helmet on and waiting for the attack to stop.

I had to wear a scarf while I was in public.

Work

Afghanistan is a beautiful, mountainous country. The forests consist of large deodar cedar, pine, and oak in the mountains and natural pistachio woodlands in the high steppe rangelands in a large part of the rest of the country.

Many of the forests have been destroyed during the last 25 years of fighting, and the remaining forests in the mountains are being cut by illegal timber smugglers who sell the logs in Pakistan. The Afghans depend almost solely on wood for heat and cooking as well as for ceiling timbers for their mud brick houses.

I was treated as an honored guest by the Afghans at the Ministry of Agriculture. I worked at the Forest and Range Department where I supervised and shared an office with four young foresters. Our primary job was to plan and write project proposals for 11 primary focal areas identified in the Ministry’s Master Plan. These included reforestation, tree nursery establishment, wildlife management, rangeland management, forest protection, watershed management, decertification, and others. We also wrote two anti-poppy project proposals that were funded through some European donors.

My four trainees spoke broken English so we could communicate, but we had to try very hard. Their English skills improved considerably during my stay, and I also learned some Dari Persian from them. One of my students gave me a Dari word or phrase to learn at the end of every day.

The office environment was a blend of modern and traditional working methods. We had computers but no paper for the printers. The internet only worked sometimes. The electricity went off for some part of almost every day. The guys all worked in their coats during the winter, but they relented and brought me a propane heater because I was always cold. Otherwise, they worked without heat. Water was turned off to the building in the winter to keep the pipes from freezing, and the toilets were “squat” toilets that you had to put water in by hand.

I gave a seven-day formal forestry training course to 70 Forestry and Range Department provincial specialist from all over the country. I taught classes on project planning, forest inventory, nursery establishment, poplar management, tree planting and forest management. Teaching through an interpreter is a difficult experience, and all my teaching materials and handouts had to be translated. But it was a lot of fun.

I wrote a forestry technical manual for the country based on the materials from the training plus other topics. The manual will be published for all Ministry personnel.

I also assisted the Afghan Conservation Corps with a large tree planting project in the eastern provinces. The ACC is patterned after our Civilian Conservation Corps and is a program to provide work for local residents. The local village leaders choose who works for the ACC based on need. A tree planting crew might consist of 13-year-old boys, handicapped men, or elderly men because they were the sole support of their extended families. All the labor for tree planting is hand labor: the mountainsides are terraced, planting pits are dug, the trees are planted, and then they are watered for three years or more. A lot of effort is involved in getting the trees to survive. Most of the trees planted are bareroot trees, but pistachios are planted from seed. Just like here, I had to fuss at the tree planters about proper tree handling and planting technique.

The Afghans

Contrary to what you hear from the news media, the Afghans seem to be truly glad that the Americans are helping them get control of their country back from the Taliban. Living conditions under the Russians and then the Taliban were very tough. All the Afghans that I met were very friendly to me. Even many people on the streets would smile and wave to me as I traveled about the city. The children especially would wave and give the thumbs up signal to my military escorts.

People followed me around when I was outside working. They all loved to have their pictures taken, and I was surprised and amused when my training students would move from group to group to try to be in every photo that I took of the forestry course in progress. The children that I met sang for me or played games so that I would take their pictures.

95 percent of Afghans are Sunni Muslims, and the young men I worked with were very religious. After they were accustomed to me, they would spread their prayer rugs in our office and say their noon and 3 p.m. prayers.

Occasionally one of them would honor me with a home cooked meal for lunch. Their wife (or wives!) would cook the food, and the men would go home to get it. A typical meal would consist of qaboli palau (a rice and mutton dish with raisins and carrot slivers), nan (an unleavened flat bread), mantu (a ground beef stuffed noodle), and an orange for dessert. Hot chai (tea) would accompany the meal. I liked the food, but I did get tired of eating so much mutton. It was a matter of honor for the men to provide a meal for me since I could not go to their homes for a meal. I had to eat everything so that I would not insult my host.
It was a wonderful experience.

Arkansas Rural Development Commission names Trice Rural Advocate of the Year for leadership, service

State Conservationist Kalven L. Trice was named the 2005-2006 Rural Advocate of the Year by the Arkansas Rural Development Commission May 26.

