Secretary Signs Memorandum Approving Implementation of the Support Services Bureau (SSB) - Secretary Glickman has signed a Departmental memorandum approving the Support Services Organizational Structure for NRCS, Rural Development, and the Farm Service Agency. In the memorandum, the Secretary asked Deputy Secretary Rominger and the Under Secretaries for the Service Center Agencies to take several steps to begin the implementation of the SSB. The first step will be to fill key leadership positions including the Executive Director and Deputy Director of the SSB. Joe Leo, the leader of the Administrative Convergence Implementation Planning Team, will serve as Acting Executive Director. The next step will be to finalize a strategy for addressing the FY 1999 administrative budget and staffing levels relative to the SSB's formation. The third step will be to begin identifying the implementation team, once the key positions are filled. The final step will be to prepare a Departmental Directive, delineating the responsibilities and relationships of the national board of directors, the SSB, and the State and other boards of directors.

The NRCS Deputy Chief for Management will issue updates on convergence activities until the convergence implementation team has been established.

Secretary Announces 7.1 Million Acres Offered During CRP Sign-Up - Secretary Glickman recently announced the successful conclusion and preliminary acreage offerings of the eighteenth sign-up period for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Producers are scheduled to be notified of acreage acceptance in early March.

"Preliminary data indicate that we received about 90,000 offers for about 7 million acres during this sign-up that ended December 11, 1998," Glickman said. "Producers continue to show interest in the CRP. I am confident this will allow us to enroll additional land and provide cost-share assistance in a way that is environmentally sound and cost effective."

The CRP is based on voluntary partnerships between government and members of the public. Farmers receive annual rental payments and cost-share assistance for establishing various kinds of protective cover on suitable farm property to protect and improve the quality of the air, water, soil, and wildlife habitat. Rents are based on local agricultural-value market rates and acres are selected to maximize environmental benefits.

All land that is enrolled in the program must compete for acceptance based on an environmental benefits index that ensures equitable consideration for all offers and all types of land.

State-specific sign up statistics follow. These figures are taken from preliminary returns from Farm Service Agency field offices and can change. Final sign up figures and notification of acceptance of offers will be released later.

State	Number Acres	Number Offers	State	Number Acres	Number Offers
Alabama	2,001	91,270	Nebraska	3,226	237,604
Alaska	18	5,007	Nevada	0	0
Arizona	0	0	New Hampshire	0	0
Arkansas	636	45,887	New Jersey	16	313
California	43	10,505	New Mexico	166	30,414
Colorado	1,923	340,151	New York	186	4,971
Connecticut	6	70	North Carolina	1,002	17,833
Delaware	18	684	North Dakota	9,300	1,040,402
Florida	482	20,047	Ohio	1,719	57,409
Georgia	3,417	129,979	Oklahoma	1,871	216,306
Hawaii	0	0	Oregon	301	47,987
Idaho	758	103,107	Pennsylvania	314	10,567
Illinois	5,505	149,754	Rhode Island	0	0
Indiana	2,121	60,941	South Carolina	1,349	41,570
Iowa	7,438	283,460	South Dakota	5,660	569,530
Kansas	7,288	544,093	Tennessee	1,147	39,097
Kentucky	1,060	39,866	Texas	4,362	655,877
Louisiana	789	76,478	Utah	124	16,929
Maine	153	4,205	Vermont	0	0
Maryland	184	3,827	Virginia	521	10,942
Massachusetts	0	0	Virgin Islands	0	0
Michigan	1,398	42,589	Washington	1,170	212,293
Minnesota	7,485	583,160	West Virginia	8	314
Mississippi	2,661	160,139	Wisconsin	4,219	114,154
Missouri	3,672	179,489	Wyoming	189	45,363
Montana	4,375	855,645	Puerto Rico	0	0
			TOTALS	90,281	7,100,226

Personnel Changes - Effective February 14, Barbara Myrick, Office of Civil Rights, USDA, will serve as Acting Director, Civil Rights Program Compliance, NHQ, Beltsville, Maryland.

IN THE FIELD

NRCS Workload Reduction Highlights - Workload reduction efforts in the State of Wisconsin have resulted in being able to free up three staff years. This will allow an increase in technical and program outreach to American Indian tribes in that State, as well as assisting them in finding project funding sources.

