Arkansas Conservation News -- Summer 2009

Conservation Corner

Kalven L. Trice
State Conservationist

Fiscal Year 2009 has proven to be another busy and productive year for us. Your hard work resulted in Arkansas Natural Resources Conservation Service obligating more than $16 million for conservation projects through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program and Wetlands Reserve Program. By the end of the fiscal year, we will obligate almost $5 million more through these programs.

Much like 2008, Arkansas saw its share of natural disasters. And again, we helped landowners with recovery efforts. Through the Emergency Watershed Program, we contracted $250,377 worth of work on 38 sites to remove debris from stream channels and bridges after the January ice storm. Fourteen additional contracts on 50 sites are to be awarded for $281,000 by Nov. 15, 2009. We also had one contract for two sites for $32,000 after the Polk County tornado in 2009.

Clean up work continued from the 2008 tornados and flooding. We obligated almost $4.9 million in FY 2009 for streambank stabilization and debris and sediment removal from the 2008 flooding. And, by Oct. 15, 2009, we will let five more contracts for $239,000. In addition, we obligated $112,860 through four contract on seven sites to clean up tornado debris.

With the nearly $3.8 million we are receiving through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, we are going to be able to rehabilitate and repair two structures and purchase easements to alleviate flooding concerns.

• Nearly $1.5 million of the money will be used to rehabilitate the Poteau River Multipurpose Dam No. 5 near Waldron in Scott County. The reservoir provides water supply and flood control for approximately 4,000 people in a 17-square-mile area.

• Arkansas will receive $134,000 for repairs to the Upper Petit Jean Watershed Site No. 9 project. The 310-acre reservoir in Logan County provides flood control for 19,872 acres and water supply for the city of Booneville. The contract for the grouting of the concrete riser was awarded Aug. 18 to Lamplighter Construction of Augusta, Ga. The work is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2009.

• Eight floodplain easements were also selected in Arkansas on 1,501 acres for $2,237,586. To learn more about the easement projects turn to Page 2.

As you all know already, we are in the middle of a statewide sign up for the new Conservation Stewardship Program. I know you are all working hard to get the word out with public meetings, media interviews and mail outs. In the past week, we have sent out almost 70,000 post cards to Arkansas landowners. As with any new program, the learning curve is steep. But, I know from past experience you will make this sign up successful.

We all have a huge role to play in the delivery of Farm Bill programs. To our partners and fellow NRCS employees, I appreciate your continued effort to help Arkansas landowners implement conservation projects. Thank you for all you do. Take care of yourself and each other.
 

Vilsack picks 8 floodplain easements in Arkansas for Recovery Act funds

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack selected 289 applications June 2 for the first national sign-up for floodplain easements under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. The easements will cover more the 36,000 acres of land in 36 states. Eight easements were selected in Arkansas on 1,501 acres for $2,237,586.

"The floodplain easements made possible through the Recovery Act generated tremendous interest and response from across the country, which underscores the need to restore flood-prone areas to their natural state," said Vilsack. "We are working to create jobs and ensure the most effective use of the funds by enrolling land with the greatest benefit to protect against future floods, improve water quality, enhance wildlife habitat and reduce the need for future disaster assistance."

"A 333-acre project area adjacent to the state-owned Holland Bottoms Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Pulaski County will convert cropland damaged by flooding and erosion to permanent native vegetation," said Kalven L. Trice, state conservationist.

"In addition to reducing flood damage to the floodplain, these restoration activities will provide additional protected wildlife habitat adjacent to the WMA, improve water quality by reducing sedimentation, increase available carbon sequestration, restore riparian habitats and reduce commodity payments on 225 acres of cropland.

"The eight easements selected for funding in Arkansas will help restore the natural functions of the floodplain they are found in," Trice said. "This will be accomplished by converting cropland often damaged by flooding to permanent native vegetation and restoring natural topography to the 1,501 acres included in these easements."

The eight easements are in Arkansas, Clay, Phillips, Prairie, Pulaski, White and Yell counties.

USDA received $145 million in the ARRA to acquire floodplain easements and restore the land to its natural state while helping maintain jobs in rural America.

During this ARRA floodplain easement sign-up, USDA received more than 4,200 applications, totaling over $1.4 billion and representing 479,000 acres of flood-prone land in 47 states and territories.

Arkansas NRCS received 56 applications from 22 counties totaling over $17 million in requested funding on 15,350 acres.
 

RC&D helps reach out to at risk youth

By Pat Hoeffken

Few people get through life without adversity. How they choose to react to it often determines their future.