Trice graciously accepted the honor on behalf of all Arkansas Natural Resources Conservation Service employees then dedicated the award to the memory of his mother, who, in her own right, was an advocate for rural Arkansas.

The Rural Advocate of the Year award is one of the most prestigious awards in the state and recognizes Arkansans who provide outstanding leadership and dedicated service to rural areas.

The Rural Development Commission selects an honoree each year, and past recipients of the award include U.S. senators and state legislators.

Small Farms Task Force discusses modifying, combining programs

The Small Farms Task Force met in June to discuss modifying the Small Scale/Small Farmer Initiative and the Alternative Crop Option.

The task force includes NRCS personnel, landowners, community based organizations and educational institution officials.

The meeting was to provide input on how to combine the two programs and to more effectively address some of Arkansas’ natural resources.

In July, the group visited small farms to see how NRCS can more effectively address some of the resource needs of small landowners and farmers.

If the overall changes and combining of these programs are accepted by the state conservationist and the state technical committee, a new name will be created for the 2007 program.

Federal Employee’s of the Year honors

Terry Franks, contracting specialist, and Kim Foster, purchasing agent, were named Federal Employee’s of the Year by the Federal Executive Association of Arkansas. The award was for significant and outstanding contribution in the professional, administrative, technical or legal field.

Greetings from the Earth Team!

The Third Quarter Area Earth Team Award went to Burthel Thomas’ Northwest Area for reporting 1,957 volunteers. The South area reported 1,923 hours and the northeast area reported 1,288 hours.

This revolving award will be presented again at the October Management Team meeting.

Arkansas has recorded 5,188 volunteer hours through the third quarter of this fiscal year, with an average of more than 55 hours per volunteer.

Arkansas has three NEW volunteer recognition items for volunteers and supervisors of volunteers. We award one recognition item to volunteers twice each year—in April and November. This November, volunteers with

• 4 (or more) hours of service will be awarded an NRCS pen.
• 8 (or more) hours of service will be awarded their choice of an NRCS pen or an insulated mug.
• 16 (or more) hours of service will be awarded their choice of an NRCS pen, insulated mug or duffle bag.
• Immediate supervisors of volunteers get their choice of a pen or an insulated mug.
  Recognition items can also be presented to a person who makes a major contribution to the Earth Team.

If there is no statewide award ceremony, awards and recognition items will be presented during area and state office award ceremonies.
Earth Team award nominations are due to the State Volunteer Coordinator by October 15. We have new simplified forms.

There are four categories of volunteer awards:

• Earth Team Individual and Group Volunteer Award Nomination (NRCS-PER-036) recognizes one:
      Individual; one group; and four area awards (Area awards include the state office.)
• Earth Team Chief’s Recognition Award Nomination (NRCS-PER-037) recognizes one:
      Field Award (The Chief’s Cup Award is a national award only. It recognizes one state.)
• Earth Team Employee Award Nomination (NRCS-PER-038) recognizes one outstanding:
      NRCS employee and
      State or area coordinator (Arkansas has six coordinators.)
• Earth Team Partnership Award Nomination (NRCS-PER-039) recognizes one:
      NACD/NRCS winner for the most effective E.T. volunteer program in a Conservation District and
      RC&D/NRCS winner for the most effective RC&D Council

Earth Team’s Bluebird Trail expands throughout Arkansas    

By Pat Hoeffken
State volunteer coordinator

Are you interested in getting Earth Team eastern bluebird nesting boxes in your county?

Sid Lowrance, district conservationist, is expanding his Earth Team’s Eastern Bluebird Trail throughout Arkansas in January 2007. He and volunteers plan to build more than 200 eastern bluebird nesting boxes and provide 40 of the boxes throughout the state at no charge. The requesting office must arrange for transporting or pick up the boxes.

This is the Earth Team Bluebird Trail’s fourth year of operation in Arkansas. In 2003, volunteers built and placed 160 bluebird nesting boxes in Miller County. In 2004, the trail extended throughout Arkansas with 100 more boxes.