NRCS has reduced the CTIC National Crop Residue Management Survey from annual data collection in every county of the Nation to biennial collection only in counties with more than 50,000 cropland acres. Twelve States will be entirely exempt from the biennial collection. In these 12 States and in the remaining counties with less than 50,000 acres of cropland, the survey will be conducted at 6-year intervals. The new process selected will not only reduce the survey workloads by as much as 50 percent, but will also improve the reliability of the county-level data. This will free additional staff for the time to work directly with customers in getting conservation on the ground.

California Boasts New State Record for Wetland Easements - California achieved a new State record for wetland easements recorded during January. NRCS in California completed the acquisition of 5 projects involving more than 4,500 acres of high quality wetland restoration lands was completed which will provide nationally significant waterfowl and shorebird habitat.

Wetland Reserve Program (WRP) in Louisiana Observes 100,000 Acre Celebration - In celebration of American Wetlands Month, an event will be held May 1, in Monroe, Louisiana, to illustrate the benefits of WRP, reach out to diverse groups about the value of wetlands, and publicize the milestone of enrolling 100,000 acres in WRP in Louisiana. A major component of this event will be a national media outreach effort to help focus attention on WRP and the benefits of wetlands restoration across the country.

Japanese Conservationists Tour Talbot - The Talbot Soil Conservation District on Maryland's Eastern Shore was the setting for a visit by Motoyki Goda and Eiichiro Nishizawa from Tokyo, Japan. Goda works for the Ministry of Agriculture in the Section of Environmental Economics and is a senior researcher. Dr. Nishizawa is an environmental economist with the National Research Institute of Agricultural Economics. They wanted to see, first hand, how partnerships were set up in Maryland and how districts worked together to provide technical and funding assistance to farmers and landowners.

Japan is looking to develop conservation districts and wanted to see how districts operated in Maryland. NRCS district conservationist Teresa White-Kampmeyer said that the visitors, "...were amazed at the environmental polices in Maryland and enjoyed seeing best management practices, such as chicken waste structures, compost building, grassed waterways, and filter strips." By talking with a local poultry grower; Teresa; and Maryland State Department of Agriculture planner, Steve Speilman; the visitors were able to learn a good deal about district operations, which should prove useful in planning similar programs in Japan.

Buffer Beginnings - This week's featured story is from Utah. Northeast of Salt Lake City is the Chalk Creek watershed, which flows into the Weber River, which supplies water to Ogden, Utah, and other Wasatch Front communities. Most of the agricultural land in the watershed is in range, with just 2,000 acres of cropland. Alarmed that Chalk Creek was the major source of sediment to the river, landowners, water users and resource managers, at the instigation of the Summit Soil Conservation District, began working together in 1991 on the Chalk Creek Nonpoint Source Water Quality Project. By 1994 a coordinated watershed resource plan had been developed, and a Technical Advisory Committee, comprised of local, State and federal agencies, private individuals and groups, had been formed. Funding totaling nearly $1 million has come from private landowners and State and Federal agencies.

By 1997 many of the 100 major watershed landowners, working with NRCS and other agencies, had begun designing Resource Management System (RMS) plans for their own land. The primary goals - reducing erosion and the amount of sediment entering the water, stabilizing and restoring eroded streambanks, and improving water quality - are being met by limiting cattle access, providing alternative water supplies, and planting riparian vegetation. "The main objective is restoring the woody vegetation in the riparian area, because that's what's lacking, and it's the long-term solution to streambank erosion control," according to Shane Green, the NRCS Project Coordinator for Chalk Creek. Grazing is restricted, but not prohibited, in these riparian zones. Green explains, "We work with farmers to manage their grazing systems to favor woody riparian vegetation. They can graze the riparian areas for short periods in the spring and early summer when grasses, sedges and herbaceous forages are more desirable for cattle than woody vegetation. We do not graze them in the fall or winter when grasses and herbaceous forages are dormant and cured and the willows and cottonwoods are the desirable forage – the only green thing left."

One of the first participants in the program is Jerrold Richins. With funding help from an EPA grant, he fenced 1,000 feet on both sides of Chalk Creek and planted willows, and he has installed some cross-fencing for rotational grazing. The buffers range from 10 feet to a couple hundred feet wide. "The '319' money from the EPA made it possible," Richins says. "I put in $9,000 worth of fence, and they paid 75 percent. I did most of the planting, at least in terms of labor, but they pay you to do the work as part of your project. I benefited a lot; it needed to be done, and they shared a lot of the expense."

