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                                            Conservation Footprints Logo - Olympic Mts.


                                                      Winter 2008 Issue

"Welcome to Conservation Footprints" icon

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

Message from Roylene

Over the past two months, I have spent time meeting with staff and partners. I have been able to visit 16 offices and have many more scheduled over the next month. It has been a great experience to meet the staff and hear about the various projects we are working on. It is my hope to actually see these projects during the upcoming field tours. I have attended RC&D council meetings and have spoken about the Farm Bill at conservation district farmer meetings.

Talking with staff, partners and our customers has given me a great view of the state, the issues and the resource concerns. I look forward to talking with more people in the weeks and months ahead.

I have met with partners like Washington State University, the Nature Conservancy, Direct Seed Association, Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington Association of Conservation Districts, Washington State Conservation Committee, Puget Sound Partnership, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, and Intermountain West Joint Venture. During these meetings we’ve talked about how we can work together to leverage funds – as well as tapping into each other’s resources to get conservation on the ground. It is clear that there are many opportunities to work together.

During these difficult economic times, we have been entrusted with a wonderful opportunity to both assist in the economic recovery AND conserve and protect our natural resources. Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), NRCS has received additional funding in three areas: Watershed Operation; Watershed Rehabilitation; and the Emergency Watershed Program (EWP) floodplain easements. The attached web page link provides additional information: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/recovery/implementation.html. We are working hard to ensure that the State of Washington receives some of this funding.

The future of conservation with the strong partners in this state looks very bright.
 

Bootprint graphics icon   "Makin' Tracks" icon   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 icon
Kristina Horn, Rangeland Management Specialist, Colville Field Office, effective 12/7/08
Erin Kaczmarczyk, Soil Conservation Technician, Ephrata Field Office, effective 12/7/08
Glenn Barber, Engineer Technician (Civil), Pomeroy Field Office, effective 12/21/08
Roylene Rides at the Door, promoted to Washington State Conservationist, Spokane State Office from Rhode Island, effective 12/21/08

congratulations on promotions icon
Ernie Holt, promoted to Central Area Agronomist, Ephrata Area Office, effective 12/21/08

goodbye and good luck icon
Dave Skinner, Farmer, Plant Material Center, retired effective 12/3/08


Tracy Hanger, Soil Conservationist, reassigned from Agronomist, Ephrata Field Office to the Pasco Field Office, effective 1/4/09


Congratulations to Crystal Briggs, Soil Scientist in the Mount Vernon Soil Survey office. Crystal is the proud parent of a new baby girl born March 12, 2009!

Ed Brincken, Soil Scientist, in the Chehalis Field Office, passed away November 19, 2008
R. Don Hurlbert, former resource conservationist of the Olympia Area Office, passed away January 20, 2009
Vern E. Beieler, retired soil scientist, passed away March 9, 2009
 

Bootprint graphics icon   "Footprint Features" icon  Highlights of conservation activities in Washington
Local news media filming snowpack measurement collection on Mt. Spokane.
Snow news is good news
Submitted by Ron Nichols, Public Affairs Officer, Spokane

In an effort to increase media and public awareness of snowpack and water supply forecasting data, Dave Kreft recently made the rounds at all three Spokane TV stations’ weather departments, briefing the meteorologists on current conditions and presenting each weather team with a certificate of appreciation for their on-going coverage of NRCS snowpack and stream flow reports.

Read more...

Currier Creek with riparian vegetation for shaded habitat
Returning Salmon to Upper Currier
Submitted by Heather Simmons-Rigdon, RC&D Coordinator

Water rights vs. salmon recovery: Is it possible to reconcile the needs of landowners with the needs of salmon?  One project has shown that it is.  Currier Creek in the Kittitas Valley is one of several creeks intersected by an irrigation ditch created by the Ellensburg Water Company in the 1860s.

Read more...

   Circle irrigation corner enrolled in a WHIP contract
Working with Conservation Partners
Submitted by Ernie Holt, Soil Conservationist, Ephrata

Wildlife habitat and its betterment have always been in high focus for the Big Bend Team. Our local working group and conservation districts have also been active supporters of the NRCS roll. NRCS has promoted this concept through the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) which offer both financial and technical assistance.

Read more...
Boy Scout crew and workers removing recreational dams from Hixon Creek, Tucannon Campground.
Blue Mountain RC&D News
Submitted by Lisa Naylor, RC&D Coordinator

A senior project in 2007 has carried over into a senior project in 2008. Tiger Tate, Dayton High School graduate, sought assistance from the Blue Mountain RC&D Council, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Forest Service to complete removal of recreational dams in the Tucannon Watershed. Project funds were secured by another student and when Jack Naylor was debating on a project - he didn’t have to look far.

