NRCS Alaska News

December 9, 2005

In this Issue:

MY.NRCS Survey to Help Gauge NRCS Workforce Satisfaction, Needed Improvements

McCarthy Floodplain Study Reveals Potential Future Threats

Gift Policy Reminder

Update On Photo Contest

Mat Su RC&D Meeting

NRCS to Participate in Two State-Wide Conferences

Newsletter Survey Results

FSAFEDS and FEHB Open Seasons Close Monday

Alaska Employee Calendar

Personnel Actions

MY.NRCS Survey to Help Gauge NRCS Workforce Satisfaction, Needed Improvements

Since 1993, the Federal workforce has been reduced by about 325,000 full-time employees. With approximately 1.8 million employees, the Federal workforce is the lowest it has been since 1950. The average age of the Federal workforce has risen to 46 from 42 in 1990. Because of the age bulge associated with the baby boomer generation, over 50 percent of the current Federal workforce will be eligible to retire by 2010. It is expected that 40% will actually retire.

It is in this light that we want to understand what work conditions and benefits you like as well as what improvements are needed to maintain a productive and satisfied workforce. This survey asks you for a considerable amount of information including job satisfaction, career goals, job skills, training, hiring, and retirement.

The survey, which is featured on my.nrcs, is divided into 10 sections. Some questions are general attitudinal questions, while others are more specific. All your responses will be confidential. The survey will take anywhere between 15 and 20 minutes.

Thank you for participating in this effort.

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McCarthy Floodplain Study Reveals Potential Future Threats

The McCarthy Creek Floodplain Management Study was recently completed for the McCarthy Area Council and is available for download from the NRCS Alaska website www.ak.nrcs.usda.gov.  McCarthy is a small community located near Wrangell-St. Elias National Park that dates back to the turn-of-the-century copper mining days at Kennicott.

NRCS first became involved with McCarthy Creek in 2000 when a series of stream barbs were installed to curb the bank erosion threatening historical structures in the community.  During installation of the barb project it became apparent that much bigger issues involving McCarthy Creek faced the residents of McCarthy.

NRCS received a congressional earmark to provide assistance to McCarthy in determining the causes and likely solutions to the increased flooding and erosion hazards being observed near the community.  Through the use of an architect and engineer contract, NRCS secured the services of Inter-Fluve Inc., of Hood River, Ore., to conduct the necessary modeling efforts and associated analysis.

The study effort concluded that a variety of factors are instrumental in the changes seen on McCarthy Creek, but the major culprit is the natural process of abandonment of the East Fork of the Kennicott River.  This channel abandonment began a chain reaction that has resulted in the formation of an alluvial fan on McCarthy Creek just downstream of McCarthy.  The formation of the fan is due to a lack of stream energy necessary to transport the sediment load in the system.  The report concluded that ultimately this fan will continue to grow until the channel re-achieves a gradient able to produce a flow with enough energy to transport the sediment load and again form a stable channel.

Unfortunately for residents of McCarthy, the report estimates creek bed elevations may rise by as much as 15 feet before reaching stability.  This will seriously affect the community and the historical structures as flooding, channel instability, and, ultimately, channel migration will become much more frequent events under the current conditions.

Jeff Oatley and former State Conservation Engineer, Rob Sampson, were major players in this effort and thanks to their efforts the citizens of McCarthy have a better idea of the forces they are up against.

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Gift Policy Reminder

It's that time of year to know about gift policies! In general, an employee may not give or solicit a contribution for a gift to an official supervisor and may not accept a gift from an employee receiving less pay if the employee is a subordinate.  But on occasions "where gifts are traditionally given" such as the holidays, an employee may give the following to an official superior:

1. Items, other than cash, valued at $10 or less;
2. Items such as food and refreshments to be shared in the office; and
3. Personal hospitality provided at a residence which is of a type and value customarily provided by the employee to personal friends.

Gifts from outside sources, generally speaking, are restricted.  An employee may not solicit or accept a gift given because of his/her official position or from a prohibited source to include anyone who:

• has or seeks official action or business with the agency;
• is regulated by the agency;
• has interests that may be substantially affected by the performance of an employee's official duties; or
• is an organization composed mainly of such persons. 

A "gift" under these policies generally does not include items such as publicly available discounts and prizes, commercial loans, food not part of a meal such as coffee and donuts, and items of little value such as plaques and greeting cards.

Is it acceptable to accept anything? Unless the frequency of the acceptance of gifts would appear to be improper, an employee may generally accept:

1. gifts based on a personal relationship when it is clear that the motivation is not his official position;
2. gifts of $20 or less per occasion, not to exceed $50 per year from one source;
3. discounts and similar benefits offered to a broad class, including a broad class of government employees;
4. most genuine awards and honorary degrees, although in some cases an employee will need a formal determination;
5. free attendance, food, refreshments and materials provided at a conference or widely attended gathering or certain social events which an employee attends in his official capacity, with approval;
6. gifts based on an outside business relationship, such as travel expenses related to a job interview. 

Please check with Cassie Storms, (907) 761-7776, if you have any questions.

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Update On Photo Contest

More than 130 photos were submitted for the first NRCS Conservation Photo Contest.  Entries included landscapes, livestock, wildlife, rural life, soil horizons, staff at work (and at play), cultural resources and one bright yellow cauliflower.  The judges for the photo contest were Gene Schock, Tom Hedt, Victoria Naegele, Phil Naegele and Pam Taber.  All entries will be on display at the all-employee meeting next week, and the winners will be announced at the awards luncheon.

