Updated 03/25/2008

Welcome to Conservation Footprints

This new electronic publication will provide news and feature articles highlighting activities occurring across our state.
Conservation Footprints will be replacing the quarterly publication formerly known as Current Developments.

 

Spring  Issue            2008

A Message from Gus ...

I don’t know about you, but I’m already tired of snow.  Now I know snow is a good thing, but only in moderation.  And there is nothing ‘moderate’ about the snow around my place.  And the streets in Spokane (never the greatest anyway) are a real mess.  I’m seeing some of the biggest, nastiest potholes I’ve seen in a long time.  And some of the side streets have those snow-potholes where the packed snow has melted and re-frozen into some pretty deep ruts.  My little vehicle bounces all over the place when I drive these days.  But when I start to feel sorry for myself, I think about the folks that have suffered far worse from weather related disasters this winter. Tornadoes in the south.  Blizzards in the Midwest.  And a truly nasty flood on the west side of this state.  A little discomfort and rough road doesn’t seem all that big of a deal.  We are acquiring a great deal of snow in the mountains this winter.  That should provide for a good irrigation season next summer.  But I’m a bit worried about how the lower elevation snows will melt.  Let’s hope we get a gentle warming trend so the snow can melt slowly and soak into the soils.  A slow release of the runoff would be most welcome.

Makin' Tracks   See what's happen' with employees around the state.

The following personnel changes for this quarter have been supplied by our state Human Resources department.

Welcome To New Employees

Clea Rome, RC&D Coordinator, Port Angeles, effective 1/6/08
Paul Scales, transferred from NRCS-Hawaii to State Resource Conservationist position, Spokane State Office, effective 3/2/08
Joseph Randolph, transferred from BIA-Montana to the Archeologist position, Olympia Area Office, effective 3/16/08
Deborah Virgovic, Fish Biologist, Mount Vernon Soil Survey Office, effective 3/16/08

Congratulations On Promotions

No promotions this issue.

Location Reassignments

George Riley, Soil Conservation Technician reassigned to Chehalis Field Office as Civil Engineering Technician effective 3/2/08

Items of Interest

No items of interest this issue.

Goodbye and Good Luck

Wayne Crowder, Soil Conservationist, Pullman PMC, retired effective 1/3/08
Frank Easter, State Resource Conservationist, Spokane State Office, retired effective 1/3/08
Dave Myra, RC&D Coordinator in Yakima, retired effective 1/3/08
Paul Taylor, Assistant State Conservationist (Operations), Spokane State Office, retired effective 1/3/08
Jessie Ham, Soil Conservationist, Waterville Field Office, resigned effective 1/12/08
Heather Drader, Soil Conservation Technician, Lake Stevens Field Office, resigned effective 1/14/08
James Davis, Civil Engineer, Puyallup Field Office, transferred to the Federal Highway Agency effective 1/19/08
Doug Fenwick, Civil Engineer Technician, Brush Prairie Field Office retired effective 2/2/08
Nancy Allison, RC&D Coordinator in Montesano, resigned effective 2/4/08
Gloria Castellaw, Budget Analyst, Spokane State Office, retired effective 3/2/08
Stephen Roecker, Soil Scientist, Zillah, transferred to NRCS California, effective 3/2/08

