IN WASHINGTON

NRCS To Provide $26 million for Wetlands Restoration Project in Central Florida -- Vice President Al Gore announced on October 30, that NRCS will provide $26 million through the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) for a major wetlands restoration project near Orlando, FL, to clean up Lake Apopka and provide extensive wildlife, recreation, and water quality benefits.

"This is an important partnership among the Clinton Administration, the State of Florida, and local landowners," Vice President Al Gore said. "Together, we're returning 13,000 acres back to critical, native wetlands. Over time, the project will greatly enhance fish and wildlife habitat and help return Lake Apopka to the sportfishing and recreational area it once was."

NRCS will provide approximately $26 million through the WRP for 30-year easements from landowners along the lake's shoreline. The State of Florida will spend at least $50 million on the project. The goal of the project is to restore Lake Apopka, Florida's fourth largest lake, to a fishable, swimable condition.

The partnership effort will restore wetlands along the north shore of the 31,000-acre lake. The wetlands were drained during the 1940s.

New Wildlife Habitat Management Institute -- NRCS has established a new institute to benefit wildlife on private lands, develop partnerships among fish and wildlife groups, and assist in delivering wildlife-oriented programs of the 1996 Farm Bill. The institute will offer tremendous opportunities for private landowners and groups that are interested in protecting wildlife to share ideas, work together, and find common ground. Pete Herd has been named as the acting director of the institute.

NRCS has also established an Information Technology Institute which will acquire, develop, and transfer the science and technology of state-of-the-art automated processes and tools for natural resources conservation activities. The Institute will have several locations including: East Lansing, MI; Ft. Collins, CO; Gainesville, FL; Boston, MA; Redmond, WA; Ft. Worth, TX; and Davis, CA. The vacancy announcement for the institute director will be released within the next few weeks.

NRCS Cultural Resources Staff Goes On-Line -- The updated Web page for NRCS' Cultural Resources is now on-line with many new improvements and links to other cultural resources sites. To get there, type: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/ECS/culture/. The Ecological Sciences Division Cultural Resources Web site has many pages relating to NRCS and cultural resources to access including a Cultural Resources Fact Sheet, NRCS Directory of Cultural Resources Specialists and Coordinators, and a News Today in Cultural Resources. Several sites are still under construction but will be up within a month.

A Geography of Hope Nears Release -- NRCS plans to release a new publication next month entitled America's Private Land -- A Geography of Hope. The report is an articulation of Chief Paul Johnson's vision of how NRCS can use its collective knowledge and expertise to move conservation efforts on private land forward in a significant way over the next several years. The report is targeted for NRCS employees as well as opinion leaders and policymakers.

The report will address four main themes: Conservation of natural resources on private land is crucial to the well-being of all Americans; American agriculture produces a bountiful supply of environmental amenities; which the public values, just as it produces bountiful supplies of food, feed, and fiber crops; Shared responsibility and local action are needed to achieve effective land stewardship; and NRCS must speak for the land and encourage land stewardship.

National Cooperative Soil Survey -- On November 8, there will be a meeting in Indianapolis, IN, of the National Cooperative Soil Survey Steering Committee. The steering committee plans to set the agenda for the next biennial National Cooperative Soil Survey Conference to be held in Baton Rouge, LA, in June. The steering committee is made up of representatives from Agricultural Experiment Stations, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, and NRCS. It is chaired by the Director of the NRCS Soil Survey Division. Congress has designated NRCS to provide leadership for the National Cooperative Soil Survey Conference. Participants will discuss technology issues and other items relating to soil survey information.

Status of The Review of the 1997 EQIP Applications -- The Conservation and Ecosystem Assistance Division received nearly 600 priority area applications and many more applications for natural resource concerns. During the week of October 21, seven three-member teams reviewed and rated each of the applications. The three-member teams were composed of one NRCS employee, a Farm Service Agency employee, and a representative of either the Cooperative State Research, Education, & Extension Service; Economic Research Service; Environmental Protection Agency; National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration; or Fish and Wildlife Service.

The ratings on each of the applications will be tallied and analyzed and recommendations on priority area approvals provided to the Chief during the first part of November.

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IN THE FIELD

NRCS in Vermont To Serve on Lake Champlain Clean-Up Steering Committee -- Vermont State Conservationist John Titchner will serve on a 12-member steering committee formed as part of an agreement between the States of New York and Vermont to reduce phosphorus discharge into Lake Champlain. The governors of Vermont and New York recently signed a Lake Champlain management agreement, whereby Vermont will reduce phosphorus discharges into the lake by 56 metric tons over the next 20 years and New York will cut their phosphorus load by 1 ton per year.

