SWCD Weekly Update
for the week of Feb. 5-9, 2007  

 

News from the IASWCD Executive Director
Jennifer Boyle

Indiana Receives NACD Recognition. Indiana received an award this week at the NACD Annual Conference in Los Angeles for placing second in the U.S. for total NACD dues received - $66,663. Thanks to our Districts for this great response!

 

Recognition for Waneta Lowe. As you probably already know, Waneta Lowe, ISDA Division of Soil Conservation, is retiring (much deserved) from service to Indiana conservation efforts on February 28.  Waneta has been such an asset to SWCDs and will be greatly missed. Bettie Jacobs, Jay County SWCD has a great idea . . . Let's honor Waneta for years of service through a "card shower" farewell. If you're so inclined, send a congratulatory card (before February 28th) and perhaps a few words of appreciation to: Waneta Lowe, ISDA Division of Soil Conservation, 101 W. Ohio Street, Ste. 1200, Indianapolis, IN, 46204; or to her home: 1836 Woodland Avenue, West Lafayette, IN 47906. This is a surprise...Waneta is not receiving this edition of the Weekly Update.

 

Welcome. Welcome to Ashley Carlton, resource specialist for the Shelby County SWCD. You can contact her at 317.392.1394 ext. 3 or via email.

 

More on Conference. You will find an Indiana AgriNews article on the annual conference on their Web site – click here. You will find an article on the Master Farm Conservationist winners in the current edition of Indiana Prairie Farmer Magazine – click here.

Have a good week!

Jennifer

click here 

IASWCD Web site

District Showcase

 

Putnam County SWCD Awarded Monies for Big Walnut Creek/Deer Creek Watershed Management Plan 

 

One might ask, “Why is it important to write a watershed plan?”  Watersheds serve as logical landscape units for environmental management, being easily defined.  Approaching non-point source pollution problems in a watershed framework helps communities evaluate and prioritize problems affecting ground and surface waters.  Watershed planning connects the community’s decision-making to sensible data collection and defensible analysis. Recording those decisions in a watershed plan increases the probability that the problems will be addressed.. Click here for the complete article. If you have questions, contact Sue Crafton, Putnam County SWCD, at 765.653.5716, ext. 135, or via email.

 

Clark County SWCD Silver Creek Watershed Coordinator Position Announcement 

 

The Silver Creek Watershed Improvement Project is a regional, grassroots initiative in southern Indiana. The project is sponsored by the Clark County SWCD who seeks a motivated individual to serve as watershed coordinator for the watershed project’s management, marketing, outreach, volunteer coordination, and water quality data collection activities.  Click here for the complete job description. Resumes will be accepted until close of business,
4 p.m., Monday, February 26, 2007.  Submit a cover letter and a resume that includes three references, to the SWCD at: Silver Creek Watershed Coordinator Position, Clark County SWCD, 9608 Highway 62, Charlestown, IN, 47111. Resumes may also be faxed to 812.256.0362, or emailed – click here.    

Help for Irrigation Efficiency and to Manage Drainage Water

 

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in USDA is offering a new opportunity to Indiana producers who use irrigation systems, or are willing to manage their drainage water.  Beginning this year, the agency has a special allocation in the name of Ground and Surface Water Conservation, and through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), and can offer financial assistance for improving irrigation system efficiency and establishing a Drainage Water Management system. Click here to learn more.

Educator Workshop Set for March 2

 

The Switzerland County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) and the Indian Creek Watershed Project will host a Healthy Water, Healthy People workshop on March 2, 2007. The event, designed for educators, will be from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. It will take place at the Belterra Casino Resort and Spa.

The purpose of this workshop is to raise educators' awareness and understanding of water quality issues by demonstrating the relationship of water quality to personal, public, and environmental health.  This workshop -- especially when used in combination of other Healthy Water, Healthy People materials --gives teachers, students, non-formal educators, water managers, treatment plant operators, and citizens an opportunity to explore water quality topics in an interactive, easy-to-use, hands on format.

 

If you are interested in attending, contact Keli Hall at the SWCD office at 812.427.3126 ext. 3 or via email.

Web Links

Calendar

IASWCD News Releases

Digital Soils . . . con't. 

In the past, soils information was available in soil survey reports which cover an entire county or in some cases multiple counties.  Now, in addition to full county coverage, an "area of interest" may be identified, and soils information for only the selected area is included in the map and report that is created on demand. 

 

Districts Should Note: This article can be modified with local soils historical information. The NRCS soils staff can, on request, 
customize a mini-history for any county in Indiana.  (See the example below on Parke County.) If your District would want to include a paragraph with some historical notation about their particular county soil survey, 

contact Mike Wigginton, Soil Data Quality Specialist, NRCS,

317.290.3200 ext 365.