Sandra (Sandy) Martin emerged from life’s adversities with a passion to redirect the lives of people in need – from the mentally and physically disabled to at-risk youths and adults as they come out of the criminal justice system. For three years, she trained disabled people as cooks and waitresses at a restaurant in Hope, Ark. For six years she also trained young people in Patmos for their first job.

Ms. Martin is a feisty, gregarious woman who insists she be called Sandy. She wants to redirect the lives of at-risk youths and adults with a new environment and new skills by setting up her organic row-crop farm as a training site.

"I want them to learn all about it -- how to plant, manage, harvest and package organic crops to sell at the [Hope Farmer’s] Market," Sandy said. Starting out, participants will commute to the farm, but she hopes to eventually build residential sites so participants can utilize and engage the whole experience. To make this work, she hopes to form cooperative agreements with two criminal justice systems to train adults and youths in the Hope area.

To help her accomplish this, she has enlisted the grant-writing services of Charlie Williams, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Project Coordinator, assisting the Southwest Arkansas Resource Conservation and Development Council (RC&D). "Charlie has helped me prepare and submit a grant application for funds to set up the farm as a teaching project," she said. "If I receive that grant, it will be the giant step I need in this whole process."

Sandy’s 108-acre farm in Patmos, Ark., has been in her family for more than 150 years. She remembers stories of how her grandfather died when her father was 10 years old, so the family cut down the plow handles so her father could plow with the mules. This project is her dream.

"Bringing her dream to life is what we are attempting to do," said Williams. "First, by helping her develop a written plan for where she wants to go, to put her vision on paper, then identifying federal, state and local programs that can assist her in reaching that dream."

"I also want to teach them how to ‘can’ produce for their own use. They can do it all here. I already have this [restaurant] place called The Goat Roper," she said. "My daddy gave me money and Patmos Mayor Campbell gave me a check for $50,000. I was paying him back with interest, but two years later he brought my deed back and wrote the debt off. I was the happiest person you ever saw in your life. He gave me $90,000 in all. It just fell into my lap. This building and property is paid for and just sitting here waiting."

Her nonprofit 501c3 organization is called Country Girl Natural Health Club, Inc. "We will assist her in developing agreements with organizations to provide help with grant applications to philanthropic organizations that care about the same type of people she cares about. RC&D is helping bring resources to her so she can fulfill her dream," Williams said.

An Agricultural Marketing Service grant application will be finalized in September 2009. The grant will provide funds for on-farm working equipment such as hoes, shovels, gloves, harvesting baskets plus canning jars and lids that Sandy will use for training in the restaurant facility. "This particular grant is to promote the survivability of the new Hope Farmer’s Market. The market needs people to harvest, package and bring in produce on a regular basis, to assist in the success of the farmers market," Williams said.

A self-described "one-man band," Sandy has grown organic sweet corn, purple hull peas, black chowders, cream chowders, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, squash, English peas, pinto beans, watermelon, cantaloupes, okra, pumpkins and sunflowers on her best six-acre plot for the past three years.

"My cantaloupe seeds for this year are open-pollinated seeds saved from my daddy’s 1998 crop. They are not hybrid," she said. "You can plant them and they’ll stay true for what they were and every year you can save them. My daddy’s cantaloupes were this big (she shapes her hands to indicate the size of a small watermelon). I hope mine are as big this year."

Another ambitious project Sandy is planning is raising free-range only chickens. "I’m excited to get free-range chickens going, for sure, but I have to get [the training program] going before I can get the chickens. I want organic chickens and organic eggs. My grandchildren and I built a ‘chicken’ tractor about 11-12 years ago, from a book I bought," she said. The system entails a door that opens to let the chickens roam while a tractor pulls the pen through the pasture. "I’ve used this same principle with pig pens. I got my chain saw out and built it. I started with three pigs, the biggest was Boss Hog. She was alive three years later because I couldn’t kill her. Eventually I had 112 head of hogs and 37 head of goats."

"We think her father used NRCS services," said Williams. "When we came out to her farm she had these ridges on her farm. Ms. Martin said, ‘I didn’t know what they were for so I just plowed them down.’ She did not know they were terraces. So, I believe that way back, the Soil Conservation Service probably designed those terraces for her dad. She wants to get those terraces back and begin again to plow on the contour." District Conservationist Todd Sewell will work with Sandy to reinstall the terraces. Burthel Thomas, Assistant State Conservationist for Field Operations, is coordinating efforts to ensure Sandy gets all USDA assistance available to her.

