NRCS Alaska News

November 2, 2007

In This Issue

Soils and the Military

What do a Stryker Brigade and soils have in common?  A lot if you are the military personnel charged with expanding training areas. Ft. Greely is looking into expanding its existing training areas, including bivouac sites and drop zones, to accommodate more soldiers and more training exercises. The expansion also includes making roads and trails Stryker-ready.  

All this expansion requires input from foresters, biologists and, of course, soil scientists. Soil information is fundamental in locating many of these projects due to problems with permafrost, flooding or shallow soils. Strykers are heavy (approximately 15 tons) and require considerable upgrades and widening of roads and trails. Hardening roads and trails for Strykers requires good working knowledge of the soils in the area. Soil information can help locate good sources of gravel and can aid in locating roads to avoid areas of ice-rich permafrost and organics as Strykers don’t float so well.

Soils also play a big role in how a landscape can be treated during improvements. For example, to expand the drop zone (think parachuting soldiers), certain hazards and obstructions (think trees) need to be removed.  In most cases, straight blading the vegetation is the most cost effective. If, however, you have consulted your soil survey or your local soil scientist, you would know that in areas that have shallow topsoil, removing the organic mat creates an erosion hazard and makes reseeding almost impossible.  Thus an alternative, such as plucking trees, is in fact a better and more cost effective way to go.

All in all, by taking soil information into consideration, the military can expand its training areas, minimize environmental impacts and get the most bang for its buck.

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Willow Staking – Lessons Learned in Juneau

Monitoring the outcome of a project is something of a luxury for many resource professionals, whether it’s NRCS, other resource agencies, or consultants.  For most of us, the primary focus is on getting the work done in the first place, doing the contracting, and making sure the client gets paid for work that meets specifications. Aside from the standard NRCS spot check or a periodic “drive by,” the amount of follow-up monitoring and research is likely very little. Yet documentation of project details and repeated monitoring is the only way to determine what is (or is not) successful in a particular area.

 I recently spent time at Glacier View Condominiums, the site of a streambank stabilization project completed in April of 2006. One of the challenges behind this project was the incorporation of willow cuttings to improve riparian habitat and provide structural stability in a location where buildings are in close proximity to a stream.  Before the project began, I looked at several other local willow projects and found that very little of what was initially planted had survived into the second or third growing season. Willows can be tricky—they sometimes appear to be doing well during the first growing season because new shoots and leaves can be observed, but die because rooting never took place.  Often what looks like a successful project the first year will have few surviving willows by the second growing season.

In October, I counted willows present and surviving at the Glacier View site, which has two rows of willow stakes incorporated into three rows of soil wraps.  Willows were counted in two-foot sections every ten feet for the length of the project, and the total number of willows planted was compared to the number surviving. According to these data, 90 percent of the top row and 74 percent of the bottom row showed evidence of growth during the second growing season. The fact that the bottom row was inundated or was under the water surface in several areas may have affected the survival rate.  Overall however, these are excellent survival rates, and I wanted to share some of the lessons learned in case others might find them useful for future projects:

• Be flexible and be creative!  Using the Streambank Revegetation and Protection guide published by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game was invaluable for planning this project, but many challenges arose that required “thinking outside the box.” 

• Be willing to help your client! Landowners are not always capable of overseeing such projects, even when given the NRCS specifications, literature or other information. I not only identified the appropriate willow species and found a collection site, but enlisted the assistance of the local watershed council to coordinate a volunteer collection event. I also participated in the event as a volunteer, and made sure that the willows were cut and bundled correctly. Which brings up another point…

• Always check the willow identification yourself, then double-check that the site chosen for collection has plenty of the identified species. I had initially been told of a good collection site by someone I believed to be a reliable biologist experienced with these types of projects. When I went to the site—only a week before the volunteer collection day was scheduled—I found that it was populated solely by alders, which would not work for this project.  

• Locate a collection site before the willows go dormant. It sounds intuitive, but unless you double-check the site (see the previous bullet item), you might be stuck trying to identify willow species without the benefit of leaves or flowers.

• Identify a backup collection site. Construction, land sales, fires or flooding, or other changes could render your chosen site useless.

• Be ready to be surprised (not a willow lesson). During excavation, a second retaining wall was discovered behind the one planned for removal. It consisted of creosote timbers which had to be treated as contaminated waste. Since none of the soil around this wall could be used for the soil wraps, the contract had to be modified to reflect the increased cost of obstruction removal and clean fill needed for soil wrap construction.

