NRCS Alaska News

December 7, 2007

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In This Issue

Liaison for Smithsonian Soils Exhibit Selected

Grazing Management Provides Near-Immediate Benefits to Island Ecosystem

Nutrient Management Students Tour Fairbanks Composting Site

Soils Staff Gather for Annual Training

Photo Contest Announced

New National PR Campaign to Launch in February

Alaska Bulletins Now Available on Employee Intranet

Ag Census Gets Underway This Month

Personnel Actions

Liaison for Smithsonian Soils Exhibit Selected

The Smithsonian is developing source materials for the national Soils Exhibit that will feature monoliths, fun facts, and educational materials, and for traveling state-specific exhibits. The Smithsonian requested liaisons and spokespersons from each state to supply fun facts and educational material; Dennis Moore has been selected to represent Alaska. As required, Dennis provided a picture of himself with a short essay to one of possible six questions.

Here is the response to the selected question: What would you tell a 10-year kid about soil?

“I would tell a 10-year kid that soil is the earth’s surface layer consisting of sand, silt, clay, organic matter, air (oxygen), and water that supports life. Soils form over time from parent material, climate, organisms, and topography. Soils can be from a few inches to several feet thick. Under ideal conditions, it takes five hundred years to form one inch of soil.

“Soil is the foundation of the food chain. Soils sustain plant and animal life below and above the ground by storing and recycling nutrients. Soils filter and regulate water flow.

“Everything we use in our daily life comes directly or indirectly from soil. Soil, along with water, and air, gives our planet life.”

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Grazing Management Provides Near-Immediate Benefits to Island Ecosystem

Photo points established in August of 2006 to monitor results of EQIP fencing practices and use exclusion on Sitkinak Island were re-photographed in August of 2007. Careful comparison of the photos shows interesting results. 

Flat coastal areas of herbaceous islands in Alaska are attractive to livestock for congregating, which can have detrimental impacts on the vegetation. It is easier for cattle to walk on flat ground than on hills, and cattle especially like the beach wild rye and kelp that these areas provide. In the wintertime, these areas are the most likely to remain snow free for much of the season, but if the forage has been consumed in the summer the cattle will not have much to eat. The cattle and the land will suffer. 

Sitkinak Island, a 64,000 acre island south of Kodiak Island, was experience these very issues with feed and forage balance in the wintertime. Ranchers Bob and Nathan Mudd recently purchased the grazing lease and cattle on Sitkinak, and were ready to install some conservation for the island and the cattle residing there. Using EQIP, a grazing management plan was developed to install fences and exclude these important winter range areas from grazing in the summertime. 

Comparing photos from just one year ago, a positive change can be detected. The beach wild rye plants are taller and more robust than last year. They have expanded some and are obscuring the beach logs that were carried inland by large storm events. On sandy dune areas, the sand-carrying wind is being slowed by the increased vegetation and sand is filling in and building up between logs and plant interspaces. Forbs are increasing in coverage also, thus more forage will be available for cattle to eat during the winter months this year as compared to last year. 

NRCS will continue to monitor these photo points and the results of the conservation that has been put into place. The contract will expire in a few years, but the Mudds are committed to continuing these grazing management practices, as they have seen the benefits to both the land and their cattle. 

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Nutrient Management Students Tour Fairbanks Composting Site

Students attending the recent Nutrient and Pest Management Considerations in Conservation Planning course got an up-close and personal tour of the Golden Heart Utilities biosolids composting operation in Fairbanks.

Scott Creel, Golden Heart’s compost operation manager, was more than enthusiastic about the success of the composting operation. “The installation of the composting facility in the late 1990’s totally changed - for the better - the way we were handling our wastewater treatment sludge,” stated Creel over the sound of a front-end loader mixing sludge with woodchips.  Prior to the installation of the composting facility, the wastewater treatment sludge was placed on drying beds and then treated chemically or incinerated. According to Creel, these old methods were just not working.  “There was a continual problem with odors from the drying beds and the incineration costs were extremely high,” reported Creel.  “After evaluating all of our alternatives, the composting solution made the most sense.”

Skeptics weren't convinced that the compost process would generate enough heat to biologically kill pathogenic bacteria so that the compost could be safely handled, stored and applied to land during the extremely cold Fairbanks winter months. Through several tests to determine the best carbon source, the process was refined and now works extremely well year round. After mixing the biosolids with wood chips (a 1:3 ratio), the composting process begins. Compressed air is pumped through each compost pile to keep the working piles aerobic to complement the natural composting process. This type of composting is known as static pile composting and is working exceptionally well - even in Fairbanks’ coldest winters. The compost mixture goes through a biological heating process that heats the compost to 50 degrees Celsius for several consecutive days.  Creel assured us that “the heating process kills any pathogens and provides for a ‘Class A’ compost product.” After the initial composting process occurs, the piles are moved and allowed to cure for a minimum of 28 days. This composting process continues during the curing time further utilizing biological processes to break down the sludge. The compost is screened to remove remaining larger wood chips from the fine compost. The screened-out wood chips are then placed back into the composting process and the screened fine compost is sold.  All runoff and seepage from the composting pads and curing areas are collected by surface and sub-surface drains.  The drainage effluent is then piped back into the wastewater treatment plant for processing.