In 2005, Lowrance and Earth Team volunteers built 150 Eastern Bluebird boxes and placed them in Searcy, Fulton, Stone and Boone counties. Twelve of the nesting kits made it to Pulaski County where they were assembled during a national NRCS video production.

Placement of thousands of nest boxes by concerned individuals has contributed significantly to ensuring a future for the eastern bluebird. The ongoing recovery is an example of how sound wildlife management practices are used to increase the survival of an individual wildlife species.

Get to Know ... Soils Staff

The Arkansas soil survey staff helps NRCS staffs, private industry, landowners, and academia with soils support, Geographical Information System, Natural Resources Inventory, and Computer Security. Soils information helps landowners and communities select the best sites for homes, schools, airfields, roads, landfills, and agriculture. Soil surveys provide a scientific inventory of soil resources for making maps, identifying physical and chemical properties of soils, as well as supplying current information on potential uses and limitations of each soil. Do you know when Soil Surveys were authorized by Congress? 1896

Get to Know ... Engineering

“Cowboy” Roy Crutchfield – Geologist Extraordinaire.

Roy has 32 years of experience working all over the country with the Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation and, of course, NRCS. He has worked on several interesting projects like a tunnel under San Antonio to divert floodwater under the city instead of flooding the Riverwalk area. He also worked on the two bridges across Lake Norfork east of Mountain Home, Arkansas, and on irrigation projects near Mesa Verde in southwest Colorado.

We were lucky enough to snag Roy in 1991 from the Corps. Since then, Roy has primarily worked on geologic investigations for watershed dams, irrigation projects, and animal waste structures. Roy also gets several calls each year from people with strange holes in their yards, footprints in rock, and water bubbling out of the ground.

Roy draws some great cartoon characters, likes horses and writes some pretty good western poetry. So, if you have any strange “underground” discoveries, need a little laugh, or want to hear a little western ditty, give Roy a call.

Rick “Killer” Miller – AutoCAD Expert.

Rick has 35 years experience, mostly with NRCS, making drawings and preparing plans and specifications for watershed dams, channels, irrigation projects and other structures. Rick started out scratching his drawings on a stone tablet. Later he moved to pencil and paper. Now he zips around in AutoCAD at the speed of light. Rick always complains when he has to move to the next level of technology but he sure does not want to go back to that stone tablet.

Rick is a “World Class” speed skater. He got his “Killer” title after a bad skating crash when he looked like he had been in a fight. Rick is a good carpenter, electrician, and I’ve heard he has even laid some blocks. He is always ready to help when someone needs something.

Todd Stringer – Design Engineer.

Todd is the latest addition to the engineering staff. Todd has 11 years working on conservation practices. Seven years of that experience was as a District Technician which gave Todd an excellence background when he decided to go back to school to get his engineering degree. After graduation, Todd worked for 2.5 years on the Irrigation Team before landing the Design Engineer position. Todd has excellent technical skills and is really good in AutoCAD. You might say NRCS is in his genes, since his dad is Fred Stringer, Engineer/RC&D Coordinator in Ft. Smith.

Todd likes to “bird” hunt, play golf, and fish when he is not designing some big structure or calculating the flow through a pipe. He likes a challenge so if you need help on some complex project, give him a call.

Wavey Austin – Environmental Engineer.

Wavey has almost 30 years experience with NRCS. He started as a student trainee and has been on board ever since. Wavey has worked at Hope and Monticello as Area Engineer before coming to Little Rock as the Environmental Engineer. He even helped train a young engineer who later became the State Conservation Engineer.

Wavey likes to garden, watch his boys play ball, and maybe play a little basketball. Wavey is always ready to help someone, so if you have a blazing question about animal waste, the Phosphorous Index, or any other environmental issue, give him a call.

Bob Fooks – Water Management Engineer.

Bob has about a hundred years experience (maybe closer to 30) working for NRCS, as Area Engineer, Agricultural Engineer serving on the Irrigation Team, Water Management Engineer, Acting Project Manager on the Irrigation Team, and Acting Assistant State Conservationist for Natural Resources Planning. It is amazing what can happen when you are an Area Engineer in Searcy, Arkansas, minding your own business and you start getting phone calls.