The talk returns to her goals. "When at-risk youths and adults come in and learn organic farming -- how to set up, run, and harvest an organic farm and market its products -- it will give them knowledge and purpose through a complete program. It all must come together," Sandy said. "Eventually, I also want to develop a place for [participants] to restore old vehicles and use my restaurant for woodworking. It can be a specialty shop and sell organic food, milk and butter."

"I’ve been on a mission my entire life. I am a humanitarian to a fault, almost. I’m about people and a rescuer. My vision is to bring this about to help humanity be all they can be," said Sandy.

"I have all kinds of ideas, I just need to get them going," she concluded.

NRCS, White River Irrigation District receive $1.38 million

Arkansas is receiving $1.38 million for water conservation and water quality improvements on agricultural working lands in portions of state through the Agricultural Water Enhancement Program.

The funding will be used to install fuel and water monitoring equipment on an estimated 300 wells or re-lifts in Arkansas, Prairie and Lonoke counties and portions of Jefferson and Monroe counties.

"We continue to emphasize water conservation and utilize every program available to us in solving our critical resource problems. This program is just another tool in our conservation tool box. NRCS is looking forward to working with Arkansas farmers and other interests in implementing this program," said Kalven L. Trice, state conservationist.

AWEP promotes ground and surface water conservation and improves water quality by helping farmers and ranchers implement agricultural water enhancement activities. NRCS has agreed to partner with the White River Irrigation District in implementing this program which allows the Federal Government to leverage investment in natural resources conservation.

"We will install devices on farmer’s wells and re-lifts to measure the fuel usage, the water pumped, and the engine status. The information can be used to fine tune the pumping and reduce pumping costs by 10 percent or more in most cases," says Dennis Carman, chief engineer and director for the White River Irrigation District. "These five counties are experiencing critical groundwater declines."

This project competed nationally with numerous other projects and was the only project funded in Arkansas through the AWEP. The funding was made available for 63 projects in 21 states.

Interested individuals should contact their local USDA NRCS office or call the White River Irrigation District office (870-255-2202) for additional information.
 

Volunteers clean up, plant flower beds at Salem office

Barren flower beds at the entrance of the USDA office in Salem, Ark., were not a welcoming sight to our customers or staff. Now, thanks to a group of Earth Team volunteers, the flower bed’s landscape is getting a full makeover.

Four new flower beds will be planted with a variety of small grasses and yucca plants bordered with an assortment of red and yellow roses on a bed of smooth river rock. The base of the existing USDA sign at the entrance has new masonry resurfaced with flat sandstone to make it more attractive with the river rock in the bottom of the flower beds.

Volunteer group leader Carl Portwood said, "This is the largest and most aggressive project we have ever done. The plantings were adjacent to a road right-of-way, so we selected short structured plants so as to not to impede vision at the road and accommodate a state easement."

"Twelve Master Gardeners worked about 325 hours as Earth Team Volunteers to plan, design, and plant these lush flower beds," said Kelly Shrable, NRCS district conservationist at Salem. "They designed the beds to be almost maintenance free and have agreed to maintain them."

Although site selection and preplanning were done last year, Earth Team Volunteers Carl and Kathy Portwood, John and Suzanne Hartrick, Ralph Moore, Richard Goodwin, and Trisha Stafford began the actual bed preparations and plantings on Earth Day, April 22. Other Master Gardeners, Nick Bartz, Becci Bartz, Gail Plumlee, Kathy Goodwin and Jerry Rolen, also contributed to the project.

All of the volunteers on this NRCS Earth Team project are members of the Fulton County Master Gardeners.

"Our purpose is to beautify the community and educate others in techniques for planting and landscaping," said Portwood. "The greatest benefit for us is not the actual plants we put into the ground to make things green, but rather the feedback we get from the community for our efforts in beautification and landscape projects. These projects are something that people in the community can drive by and enjoying seeing every day."

John Hartrick is a member of the Master Gardeners and the Fulton County Conservation District Board.

"John and his wife, Suzanne, thought that landscaping the entrance to the USDA facility would be a great Earth Team and Master Gardener project," Shrable said. "Now, every day as we drive into the USDA office complex, we are reminded of the efforts and accomplishments of all the individual and group volunteers who have become Earth Team volunteers. This is just a wonderful example of volunteers uniting in an effort to make our community a better place to live."

NRCS and the Fulton County Conservation District have enjoyed great success in getting individuals and groups to volunteer. In February 2009, NRCS and the FCCD were presented the 2008 National Association of Conservation Districts/Natural Resources Conservation Service’s National Earth Team Award.

People interested in becoming an Earth Team volunteer can contact any NRCS office.
 

Did You Know?

