NRCS Vacancy Announcements Now on the Internet - The NRCS Human Resources Management Division (HRMD) will post all future NRCS job announcements to the following Internet address: http://public.nrcs.usda.gov/vacancy/index.htm. The vacancy announcement opening June 23, 1997, and closing July 18, 1997, is the last one to be mailed to employing offices.

HRMD will post new vacancy announcements on the Internet on Mondays. The site will indicate if there are no new announcements and provide corrections or changes in closing dates to previous ones. Until a new group list is completed, vacancy announcements will continue to be sent to the following FTS 2000 address: !a16hreeo:jobs. Questions should be directed to your servicing personnel office.

Highlights from the National Resource Management Planning Conference - The National Resource Management Planning Conference was held in New Orleans, LA, June 23-26. The conference was co-sponsored by: the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) Research Foundation, the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC), Monsanto Agricultural Group, Farmland Industries, Zeneca Agricultural Products, DowElanco, the National Pork Producers Council, NRCS, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Following are some highlights from the conference:

· The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) announced that the public will soon have access to summaries of all State and Federal environmental regulations affecting agriculture. The first 30 State summaries developed by NASDA in cooperation with the National Center for Agricultural Law and Research Information at the University of Arkansas should be available by early September. The data will be accessible through NASDA's Internet web site: http://www.nasda-hq.org/.

· Officials from Texas, Idaho, Oregon, and California outlined individual resource management plans from their States. Each of the plans was voluntary, locally developed, offered incentives, and satisfied all State and Federal environmental requirements. In Idaho, farmers and ranchers are permitted to develop one plan that meets all environmental laws and regulations. In Oregon, the State environmental agency develops water quality standards, and the Oregon Department of Agriculture develops regulations to meet the standards. Farmers manage their own business as long as they are following the local plan to help meet watershed goals and objectives.

· A session on the Endangered Species Act (ESA) covered the "safe harbor" concept. Under "safe harbor," a species baseline is established, and as long as a landowner manages the land in an agreed-upon manner, the landowner will not be penalized in the future if the numbers of a particular species fluctuate above the baseline.

· Splash, an interactive computer game that delivers education on nonpoint source pollution and prevention with color animation, music, and sound effects, was demonstrated by the Lower Platte River Corridor Alliance from Nebraska. The computer game is aimed at students in grades 6-9. Players can see what effect rain has on farms, neighborhoods, and cities. Different water quality conditions have associated sets of measures that can be applied. Players can degrade or upgrade water quality, depending on their choices. The Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) will begin marketing Splash this summer and ship orders by this fall. The cost will be about $12.

NRCS Chief Interviewed - On June 25, NRCS Chief Paul Johnson was interviewed by Jane Norman, Washington Bureau Chief for the Des Moines Register, for an article about Iowans living in Washington, DC. On June 28, the Chief was interviewed on a live weekly outdoor show on Metro News out of Morgantown, WV, on water quality in the Potomac River and its effect on sport fishing.

American Heritage Rivers Public Comment Period Extended 60 Days - On June 19, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) published a revised Federal Register Notice to clarify issues concerning the American Heritage Rivers initiative. Comments on the Federal Register Notice must be received by 5:00 p.m., EST, August 20, 1997. Written comments are required. Nomination forms will be available in mid-September. Nomination packages will be due in early December, and the first 10 rivers will be designated by President Clinton in January 1998. For more information, see the American Heritage Rivers internet site at: http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/heritage/rivers.html.

June 23-27 Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly - On June 23-27, there was a Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly to conduct an overall review and appraisal of progress in implementing the UNCED (UN Conference on Environment and Development) agreement since the 1992 Earth Summit. USDA and NRCS were represented on the U.S. Delegation to the meeting. For more information, visit this Internet site: http://www.un.org/dpcsd/earthsummit/

EWP Circular No. 4 Posted on Server - The Emergency Watershed Protection Program, Circular No. 4 is available on a server named "hqtech.nrcs.hqnet.usda.gov" with the IP address, "199.128.63.62". "Anonymous" is the user name; the file is in directory "Owen-Lee" in subdirectory "ewp". For more information, contact Owen Lee at 202-720-9479.

IN THE FIELD

First EQIP Sign-up Booming in Nebraska - "Wild." That's all NRCS District Conservationist Jim Miller could say when asked about the first Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) sign-up in the Lower Republican Natural Resource District (NRD). "We've had pretty good interest both in the priority and non-priority areas," he said. "However, we're still struggling with the process since it's the first year of a new program." Miller's comments represent the State. Local work groups are working to iron out the new program information, the ranking process, and how to involve producers. Meanwhile, the offices are bustling with EQIP phone calls and visits.

Sign-ups in the Lower Loup NRD have been high. District Conservationist Lyle Rasmussen said that they have received 50 EQIP applications and have funding for maybe five. While some Nebraska NRDs have had more applications than they can fund, a few haven't received as many as they had hoped. Omaha District Conservationist Paul Sweeney said that the Papio-Missouri River NRD has received about 20 applications for their two projects and still have funding for more. He attributes the slow sign-up to offering more traditional practices in the projects when producers are asking for non-traditional livestock waste systems. Sweeney said that the local work group is taking that into consideration for their 1998 proposal.