Employees of the Quarter  - Performance Recognition

June Johnson – For assistance to the Prosser Field Office with the REX CRP plan.
Kathy Randazzo – For assistance with the new Business Plan software.
Clare Flanagan – For exceptional service to the public, as demonstrated in an article for Conservation Footprints.
Tracy Hanger – For excellent attention to detail on cultural resource forms.
Maggie Addington – For exceptional customer service and dedicated professionalism in ensuring that the computer training room was up and running for the ArcGIS 9.2 training.
Kathy Randazzo - For exceptional customer service in procuring binder and tabs, printing and collating the write-ups and assembling training materials for the ArcGis 9.2 training.
Carl Coon – For exceptional customer service and dedicated professionalism in ensuring that the computer training room was up and running for the ArcGIS 9.2 training.
Ann Swannack – For assistance to Local Work Groups and DCs in the East Area for application of agronomic conservation systems in programs.
Glenn Riehle – For hard work and dedication in completing 2008 EQIP planning and contracting.
Laren Nalder – For hard work and dedication in completing 2008 EQIP planning and contracting.
Joe Navarro – For hard work and dedication in completing 2008 EQIP planning and contracting.
Paul Rogers – For a positive attitude resolving problems as they arose and managing the 2008 EQIP planning and contracting in an exemplatory manner.
Oscar Tobias – For an outstanding job completing all EQIP plans/contracts within the deadline and working together as a team to get the job done.
Kevin Davis – For an outstanding job completing all EQIP plans/contracts within the deadline and working together as a team to get the job done.
Martin Rodriguez – For an outstanding job completing all EQIP plans/contracts within the deadline and working together as a team to get the job done.
Corey Bonsen – For an outstanding job completing all EQIP plans/contracts within the deadline and working together as a team to get the job done.
Sue Myra – For an outstanding job completing all EQIP plans/contracts within the deadline and working together as a team to get the job done.
Rick Beck – For an outstanding job completing all EQIP plans/contracts within the deadline and working together as a team to get the job done.
Amanda Ettestad – For an outstanding job completing all EQIP plans/contracts within the deadline and working together as a team to get the job done.
Roger Amerman – For an outstanding job completing all EQIP plans/contracts within the deadline and working together as a team to get the job done.
Sergio Paredes – For an outstanding job completing all EQIP plans/contracts within the deadline and working together as a team to get the job done.
Jerry Beemer – For an outstanding job completing all EQIP plans/contracts within the deadline and working together as a team to get the job done.
Joe Gasperi – For exceptional customer service in volunteering to provide NRCS GeoHydro training during the ArcGIS 9.2 for Engineers training.
George Riley – For exemplarity assistance to the King, Kitsap, Pierce, Mason and Thurston Field Offices during the FY2008 EQIP season.
Eileen Jackson – For the many hours spent working on the performance management project to establish standards for use by Washington State.
Gloria Castellaw – For developing instructions and documentation on the status of all her job responsibilities in order to make the transition (her retirement) as efficient as possible.
Dave Brower – For outstanding training provided to the engineers and technicians of Washington, Idaho and Oregon in ArcGIS - Introduction and Advanced levels.
 

Footprint Features  Highlights of conservation activities in Washington

These feature stories were submitted by employees in Washington.

 

	What is all the BUZZ about??? Submitted by Justin Mount, Resource Conservationist, Wenatchee Recently the Wenatchee Field Office had the opportunity to experience some OJT and technology transfer.  Regional Biologist Wendell Gilgert from the West Technology Center in Portland, Oregon, along with Tim Dring, NRCS Washington State Biologist, made time to view orchard production and share their knowledge for integrating native pollinators and beneficial predatory insects. Read more (HTML)... | Printable version PDF (80KB)
	Successfully, The End is in Sight for Grayland Cranberry Growers Submitted by Bari Williams, Resource Conservationist, Montesano Field Office Cranberry growers in Grayland, Washington were in a difficult position when Washington State Department of Ecology water sample results showed high levels of pesticides in the Grayland Drainage Ditch #1 in 1996.  Grayland Drainage Ditch #1 became a 303(d) listed water body in 1998 due to pesticide parameters exceeding Washington State Water Quality Standards.  Every cranberry bog has drainage ditches around the fields of cranberry vines that ultimately drain to the main ditch, Grayland Drainage Ditch #1. Read more (HTML)... | Printable version PDF (33KB)
	No-Till Farming Showing Signs of Success in the Horse Heaven Hills Submitted by Amanda Ettestad, Resource Conservationist, Prosser In 2005, Donald Walker decided it was time to try something different.  As a third generation Horse Heaven Hills wheat farmer, he had seen the problems that wind erosion can cause in the area.  He was also interested in ways to save soil moisture and reduce fuel costs.  Read more (HTML)... | Printable version PDF (94 KB)
	Washington Plays Prominent Role in National NRCS Campaign Submitted by Ron Nichols, Public Affairs Officer, Spokane State Office The Garcia family of Yakima was among eight farm families, who were chosen to be a part of NRCS’ new national Conservation... Our Purpose. Our Passion. campaign. The final farm families were chosen to represent a cross-section of NRCS customers for the campaign based on a number of factors, including a diversity of geography, culture, conservation practices and products. Read more (HTML)... | Printable version PDF (94 KB)
	December Flooding Spurs Request for FEMA Assistance Submitted by Larry Johnson - State Conservation Engineer Many areas on the west side of the state experienced significant flooding the first week of December, 2007.  There was flooding and debris damage from the Olympics all the way to Clark County with Lewis County being one of the hardest hit.  The flood damages within Lewis County were extensive, sediment and debris accumulation was observed on farmland throughout the county.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has declared most of the west area counties as eligible for Federal disaster relief funds. Read more (HTML)... | Printable version PDF (42 KB)
	Pest Management and EQIP - Working Together for Forest Management Submitted by Misty Seaboldt, Forester, Colville If you have driven around the Colville Reservation lately, you may have noticed little cardboard tents hanging in the trees.  No these are not houses for really little squirrels, but an innovated pest management technique implemented by the Forestry Division for the Colville Confederated Tribes. Read more (HTML)... | Printable version PDF (94 KB)
Meet Clea Rome - North Olympic Peninsula RC&D Coordinator It is just a short distance from my old desk down the hall at the Clallam Conservation District, but so much has happened since I started my new job as the North Olympic Peninsula (NOP) RC&D Coordinator.  I feel like my position at the conservation district is already in the distant past.  It has been a whirlwind of exciting and sometimes overwhelming floods of information about the agency and the RC&D program. Read more (HTML)... | Printable version PDF (24 KB)

