National Workload Analysis Training - NRCS, the National Association of State Conservation Agencies, and the National Association of Conservation Districts have planned a National Workload Analysis (WLA) Train-the-Trainer Workshop, to train NRCS State personnel and conservation partners how best to use the WLA database. The workshops will include a WLA overview and sessions on database management, making decisions, evaluating priorities, work process analysis, the need for core work product accomplishment, workforce planning, and analysis and geospatial display. In addition to the above training, an optional 4-hour computer "hands-on" training module is planned for information technology staffs on how to write WLA database queries and reports using Microsoft Access application software.

Workshops will be held in Fort Worth, TX, February 9-11; Chattanooga, TN, February 23-25; and Reno, NV, March 2-4.

Animal Feeding Operations Strategy (Update) - A Department of Agriculture team, including NRCS staff, will meet to process comments on the draft Unified National Strategy for Animal Feeding Operations and provide policy options for review by the Department. These policy options will then be used in consultation with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in developing the final strategy. The draft was released jointly by the Department of Agriculture and EPA. It appeared in the Federal Register on September 21, beginning a public review and 120-day comment period that ended on January 19.

"Linking Science and Technology Training Course Offerings..." Sent to Regional and State Conservationists - A report entitled "Linking Science and Technology Training Course Offerings with Training Preferences" has been sent to Regional and State conservationists by the Deputy Chief for Science and Technology. The report, prepared by the Social Sciences Institute for the Science and Technology Consortium, is based on input from 42 States and the Pacific Basin on training needs to facilitate two-way communication between sponsors of the training activities and the States. These activities are meant to complement the national training activities offered through the National Employee Development Center and local training activities offered by the States.

IN THE FIELD

Limited Resource Farmers in Mississippi Attend Water Quality Demonstration - Limited resource farmers learned techniques to improve water quality at a recent demonstration designed by the Northwest Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Council. The demonstration included the environmental and economic benefits of structural measures and wildlife incentives, and was funded by a challenge grant from NRCS in Mississippi.

Mountain RC&D Nominates African-American War Memorial for Historic Preservation - The Mountain RC&D in West Virginia, recently sent in a nomination proposal to place the Kimball War Memorial, built in 1928, on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's "11 Most Endangered Places" list. The memorial, which honors African-Americans who served in World War I, can be seen on the Internet at: http://www.wvweb.com/kimball.

Delaware Leads Nation in Protecting Land - Delaware currently has about 120,000 acres in Agricultural Preservation Districts, of which about 37,000 acres, representing some 150 farms, are under conservation easements. This makes Delaware the national leader in protecting the highest percentage of its total land area. The Farmland Protection Program, administered by NRCS, has provided $2.3 million since 1996 of the $60 million used to acquire easements. The Department of Transportation has also provided $500,000 to acquire scenic easements. Last month, Kent County, DE, and the State's Governor were honored by the American Farmland Trust for their efforts in using the purchase of agricultural conservation easements.

New Jersey Experiences Increase in EQIP Workload - NRCS field staff are beginning to review the 1,200 applications for fiscal year (FY) 1999 EQIP funding - nearly 7 times the FY 1997/98 number - which have come in for New Jersey's combined EQIP and new State cost-share program. Promoted by the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, New Jersey Farm Bureau, Farm Service Agency, Rutgers Cooperative Extension, and the 16 Soil Conservation Districts, the new program will enable some producers to receive up to 90 percent in cost share funding for animal waste systems, and 50 to 75 percent for most other practices.

Although the 1200 applications add up to an estimated $15 million in conservation work, the actual combined Federal and State financial assistance funding available only totals $2.2 million.

NRCS Puerto Rico to Celebrate Soil Survey Centennial - The NRCS Caribbean Area will exhibit Bayamon and Victory soils, representative of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI), at the International Soil Conservation Organization Conference, Centennial of the Soil Survey at Purdue University this May. On February 12-15, the soils will be officially recognized by the USVI legislature during the USVI Agri-Fair. NRCS will produce a photo exhibit, fact sheet, newsletter, and a soil survey publication for the occasion. Interviews with the USVI media have also been scheduled. A similar activity in Puerto Rico will be held during the 1999 Earth Week Celebration in April. If you would like copies of the NRCS materials for these events, please call Becky Fraticelli at 787-766-5206, ext. 236. Specify if you would like the English or Spanish versions of the material.