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Mat Su RC&D Meeting

Yesterday the Mat-Su Resource and Development Council hosted the Eighth Annual Valley Economic Development Conference in Wasilla.  Speakers included Sen. Lisa Murkowski and representatives from the Governor’s Office, the State of Alaska and the Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority. 

The conference also convened panel discussions on industry, financing, workforce development and tourism that featured more than a dozen leaders from those sectors.

Conference participation grew by 50 percent over last year; more than 120 persons were in attendance filling the facility to capacity.

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NRCS to Participate in Two State-Wide Conferences

NRCS staff will be participating in two statewide conferences in upcoming months.  The Alaska Forum on the Environment will take place in Anchorage Feb. 6-8. This year I have joined the planning committee for the conference and was able to get four NRCS-related sessions on the agenda.  Joe Moore and Rick McClure will give a demonstration of soil and snow survey including ways that local communities can access and apply available resource data. Tom Lance will be on a panel discussing case studies in trail hardening. Arlene Rosenkrans will be on the “Models of Community-Led Conservation” panel. NRCS is also putting together a panel on watershed planning. More details on the Alaska Forum are available online at www.akforum.com.

The Small Business Development Conference hosted by Alaska Village Initiatives will take place in Anchorage February 14 – 16. Planned for the conference is a breakout session about NRCS about the kinds of assistance NRCS provides, and a listening session to encourage dialog with rural business and tribal leaders. More information will be forthcoming as the details are finalized. More details on the Small Business Development Conference are available at www.akvillage.com.

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Newsletter Survey Results

Operating for a year with no formal review and little feedback, the time was right to ask NRCS staff their opinions about this biweekly newsletter, “NRCS Alaska News.”  Nearly two-thirds of all employees on duty at the time (42 of 66) took an anonymous on-line survey and responded to six questions.  Thank you to all who took the time to provide this important feedback, and below is what you said:

Nearly everyone reads the newsletter at least occasionally:

• 78.6% read every edition
• 19 % read the newsletter occasionally
• 2.4% (one respondent) never reads it

By far, most readers are looking for information about what’s going on in other offices:

• 25 mentions: Field office news, success stories from around the state, RC&D news
• 12 mentions: Personnel actions and staff changes
• 6 mentions: A calendar of events (training, meetings, conferences, grant deadlines were specifically mentioned)
• 5 mentions: Updates from the state office, national policy as it affects Alaska, and insight from leadership about the direction of the agency.
• 3 mentions: Feature articles introducing new employees
• 2 mentions: Staff award recognition
• 2 mentions: Stories about successful outreach projects

Other comments include:

• Program news such as cut off dates, deadlines, budgets, changes, eligibility.
• News from admin such as human resource topics and personnel policy changes,
• More technical articles. (Examples given were resource staff doing an article on a 'practice of the month'; helpful hints or troubleshooting for software; and information about the availability of data and other information and how to get to, view, and use the data and information.)
• Soil survey activities
• Idea sharing (technology, safety, office efficiency...)

 What you’re not interested in reading is:

• 5 mentions: Stories on typical projects completed using NRCS programs
• 3 mentions: Staff award recognition
• Personal news
• Bad news
• News about district meetings
• National program info that also arrives in bulletins or is on the national website
• Internal NRCS news like FEHB enrollment dates
• Out of state/national issues
• Non-cost shared issues
• Sappy stories

Most believe every two weeks is about the right schedule for publishing the newsletter.

• 26.2% Too Frequently*
• 73.8% Just Right
• 0% Not Frequently Enough

*Five of the 11 people who said the newsletter was published “Too Frequently” suggested that every other week would be better.  So I guess that means it’s “Just Right.”

The web-based format suits most employees.

• 14.3% would rather have an emailed format.
• No one wants to go back to a printed version.

Improvements that could be made (that are not already listed in sections above):

• Link to a calendar of events
• Link to job vacancy announcements
• Archiving newsletters was a great improvement
• Spotlight one field office each month.
• Job vacancies
• Employee features (not just new staff)
• Produce an occasional best-of version for wider distribution

While the on-line survey has been closed, everyone is welcome to provide input to NRCS Alaska News any time.

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FSAFEDS and FEHB Open Seasons Closes Monday

FSAFEDS Open Season Program will close December 12, 2005. You may enroll online via https://www.fsafeds.com/fsafeds/index.asp or contact a Benefits Counselor at 1-877-FSAFEDS (372-3337), TTY: 1-800-952-0450.

FEHB Open Season closes December 12, 2005. Visit the FEHB Home Page https://www.opm.gov/insure/06/ for more information.  

Contact the state office for questions or for copies of Blue Cross and GEHA provider information books.

Alaska Employee Calendar

The Alaska employee’s calendar in online at
http://207.202.158.15/alaskanrcs/d01/01/2006?authenticate=TFIFPJTXVNEXESUQSFUZS&display=M&style=B .
Please send items to Yvonne Magnuson for posting.

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Personnel Actions

Additions

• Jeffrey Rypka, Civil Engineer, Kenai. Jeff previously worked for NRCS in Minnesota.

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