Footprint Extras  Other items of interest along the way

March is National Women's History Month
By Chandra Neils, East Area Civil Rights Representative

Women have always played an important role in society.  There are many very famous women who’ve contributed greatly to the world.  I decided not to focus on those women as you all know how to use Google.  I thought I’d look close to home for inspiration.  Everyday we share our lives with women who make a difference.  I decided to sit down with Alice Flesher, my husband’s grandmother, to learn about her story.

Alice graduated from high school in Montana in 1939.  She was seventeen years old.  Too young to enter the nurses training program to which she had applied.  She was accepted, but had to delay entry for a year until she was 18.  In the meantime, her family relocated to Seattle, Washington.  At 18 she traveled back to Havre, Montana to begin her studies at the Catholic run hospital.

The nurses wore classic white uniforms.  The cap was plain white as were the shoes, socks and dress.  In the 1940s nurses wore dresses as part of the uniform.  They were mid calf in length and the sleeves were long with cuffs.  They had no assistants or janitors.  They did everything that needed done.  Alice told me about the nun who was head of the night shift.  Many times she can remember coming on duty only to find the nun on her hands and knees waxing the floors.  The nurses really did do everything!  Every month the duties shifted and the girls would have duties in a different part of the hospital.  They learned a lot on the job but attended classes during the day too.

Three months from completing her training, she went on vacation to see her fiancé Jim Flesher.  Jim was home on leave from the Air Force.  He enlisted for service ten days after the attack on Pearl Harbor.  They decided to get married while he was home.  It was 1943 and at that time it was against the rules for girls in the nursing program to be married.  As Alice put it, “I was taking a real risk by getting married.”  When she returned to school the nuns asked her if it was true that she’d gotten married.  She told me she never tried to hide it.  She admitted her marriage but the nuns allowed her to stay and finish.  Alice thinks if she had further to go in her studies they would have removed her from the program.

Alice graduated from the nursing program in 1943.  She and her friend, Ida, moved to Seattle and got jobs at Columbus Hospital in Seattle.  Alice was a surgical nurse making $90 a month.  She and Ida shared an apartment that cost $60 a month.

The war effort was going badly for our troops and there was a lot of recruitment going on.  Alice said the pressure was very high for the girls who were nurses to join up.  In 1944 she decided that she couldn’t sit out any longer.  She enlisted with the US Army.  She never discussed the decision with her husband because he was in Guam.  She was sent to Ft. Lewis right away for boot camp.

