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Summer 2009 Issue
 

A picture of Roylene Rides at the Door, State Conservationist NRCS Washington

Message from Roylene

Can you believe that we are wrapping up another fiscal year? Where did the summer go? It certainly has been a whirlwind for me. Here are just a few of the highlights.

In June, I attended the Confederated Colville Tribe’s First Salmon Ceremony where NRCS was recognized for all the great work in Omak Creek. Ten years of watershed rehabilitation work has resulted in the Spring Chinook salmon returning to Tribal waters. At a sunrise ceremony, the Tribal elder had those in attendance kneel down and click a pair of river rocks in the water. He told us that by doing so, we would call the salmon home. As I looked down the stream, I thought to myself, “Come home salmon, we have made it safe for you.” I was very proud to represent NRCS and receive a beautiful blanket on the agency’s behalf. If you’re in the state office, come see the blanket. I have it displayed in my office.

In July, I was part of a national 15- member team looking at building consistency in the Environmental Quality Incentives Program. The team looked at various aspects of funding pools, local allocations, payment schedules, special inactivates, and the timing of programs. It was very clear that states have a wide variety of ways to implement programs and it was a challenge to make final recommendations. During a teleconference the first week in August, we reported our findings and recommendations directly to Chief White for his consideration.

In August I attended the central area review. Chandra Neils (acting East Area Conservationist) and I traveled to each multi-county team along with other review teams. This gave us a great view of the technical, planning, program, and administrative aspects of the agency’s field work. I was very impressed with the work being done in the central area. In my 20 years of being involved with quality assurance reviews, in every way, this was the best review. It was clear that even with stress and large workloads, the central area still is striving to maintain quality. The area had developed many tools, worksheets, etc. to help manage the workload. Their conservation plans and contract folders were among the most professional and organized I have ever seen. It made the review so much easier. There are a few minor things that need adjustments – but all-in-all, kudos to the central area for a job well done!

I challenge the other areas to match the central area’s effort during the next few years. I also want to commend the review team for a very professional and quality review. We had many acting’s who stepped in and did a good job. At my level of the organization, I see the issues and problems, so this was an inspiration to me. I was able to see that in most cases we are doing things right, which is resulting in some great conservation on the ground. I feel very confident, given the high-level of documentation and organization in the central area, we are well positioned. Keep up the great work!

I hope all of you took some time off this summer to enjoy the outdoors. During our vacation, my family and I went camping to Mt. Rainer (Talco or Tacoma, the name Tribes gave the meaning “Mother of waters”) and the Olympic Peninsula. We had a great time and returned home with a renewed sense of purpose. I look forward to the new fiscal year. We are currently working to put processes in place to assure that fiscal year 2010 will be much better. I think the new fiscal year will be a great time to work together in our shared purpose of conservation.
 

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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.

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Benjamin Letourneau, Resource Conservationist, Colfax.  Transferred from NRCS Kansas, effective 5/10/09
Janice Monk, Office Automation Clerk, Spokane State Office, effective 5/10/09
Luke Nofsinger, Biological Science Aid (Plants), Plant Material Center, effective 5/24/09
Jonathan George, Yakama Tribal Liaison, Toppenish Tribal Office. Transferred/promoted from NRCS Montana, effective 6/7/09
Channon Bighorn, Soil Conservation Technician, Goldendale.  Reassigned from NRCS Montana, effective 6/7/09
Dominic Trevisan, Biological Science Aid (Plants), Plant Material Center, effective 6/7/09
Jenifer Coleson, Soil Conservationist, Spokane State Office, effective 7/5/09
Samantha Bartling, RC&D Coordinator, Okanogan, effective 8/16/09
Dallas Spellman, Farmer, Plant Materials Center, effective 8/16/09
Garrett Fish, Soil Conservation Technician, effective 9/13/09

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Tracy Hanger – For outstanding work with the Snake River Team cultural resources workload.
Chad Dunnahoo – For leading the effort to complete FY 09 EQIP and WHIP payment schedules.
Jim Poffel – For an outstanding job on complex WRP landowner agreements.
Nick Studebaker – For assistance to the Geo Technical and Spokane Soil Survey Teams while serving as an Earth Team volunteer.
Brian Jackson - For extra effort in learning and application of the Big Bend Team contract administration for FY 09.
Darren Mitchell - For extra effort in learning and application of the Big Bend Team contract administration for FY 09.
Erin Kaczmarczyk - For extra effort in learning and application of the Big Bend Team contract administration for FY 09.
Ed Teel - For outstanding performance during a high stress, contract deadline time. Even with three employees out, you kept your team on track with an extraordinary amount of patience and good attitude.
Dave Weber - For superior assistance in locating training sites and carrying out the 2009 Conservation Planning training in Pullman.
Sergio Paredes - For prompt quality assistance making a Spanish language translation of the 2010 the EQIP news release.
Amy Hendershot - For extraordinary efforts to promote EQIP through sustained media relations outreach activities.
Ryan Bartelheimer - For prompt, professional and courteous service to the field office as well as customers.
Kimberly Miller - For excellent assistance with program eligibility.  Because of your assistance, NRCS was able to obligate our contracts within the deadline.
Betty Fahlenkamp - For excellent assistance with program eligibility.  Because of your assistance, NRCS was able to obligate our contracts within the deadline.