Richins admits, "I didn't come by that all at once. At first I didn't want to fence the stream. I thought they were restricting me, and that's the way I think a lot of people feel. Fencing is not so popular. You feel threatened, as if you're losing all your rights. But to me now, I've seen what it's done. That's the way to put that stream back in optimum condition." He adds, "I try to be prepared for a serious flood like the one we had in 1983 when Chalk Creek was all out in my fields and all over the place. I'm hoping to bring back those banks, and fix the flood plain."

Richins has lots of visitors to his demonstration project, including an annual field day with fifth graders from a local school. When he shows them his streambank restoration, he says, "I tell them it's just exactly like a cut on your finger. I take a red marker to my hand, mark stitches, add an antiseptic and a Band-Aid. Then I tell them 'It's just like that on the stream bank – the stitches are the jetties, willows and grasses are the antiseptic, and the fence is the Band-Aid to protect it while it heals.'"

CONSTITUENCY AND PARTNERSHIP NEWS

First State Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D) Council Partners With NRCS to Improve Disaster Preparedness - NRCS and the First State RC&D Council have partnered with the city of Lewes, Delaware; the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); the State of Delaware; and other public and private partners in a effort to improve emergency management and disaster preparedness in that city. The historic coastal community, of Lewes is at risk from hurricane damage and flooding from "northeasters" - winter weather events notorious for producing heavy rain, abnormally high tides, and heavy surf and often causing coastal flooding, beach erosion, and structural damage. As part of Project Impact, FEMA is providing a grant of $500,000 to the city to help fund the almost $2 million project. The First State RC&D Council is providing $20,000 in funding to the city for Project Impact activities. The city plans to conduct a hazard vulnerability analysis; investigate potential structural mitigation and retrofitting; provide public education and training to better prepare citizens and visitors in the event of a disaster; and install a reverse 9-1-1 notification system.

Wisconsin Hog Farmers Presented the 1999 Steward of the Land Award - Bob and Fred Uphoff, of Madison, WI, were the winners of the 1999 Steward of the Land Award, presented by American Farmland Trust. The two hog farmers, who exemplify environmentally sound farming practices and innovative land protection, were presented with the $10,000 award for their work to preserve the environment, implement farmer-friendly land policy changes, and protect threatened farmland in their area while running an economically viable farming operation.

"Every chance we have we need to let people know that well-managed farms will enhance the environment," said Wisconsin Secretary of Agriculture Ben Brancel. The Uphoffs have kept part of their land out of production for use as wildlife habitat and utilize state of the art no-till farming, runoff management and manure handling techniques as part of a farm-wide conservation plan. In 1997, America's Clean Water Foundation asked Bob Uphoff to help USDA and EPA officials write the "Comprehensive Environmental Framework for Pork Production Operations," and he is currently chairman of the Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Board.

The Steward of the Land Award was founded in 1996 to honor the memory of American Farmland Trust (AFT) founding board member Peggy McGrath Rockefeller. Rockefeller's vision and deep personal commitment to farmland conservation live on in the men and women who compete for the annual award. This year's award ceremony, held at the University Club in Washington, D.C., recognized Bob and Fred Uphoff as the American farmers who best personify the ideals embraced by AFT's mission: to stop the loss of productive farmland and promote farming practices that lead to a healthy environment. The Uphoffs beat out 33 other competitors from 20 different States for this year's $10,000 award.

LEGISLATIVE NEWS

Details Of The FY 2000 Budget - Provisions of the FY 2000 budget for NRCS include a total funding level of $680.7 million for Conservation Operations, an increase of approximately $39 million above the FY 1999 appropriated level. The President's Budget directs $20 million be used for competitive partnership grants associated with the Clean Water Action Plan. Watershed and Flood Prevention is proposed at $ 83.4 million; Debt for Nature is proposed at $5 million; and Resource Conservation and Development is proposed at $35.3 million.

The Farmland Protection Program is proposed by the Administration to be funded at $77.5 million; the Environmental Quality Incentives Program is proposed at a level of $300 million; the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program is proposed at $10 million; and the Conservation Farm Option is zeroed out in the budget proposal.