Arkansas Federal Executive Association 2009 Team Award

The Jonesboro Technical Support Team was recently recognized by the Arkansas Federal Executive Association as the Team of the Year for 2009.

The team consists of Nelson Childers, Zach Dalmut, David Fowlkes, Dawn Fox, Brian Gawf, James Howell, Joe Hughes, Joe Lawson, Paul Myer, Craig Roach, Mike Smith, Audrey Steward, Mark Tidwell, Doris Williams, and Ken Ziegler. The team leader is Reed Cripps.

The Jonesboro Technical Support Team supports programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, Conservation Reserve Program, Wetlands Reserve Program, National Resource Inventory, Conservation Security Program, Emergency Watershed Protection Program including Flood Plain Easements, and Conservation Technical Assistance.

These programs contribute millions of dollars in conservation to the land in Northeast Arkansas.

This is a highly diverse team with each member bringing their own special skills and training to each program they work on and each problem that they encounter.

From wetland restoration, wildlife habitat, maintenance of watershed dams and lakes, providing assistance and resources to customers engaged in production of agriculture and responding to emergency events such as floods and tornados. The team believes when they work together, no problem is too difficult, no obstacle insurmountable, and no assignment impossible.

The team works in 23 counties, mostly in Northeast Arkansas, and provides conservation technical and contracting support to one of the most agriculturally significant areas in the United States and to all of Arkansas.

Communicating with each other is the key to their combined success. They truly believe: "They can achieve more working together then they could ever hope to do working alone."

The team is committed to working together even when they are apart.

Arkansas State University, College of Agriculture’s Distinguished Service Award

David Fowlkes received the Arkansas State University, College of Agriculture’s Distinguished Service Award for 2008-2009.

For approximately 24 years, David has maintained a close working relationship with the Arkansas State University College of Agriculture. The opportunities to collaborate are beneficial to both NRCS and the College of Agriculture.

David is a conservation agronomist with 34 years experience. He is a registered professional soil classifier and a certified crop advisor. He received a Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture from Arkansas State University, Jonesboro in 1975 and began work with Natural Resources Conservation Service.

David has helped publish six soil surveys in Arkansas and one in Montana and another in Virginia.

He currently serves on the Program Steering Committee for the annual Soil and Water Education Conference, assists each year with the Annual FFA Land Judging Contest, occasionally speaks to the Soil and Water Conservation Class, and has served on an ASU Faculty Search Committee.

Master’s Degree in Professional and Technical Writing

Holly Anderson recently received a Master’s Degree in Professional and Technical Writing from the University of Arkansas, Little Rock.

Her thesis was: "Defining the Role of Citizens in Dialogic Environmental Risk Communication."
 

Calendar

September

• 24 -- CRP Training, Monticello
• 25 -- World Fest

October

• 9-18 -- Arkansas State Fair, Little Rock
• 12 -- HOLIDAY - Columbus Day
• 13 -- Program Managers Meeting, State Office
• 14-15 -- Management Team Meeting, State Office
• 15 -- State Office Quarterly Meeting
• 20 -- Resource Concerns in Conservation Planning Training, Monticello
• 21 -- Resource Concerns in Conservation Planning Training, Hope
• 22-23 -- Arkansas Land and Farm Development Corporation Annual Conference
• 27 -- Resource Concerns in Conservation Planning Training, Russellville
• 28 -- Resource Concerns in Conservation Planning Training, Harrison

November

• 10 -- Employee Appreciation Day
• 11 -- HOLIDAY - Veterans Day
• 17 -- Program Managers Meeting, State Office
• 18-19 -- Management Team Meeting, State Office
• 26 -- HOLIDAY - Thanksgiving Day

December

• 7 -- Arkansas RC&D Annual Meeting, Inn of the Ozarks; Eureka Springs

• 8-9 -- Arkansas Association of Conservation Districts Annual Meeting, Inn of the Ozarks; Eureka Springs

• 13 -- Fourth National Grazing Lands Conference; Spark, Nev.

Comings & Goings

• Lynne Alder is the new district conservationist at Star City.

• Nolan Beck is the new district conservationist at Lake Village.

• Cody Carlile is the new district conservationist at Paris.

• Corey Cornelious is the new district conservationist at Osceola.

• Russell Fleharty, district conservationist at Malvern, retired July 3.

• Shaun Ford, district conservationist at Hot Springs, transferred to Georgia.

• Carrie Hawkins is the new soil scientist at Glenwood.

• Reggie Jackson is the new state public affairs officer at the state office.

• Larry Kichler, senior regional soil scientist at the state office, retired July 3.

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