Riparian Buffer Strips/Field Files - Nancy Mathews, consultant for NRCS, is collecting stories on the good work that's being done in the field with riparian buffer strips. Each week, NRCS This Week will feature one of these interesting profiles from around the Nation.

Mixing Buffers and Oranges in Florida: Charlie Tucker produces 100,000 boxes -- 4,500 tons -- of oranges a year on his 250 acres of groves just north of Tampa on Florida's "ridge." He has another 200 acres in lakes, wetlands, and buffers. Tucker, whose father bought the farm in 1948, has been working on it for 50 years and has been installing buffers for about 12 years. "Between every bit of water and grove there are buffers -- at least 50 feet wide and many 300 to 400 feet wide – to keep pesticides from running off. If nitrogen or phosphorus or herbicide gets into the lakes, it'll eventually get into ground water." The lakes drain from one to the other, according to Tucker, then into creeks, and eventually into Tampa Bay. "That's what the whole buffer situation is about – to keep contaminants from reaching the water."

Tucker is an enthusiastic supporter of the National Buffer Initiative, helping the NRCS in Florida to mobilize others to install buffers, and assisting in setting up a number of field days. The focus is on "the ridge," one of Florida's most important aquifer recharge areas. Tucker says that his buffers are home to "deer, alligators, turkeys, all kinds of waterfowl, cranes, and wood ducks. With buffer strips and water mixed in with his orange groves, "we use our best land that's suitable for citrus; all the rest is in buffers."

CONSTITUENCY AND PARTNERSHIP NEWS

Iowa Districts Participate in Carbon Storage Project - Over the next year, Iowa's 100 conservation districts will play a major role in a pilot project that could lead to one of the major issues of the next century. The Iowa Carbon Storage Project will use a computer model to measure the amount of carbon stored in soil protected by conservation tillage, conservation buffers, Conservation Reserve Program land, pasture, and wetlands. On the national level, the project is administered by National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) through a cooperative agreement with NRCS. The Department of Energy, one of NACD's new partners, is funding the project. In Iowa, a joint effort by NRCS, the Conservation Districts of Iowa, Inc. (the State association), and the Iowa Division of Soil Conservation will implement a State action plan that they developed.

Under a United Nations global climate agreement, many countries face mandatory cuts in their greenhouse gas emissions over the next 10 years. Scientists say conservation practices could transform farms into carbon dioxide "sponges" that could "soak up" millions of metric tons a year of the chief greenhouse gas blamed for global warming.

"We can reduce greenhouse gases through carbon sequestration by using agriculture to suck the carbon out of the air and deposit it into the soil, enriching our farmland and making our air cleaner at the same time," said Vice President Al Gore at a recent Farm Journal meeting.

The Iowa project will help to answer many questions on what agriculture can do to help reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that affects the fragile ozone layer. In addition to the project in Iowa, Ohio State University soil scientist Rattan Lal recently co-authored a new book on global warming and agriculture and said farms can roll back emissions substantially just by adopting well-known conservation practices, such as the ones mentioned above.

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UPCOMING

January 24-27 - (Colorado) Colorado State University will host "Tailings and Mine Waste '99" in Fort Collins, CO. The conference will provide a forum for presenting information on mine tailings, mine waste, and current and future issues facing the mining and environmental communities. Contact Linda L. Hinshaw at 970-491-6081; fax: 970-491-3584; or e-mail: lhinshaw@engr.colostate.edu.

January 27-29 - (Idaho) The University of Idaho, NRCS, other Federal, State agencies, and organizations will host the "Water Quality Beyond 2000 - Meeting the TMDL Challenge" conference at the Double Tree Inn Riverside in Boise, ID. This conference will examine the impacts of TMDL, implementation strategies and watershed approaches. For more information, contact John Kendrick at 208-378-5729; fax: 208-378-573.

January 31-February 4 - (California) 53rd National NACD Annual Meeting to be held at the Town and Country Resort and Conference Center (1-800-772-8528) in San Diego, CA. For more information, contact Robert Raschke at 303-988-1810; fax: 303-988-1896. Meeting agenda highlights and registration information are on NACD's home page at http://nacdnet.org/meetings/.