Legislation - The following bills of significance to NRCS and conservation were recently introduced:

S. 49 by Stevens (AK) - The legislation is the Alaska Wetlands Conservation Act.

S. 321 by Craig (ID) - The legislation would streamline, modernize, and enhance the authority of the Department of Agriculture relating to plant protection, quarantine, and other purposes.

H.R. 398 by Mink (HI) - The legislation would fund a program to restore rare, and endangered plants in HI.

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UPCOMING

February 1-28 - African-American History Month.

February 17-20 - (Louisiana) NRCS is holding a series of Third Annual American Wetlands Month Conferences. The first in the three-conference series will be held in New Orleans, LA, at the Radisson 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 18-20 - (New Mexico) The National Corn Growers Association and American Soybean Association will hold their annual Commodity Classic in Albuquerque, NM. For more information, call 314-275-9915.

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 website at: http://srm.org/meetings.html.

February 22- 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 24-25 - (Nebraska) The Forest Service, the Ecological Society of America Society for Range Management, the Agricultural Research Service Center for Grassland Studies, the University of Nebraska Center for Great Plains Studies, and the University of Nebraska will hold "Great Plains Grasslands at the Millennium," at the Holiday Convention Center in Omha, NE. For more information, contact Lori Hidinger, Program Manager, Ecological Society of America, at 202-833-8748; fax: 202-833-8775; e-mail: lori@esa.org; or visit the conference website at: http://esa.sdsc.edu/grasslands.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 1-4 - (Canada, Vancouver, British Columbia) GEOTec Media will host the 13th Annual Conference on Geographic Information Systems "GeoSolutions: Integrating Our World," at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Vancouver, BC. For more information, call 203-445-9265; e-mail: info@GIS99.com; or visit the conference website at: http://www.gis99.com/default.asp.

March 9 - (Missouri) NRCS, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and the Great Rivers Alliance of Natural Resource Districts will host the 8th Annual Urban Erosion & Water Management Conference, "Meeting Water Quality Concerns In the 21st Century," at the University of Missouri in St. Louis, MO. For more information, contact Rick Macho at 618-656-5166; or Dawn Larry at 314-922-2833.

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) The second in the series of Third Annual American Wetlands Month Conferences 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.

April 15-16 - (Nevada) Biennial High Mountain workshop will be held at the CalNeva Lodge in Crystal Bay, Nevada. The registration deadline is April 9. For more information, contact the Nevada Tahoe Conservation District office at 800-541-5654.

April 22-23 - (Washington, D.C.) More than 30 different agricultural organizations are combining efforts to hold a national celebration, "Ag-Earth Day" on Earth Day, to raise public awareness and highlight agriculture's contributions to the environment. The event will be on the National Capital Mall and will feature comments from national agricultural community leaders; extensive exhibits; a traditional farmers' market; outdoor equipment displays, and a satellite uplink to classrooms across the country featuring a lesson in soils. For further information, visit the Ag-Earth website at: http://www.nasda-hq.org/nasda/earth/events1/index.html.

April 27-28 - (Oklahoma) 1999 Timber Utilization Conference and Equipment Exposition to be held at Western Hills Resort in Sequoyah State Park near Wagoner, OK. For information, contact Ouachita Mountains RC&D at 918-423-2479; fax 918-423-0793; or e-mail: omrcandd@icok.net.

May 6-8 - (Massachusetts) The third and final Third Annual American Wetlands Month Conferences 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, contact Dr. Frank Humenik at 919-515-6767; or e-mail: frank_humenik@ncsu.edu.

July 18-21 - (Toronto, Ontario Canada) The Annual International Meeting of ASAE to be held in cooperation with the Canadian Society at the Sheraton Toronto Center in Toronto, Ontario Canada. For more information, contact Brenda West, ASAE Meeting and Conferences Manager, at 616-429-0300; fax: 616-429-3852; e-mail: west@asae.org; or visit ASAE's website at http://www.asae.org.

QUOTE

"No nation as rich as ours should have so many people isolated on islands of poverty in such a sea of material wealth."

Andrew Young, Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Chair, Southern African Enterprise Development Fund

NRCS This Week is issued weekly by the Conservation Communications Staff, NRCS headquarters, Washington, D.C. Please send correspondence and material via 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.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD).

To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call 202-720-5964 (voice or TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

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