New Additions Announced to Civil Rights Team - Five additional NRCS employees have been selected to serve on the USDA Civil Rights Implementation Team (CRIT). Joining Katherine Gugulis, team leader, and Susan Odle will be Cindy Davis, Denise Decker, Ronnie Murphy, Richard Vigil, and Mon Yee. The CRIT has been charged with implementing the 92 recommendations in the Civil Rights Action Team's report.

Federal Agencies To Sponsor Satellite Broadcast on Riparian Restoration - On May 1, 1997, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will sponsor a satellite broadcast on Riparian Restoration and Management. NRCS, Forest Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are participating in the event. The broadcast originates from the BLM training center in Phoenix, AZ, and will air from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Pacific time [or 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time]. All of these Federal agencies will sponsor down-link sites where available. More information will follow.

NRCS Chief Signs MOU for Rangeland Health - Chief Paul Johnson signed an MOU with the Forest Service and BLM on March 14, 1997, that establishes a Federal Interagency Rangeland Health Committee. The Committee will be responsible for developing, standardizing, and implementing the methodology to be used by NRCS, BLM, and Forest Service to inventory, monitor, and assess the status of public and private rangeland health.

IN THE FIELD

New Conservation Planning Course Inaugurated - Three to four NRCS representatives from each of the Northern Plains States met in Denver, CO, this week to take part in a new Conservation Planning Course. This "train-the-trainer" type course is designed to train participants so they can return to their States and train others. It will prepare participants to apply the conservation planning process; help them use supporting technology and tools; and prepare them to help clients protect their resources and meet clients' needs. It emphasizes working with individuals, is field oriented, and can be tailored to fit a State's needs.

Students Landscape National Plant Data Center - The NRCS National Plant Data Center has moved into new facilities on the campus of Southern University, Baton Rouge, LA. The landscape surrounding the facility is being designed by students of North Carolina A&T State University, the only accredited landscape architecture program in an 1890 university. Students in the Southern University Urban Forestry program, the first urban forestry program in the United States and the only one located at an 1890 university, will install the design. The design focuses on the use of native plant species supporting the Native Plant Conservation Initiative signed by Chief Paul Johnson.

Video Crew Covers Flood Damage Recovery - A USDA video crew is filming flood damage and tornado recovery in Arkansas for a video news release. The filming will cover cleaning out storm drains in Arkadelphia; flood work on the Mississippi River near Osceola; and flood sites near Piggott, including one where a house is about to fall into a creek.

Salmon Project Provides Jobs, Helps Fish - A combination of dramatic shifts in ocean conditions, loss of habitat, and the effects of years of drought devastated many West Coast salmon populations. People who fish for the salmon were left without jobs and local economies suffered. The Northwest Emergency Assistance Program (NEAP) is providing for the recovery of salmon populations and for the livelihoods of those in northern California, Oregon, and Washington who fish for salmon.

A $13 million relief package from the U.S. Department of Commerce has enabled NRCS to oversee the program's Habitat Restoration Element. There are more than 45 NEAP projects underway or completed in northern California alone. For more information, contact the California NRCS office in Davis for a copy of "Salmon Fishers and Habitats-Recovery and Renewal."

LEGISLATIVE NEWS

EWP Supplemental Request Sent to Congress - The President submitted the Administration's request for emergency supplemental funds following a string of disasters in recent months including coastal flooding in January and recent tornado/flooding activity in the East. The President's package contains $1.42 billion in new budget authority to address emergency needs arising from disasters that have occurred since the September 30th enactment of the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY 1997. Included in the request is $84 million for NRCS Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations to reduce hazards to life and property in watersheds damaged by storms in FY 1997.

Easter Recess - The Senate will be out of session until April 6. The House will be out until April 7.

CONSTITUENCY AND PARTNERSHIP NEWS

Looking for a Few Good Watershed Protectors - Nominations for the second annual CF Industries National Watershed Awards are due May 29. Three communities and one corporation will be honored for their outstanding efforts to protect America's watersheds at a ceremony in Washington, DC, in late September. Award criteria include stakeholder representation, community outreach, interdisciplinary approach, innovative nonregulatory actions, and achievement of measurable goals. Applications for award nominations may be obtained from: Terrene Institute, 4 Herbert St., Alexandria, VA 22305; 730-548-5473; terrinst@aol.com. Forms may be downloaded from www.terrene.org.

RESEARCH BRIEFS

Well-Fed Earthworms Enrich Soil Quality - Research in St. Paul, MN, confirms that earthworm populations are higher under reduced tillage than conventional tillage because more organic matter is left for the worms to eat. And, as expected, earthworms feeding in soybean fields leave behind more nitrogen, protein, and other nutrients available for subsequent crops than do earthworms feeding in corn fields. Contact Dennis Linden, ARS, 612-625-6798.

Grazing Cattle Yield Healthy Rangeland - Topsoil on grazed rangeland contains more carbon and nitrogen than topsoil on similar ungrazed land, precisely because of the presence of cattle, according to ARS soil quality research in Cheyenne, WY. Contact Richard H. Hart, ARS, 307-772-2433.

Irrigation Pressure Regulator Blocks Surges - A new irrigation aid automatically blocks unwanted surges in water pressure to help farmers avoid applying too much water to their crops. An ARS researcher in Kimberly, ID, invented a lightweight, low-maintenance irrigation pressure regulator that can easily be installed in several kinds of pressurized irrigation systems. The regulator is simpler and cheaper than some other options for controlling water pressure. Contact Dennis Kincaid, ARS, 208-423-6503.

INTERNET ADDRESSES OF NOTE

Surf Your Watershed - EPA's Office of Water sponsors this website to help citizens and decisionmakers locate, use, and share water quality and environmental information on their watersheds. Website: http://www.epa.gov/surf.

EPA's Nonpoint Source Information Exchange - http://www.epa.gov/owow/NPS/npsie.html.

UPCOMING EVENTS

April - Keep America Beautiful Month

April 22 - Earth Day

April 25 - National Arbor Day

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 the National Watershed Coalition, Reno, NV. Contact: Jim Fisher, 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.

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, Ste. 100, Washington, D.C. 20002.

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. Conference information can also be found at: http://www.swcs.org/AnnCon.htm.

QUOTE

"We travel together, passengers on a little space ship, dependent on its vulnerable reserves of air and soil; all committed for our safety to its security and peace; preserved from annihilation only by the care, the work, and, I will say, the love we give our fragile craft. We cannot maintain it half fortunate, half miserable, half confident, half despairing, half slave-to the ancient enemies of man-half free in a liberation of resources undreamed of until this day. No craft, no crew can travel safely with such vast contradictions. On their resolution depends the survival of us all." -Adlai E. Stevenson

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: judy.ladd@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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