NRCS Celebrates Earth Day - On April 19, NRCS participated with the Girl Scout Council of the National Capital in Earth Day activities at the Air and Space Museum. Nearly 1,500 youth and adult Girl Scout leaders attended, in addition to thousands of other museum visitors. The NRCS theme was "Linking Space to Conservation." NRCS used images such as photographs and images derived from satellites and used stereoscopic lenses to help visitors view 3-dimensional images.

On April 22, NRCS staff participated in an Earth Day Anacostia River Celebration hosted by the Government of the District of Columbia at Anacostia Park. About 1,000 students from schools in the Anacostia Watershed attended the celebration, which emphasized personal responsibility for protecting the Anacostia River and its link to the Chesapeake Bay. In addition to providing funds to support the event, NRCS staff provided an interactive exhibit on soils and erosion where students made miniature soil profiles. Students viewed native fish and wildlife species, received fishing lessons, toured a section of the river in boats, and participated in several other fun learning activities. Also attending were Vice President Al Gore, DC Mayor Marion Barry, and NRCS Chief Paul Johnson.

Secretary of Agriculture Issues Civil Rights Update - On April 22, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman issued a Secretary's Memorandum--Civil Rights Update for All USDA Employees. In the memorandum, the Secretary said that all civil rights complaints that can be resolved will be resolved by June 6, 1997. He cited several other actions underway to implement the 92 recommendations of the Civil Rights Action Team. Thirteen recommendations will require funding or legislative changes. The Secretary said strong support for civil rights will be a key criterion in his selection of USDA leadership, including the next administrator of the Farm Service Agency, the next Under Secretary for the Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services mission area, and all other subcabinet and leadership posts currently vacant.

District of Columbia Urban Initiative Kicks Off - On April 24, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman announced that the Clinton Administration will provide more than $3 million in technical and financial assistance and team with community members, organizations, and local government agencies to launch the new Urban Resource Initiative for the District of Columbia.

To kick-off the initiative, the Secretary presented John Burroughs Elementary School Principal Nae Davis with four computers to create an environmental learning laboratory at the school, and volunteers planted the first 14 of 1,000 trees USDA will provide to the District this year.

NRCS Future Directions Task Force Makes Great Strides - The Future Directions Task Force has made significant progress in developing a proposed vision for the future of field-level business process automation. The Task Force will be presenting its proposed vision to Chief Johnson and agency leadership in early June. Along with this proposed vision, the Task Force will be presenting a plan for transitioning from NRCS current state of field-level automation Field Office Computing System (FOCS), to the proposed future vision. To help formulate this transition plan, additional direct input from field-level users of FOCS will be sought through a series of regional conference calls.

On April 30 and May 1, two field employees from each State/territory will participate in a two hour conference call to discuss the proposed vision that has been developed and garner reaction to it; ask questions regarding the current functionality of FOCS and seek input as to what components are of most value to field-level users; and seek input as to what streamlining efforts and improvements to FOCS would be of most value to field users during the transition to the proposed future vision. In offices where NRCS employees are participating in the conference calls, Soil and Water Conservation District, Farm Service Agency, and Rural Development employees will be invited to participate.

Satellite Broadcast on Riparian Restoration Airs May 1: On May 1, from 10:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Eastern Time, Forest Service (FS) Chief Mike Dombeck, NRCS Chief Paul Johnson, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Deputy Administrator Mat Millenbach, and Fish and Wildlife Service Acting Director John Rogers, will host an interagency training and informational satellite broadcast of "Get in the Flow for Healthy Streams." The broadcast will originate from the BLM training center in Phoenix, AZ, and include interactive discussion with agency leaders, permittees, environmentalists, and land managers.

The broadcast is designed to heighten public awareness of the importance of riparian areas, and to promote discussion of ways to mend and protect them. FS Staff Directors and NRCS Managers are encouraged to host stakeholders at downlink locations. The agenda is available via the FS homepage and NRCS homepage under "General Interest Information." The sites are linked to the BLM homepage, at: <http://www.blm.gov/partner/broadcast.html>, which lists potential downlink sites across the nation. At the South Agriculture Building in Washington, DC, the broadcast can be viewed in Rm. 1605-S and at the Memorial Room in the USDA Training Center.

Social Sciences Institute to Broadcast "The Leader In You" Series - The NRCS Social Sciences Institute, in cooperation with the National Association of Conservation Districts, the National Association of State Conservation Agencies, and the United States Chamber of Commerce will sponsor a two hour satellite seminar from 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on April 29, "Make Marketing Work for You." Trainer Lester Wunderman, who coined the phrase "direct marketing", will present the seminar. Staffs wanting to increase district tree sales, enhance attendance at field days and other events, or attract partners to conservation initiatives, will benefit from this seminar.

IN THE FIELD

California Middle School Students Support State Soil - On April 17, the California State Senate passed by a vote of 33 to 1, a bill sponsored by students from Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School in Madera, CA, to make the "San Joaquin Valley series" the California State soil. The San Joaquin series soil is unique to California, and accounts for a half-million acres of some of the State's best farmland. The bill now goes to the State Assembly where several Madera students are expected to testify on its behalf. Nationwide, 45 States have selected a State soil and 12 of them have had a State soil established by their State legislature.