 

Parke County Soil Survey History

The Parke County Soil Survey was first published in 1967. It was the first soil survey in Indiana to include the new system of soil classification "7th Approximation." The soil survey was re-issued in 1992.  Digital soils data for Parke County were posted to the Soil Data Mart November 20, 2006.  

NACD Expresses Concern About President's Budget

National Association of Conservation Districts leadership yesterday expressed concern about natural resources and environment provisions of the Bush Administration’s proposed 2008 fiscal year budget. While the budget provides limited increases for some key program areas, it proposes reduced funding for others.

“We were surprised and disappointed with the proposal,” said NACD President Bill Wilson while attending the organization’s 61st annual meeting in Los Angeles. “We had hoped that the administration budget would reflect the commitment to conservation reflected in the US Department of Agriculture’s 2007 Farm Bill proposal.” 

 

Key programs affecting conservation District members and customers, program funding levels as proposed in the president’s FY 2008 budget and comparisons to last year include:
  • Conservation Operations: $802 million, up from $791 million in FY 2007.
  • Environmental Quality Incentives Program: $1 billion, down $270 million from Farm Bill authorized levels.
  • Conservation Security Program: Proposed spending cap of $316 million, up from $259 million in FY07.
  • Conservation Reserve Program Technical Assistance: $58 million, down from $80 million.
  • U.S. Forest Service State and Private Forestry: $202 million, down from $228 million in FY07.
  • Resource Conservation and Development: $15 million, down from $51 million last year.
  • Watershed Programs: $6 million, down from $75 million.

New USDA Deputy Undersecretary Comes from District Ranks

The new deputy undersecretary for natural resources and the environment in the U.S. Department of Agriculture is a longtime conservation District leader.

Gary Mast, immediate past president of the National Association of Conservation Districts and an Ohio dairy farmer, was named to that position by Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns. The announcement of Mast’s appointment was made Monday at NACD’s 61st annual meeting by Natural Resources Conservation Service Chief Arlen Lancaster.

As deputy undersecretary, Mast will oversee NRCS and work closely with Lancaster and Undersecretary Mark Rey on conservation policy and operations issues.

IDEM Section 401 Water Quality Certification

IDEM recently made changes to the project manager boundaries for its Section 401 Water Quality Certification (WQC) and State Isolated Wetlands programs. Click here to access the map depicting the most recent project manager regions for the Section 401 WQC/Isolated Wetlands programs.  The project manager map and contact information for IDEM’s programs can always be found online – click here. 


Can You Download PDF Files?

 

If you click on any link in the Weekly Update and cannot view the PDF document, you can download the Acrobat Reader software free by clicking on the logo.

 

Northern Indiana Soil Management Seminar

The Elkhart County SWCD and Elkhart County Purdue Extension are co-sponsoring a Northern Indiana Soil Management Seminar on March 1, 2007. The meeting will be held in the Martin Room of the Elkhart County Community Center on the Elkhart County 4-H Fairgrounds. Continuing Education Units (CEU), Certification Credit Hours (CCH), and Private Applicator (PARP) credit hours have been applied for. 

 

This year’s trainers are: Warren Dick, Ohio State University (“Soil Stratification in Long Term No-till”); Glen Nice, Purdue Botany (“Glyphosate Resistant Weed”); Jeff Burbrink, Elkhart County Purdue Extension Director (“Well Contamination” and “Pesticide Safety Tips for Workplace and Farm”); and Lance Murrell, Certified Crop Advisor (“New Twists in Nitrogen”).

 

The registration fee is $30 per person through February 19, and $35 after that. Registration covers speakers, materials, refreshments and lunch.  Contact the Elkhart County SWCD with questions and to receive a registration form. Call 574.533.3630 ext. 3.


Digital Soils Information Now 100 Percent

 

On January 19, 2007, 105 years after the first soil survey was published in Indiana, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) crossed another threshold by posting a digital copy of the soil survey for Warren County to the Soil Data Warehouse, on the Indiana NRCS Internet site. This brings digital soils coverage for Indiana to 100%. The 1902 Posey County, Indiana soil survey report was the first soil survey published in Indiana.  It was published by USDA’s Bureau of Soils, an early predecessor of the Soil Survey Division in NRCS.

For those with access to a computer, digital soils information for all 92 Indiana counties is now available, anytime, anywhere, through the Soil Data Mart http://soildatamart.nrcs.usda.gov/ and the Web Soil Survey http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/. For those without a computer, Soil and Water Conservation District offices will continue to be the primary provider of important soils information.

In addition to farmers and conservation planners, soil survey information now has many other users. Homeowners, realtors, county officials, universities, students and consultants, among others, are finding the information valuable.  The digital format makes the soils data and information much more available because of access through the internet and the reduced costs of producing digital copies of the data rather than printed copies.

Continued in blue column at the right.....

225 S. East Street Suite 740 • Indianapolis, IN 46202 • Phone: 317.692.7374 • Fax: 317.423.0756