NRCS Alaska News

January 20, 2006

In this Issue:

NRCS to Map National Parks in Alaska

Juneau Field Office Helps Organize Statewide Watershed Conference

Trails Conference Scheduled for April

NRCS to Map National Parks in Alaska

The U.S. Department of Interior National Park Service (NPS) administers about 55 million of Alaska’s 365 million acres. NRCS has entered into a cooperative agreement with NPS to develop an ambitious plan that would provide ecologically-based soil surveys of NPS lands in the state.  This plan follows the completion of the Soil Survey of Denali National Park completed by NRCS last year. 

The basic framework of the plan is to provide each park a detailed reconnaissance-level survey of natural resources and a detailed-level mapping for designated areas of intensive land uses such as road, trail, and building-sited development.  NRCS will propose landscape criteria for each level of mapping intensity in order to anticipate NPS needs.  NRCS will include a list of products that will be delivered to NPS for each level of mapping intensity.

Since a major function of the NPS is science and education, many nonstandard Geographic Information System products and interpretive illustrations will likely be requested. 

A draft plan will be circulated to the NPS Regional Office in Anchorage and the three NPS Networks for review and comment this April with the final plan ready for circulation in June.  NPS will then assign each park a mapping priority.  NRCS anticipates that Wrangell St. Elias National Park as first on the list with a project work plan completed this summer and field work to begin in 2007.  For information on national parks in Alaska, see the website at http://www.nps.gov/applications/parksearch/state.cfm?st=ak.

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Juneau Field Office Helps Organize Statewide Watershed Conference

Watershed councils and supporting organizations will gather at Centennial Hall in Juneau February 21-23 for the first Statewide Watershed Council Forum.  This is a unique opportunity for councils, Tribes and tribal organizations, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and community organizations addressing watershed conservation to gather and share information.  The Juneau Field Office is organizing the conference with the Southeast Conference RC&D Council, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Anchorage Waterways Council, Kenai Watershed Forum, Taiya Inlet Watershed Council, and Cook Inlet Keeper.

The Forum will begin with presentations by attendees highlighting watershed stewardship actions in urban and rural Alaska.  Technical sessions will include presentations on hydrology, GIS, watershed planning, and water quality monitoring.  Cross-cultural communication, medial relations, effective outreach, and facilitating community groups are topics to be covered in the communication strategies session.  The last day will be dedicated to facilitated discussions with councils and agencies on long-term funding strategies, the development of a statewide watershed organization, and natural resources policies. 

David Montgomery is the featured speaker and will present “Salmon: King of Fish” on Wednesday evening.  Based on the book by the same name, the presentation outlines the challenges and pitfalls of salmon management efforts throughout history from medieval England to present-day Pacific Northwest.  He will also give a talk on habitat restoration projects in Puget Sound streams during one of the technical sessions.

More information about the Statewide Watershed Council Forum and registration materials can be found at the Southeast Conference website (http://www.seconference.org/watershed.html).

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Trails Conference Scheduled for April

The Alaska Recreation and Park Association and Alaska Trails Annual Conference is scheduled to take place April 5 – 8 at the Wedgewood Resort in Fairbanks. In addition to sessions geared toward recreation, the conference has a trails track that features addresses the economic, technical, financial and policy aspects of trail construction.

More information is available by contacting Linda Ingham at 459-1070 or parks@co.fairbanks.ak.us.