Featured Article
 

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Submitted by Leigh Nelson, Irrigation Engineer, Ephrata

Elk feeding in habitat under wind machines near Ryegrass, Washington - Sarah Troutman-Zahn

Last spring, the Central Area started a monthly newsletter, the Tickler (to Tickle your memory). We requested that everybody take and send in photos of conservation practices. The purpose of this was to provide visual data of progress in the area and also to update the area photo library for presentations, examples, and trainings.

The response was great, so it was decided to choose one photo sent to the Tickler newsletter to be the best photo of the month. The selection criterion was: 1) a practice installed in the area, 2) a written description of the practice, and 3) a nice quality photo clearly showing the practice. Many great pictures have been submitted in a number of categories, (see the Ephrata Shared drive/photo gallery); we now have several very nice examples of practices that have been installed in the area. In fact, the photos were so good, that we decided to have them enlarged, matted, framed and displayed in the Area Office and they look great.

Columbia Basin minimum till wheat to corn - Photo by Tracy Hanger

I would recommend that each office take or find some pictures from your local area of the practices installed. These photos make it easier for landowners, planners, and the public to visualize what a specific practice will look like. They also make your office look better, and show off your work.

What an excellent way to remind ourselves, and others, of the really wonderful improvements we are making as we work together with our partners to install quality practices such as wildlife habitat around wind machines, stream improvements, ponds, stock water crossings and Wetland Reserve Program ponds. A picture is indeed worth a thousand words!
 

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