Read more...
Calamity SNOTEL located in the Lewis River Basin
Snow Survey Crews Expand Network in 2008
Submitted by Scott Pattee, Water Supply Specialist, Mt. Vernon

Snow Survey staff from Oregon and Washington provided support in 2008 to cooperators around the state by installing five new SNOTEL (SNOw TELemetry) weather stations in four counties including; Jefferson, Lewis, Klickitat and Whatcom.

Read more...
Banner promoting Forestry EQIP program "Keeping your Forest Healthy"
Barking up the right tree: New NRCS campaign targets private forest landowners
Submitted by Ron Nichols, Public Affairs Officer, Spokane State Office

Thanks to a new, targeted marketing communications campaign, Washington’s private landowners are learning how they can qualify to receive technical and financial assistance through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). The NRCS and Washington’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) are working together to implement the outreach campaign in an effort to increase awareness of EQIP among private forest landowners – especially those with existing Forest Stewardship Plans.

Read more...
New Areas of Coverage for Oregon and Washington Plant Material Specialists

Agreements have been signed between the Oregon and Washington NRCS offices to change the area of coverage for the plant material specialists from these two states.

Read more...

So, Just What do These Special Emphasis Program Managers Do Anyway?
Submitted by Amanda Ettestad, Federal Womens SEPM

You probably know there’s a Civil Rights Advisory Committee (CRAC) in our state. And you probably even know that we have some Special Emphasis Program Managers (SEPMs) who are on the committee. But have you ever wondered “what exactly do these SEPMs do?” If so, maybe this will help.

Read more...

 

Bootprint graphics icon   "Footprint Extras" icon  Other items of interest along the way

Dayton Resource Conservationist Continues Detail in Afghanistan

Greg Schlenz, resource conservationist on a detail in Afganistan

Greg Schlenz, resource conservationist on a detail in Afganistan

Greg Schlenz, Resource Conservationist in the Dayton Field Office has now been in Afghanistan for one year. The original group of military personnel Greg trained with at Fort Bragg, North Carolina has returned to the U.S. and some to other assignments in different parts of the world. He continues his detail in the Panjshir Valley located in the foothills of Hindu-Kush. The Panjshir Valley is home to beautiful panoramic vistas, with a rugged natural splendor similar to the Colorado Rockies. Panjshir is renowned for its emeralds, as well as apricots and other fruits. According to Greg it’s definitely not what he had been expecting to see in his mind’s eye when he originally volunteered.

Greg supports the U.S. government efforts to strengthen diplomatic and economic relations between the United States and Afghanistan, with an emphasis on achieving economic efficiency in the agricultural sector. During his detail, he has fostered and developed a very good relationship with the Panjshir Provincial Governor, Hajji Bahlul. As a testament to that partnership, the governor announced the big-ticket item topping his provincial government’s agenda for 2009 will be agricultural development. Additionally, Greg works closely with Hashmatullah Inayat, Panjshir Provincial Agricultural Director, to support and foster reconstruction of the agricultural sector in an attempt to help build the ability of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to support and provide services to the agricultural sector.

Farmer plowing a field.
Farmer plowing a field for planting.

Greg’s number one goal while in Panjshir is to double the wheat yields in the Panjshir Valley before he ends his two-year tour in the spring of 2010. The Provincial Reconstruction Teams, and in particular Greg as its USDA liaison, is working diligently to bring in improved wheat with much higher yield potential. While attending a local shura - an Afghan community meeting - in a village, he discovered that the wheat a farmer produces can only sustain his family approximately four to six months out of every year. Typically, the farmers may have to trade something of what little they already have in their meager possession for something else needed to feed their families for the other half of year. If that same farmer could double his wheat yield, he would be able to feed his family for nearly the entire year, making it easier for them to survive and improve their overall quality of life. Currently, Panjshiris have 23 varieties of improved winter wheat germinating which will be assessed next harvest in June and July, 2009 for yield, disease and pest results. Greg has other goals he hopes to achieve while working in Afghanistan, but this one really hits home for him.

Work in Panjshir occupies team members almost seven days a week, approximately 10 to 12 hours a day. Projects are always on-going, whether it’s planning, coordinating or implementing, and all the projects never lack multiple moving parts. Greg says the team members really don’t have much time to think about back home, though family is never far from the heart and technology today makes staying in touch easier. Greg is very thankful to have a spouse and agency he works for who supports his deployment to Afghanistan and his efforts to help with the agricultural needs of the local Panjshiris. Greg says it has been an exceptionally rewarding life experience.

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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