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Shannon Gfeller, Agricultural Engineer, Mount Vernon, effective 6/21/09
Paul Gleason, Soil Conservationist, Chehalis, effective 7/5/09
Wes Durheim, Civil Engineering Technician, Spokane State Office, effective 7/5/09
Jaida Levine, Purchasing Agent, Spokane State Office, effective 7/19/09
Debbie Penner-Fortner, Soil Conservationist, Dayton, temporary promotion, effective 7/19/09
John Kendig, Resource Conservationist, Olympia, temporary promotion, effective 8/2/09
Dan Larsen, Soil Conservationist, Port Orchard, effective 8/30/09

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Erin Kaczmarczyk, Soil Conservationist, Ephrata Field Office.  Reassigned from Soil Conservation Technician, Ephrata, effective 5/10/09

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Jay Kehne, North Central Resource Conservation & Development Coordinator, Okanogan, retired effective 5/2/09
Ralph Christiansen, East Area Conservationist, Spokane Area Office, retired effective 7/3/09
Gary Kuhn, Forester, Spokane State Office, retires effective 8/28/09

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Heidi Smidansky, Soil Conservationist, Mount Vernon Field Office, Leave without Pay not to exceed 8/21/09, effective 6/24/09

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Highlights of conservation activities in Washington
The golden leaves and pale trunks of aspen signal the apex of autumn in Washington State. This stand is in Ferry County on the Colville Reservation near Twin Lakes.
Saving Our Aspen
Submitted By Tim Dring, State Biologist Spokane State Office

The west would certainly look different, especially in the fall, if there were no more aspen to mitigate the vast expanse of confers that is the hallmark of this country’s western forests. Aspens can be found along seeps, near creeks, streams and rivers, along the base of cliffs, wherever there is a little more ground water than the adjacent landscape. Aspens are among the largest living organisms.


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Dairyman Jeremy Visser, Alex Hall, NRCS and Dave Unruh, FSA discuss the separator and temperature control panel inside a Bedding Recovery Unit.
Bedding Recovery Units in Whatcom County
Submitted by John Kendig, Resource Conservationist, Olympia

Have you ever thought about all the input that goes into producing a gallon of milk? How about the amount of wood chips needed to bed a cow for a month? Recently, thanks to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and conservation district staffs in Lynden, they helped answer some of these questions on a recent tour of alternatives to using wood chips.


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   NRCS graphic designer, SuzAnne DeMaine (pictured here), designed a series of conservation public service ads that are now in six locations throughout the Spokane International Airport. The conservation messages could reach an estimated 3.2 million passengers annually.
Conservation ad series lands at Spokane International Airport
Partnership provides “first class” information to traveling public

Submitted by Ron Nichols, Public Affairs Officer, Spokane State Office

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Washington recently teamed up with the Spokane International Airport and the Younger Agency to place – free of charge – a series of public service ads that could reach an estimated 3.2 million passengers annually. The Younger Agency and the Spokane Airport Board are providing as much as $40,000 in public service ad space this year to help promote natural resource conservation on private lands in Washington.


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Here a goat is shown eating leafy spurge
Leafy Spurge on Trial

Submitted by Andrea Mann and Craig Madsen

Big Bend Resource Conservation and Development has partnered with Lincoln County Conservation District, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Lincoln County Noxious Weed Board, Washington State University, Washington State Department of Agriculture and local landowners to establish a Cooperative Weed Management Area in Lincoln County and a small portion of Spokane County. The target species is leafy spurge, an invasive noxious weed.


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Gerry Krueger stands next to a Western Larch 14 years after it was planted.
Best Time to Plant a Tree
Submitted by Steve Sprecher, Soil Conservationist, Spokane

Planting trees and shrubs for the future can seem to be an arduous task, and it is easy to put it off, but by acting sooner rather than later, the transformation can be realized. The person who said "the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, and the second best time is now" was correct.