Urbanization Claims More Land in Minnesota -- According to Cornell University researchers, the 20-mile corridor that stretches from St. Cloud to Rochester, MN, is the fastest-growing metropolitan region from the northern plains to the Eastern Seaboard. Each year, farmers and other rural residents of Minnesota loose approximately 23,000 acres of farmland to urbanization.

Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) Announces Restoration Workshops -- SER is launching a new program of workshops for professionals whose work involves ecological restoration or related activities such as habitat or vegetation management, species reintroductions, or control of pest species.

The first round of workshops will begin this month and will offer 1- to 3-day workshops in 10 cities in the United States and Canada between November 1996 and May 1997.

Topics have been selected to meet the needs of environmental-management professionals in the areas of restoration. The schedule for the first round of workshops is:

For further information about fees and registration, contact: Laura Hoefs, 608-262-9547; New Academy Workshops, Society for Ecological Restoration, 1207 Seminole Highway, Madison, WI 53711; Fax: 608-265-8557; email: ser@macc.wisc.edu Website: http://nabalu.flas.ufl.edu/ser/SERhome.html

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CONSTITUENCY AND PARTNERSHIP NEWS

New Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS) Booklet -- The Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS) recently produced a new educational booklet in the Environmental Adventures series which is aimed at grades 4 through 6. The newest booklet, "Range of Wonders," offers a birds-eye view of grazing lands in an exciting hot air balloon adventure. This booklet exposes youth to the importance of range and pasture land and educates the reader about the livestock industry. It explains what rangeland is and how it is managed for the benefit of people and wildlife.

The booklet was published with the support of the Society for Range Management, Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative, National Cattlemen's Beef Association, and NRCS. For more information, call 1-800-THE-SOIL.

NRCS To Exhibit at FFA Career Show -- Since 1987, NRCS has developed interactive exhibits for the FFA National Career Show in Kansas City, MO. This year, NRCS is sponsoring a major educational exhibit at the Career Show, November 13-15. More than 40,000 students and adult leaders are expected to attend. The NRCS exhibit will demonstrate streambank and riparian conservation practices. Using live plants, ponds, and running water, the exhibit will show visitors conservation methods for streambank and riparian areas.

NRCS offices in Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, and NHQ will coordinate the extensive exhibit.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

November 7-8 -- Urban Development, Farmland Protection and Environmental Preservation, Casa Grande, AZ. Contact: Jeff Schmidt, 602-280-8818.

November 9-13 -- Society of American Foresters National Convention, Albuquerque, NM. Contact: Mary Yedgarlof, 301-897-8720, ext. 109.

November 15-17 -- Urban Streams Conference, sponsored by the City of Arcata, CA. Contact: Susan Schramm, (707) 822-8184 or email: creekscon@aol.com.

December 5-7 -- Conference on Competing Interests in Water Resources, sponsored by the U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, Alexis Park Hotel, Las Vegas, NV. Call: 303-628-5430 or email: stephens@uscid.org.

January 14-15 -- Eastern Iowa Conservation Tillage Show, Five Seasons Center, Cedar Rapids, IA. Contact: Ed Andrews, 319-652-2337.

April 27-May 2 -- 21st Annual Conference of the Association of State Floodplain Managers, Little Rock, AR. Contact: Rod Emmer, 608-274-0123,

May 25-28 -- 8th Global Warming International Conference & Expo, New York, NY. Conference FAX Hotline: 630-910-1561.

QUOTE

"Everything is flowing -- going somewhere, animals and so-called lifeless rocks as well as water. Thus the snow flows fast or slow in grand beauty-making glaciers and avalanches; the air in majestic floods carrying minerals, plant leaves, seeds, spores, with streams of music and fragrance; water streams carrying rocks... While the stars go streaming through space pulsed on and on forever like blood...in Nature's warm heart."

John Muir

NRCS This Week is issued weekly by the Office of Public Affairs, NRCS headquarters, Washington, D.C., and posted in the SCS:SCS shared folder on FTS2000Mail. Please send correspondence and material via FTS2000Mail to !A16SCSOPA and type "This Week" on the subject line or e-mail: fred.jacobs@usda.gov or mail to Editor, "NRCS This Week," NRCS, P.O. Box 2890, Washington, DC 20013 or fax to Editor, "NRCS This Week," 202-690-1221.

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