Bob is our “guru” when it comes to irrigation. He has more field irrigation experience than anyone in the state and you can always count on him to give good solid advice.

Bob is a “pretty” good trout and smallmouth bass fisherman, but if you ever go smallmouth fishing with him, be sure and carry your own boat cushion. He has the hardest canoe seats in the world!

PS: If you want something from Bob, you better get with him soon. He plans to retire in November.

Randy Busbea – Construction Engineer.

Randy has almost 30 years experience working for NRCS. He worked in the Searcy and Harrison Area Offices before going to Walnut Ridge as Project Engineer. In 1988, he moved to Little Rock as the Construction Engineer. Randy wears a lot of hats in addition to his construction duties. He is our engineering wetland and WRP “expert”. Randy teaches several construction classes with NEDS out of Ft. Worth and is well respected throughout the country.

Randy likes to play golf, fish and ride his dual sport motorcycle. He is a great trip planner and is always ready for an adventure, which usually ends up with a good story. If you have any construction questions, wetland issues, WRP problems, or just want to hear a good story, give Randy a call.

Kay Graves - Administrative Assistant.

Kay has more years experience than she likes to admit. She worked for several years for Rural Development before coming over to the “other” side of USDA. She has been trying to keep the SRC and Engineering staffs in line since 1896 or was it 1996. Kay works fast. She can keep up with two staffs and still fill in up front. Kay keeps Jim and Tony on schedule with all the deadlines, snowflakes, and reports. If you have a question or need to run someone down, give Kay a call.

Kay likes hummingbirds, butterflies, and has recently rescued a couple of dogs. She is a kind-hearted person and is always ready to help some else.

Judy Petty - Administrative Assistant.

Judy has 5 years experience working with the Federal government. She worked for about 3 years with the Federal Home Loan Bank Board before coming to work for NRCS in 2004. She is officially on the Engineering Staff but has been detailed to Lonoke to assist the Irrigation Team since coming on board. Judy does her best to keep things running smoothly for the Irrigation Team.

Judy is active in her church and loves to spend time with her grandchildren.

Tony Stevenson – State Conservation Engineer.

Tony has 29 years experience with NRCS. He started as a student trainee in Waldron in 1977. He worked in the Hope and Jonesboro area offices before moving to Little Rock in 1988 to work on the planning staff. He later became Water Management Engineer, worked with the Irrigation Team in Lonoke, and became State Conservation Engineer in 2001. If you have an engineering question, give Tony a call.

When his girls don’t have him watching a softball game, Tony likes to duck hunt, fish, and ride his motorcycles.

Calendar

August

8 -- NE Area AACD Meeting, Village Creek State Park, Wynne

15 -- East Central Area AACD Meeting, UofA Experiment Station, Batesville

16 -- Management Team Meeting

17 -- Centeral Area AACD Meeting, USDA Service Center, Conway

21 -- Northwest Area Program Appraisal

23 -- Northwest Area AACD Meeting, Comfort Inn, Harrison

28-31 -- MO Leaders Summer Meeting, Denver, Colo.
 

September

4 -- Labor Day Holiday

12-13 -- Arkansas Rural Development Fall Conference, Mt. Magazine Lodge

13-14 -- Management Team Meeting

20 -- Arkansas Natural Resources Commission Meeting

October

9 -- Columbus Day Holiday

17-19 -- AWRBIAC Meeting, Eureka Springs

Comings & Goings

Alvin Peer is the district conservationist at Lonoke.

Debra Jenkins is the office automation specialist at the Jonesboro Area Office.

Bob Forrest is the Resource Conservationist in Jonesboro.

Russell Fleharty is the district conservationist at Malvern.

Rich Joslin is the Conservation Agronomist at the state office.

Ron Hayes, district conservationist at Monticello, retired in June.

Pitfalls of Power Points

Five things to do in a Power Point presentation:

• Use no more than 3 points and 25 words on a slide, use no more than 20 slides in one show.
• Look at the audience not the screen or computer.
• Show more picture slides than text slides.
• Avoid moving animated text images – they are distracting at best.
• Be ready to give the presentation without your power point slides.
  
  

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