NRCS Alaska News

March 21, 2008

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CSP Sign Up Announced

Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer announced that a sign-up for the Conservation Security Program will be available starting April 18. In Alaska, CSP signup will be available in the Anchorage watershed. The signup period will be open until May 16.
CSP is a voluntary program that supports ongoing stewardship of private, agricultural working lands and rewards those producers who are meeting the highest standards of conservation and environmental management on their operations. More information about the Alaska CSP signup is forthcoming.

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Willow Cutting Begins on Tyonek Habitat Project

State Forester Mitch Michaud flew to Tyonek March 12 to discuss conservation and wildlife habitat restoration with elementary school students in order to prepare them for their upcoming role in helping the Tyonek Native Corporation create more moose habitat around the community.

The next day the students, their teacher and some volunteers from the Tyonek Soil and Water Conservation District headed out on a field trip north of town to begin gathering willows that will be form the basis of the new moose habitat in the area.

By assisting with the willow gathering, the students got hands-on lessons about habitat restoration and willow identification. The team gathered about 20 percent of the total number of willows that will be required for the project and transported them to the area they will eventually be planted in June. The team dug an area in the snow, lined the pit with a tarp, and formed an assembly line to pass the willow stakes to the storage area. Once all the willows were stacked, another tarp was placed over them and snow was piled on to keep the willow stakes cool and dark.

A second field trip was scheduled for the following day. It is exciting to see the local youth actively participate and learn about conservation practices.

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NRCS Staff Meet with Reindeer Herders, Reactive Reindeer Council

State Conservationist Bob Jones, State Resource Conservationist Gene Schock, Range Management Specialists Calvin Steele and Karin Sonnen and District Conservationist Jim Helm all headed to Nome earlier this week where they were joined by RC&D Coordinator Brian Bourdon for the annual meeting of the Kawerak Reindeer Herder’s Association (RHA). 

The RHA is made up of 19 members and two associate members who are engaged in reindeer production in the Seward Peninsula, Saint Lawrence Island and in the Stebbins/St. Michael area. All of the RHA members currently producing reindeer work with NRCS to develop and implement grazing plans that together conserve more than 10 million acres.

Bob gave an update on NRCS programs and activities. Karin gave a report on last summer’s range monitoring activities on three grazing allotments.

RHA members requested that NRCS reactivate the Alaska Reindeer Council – a multi-agency and multi-partner group comprised of land managers involved with reindeer range. The Council was established in 1978 and the original signers to the Memorandum of Understanding are the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Kawerak Reindeer Herders Association, Island Herder’s Association, Bureau of Indian Affairs, University of Alaska Fairbanks, State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Land Management, NRCS, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bering Straits Coastal Management Program. The goals of the council are to increase communication between agencies about research activities and findings, coordinate field work and make more efficient use of available funding.

NRCS was also recognized at the meeting for providing financial support for UAF’s Reindeer Research Program – specifically in helping with the reindeer satellite tracking program. NRCS uses data generated from the tracking program to monitor grazing plans.

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New GAO Report Addresses Feds Challenges in Collaborative Resource Management

Conflict over the use of our nation’s natural resources, along with increased ecological problems, has led land managers to seek cooperative means to resolve natural resource conflicts and problems. Collaborative resource management is one such approach that communities began using in the 1980s and 1990s. A 2004 Executive Order on Cooperative Conservation encourages such efforts.

GAO was asked to determine (1) experts’ views on collaborative resource management, (2) how selected collaborative efforts have addressed conflicts and improved resources, and (3) challenges that agencies face as they participate in such efforts and how the Cooperative Conservation initiative has addressed them. GAO reviewed experts’ journal articles, studied seven collaborative groups, and interviewed group members and federal and other public officials.

According to the report, key challenges that the agencies face fall within the following major areas:

• Improving employees' collaborative skills - Often, federal employees are technical experts and may not have the skills and experience to collaborate. Collaborative skills include the ability to conduct meetings, involve relevant stakeholders, resolve disputes, and share technical information to make it accessible to groups.
• Determining whether to participate in a particular collaborative effort - Collaborative resource management efforts often begin with local communities, and federal agencies can determine what role they can have in the effort. External factors, such as a community's collaborative capacity and the amount of controversy involved, often affect whether a group may succeed. Without understanding the external factors that may affect success, federal land and resource management agencies may become involved and invest resources in a collaborative effort that has little chance of succeeding.
• Sustaining federal employees' participation over time - According to some groups and federal participants interviewed, federal participation in collaborative efforts is critical to getting work accomplished. In particular, the agency employees can contribute scientific and technical expertise, such as habitat identification and mapping skills, to help plan and focus the group's work. However, federal land and resource management agency field offices that we visited have downsized in the last several years, leaving fewer staff available for collaborative efforts.
• Measuring participation and monitoring results to ensure accountability - Results of collaborative efforts are difficult to measure and collaborative efforts often lack a systematic approach for monitoring the results. A lack of measuring or monitoring data may make it difficult for agencies and their partners to demonstrate and be accountable for their results and justify their continued participation.
• Sharing agency and group experiences with collaboration - Collaborative groups are unique in their makeup, organization, circumstances, and abilities, but can face similar problems working together and with federal agencies. Groups are scattered throughout the United States, and do not have many opportunities to meet and share experiences. Although Web sites and guidebooks exist to share information, without venues to bring collaborative groups together, it is more difficult for group members to learn and benefit directly from each other's experience.
• Working within the framework of federal statutes and agency policies to support collaboration - Experts and collaborative groups have identified some federal laws and agency policies as being inconsistent with collaboration.

The full report – including recommendations – can be found at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08262.pdf

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Offices to Receive Campaign Materials

Materials for the “Conservation: Our Purpose Our Passion” campaign are on their way to field and RC&D offices. Each office will receive at least one door poster and a stack of postcards. The door posters are a great way to remind ourselves, our partners and our customers of our commitment to conservation each time we pass under it.  The NRCS Alaska website currently features some initial employee highlights and a customer profile. Materials in development include a number of employee and customer profiles for Alaska, and new national publications for recruitment and general NRCS awareness. Those will be distributed as they are available.

Photo: The engineering office expresses their passion for conservation - and the correct use of the door posters that are headed out to field offices this week. Photo by Cassandra Stalzer.

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New SWCS Publication Addresses Measurement of Conservation Benefits

The publication “Managing Agricultural Landscapes for Environmental Quality:  Strengthening the Science Base,” brings together the expertise of individuals in the scientific community to quantify the environmental benefits of conservation practices at landscape and watershed scales.

It was prepared by the Soil and Water Conservation Society following the October 2006 workshop in support of the Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP).  The workshop, designed to document the effects of conservation practices on the environment, was organized around the following four themes:

1. What should we measure, and how, to account for environmental effects at landscape and watershed scales?
2. Methods for environmental management research at landscape and watershed scales.
3. The science of targeting within landscapes and watersheds to improve conservation effectiveness.
4. Realistic expectations about the timing between conservation implementation and environmental effects.

The publication can be found at: http://store.swcs.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=c_Products.viewProduct&catID=574&productID=10885.

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Farm Bureau Scholarship Announced

The Alaska Farm Bureau will award two $2000 scholarships to students currently in college or a graduating high school senior pursuing a career in an agricultural or natural resources field. The deadline to file is April 11. See the Alaska Farm Bureau website at http://asfb/fb.org or call 907-895-4752.

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Personnel Actions

Expiration of Appointment

• Nicole Brenton – Student Trainee (HR) – March 29

Vacancy

• Soil Scientist – GS9 – Homer – 3/24 – 4/23

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