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Earth Team volunteer, Pamela Nelson, interviews area conservationist Harold Crose for the "Getting to Know You" article.
Earth Team Volunteering Has Been Rewarding
Submitted by Pamela Nelson, Volunteer, Ephrata

As a retired teacher, I have a great deal of time now to enjoy living on our ten acres in the country. I usually enjoy eating simple, healthy meals at home, however my husband, Leigh Nelson, likes to eat out. So about two years ago, I decided to drive to Ephrata on Fridays to go out to lunch with Leigh, and be an Earth Team Volunteer at his office.

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Photo of Nick Studebaker, Earth Team Volunteer
My Experience as an Earth Team Volunteer
Submitted by Nick Studebaker, Volunteer, Spokane

It was the middle of February 2009. Trying to be as proactive as possible, I was looking ahead to see what additional courses I would need to fulfill my geography major requirements when the end of March, and another quarter, rolled around. To my surprise, there were few that were available to me in my particular situation, and in fact, none that were required. After sharing this information with my parents, my mother suggested that rather than essentially dropping out, per se, for a quarter before the summer, that I see if I could find an internship that might give me a direction as to how I might apply my geography degree (once I receive it in June 2010).

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Jennifer Johnston, Student Career Experience Program intern.
Student Career Experience Program Spotlight
Submitted by Jan Monk, Office Automation Clerk, Spokane State Office

This feature spotlights Jennifer Johnston, one of Washington's Student Career Experience Program (SCEP) participants. Jennifer worked this summer with the Spokane Multi-state Design Team.


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Civil Rights Advisory Committee Meets in Zillah
Submitted by Rick Beck, Central Area Representative

Instead of the same old meeting location at the state office, the Civil Rights Advisory Committee, or CRAC as it's fondly called, decided on a change of scenery. We held our May meeting at the Zillah field office because of its central location. Coincidentally, Zillah is also in one of the most diverse locals in the state. It is close to the Yakama Indian Reservation, which includes a population of Japanese American and Filipino farmers, as well as a large Hispanic population within the Yakima Valley.

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Other items of interest along the way
Jerry Rouse explains First Nations Julyumsh
"It’s Salish for “July Pow-wow”
Submitted by Jan Monk, Office Automation Clerk, Spokane State Office

The Coeur d’Alene Tribe welcomed over 60,000 Native Americans and non-Native Americans in a showcase of the best of First Nation dancers, music, foods and crafts at the 16th annual Julyumsh at the Greyhound Park off I-90, just east of Spokane from July 24-26. “It draws the best dancers from all over the U.S. and Canada because of the large cash prizes for dancers and Drum. It’s a tough competition and an honor to American Indian culture,” said Jerry Rouse, State Rangeland Management Specialist.

Pow-wow, Rouse said, is a gathering of North America's Native people. The word is derived from the Narragansett word meaning "spiritual leader."

The Pow-wow began on Friday evening with The Grand Entry. In the Native American tradition, dancers and Drum are led by the Eagle Staff in a sacred ceremony, opening with a prayer to the Great Spirit, inviting blessings on the gathering. To show reverence, photography is restricted. A “Drum” is a group of four or more performers who play a large drum and lead traditional songs. A “Host Drum,” or guest group, accorded great respect and authority, provided music over the weekend.

Colorful regalia, made from buckskins, beadwork and feathers, are often handed down from previous generations or handmade by the dancers. Competing according to age, speed and style, dance categories are grouped by men, women, teens and children. Women, considered Mother Earth, perform the Shawl dance, Jingle Dress dance or Fancy dance. “From the outsider,” Rouse said, “it may look like the women are shuffling. But in our tradition, because they are Mother Earth, they must always keep one foot on the ground when they dance,” he said.

The highlight of the Pow-wow was the Fancy Dance competition where young men, wearing vivid regalia, perform spins, leaps and turns. “You have to be young and strong to do the moves like that. I’m too old,” Rouse said. “But it’s fun to watch.”

Note: Washington NRCS staff Rangeland Management Specialist Jerry Rouse (Yankton Sioux) together with State Conservationist Roylene Rides at the Door (Blackfeet) and Tribal Liaison Martin Bales (Maricopa) led a workshop on Working Effectively with American Indians this summer at the American Indian Alaska Native Employees Association Conference in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
 

We hope you have enjoyed the employee submitted articles highlighted in this issue of Conservation Footprints.  Please submit your comments, suggestions and/or new articles for an up-coming issue of this newsletter.  

Read past Conservation Footprints or Current Development publications.

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