February 11 - (Washington, D.C.) USDA Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D) Policy Advisory Board Meeting. For more information, call the NRCS Resource Conservation & Community Development Division at 202-720-2241.

February 17-20 - (Louisiana) NRCS is holding a series of 3, Third Annual American Wetlands Month Conferences. The first in the series will be held in New Orleans, LA at the Raddisson Hotel. For more information, contact the Terrene Institute at 800-726-4853; fax 703-548-6299; e-mail: terrconf@aol.; or visit the Terrene Institute website at: www.terrene.org for program updates.

February 17-20 - (Texas) Land Improvement Contractors of America Winter Convention, Adams Mark Hotel, San Antonio, TX. Contact Wayne F. Maresch at 301-248-5749; fax: 301-248-0847; or e-mail: WayneF86@aol.com.

February 21-26 - (Nebraska) The Society for Range Management and the American Forage and Grasslands Council will hold their annual meeting, "Building on Our Heritage," at the Holiday Convention Center, 3321 South 72nd Street in Omaha, NE. For more information, visit the Society for Range Management web site at: http://srm.org/meetings.html.

February 22 and 23 - (Virginia) The U.S. Department of Agriculture will hold the 75th annual Agricultural Outlook Forum at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel, 1700 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA. For more information, visit the Agricultural Outlook Forum website at: http://www.usda.gov/agency/oce/waob/agforum.htm.

February 28-March 2 - (Missouri) The Southwest RC&D Association meeting will be held in Springfield, MO. For more information, call the NRCS Resource Conservation & Community Development Division at 202-720-2241.

March 26-30 - (California) The Wildlife Management Institute will hold its 64th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport in Burlingame, CA. For more information call 202-371-1808; fax: 202-408-5059; e-mail: wmihq@aol.com or visit the Wildlife Management Institute website at: www.wildifemgt.org/wmi.

April 14-17 - (California) NRCS is holding a series of 3, Third Annual American Wetlands Month Conferences. The second in the series will be held in San Francisco, CA at the Holiday Inn Golden Gateway. For more information, contact the Terrene Institute at 800-726-4853; fax 703-548-6299; e-mail: terrconf@aol; or visit the Terrene Institute website at: www.terrene.org for program updates.

May 6-8 - (Massachusetts) NRCS is holding a series of 3, Third Annual American Wetlands Month Conferences. The third in the series will be held in Boston, MA, at the Rolling Green Inn and Conference Center. For more information, contact the Terrene Institute at 800-726-4853; fax 703-548-6299; e-mail: terrconf@aol; or visit the Terrene Institute website at: www.terrene.org for program updates.

May 16-19 - (Texas) The National Watershed Coalition is presenting its Sixth National Watershed Conference, "Getting the Job Done at Ground Level," at the Doubletree Hotel in North Austin, TX. For more information, contact John W. Peterson at 703-455-6886 or 4387; fax: 703-455-6888; or e-mail: jwpeterson@erols.com.

May 23-28 - (Indiana) The International Soil Conservation Organization will host the 10th International Soil Conservation Conference, "Sustaining the Global Farm," at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN. For more information, call 765-494-8683; fax: 765-494-5948 c/o ISCO99; e-mail: isco99@ecn.purdue.edu; or visit the conference website at: http://spc3.ecn.purdue.edu/isco99/isco99.htm.

June 6-9 - (Pennsylvania) The American Farmland Trust and 13 other agricultural organizations, in cooperation with NRCS and several other Federal agencies, will host the "Keep America Growing: Balancing Working Lands and Development" conference at the Adam's Mark Hotel in Philadelphia, PA. For more information, contact Karl Otte at 703-440-8611; or visit the conference website at: www.farmland.org/KAG.html.

June 9-12 - (Louisiana) The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service and other Federal and State agencies will present the Third National Workshop on Constructed Wetlands/BMPs for Nutrient Reduction and Coastal Water Protection at the Radisson Hotel, New Orleans, LA. For more information, Dr. Frank Humenik at 919--515-6767; e-mail: frank_humenik@ncsu.edu.

QUOTE

"The man forced to farm subsoil exposed by erosion has little chance for making a satisfactory living, whether prices are up or down."

Hugh Hammond Bennett (1881-1960), first Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

NRCS This Week is issued weekly by the Conservation Communications Staff, 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.jacobs2@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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