Locally Led Conservation and Priority Area Setting Guidance Being Developed -- The Conservation & Ecosystem Assistance Division (CEAD) is working with others, including conservation partners, to draft guidance for NRCS employees to use in assisting conservation districts with the Locally Led Conservation Effort. Districts will carry out a Locally Led Conservation Effort to identify their resource concerns. Districts can then use the resource concerns identified via a "generic" conservation needs assessment to submit priority project areas for various programs like EQIP, WRP, etc. CEAD will be working with others, over the next two weeks, to finalize guidance to help NRCS staff to assist district "priority project" sponsors in preparing proposals. Having a common proposal format will allow easier ranking by reviewers of the proposed projects.

NRCS Responds to Flooding in the West -- NRCS has initiated damage surveys in California and Nevada and initiated Emergency Watershed Protection financial assistance in the Truckee and Carson-Walker River basins in Nevada and Tehama and Placer Counties in California. NRCS is also reassessing previous Spring flood damage in Washington, Idaho, and Oregon.

NRCS Provides Precipitation and Snowpack Information for Western States During Recent Floods -- The NRCS Snow Survey Program, through the National Water and Climate Center (NWCC) in Portland, Oregon, provided timely snowpack, precipitation, and temperature data to NRCS field offices and Federal, State, county, and city emergency managers in Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada, and Idaho during recent floods. Fifty of the 600 NRCS automated SNOTEL (SNOw TELemetry) network stations were reprogrammed to provide hourly precipitation, snow water equivalent (snowpack), and temperature information via the Internet. The increased station polling was initiated by NRCS personnel when weather forecasts indicated that warm temperatures, high elevation freezing levels, and heavy rains were possible on top of an unseasonably large snowpack. According to Jon Werner, co-director of the NWCC, "Initial customer response to the increased polling has been excellent, especially the easy access to data via the Internet. The heavy precipitation that did occur in late December resulted in nearly 400 percent of normal monthly totals in many areas of the West and Northwest, contributing to widespread, and in some cases, record flooding."

Significant snowpacks still exist in many areas and the first official water supply forecasts will be issued jointly by the NWCC and National Weather Service during the first 10 days of January. More than half of the region's snowfall occurs after January, and if this wet trend continues, significant spring runoff can be expected. Specific information about current climate conditions and water supply forecasts for the West may be obtained via the Internet from the NWCC Homepage located at: http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov.

USDA/1890 Partnership Meeting -- The USDA/1890 quarterly partnership meeting will be held February 25-26, in Washington, D.C. 1890 institution presidents, agency program heads, and the executive team have been invited to attend. The Secretary or the Deputy Secretary is expected to address the meeting as well.

NRCS has placed a USDA/1890 liaison officer at each of the seventeen 1890 campuses. Eight of these liaison officers are NRCS employees. NRCS has sponsored 28 scholars in the National Scholars Program since its inception five years ago. Currently, NRCS is sponsoring seven of the thirty-four 1890 scholars for the 1996/97 school year. The scholarships are awarded to students to study agriculture, natural resources, and related disciplines in conjunction with the sponsoring agency needs.

IN THE FIELD

New Toolbox Provides Valuable Training Resources -- The National Employee Development Center has developed the Irrigation Training Toolbox -- a valuable new instrument for developing customized irrigation training.

The Toolbox is divided into eight sections: Soil-Water-Plant Relationship, Irrigation System Planning, Irrigation System Design, Water Measurement, Irrigation Scheduling, Soil Moisture Measurement, Irrigation Water Management Plan, and Irrigation System Evaluation.

The Toolbox contains NRCS and other agency manuals, NRCS lesson plans, private industry publications, textbooks, and videos -- well over 100 different pieces of materials valued at about $425. The design and delivery tools will make it possible to develop customized irrigation training programs for field employees.

Conservation Tillage Gains More Ground -- Latest findings from a National survey compiled by the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) show that almost 36 percent of the land farmed in the United States is now benefiting from systems designed to increase soil productivity, improve water quality, and fight global warming. The annual National Crop Residue Management Survey, of more than 3,000 counties, shows farmers used some form of conservation tillage, such as no-till and mulch-till, on 103.8 million of the 290.2 million acres of cropland farmed in 1996. That represents an almost five-million-acre increase in land farmed with such systems since last year.

This latest survey shows conservation tillage topped 100 million acres for the first time ever. The milestone was reached with help from farmers in States like South Dakota, Minnesota, and Montana, which are not commonly recognized for high use of such systems.

According to the survey, farmers in South Dakota led the growth in conservation tillage systems like no-till and mulch-till, accounting for nearly one million of the additional 4.9 million acres farmed under such systems this year.