Youth Groups Participate in Valuable Exchange - Students in Spartanburg, SC, and Caribe, PR, have learned much about conservation and another culture through a conservation exchange program, one of the first such exchanges in the Nation. In July 1996, the Spartanburg Youth Board hosted a youth group from Caribe, PR, for two weeks, and in December to January 1997, the Spartanburg youth visited Puerto Rico. Robert Toole, Southeast representative for the National Association of Conservation Districts, says that he had been thinking about initiating such an exchange program following a visit to Puerto Rico and knew it was the right time when he met the Spartanburg Youth Board. Also instrumental in organizing the exchange program were Kelly Hall, Spartanburg district manager, and Charles Banks, NRCS District Conservationist in Spartanburg.

CONSTITUENCY AND PARTNERSHIP NEWS

Call for Abstracts for National Urban and Community Conservation Conference - The National Urban and Community Conservation Conference will be held November 2-5, 1997, at the Adam's Mark Hotel in Columbus, OH. The conference focuses public attention on the social, economic and environmental issues inherent with urbanization. The conference is sponsored by the National Association of Conservation Districts with co-sponsorship from NRCS, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and several other private and public entities. A call for papers (CFP) has been issued, and abstracts are due on May 15, 1997. The CFP can be accessed through the NACD home page at http://www.nacdnet.org/meetings/urbconf.htm. Contact Karl F. Otte at 703-440-8611 or "washington@nacdnet.org.

Call for Abstracts for "Watershed '98" Conference - "Watershed Management: Moving from Theory to Implementation" will address watershed planning, protection, restoration, and education May 3-6, 1998, in Denver, CO. Specific subjects include watershed approaches, Federal and tribal land management, agricultural initiatives, mining, coastal issues, water reuse, and industrial and commercial development. Submit abstracts by June 16, 1997. Call the Water Environment Federation at 800-666-0206 for more information, or e-mail confinfo@wef.org.

LEGISLATIVE NEWS

House Appropriations Committee Markup of Emergency Supplemental Funding -

On April 24, the House Appropriations Committee (Chairman Bob Livingston, R-La.) marked up the fiscal year 1997 supplemental. The bill, as amended by the Committee includes:

-$150.7 million for the Emergency Watershed Program--a $50 million increase from the Subcommittee mark

-$65 million for the Emergency Conservation Program--a $20 million increase from the Subcommittee mark

In addition, the full Committee retained language that would limit enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Program to 14 million acres. The bill allows the use of $10 million of the funds to purchase floodplain easements. The committee report stated that in the absence of final regulations, the funds would be used as a floodplain easement pilot. The legislation also prohibits use of the funds to support the salmon memorandum of understanding.

UPCOMING EVENTS

May - American Wetlands Month

May 1 - Satellite broadcast on Riparian Restoration and Management; airs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time. Contact: Doug Blankenship, Bureau of Land Management, 202-452-5079, or Bill Boyer, NRCS, 202-720-0307.

May 4-10 - Drinking Water Week

May 7-9 - An American Wetlands Month Celebration -- "Communities Working for Wetlands," Radisson Plaza Hotel, Alexandria, VA. Call: 800/726-4853 or FAX: 703-548-6299 or e-mail: terrene@gnn.com.

May 8-10 - Public Service Recognition Week, National Mall Event, Washington, D.C.

May 18-21 - Fifth National Watershed Conference, "Living in Your Watershed." Sponsored by National Watershed Coalition, Reno, NV. Call Jim Fisher at 303-988-1810.

May 18-20 - The Wildlife Habitat Council (in cooperation with the Wildlife Society and sponsored by NRCS and other Federal, State, and private organizations) 1997 Wildlands Conference, "Exceeding Expectations," Swissotel, Atlanta, GA. Call: 201-588-8994.

May 30-June 1 - The Ducks Unlimited GREAT OUTDOORS FESTIVAL 1997. Agricenter International, Memphis, TN. For more information call Ducks Unlimited at 901-758-3825 or visit their World Wide Web site at: <http://www.ducks.org/frames_hotnews.html>

June 3-5 - International Symposium commemorating the 50th Anniversary of USDA's Wind Erosion Research at Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS. Contact: The Wind Erosion Research Unit (WERU) by phone: 913-532-6495; FAX: 913-532-6526; e-mail: sym@weru.ksu.edu; or on the World Wide Web: http://www.weru.ksu.edu.

June 15-18 - National Association of RC&D Councils Conference, St. Paul, MN. Contact: Becky Lane, 202-546-8800 or write to: National Association of RC&D Councils, 509 Capital Court, NE, Suite 100, Washington, D.C. 20002.

June 24-26 - National Agricultural Resource Management Planning Conference, Omni Royal Orleans, New Orleans, LA. Call Lyn Kirschner at 765-494-1827 or send e-mail to: kirschner@ctic.purdue.edu.

July 17-19, 1997 - Land Improvement Contractors of America Summer Meeting, Providence, RI. Contact Wayne F. Maresch at 301-248-9313 or e-mail to: Wayne F86@aol.com.

July 22-25 - The 52nd Soil and Water Conservation Society Annual Conference; Interactions, Managing Ecosystems on a Watershed Basis; Toronto, Canada. Contact: Jennifer Pemble, 800-843-7645 or visit: http://www.swcs.org/AnnCon.htm.

QUOTE

"Caring for natural resources and volunteering brings people together to solve local problems and fosters a sense of community and pride."

--Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman

NRCS This Week is issued weekly by the Conservation Communications Staff, NRCS headquarters, Washington, D.C., and posted on the NRCS Home Page at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov. Please send correspondence and material via e-mail to: nancy.garlitz@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.

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