• Make it easy on the contractor. At the collection event, we cut the willows straight on top and angled at a point on the bottom. They were then bundled in groups of 25, with all of the tips oriented in the same direction. Bundles were soaked in the stream for about 24 hours before planting, and it was easy to correctly orient them. Don’t laugh!  One of the unsuccessful projects I saw when doing research for this project had high mortality because the willows were planted upside down.

It was time consuming, but ultimately I think the combination of timing and treatment contributed to a successful project. As with any project however, there was also a little bit of luck involved—Juneau experienced a deep freeze the week that the project was initially scheduled for construction, which helped keep stream flow levels down, stabilized the soil for excavation, and prolonged dormancy for the collected willows. Hopefully some of this information will be useful for planning your next willow project, and good luck will help you out as well!

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Nunapitchuk Improves Dump Access Trail With RC&D Assistance

The Native Village of Nunapitchuk recently completed the installation of 200 feet of 6 feet wide GeoBlock trail to improve access to their village dump.  This dumpsite is 1.25 miles from the village and must be accessed by boat.

Nunapitchuk Environmental Coordinator Sophie Chaliak and assistant Caroline Angaiak worked with Ryan Maroney of the NRCS Lower Kuskokwim RC&D program to plan, secure funding and install this project.  Nunapitchuk’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Indian General Assistance Program  (IGAP) funds were used to purchase materials and tools.  Morris Alexie, James Tikiun and Nick Twitchell worked to assemble, transport and install the trail.

The new access trail was installed to encourage people not to throw their trash just anywhere, but instead in the designated dump area.  “The GeoBlock trail is very useful, assirtuq,” said Chaliak.  “It will help people keep the trash from being thrown just anywhere.”

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Reindeer Range Reports Help Herders Manage Grazing Resources

Rangeland reports on the condition of 3 reindeer herder’s grazing allotments on the Seward Peninsula have been finalized.  After intensive fieldwork this summer, completed to fulfill EQIP requirements for these program participants, the data has been analyzed and mapped along with reports explaining the findings.  This information will be used as baseline data to measure the success of the EQIP contracts and support the necessity of the practices in the contracts.  Additionally, this information is provided to the reindeer herders and managers to provide them information necessary to make better management decisions for the health of their rangeland and reindeer herds. 

Maps in each of the reports include Reindeer Utilization, Apparent Trend, Lichen Similarity, and Rangeland Health.  Consideration of all of these maps together gives the managers and herders an accurate and complete picture of their rangeland. 

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Homer Soils Office Pulls Off Big Season

The Homer MLRA soils office closed up the 2007 field season with mapping goals achieved on two survey areas, the Nushagak/Mulchatna Watershed and the Kodiak Archipelago. The team consisted of three soil scientists from the Homer office and three botanists hired for the season, supplemented in July and September with soil scientists from the Fairbanks and Palmer offices. Coordination with U.S. Fish and Wildlife in Dillingham, the Afognak Native Corporation on Afognak, and the Kodiak Soil and Water Conservation District for lodging, transportation, and office space allowed the crews to focus on getting to the field and describing the soil landscape. 

These two survey areas cover a large, diverse area of southwest and coastal Alaska. The scale of mapping and the nature of these landscapes create particular conditions that influenced the planning and execution of the seasons work. The Nushagak/Mulchatna area has extensive open landforms, no road access, and permafrost. Kodiak and Afognak have plenty of steep slopes with dense brush, some road access, and no permafrost. Developing good mapping concepts involves being in the field when soils and plants are in representative condition while working safely in the field every day requires adapting to changing conditions and staying aware. Balancing these considerations we chose to spend late May, June and early July on Afognak. This allowed greater access to many areas before the grass grew too high and the salmonberry and alder fully leafed out.  As it was, the dense brush made the last week on Afognak pretty thrilling.

We spent late July and August on the Nushagak/Mulchatna survey. Working later in the season there allowed soils to thaw a bit more so permafrost could be discerned while the better weather in those months allowed more reliable use of the helicopter. In September the crew split up with one team working off the road system on Kodiak and another on some detailed village mapping in Dillingham, Ekuk, and Clarks Point.

The notion of MLRA Soil Survey offices relies on active and capable field soil scientists making decisions that were previously the responsibility of the state office. With a winter of database and map development ahead, the evidence from this successful field season would indicate the Homer office has the personnel in Stephanie Schmit (Nushagak/Mulchatna project leader) and Andy Oxford (soil scientist) and organization to meet the MLRA office concept. 