Basic training for the women was three to four weeks long.  She was taught how to dress and salute.  They had to do calisthenics and learn to march.  She said it wasn’t nearly as strenuous as what the men had to do.  Like the men, they had drills in the morning and lived in barracks.  The women’s barracks consisted of small, private rooms instead of the open bunks the men had.  They also had classes on how to read Army orders which were in a kind of code.

After basic training she was assigned to Dibble Hospital near Palo Alto, California.  The hospital mainly handled burn victims and plastic surgery.  Some men had to have up to 25 surgeries to rebuild ears, eye areas, noses and more.  Alice described a technique they used to grow extra skin for grafting onto the men.  The arm of the man would be attached to their abdomen and sheath of skin would grow between them.  When it was large enough it would be cut off and grafted to the appropriate area.  Most of the men were pilots who had been shot down.  She said she saw some very terrible things.  But 63 years later, you can still hear the pride she feels for the work done in that hospital.

It was an amazing experience to hear her tell her story.  I learned that the woman who taught me how to knit was a Second Lieutenant in the US Army!  I hope you will spend some time in March to find out more of your own Women’s History.  Talk to your family and learn about the amazing women close to you.

NRCS Employee Greg Schlenz Serves as USDA Agricultural Advisor
Submitted by the Snake River Team

Greg Schlenz joins the Provincial Reconstruction Team as Agriculture Advisor and will be stationed with a military unit consisting of up to 100 personnel.  Greg will remain a USDA employee and will be reassigned to the Overseas Development Office for his detail to Afghanistan.  Greg was sent to Fort Bragg, North Carolina and Washington DC for training.  After Greg completes his training, he will be assigned to the Panjshir Province north of Kabul, Afghanistan. Greg mentioned that this Province strongly supports the United States position and is probably as safe as anywhere in Afghanistan or Iraq.

The Snake River team is keeping in touch with Greg and he has written that he is well and has completed training at Fort Bragg.  The Panjshir troops, he is with, consist of 38 people (60% Air Force and 40% Army).  He reports that there are eight women in his group.  Greg has integrated very well with military life and has been welcomed by everyone. 

Greg did not realize he would be involved in training such as Combat Life Saver and Field First Aid training.  To pass Greg had to give and receive an I.V., weapons training with M4/M16 (.223), M49 (.223) and M40 (7.62mm) machine guns as well as the 9mm pistol.  He received training with a simulated Humvee roll over and the procedure for getting out of the vehicle with up-armored door weight of 240 pounds and has participated in live fire missions and tests for Improvised Explosive Device (IED) spotting.  Greg is learning how to react to being shot at and tells us that Fort Bragg never sleeps – “24/7 for sure!” 

Greg was sent to Washington DC on the afternoon of February 16^th and on the 19^th he was with the Foreign Agriculture Service for more orientation/briefing.  February 21^st Greg participated in Afghanistan culture/sensitivity training.  Then Greg had his plans changed.  His security clearance was held up and he returned to Dayton.  March 10^th Greg received his security clearance and left from the Walla Walla airport.  His adventure had started.  Greg finally arrived at the Kabul American Embassy and received orientation and then was united with troops and preceded to his duty station in Panjshir. Panjshir is about 60 miles north of Kabul.

Greg and seven other USDA advisors will be deployed for nine months.  The Reconstruction Team will demonstrate farming techniques to Afghan farmers and will assist them with conservation practices such as the construction of windmills for livestock water, reforestation, and canal and river bank stabilization.  The advisors will mentor Afghan directors of agriculture to help improve their service to farmers.

Greg wrote “Right now my learning curve is steep with all the preparation etc., but I hope to endure and be able to do some good for the Afghan people in their world!”  The Snake River Team is proud of Greg’s decision to contribute to Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.  As others have stated, we will all worry until Greg returns.

Greg will come back from his deployment, in Afghanistan, and return to his duty station in Dayton, Washington January, 2009.

You can send  Greg Schlenz an e-mail.

We hope you have enjoyed this installment of Conservation Footprints. If you would like to have your article published in an upcoming issue of Conservation Footprints, let me know.  Comments and suggestions about this newsletter are also welcome.

For those interested in accessing past issues.

< Back to ... News