First National USDA Challenge Against Hunger to be Launched this September - On September 2-12, the U.S. Department of Agriculture will hold its first national USDA Challenge Against Hunger -- a nationwide food drive in local, county, State, regional, and headquarters USDA offices across the country. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman asks employees to support this effort to feed America's hungry by bringing to their offices on those days canned goods and nonperishable food items for donation to local food banks.

"The bounty of U.S. agriculture feeds 260 million Americans -- and countless millions more people around the globe -- every day," said Glickman. "I share with you the pride we feel here at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in playing some small part in feeding the world. The bitter irony is that while we live in the nation with the world's most abundant food supply, one in three of America's children live in families that battle hunger. The existence of hunger in this the most prosperous nation in the world is one of our country's greatest shames.

"It is with this in mind that in September I will host the National Food Recovery Summit in Washington, DC, and at remote sites across the country to issue a call to action for fighting hunger in America. And it is with this in mind that I ask you today to join me and your fellow USDA employees in this fight."

If you need help organizing a food drive in your local office or would like information on nonprofit recipient organizations (food banks, soup kitchens) in your area, please contact the NRCS food drive coordinator, Dave Mason, at 202-720-1873, or Dr. Nancy Valentine of USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service at 202-720-5468. In the Washington, DC, area, receptacles for food donations will be placed at all entrances to USDA-occupied buildings.

Secretary Dan Glickman Addresses Blacks in Government Conference - In his remarks on August 19, at the Blacks in Government Conference in Washington, DC, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said that looking back over the decisions he's made, the one that he's most proud of is refusing to draw a line between what's happening to USDA's employees and what's happening to its customers. "In both cases, he said, "Our ultimate challenge is the same as our Nation's: We must find a way to turn civil rights into civil realities."

"We're 6 months out the gate from the release of our independent, candid civil rights report," said Glickman. "It was precisely what we needed. It was blunt, highly critical, and mostly a series of bullets recommending specific actions that could help make things tangibly better. Now, we're busy putting that plan into action. A lot of what we're doing right now is trying to institutionalize common sense and fairness."

"My goal is to get USDA out from under a history of discrimination, and have it emerge in the dawn of the next century as the federal civil rights leader," Glickman said. "I'm under no illusions about the magnitude of this task, but neither am I under any illusions as to its significance."

Recipient of the First Annual Terry Johnson Agroforestry Award Announced - The 1997 recipient of the first annual Terry Johnson Agroforestry Award was announced during the Fifth Conference on Agroforestry in North America at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, August 3-6. Bill Rietveld, Director of the National Agroforestry Center, received the award in recognition of his many accomplishments in the advancement of agroforestry science, adoption, and practice.

Terry Johnson was National Forester for NRCS for many years until his untimely death in 1994. He was a strong proponent of agroforestry and was highly respected by foresters and forest scientists alike. Information on 1998 nominations for the Terry Johnson Agroforestry Award will be distributed later this fall.

NRCS Participates in Science & Technology Career Day - On Wednesday, August 6, NRCS employees from the Maryland State Office, Prince George's County Field Office, and National Headquarters joined forces to represent the agency at a Science & Technology Career Day for 100 middle school students at Bowie State University in Bowie, MD. The event was part of a week-long science and technology camp the students were attending. Following the NRCS presentation, many teachers and youth leaders asked about having NRCS talk to their classes and groups later in the year.

The Career Day was sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Region of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, a diverse International African American sorority founded in 1908 at Howard University. It has a membership of 200,000 women. Alpha Kappa Alpha has become the channel through which selected college-trained women improve social and economic conditions in their cities, States, the Nation, and the world.

Channel Earth Features Farmland Protection Program - This month's NRCS segment for Channel Earth's "From the Grassroots" cable TV show, broadcast on August 18, featured the Farmland Protection Program. Spokespersons include Fen Hunt, Land Use Planner in the Community Assistance and Rural Development Division, a Maryland farmer, and the American Farmland Trust's first annual Steward of the Land award winner.

Farm Bill Rules Update - The State Technical Committee and Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program rules are at the Office of Management and Budget. The Conservation Farm Option rule is at the Office of the General Counsel.

IN THE FIELD

NRCS and Ducks Unlimited Sign Wetland Memorandum of Agreement -NRCS and Ducks Unlimited (DU) signed a memorandum of agreement to establish a partnership to deliver wetland restoration programs in Louisiana. DU provides professional experience and expertise in both hydrology restoration and reforestation in wetland habitats. The memorandum of agreement means that DU and NRCS are implementing wetland conservation practices on tracts of land enrolled in the Wetland Reserve Program (WRP). During the next 3 years, DU will reforest 32,000 acres to bottomland hardwood forests on WRP tracts in Louisiana and Arkansas. DU will also supply water control structures for hydrology restoration on reforested areas at no cost to the landowner or NRCS.

LEGISLATIVE NEWS

Congress is in recess and will return to Washington, DC, on September 2.

CONSTITUENCY AND PARTNERSHIP NEWS

Pennsylvania Team Wins 10th National Envirothon - Nearly 200 students on 37 teams from 34 States and three Canadian provinces took oral and written tests on soils, aquatics, forestry, wildlife, and Modern Pest Management at the 10th National Envirothon held August 5-9, at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, PA. Blue Mountain High School of Schuylkill County, PA, won first place.

The National Envirothon Program is sponsored by Canon USA and local conservation districts in cooperation with Monsanto, the USDA Forest Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Association of Conservation Districts. Several Pennsylvania NRCS employees helped to staff the soils station and helped with other events. This was the first year that Canon USA introduced National Envirothon Scholarships and donated more than $35,000 toward the scholarships and other prizes.

UPCOMING EVENTS

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.

October 6-10 - National Conference on Urban Soils, New York City, NY. Contact Tyrone M. Goddard at 315-477-6526 or send e-mail to tgoddard@ny.nrcs.usda.gov for more information.

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>.

November 2-5 - The National Urban and Community Conservation Conference "Natural Resources Issues in Rural America," Columbus, OH. For conference information contact Robert Raschke at 303-988-1810 or visit NACD's Web site <http://www.nacdnet.org>.

November 2-5 - Third North American Conference of the Farming Systems Research & Extension Association, "Food & Natural Resource Systems: Integrating Diversity, Inquiry, Action, & People," Welches (Mt. Hood), OR. For information contact seiters@bcc.orst.edu of Oregon State University.

QUOTE

"Each one of us can make a difference in the fight against hunger in America. Let us make that difference together, as a Department committed to feeding the world, and committed to helping feed the hungry in our communities."

--Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman

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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