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Alaska’s Native Liaison On Temporary Detail to the Department

An exciting opportunity has arisen for me to work at a higher level with the American Indian/Alaska Native Community nationwide. I have accepted a 120-day appointment to the USDA Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights in the 1994/Tribal Colleges Program effective October 28, 2007. The appointment is based in Washington, D.C. and will involve quite a bit of travel. This is an excellent opportunity and hopefully my having access and exposure to the Washington office will not only broaden my experience in the field, bringing that experience back to Alaska but, also expose Alaska's unique cultural and demographic concerns and conditions, thus expediting needed actions.

In my absence, Norm Stadem, Interior Rivers RC&D Coordinator, will serve as acting District Conservationist for Anchorage; Deborah Baines, Tribal Outreach Specialist; and Kathy Potter, Administrative Assistant will be additional points of contact.  They can field your questions and assist you as the need arises.

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Wounded Warriors Play the Alaska Way

As we all know Monday, November 12th is a federal holiday. It is the day when Veterans Day, which is November 11, is observed this year. The purpose of Veterans Day is to celebrate and honor America’s veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good.

But in Alaska, Veterans Day is not a one-day-a-year event. The natural resources NRCS helps protect are honoring and healing our veterans. The Wounded Warrior Project provides veterans the opportunity to interact with the outdoors, and has had a substantial impact on veterans recovering from injuries sustained in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The winter King Salmon Run in Cook Inlet helps raise money to fund the Wounded Warrior Project. This year the Homer Elks Lodge King Salmon Derby raised over $2,000 in two days. Last summer the fine folks of Kodiak provided salmon and halibut fishing charters for 23 wounded warriors. Overcoming the simple challenges associated with these activities help the warriors build confidence and peace of mind. Oh! And they provide lots of fun too!

Kodiak also provided two warriors the opportunity to hunt bears by river boat. This experience is said to still energize the pair when they talk about the never before experienced adventure. Like many good ideas, this one is contagious. The Village of Tyonek is planning to provide two wounded warriors the opportunity to experience Black bear baiting in the spring.

Here in Alaska, where 17 percent of the males over the age of 18 are veterans, the struggles veterans face are felt by the communities where they live. With the return of Alaska active duty, guard, and reserve forces, we will continue to share a heartfelt relationship with our veterans. Not just on November 11th - but everyday.

We should all be thankful to our veterans, but on November 11th we should give them that extra moment they so richly deserve. May I suggest an extra measure of respect for our Alaskan veterans, especially our own Mr. Jim Helm

Remember that the resources we help protect help heal those who protect us. Happy Veterans Day!

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Senate Agriculture Committee Passes 2007 Farm Bill

On Thursday, October 25, 2007, the Senate Agriculture, Forestry and Nutrition Committee approved by voice vote, their version of the 2007 Farm Bill. The bill provides $283 billion for conservation, energy, nutrition, and crop subsidy programs for the next five years. The bill is expected to see action on the Senate floor the week of November 5.

For a rundown of conservation program highlights, go to http://agriculture.senate.gov/, select “Section by Section, ” select “II Conservation Title.”

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GAO Releases Report on USDA Assistance to Beginning Farmers

The Government Accountability Office recently released the report “Beginning Farmers: Additional Steps Needed to Demonstrate the Effectiveness of USDA Assistance” to the US Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry,

In regards to NRCS, GAO found that assistance provided to beginning farmers from fiscal year 2004 through 2006 through two EQIP and CSP nearly doubled from over $47 million to nearly $92 million. The $92 million for beginning farmers in fiscal year 2006 was 11 percent of the assistance for all farmers through these programs.

Read the report in its entirety at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d071130.pdf

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Pollinator Curriculum Released

The North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPPC) has released a new pollinator curriculum for Grades 3-6.  The curriculum could be fun and have great learning value to pass on to some of your educators. The curriculum can be found on the web at:  http://www.nappc.org/curriculum/ . NRCS is a partner in the NAPPC.

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Personnel Actions 

Performance Awards

• Brant Dallas

• Tom Hedt

• Meghan Lene

• Brett Nelson

• Ann Rippy

• Stephanie Schmit

• Cassandra Stalzer

Quality Step Increase Award

• Mike Mungoven

Time-Off Award

• Daniel Fisher

 USDA “Unsung Hero” Award

• Crystal Leonetti

Job Announcement

• Soil Conservationist – GS0457-09/11 – Kodiak

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