The compost is tested to ensure the absence of harmful pathogens before being offered to the public. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates Golden Heart Utilities' compost as Exceptional Quality (EQ), their highest rating for compost and it has no restriction on use. The compost has an analysis of 28.1 lbs N - 7.4 lbs P – 17.2 lbs K per ton and a pH of 8.05. The maximum heavy metal and pathogen content allowed by EPA is more than four times the concentration in the finished compost.

From May through September, customers frequently line up with pickup trucks to purchase small quantities for home use on lawns, gardens and in flower boxes. A regular truck load only costs $15 and customers can fill a garbage can full for free. The compost is also sold in large quantities for those establishing new lawns or other major landscaping projects. During 2004, the compost operation processed more than 9,300 wet tons of biosolids from the wastewater treatment plant. By the end of August, the department had sold the entire 2003-2004 compost production of 9,350 cubic yards.

“In 2007, we broke all of our previous production records resulting in a great year here at the facility,” beamed Creel.  Helen Denniston, state agronomist, indicated that this was an awesome opportunity for the students to see a “real life” example of composting and nutrient management.

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Soils Staff Gather for Annual Training

The MLRA Region 17 (Alaska) soil survey staff held their annual workshop during the week of December 3-7. The focus of this year's workshop was to review standards and procedures for soil survey work so that consistency is maintained across the state. A revised "Policy and Procedures Guide" and all state technical standards for soil surveys in MO-17 were presented. The guide and standards are also now posted and maintained on the Alaska NRCS web page for easy access. 

As part of the workshop, planning conferences were held to prepare for the soon-to-start Yukon Flats soil survey project and to schedule final steps needed to complete the Greater Delta soil survey project.  A joint session between soils and resource staff personnel developed plans to develop ecological site data in addition to soils data for the Yukon Flats project. In the future, all soil survey projects in Alaska will collect both soils and ecological data and produce products that include linked soils and ecological site information.

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Photo Contest Announced

The 2007 Conservation Photo Contest in underway with a deadline for submissions of January 18, 2008. All NRCS staff and Earth Team volunteers are eligible to enter photos that were taken in the FY07 fiscal year and that are at least 300 dpi. The categories for entering photos are:

• EQIP Contract
• WHIP Contract
• Field Work
• Partners/Customers
• Soil
• Water
• Air
• Plants
• Animals

Prizes will be awarded to the top photo in each category. Winning photos will be framed for display in the Alaska State Office, featured on the NRCS website, and featured in upcoming publications. Questions about the contest can be answered by Cassandra Stalzer at cassandra.stalzer@ak.usda.gov.

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New National PR Campaign to Launch in February

Working closely with state PAS’s, the staff in HQ is preparing to launch a new public relations and awareness campaign titled “Conservation: Our Purpose, Our Passion.” The campaign will be launched by Chief Arlen Lancaster at the NACD annual meeting in Reno on February 12, 2008. 

The premise of the campaign is the fact that the success and strength of conservation can be attributed to dedicated landowners and the professionals who share a passion for helping people help the land. 

The campaign will feature products such as websites, videos, and publications featuring landowners, partners, and employees who are stewards of the land telling their own compelling stories that share our passion for conservation and recognize the importance of partnership and cooperative conservation. Other goals for the campaign are to increase participation in conservation activities and strengthen the conservation ethic.  It will also serve as a foundation for future “mini-campaigns” focused on resource concerns, such as healthy soils, water and air quality, plant and animal communities.

Stay tuned for more details about how the campaign will roll out into states – including our own.

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Alaska Bulletins Now Available on Employee Intranet

Keeping track of Alaska bulletins just got easier. Webmaster Pam Taber and Executive Assistant Dee Covalt worked together to build a page in the Alaska employee intranet to hold Alaska bulletins for future reference and rechecking. It is located at http://www.ak.nrcs.usda.gov/intranet/bulletins/bulletins.html. All Alaska bulletins will continue to be distributed initially via USPS to field offices, and they will be simultaneously posted on the Web page. Do you have other ideas or suggestions for making intra-office communication more efficient? Contact Dee at dee.covalt@ak.usda.gov.

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Ag Census Gets Underway This Month

The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is gearing up to conduct the 2007 Census of Agriculture. NASS will mail report forms for the Census to farm and ranch operators beginning December 28 to collect data for the 2007 calendar year. New to the Census this year is the ability to report online via a secure Web site at www.agcensus.usda.gov.

The Census is a crucial tool that provides farmers with a voice in the future of their community and all of agriculture. Conducted every five years by the USDA, the Census is a complete count of the nation’s farms and ranches and the people who operate them. The Census looks at land use and ownership, operator characteristics, production practices, income and expenditures and other topics. It provides the only source of uniform, comprehensive agricultural data for every county in the nation.

NRCS staff and conservation partners can help spread the word about the Census by downloading promotional materials from the Census Web site by clicking on the link “Help Promote the Census of Agriculture.”

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