The National Crop Residue Management Survey is compiled and published annually by the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) in cooperation with NRCS, soil and water conservation districts, and others. CTIC is a nonprofit information/data transfer center that promotes environmentally and economically beneficial natural resource systems.

CONSTITUENCY AND PARTNERSHIP NEWS

Hurry, Only a Few Weeks Left! -- Candidates wishing to be nominated for the 1997 Norman A. and Ruth A. Berg Fellowship Forum should have their applications to the Soil and Water Conservation Society postmarked by February 14.

Fellows will be selected to participate in a day-and-a-half-long forum on conservation policy and how natural resource professionals can influence the policy-making, appropriations, and rule-making processes. Berg fellows will be selected this Spring and will participate in the forum, to be held in later this year or early in 1998.

Ideal candidates should have natural resource conservation experience in the public sector, academia, agriculture, industry, or non-profit organizations, with a special interest in public and policy advocacy.

For more information and details on how to apply for the fellowship, contact Jennifer Pemble, at 1-800 THE SOIL, ext. 18.

UPCOMING EVENTS

January 27-29 -- The 19th Annual Manitoba-North Dakota Zero Tillage Workshop sponsored by the Manitoba-North Dakota Zero Tillage Farmer's Association. Contact: Lyle Samson, 701-852-8895.

January 29-February 1 -- 1997 National Cattlemen's Beef Association Convention & Trade Show Kansas City, MO. Contact: Debbie Hubler, 303-694-0305.

February 2-5 -- National Association of Conservation Districts, 51st Annual Meeting, "Building for the Future," Kansas City, MO. Contact: Brenda Anderson, 800-825-5547.

February 16-21 -- 50th Anniversary National Meeting of the Society for Range Management (SRM), Rapid City, SD. For more information contact SRM Annual Meeting, P.O. Box 575, Huron, SD 57350-2675. Contact: Dave Schmidt, 605-352-1236 FAX: 605-352-1270.

February 19-22 -- Land Improvement Contractors of America Convention, Holiday Inn City Center, Tucson, AZ. Contact: Ken Williams, 605-892-3116, or Wayne F. Maresch, 301-248-5749.

February 24-25 -- Agricultural Outlook Forum '97, Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, D.C. Call: 202-720-3050 or 202-401-9421.

March 12-14 -- Soil and Water Conservation Society Conference; Cover Crops, Soil Quality, and Ecosystems, Sacramento, CA. Contact: Nancy Herselius, 800-843-7645, ext. 18 or e-mail: nancyh@swcs.org. Conference information can also be found at: http://www.swcs.org.

March 22 -- 4th annual "Providing Education Though Agriculture for Students" (PEAS), Memorial School, Natick, MA. Contact: Stacia Caplanson, 413-245-7402 or Stacy Miller, 617-259-9506, ext. 7700.

April 3-6 -- 45th Annual Meeting, National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, New Orleans, LA. Information about NRCS participation may be obtained from Tom Levermann, NRCS Office of Public Affairs, 202-720-7570. Information about the convention is available from the NSTA Convention Office at 703-243-7100 or FAX: 703-243-7177.

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

May 14-16-- Senior Action for Healthy Neighborhoods is the theme for the Environmental Alliance of Senior Involvement annual meeting, Ramada Plaza Hotel, Alexandria, VA. Information about the conference is available from Harlow Knight Associates, 703-241-0019 or FAX: 703-538-5504.

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

July 23-26 -- The 52nd Soil and Water Conservation Society Annual Conference; Interactions, Managing Ecosystems on a Watershed Basis; Toronto, Canada. Contact: Nancy Herselius, 800-843-7645, ext. 18 or e-mail: nancyh@swcs.org. Conference information can also be found at: http://www.swcs.org/AnnCon.htm.

July 27-30 -- The 84th American Agricultural Economics Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada. Call: 515-233-3202. Conference information can also be found at: http://www.aaea.org/Meetings.html.

September 7-9 -- National Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation, Huntington, WV. Contact Kelly Sponaugle, 304-255-9225 or FAX: 304--255-1250.

November 11-14 -- Environmental Technology China ¢97 (ETC ¢97), Third International Exhibition on Environmental Protection, Pollution Control and Green Production Technology, Shanghai Exhibition Center, Shanghai, China. Contact: Perry Tang, Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd., 4/F Stanhope House, 734 King's Road, North Point, Hong Kong, 852-25163346 or FAX: 852-25165024.

QUOTE

"A prosperous and enduring agriculture depends on an adequate supply of productive land, properly used and so protected from erosion that it will remain permanently productive. Without such a lasting agriculture, there can be no assurance of full national strength and permanence."

Hugh Hammond Bennett (1881-1960)
from a series of lectures given at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, January-March, 1959.

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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