NRCS Alaska News

September 14, 2007

In This Issue

NRCS Releases Greater Nenana Soil Survey

The soil survey for the Greater Nenana Area is now complete and certified. The survey area is in the interior of Alaska west and southwest of Fairbanks, and is bisected by the Parks Highway and the Alaska Railroad. The survey area is approximately 491,715 acres (198,990 h) in size.

The survey will be available to the general public at http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov. Advanced users can download soil survey attribute data, spatial data, and metadata as GIS datasets at http://soildatamart.nrcs.usda.gov.

Soil surveys are the systematic examination, description, classification and mapping of soils. In addition, soil surveys record information about the vegetation, landforms, climate and surface water in the surveyed area.  This soil survey contains information that can be used in land-planning programs in the Greater Nenana area. It contains predictions of soil behavior for selected land uses. The survey also highlights limitations and hazards inherent in the soil, improvements needed to overcome the limitations, and the impact of selected land uses on the environment.

The Greater Nenana Soil Survey was produced in cooperation with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources; Tanana Chiefs Conference, Inc.; Toghotthele Corp.; City of Nenana; Village of Nenana; Denali Borough; Fairbanks North Star Borough; U.S. Air Force; University of Alaska - Fairbanks, Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station; and Fairbanks Soil and Water Conservation District

More information about the Greater Nenana Soil Survey can also be found by calling the NRCS Fairbanks field office at 907-479-3159.

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Yupik Elder Attends NRCS Conference

“What does walrus skin taste like?” asks an NRCS employee from the lower 48. Marie Meade pauses, then with a very genuine and honest tone she answers, “Reeeeeeally good.” 

More discussion followed this question about the tastes of different Yupik foods, the meaning of subsistence, and the kinds of subsistence practiced by Alaska Natives. Even NRCS Associate Chief Dana York asked Marie about the subsistence diet during the breakout session titled “Yupik Subsistence Fishing” at the 10th Annual American Indian  Alaska Native Employees Association for NRCS (AIANEA) conference last week in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Marie is on the Elders Council, one of nine Native elders from across the nation who provide NRCS with their experiences, guidance, and traditional knowledge as it relates to us as NRCS employees. In addition to her breakout session where she presented a PowerPoint about her summer fishcamp, she sat with the other elders in a general session. The elders answered employee questions and shared stories. Alaska NRCS is thankful for Marie’s participation and sharing. This was Marie’s third AIANEA conference.

AIANEA is one of four NRCS employee associations. Anyone can be a member and attend the conferences. The official conference report will be posted soon on www.aianea.com and on my.nrcs.

Photo: Yupik Elder Marie Meade at the AIANEA conference. Photo by Crystal Leonetti.

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State Technical Committee Meeting Scheduled

The next meeting of the State Technical Committee meeting has been scheduled for October 23, 9 - noon, in the Tanana Room of the Westmark Hotel, 813 Noble Street, Fairbanks.

For the second year the meeting will take place adjacent to the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention in order to encourage participation by Alaska Native landowners The draft agenda includes

• Review of Fiscal Year 07 Sign up results
• Fiscal Year 08 Sign-Up information
• Update on status of 2007 Farm Bill
• Review of 2008 Payment Schedule
• Demonstration of Web Soil Survey

A teleconference line will be made available to those unable to attend in person. Details about the call-in connection will be forthcoming, or contact Cassandra.stalzer@ak.usda.gov or 761-7749 for more details.

The NRCS State Technical Committees provides advice to the State Conservationist on a number of issues within a variety of NRCS conservation programs. Although State Technical Committees have no implementation or enforcement authority, USDA shall give strong consideration to the Committee's recommendations.  State Technical Committee meetings are open to the public.

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NRCS Debuts Water Exhibit at State Fair

This year NRCS unveiled a new exhibit at the Palmer State Fair the goal of which was to introduce water conservation topics and ideas drawn from the agency’s new strategic plan. The exhibit consisted primarily of 12 nine- to 12-foot banners that explained the water cycle and provided information on how human impacts on water quality and quantity could be minimized using NRCS conservation practices as examples.

The exhibit was punctuated with hands-on activities such as demonstrations of the Enviroscape watershed model, a water cycle coloring table, a prize wheel that challenged contestants to answer conservation questions, and the hit of the fair – a “sand box” filled with oats and toy farm equipment and animals.

Partners in the State Fair effort were Alaska Ag in the Classroom which coordinated morning education sessions for the Borough’s fourth graders and provided the oat box, and the Alaska Association of Conservation Districts that provided the prize wheel and many prizes, and the Soil and Water Conservation Districts from Upper Su, Kenny Lake, Wasilla that provided staff to implement the exhibit.

This year’s state fair also saw record participation from NRCS staff and Earth Team volunteers. Staff who contributed time were Bob Jones, Megan Lene, Crystal Leonetti, Dennis Moore, Brett Nelson, Catherine Hadley, Rick Strait, Debie Baines, Jessica Adams, Phil Naegele, Jim Hazlett, Vicki Montsvil, Nicole Brenton, Gene Schock, Mani Gomez, James Montessi, Kristi Hicks, Mike Odegard, Bob Smith and Brant Dallas.  Earth Team volunteers included Jonas Naegele, Victoria Naegele, John Domer, David Gomez, Michael Montsvil, and Greg Stalzer. District staff who were on-hand included Emilie Pechuzal, Eric Hale, Doug Vollman, Gino Graziano, and Kenny Dodson-Knapp.

If you have an idea for your state or local fairs that you need help developing, or if you would like to use this exhibit, please contact me.

Photos: Top to bottom: Learning watershed concepts (Maria Shawback); coloring the water cycle (Cassandra Stalzer); playing in the oat box (Cassandra Stalzer); the NRCS/AAITC/AACD exhibit at the State Fair (Cassandra Stalzer).

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NRCS at Upcoming Conferences

Fall in Alaska is conference season and NRCS is planning to have a presence at the following events:

• Alaska Tribal Conference on Environmental Management, October 15 – 17, Anchorage
• Alaska Federation of Natives, Oct. 24-26, Fairbanks
• Alaska Municipal League, November 5-9, Fairbanks

If you or your field office is planning to participate in an upcoming event, contact Cassandra.stalzer@ak.usda.gov to be added to the list.

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Personnel Actions

• Soil Scientist (Project Leader) - GS-0470-11/12, Fairbanks, Closes 10/5/07
• MLRA Leader – GS-0470-14, Palmer, Closes 10/04/07

New Hire

•  Dee Covalt, Executive Assistant, 9/17/07, from Minerals Management Service, Anchorage

New Arrival

•  Ella Marie, to Homer Soil Scientist Andy Oxford and wife Erin, September 5, 7 pounds 15 ounces. Mom and baby (and dad) are doing great.

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