Sweeney also said that information outreach builds interest in the EQIP sign-up. "We put information in the Farm Service Agency newsletter and talked to producers coming in for the Conservation Reserve Program," Sweeney said. "But, I think we need to do more one-on-one with the producers, like direct mail and workshops." Rasmussen said that the Lower Loup NRD found personal letters to be effective. Employees kept track of producers asking about EQIP from months before the sign-up and then sent them a letter in May.

Maine Signs Its First EQIP Contract With the Passamaquoddy Indian Tribe - Maine's first signed EQIP contract was with the Passamaquoddy Indian Tribe in Washington County. The contract includes integrated crop management on the tribe's 1,900 acre-blueberry operation to protect ground and surface water quality in the Machias and Chandler River Watershed. Other EQIP contracts in the State will be signed with Passamaquoddy Indians in the St. Croix River Watershed on the U.S. border with New Brunswick, the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, and the Penobscot Indian Nation. These contracts will address cropland erosion, forest management and health, and fish and wildlife habitat management. A coalition of Indian tribes, conservation groups, and NRCS is also working to restore native Atlantic Salmon Habitat in the Penobscot River Watershed.

"This solid effort with the Maine American Indian Nation is built on the trust developed over the years between NRCS tribal liaisons and tribal representatives," said Darrel Dominick, NRCS State Conservationist. "Closer ties and providing better USDA services and programs is what it's all about."

INTERNET SITES OF NOTE

· CTIC Know Your Watershed - http://www.ctic.purdue.edu

· USGS Real-Time/Watershed Info (by State) - http://water.usgs.gov/public/wrd002.html

· USGS National Water Quality Assessment - http://www.rvares.er.usgs.

gov/nawqa_home.html

· Task Force on Agricultural Air Quality -

http://www.nhq.nrcs.usda.gov/BCS/air/farmbill.html

UPCOMING EVENTS

July 16-19 - Best Management Practices for Irrigated Agriculture and the Environment, Holiday Inn, Fargo, ND. For information call the U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage at 303-628-5430 or send e-mail to stephens@uscid.org.

July 17-19 - Land Improvement Contractors of America Summer Meeting, Providence, RI. Contact Wayne F. Maresch at 301-248-9313 or e-mail to: Wayne F86@aol.com.

July 22-25 - The 52nd Soil and Water Conservation Society Annual Conference, "Interactions, Managing Ecosystems on a Watershed Basis," Toronto, Canada. Contact: Jennifer Pemble, 800-843-7645. Conference information can also be found at: http://www.swcs.org/AnnCon.htm.

July 26-30 - Annual Meeting of the American Agricultural Economics Association (AAEA), Toronto, Canada, immediately following the Soil & Water Conservation Society meeting (listed above). For more information visit the AAEA on the Internet at the following address: http://www.aaea.org/M97Sess.html.

July 29 - 31 - Wetlands Reserve Program Easement Management Conference, Des Moines, IA. For conference information, contact Bob Misso, WRP Program Manager, at 202-690-0848 or Jim Ayen, Wetland Restoration Specialist, Des Moines, IA, at 515-284-4370, or send e-mail to jayen@ia.nrcs.usda.gov.

August 3-6 - Fifth Conference on Agroforestry in North America, "Exploring the Opportunities for Agroforestry in Changing Rural Landscapes," Ithaca, NY. Contact Cornell University Conference Services at 607-255-6290 or visit the Association for Temperate Agroforestry Web site at: www.missouri.edu/~afta/afta_home.html.

August 10-14 - American Society of Agricultural Engineers National Meeting, Minneapolis, MN. For information contact Sharon McKnight by phone at 616-428-6333, or by e-mail at <mcknight@asae.org>.

August 21-25 - National Association of Conservation Districts National Leadership Conference, Royal Waikaloan Hotel, Kona, HI. For more information, contact Robert Raschke at 303-988-1810.

September 1-6 - The 9th World Water Congress, International Water Resources Association, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Contact Aly M. Shady at 819-994-4098 or e-mail aly_shady@ACDI-CIDS.gc.ca.

September 22-26 - National Watershed Water Quality Project Symposium, Washington, DC.

November 2-4 - International Irrigation Exposition & Technical Conference, Nashville, TN. For conference information visit the Irrigation Association's Web site at <http://www.irrigation.org/ia/main.html>.

QUOTE

"One reason I got involved in planning is to pool knowledge. In any group of people, somebody always knows something that you don't know.

--Tony Malmberg, Wyoming Rancher, at the National Resource Management Planning Conference

NRCS This Week is issued weekly by the Conservation Communications Staff, NRCS headquarters, Washington, D.C., and posted on the NRCS Home Page at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov. Please send correspondence and material via e-mail to: nancy.garlitz@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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