Outreach Message: What is Outreach?

Outreach is a way of conducting business

that ensures underserved individuals and

groups throughout the United States and

its territories are made aware of,

understand, and have a working knowledge

of USDA programs and services. Outreach

will ensure that these programs and services

are equitable and made accessible to all.

Illinois State Conservationist

Bill Gradle

State Conservationist

Greetings! What do

most companies do in

order to keep selling their

product and and keep

growing? They work on

improving quality, bump

up customer service, and

continually try to

expand their client base.

Well, I think that

makes NRCS just like most

every business in this country today. We just

finalized our quality assurance plan. We are

continually working to meet our present

clients ever-changing technical needs. And

we are reaching out, trying to educate and

provide assistance to new groups and

audiences that Im sure Hugh Hammond

Bennett never even dreamed of!

Back when conservation first became a

national priority, it was enough for us to try

and address the needs of our nations

farmers. That was the client with a problem

for which we had a science-based solution.

Now, as we strive to protect and preserve

natural resources on all our countrys private

lands, we must tailor our message, alter our

approach and the format for product

delivery, and wear many different hats in

order to maintain our companys net worth

and profitability.

Our agencys emphasis on attracting and

marketing ourselves to new audiences and

broadening our client base through

outreach really isnt anything new. Its an

age-old business tactic used by any and

every company thats still kicking today.

NRCS has been alive and kicking for well

over 60 yearsand as far as Im concerned,

were just getting started!

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service July 2000

Outreach

News, ideas, and information

on NRCS Outreach initiatives

and projects in Illinois Insider Insider

Outreach

Dozier Contributes to Award

Winning Exhibit

Macoupin County District Conservationist Ivan Dozier contributed technical

assistance to the creators of a garden

exhibit, which took top honors at the March

13-19 Chicago Flower Show, held at the Navy

Pier.

The display was sponsored by the

Batavia Plain Dirt Gardeners and featured

a piece of Mother Earth indoors. Moving

tons and tons of soil, 25,000 gallons of

water and a long list of native plants, the

gardens designer did not stop there.

Incorporated into the 150 by 75 foot exhibit

were a number of artifacts of Native

American culture and several members of

the Midwest SOARRING group who lived

in the display throughout the term of the

flower show. They worked on traditional

crafts and scheduled a number of Native

dances and other events.

As the Native American Liaison of the

Natural Resources Conservation Service

and as a member of several Indian tribes,

Dozier provided a basis in working knowledge

of the native plants. He has been able to

work with members of Midwest SOARRING

at returning some of the knowledge of these

plants to a Native population that has

become largely urban in Illinois. Dozier is

fluent in the traditional medicinal uses of

these plant materials and helped in

obtaining them. In order to get the plants

in full leaf and flower for the March show

work began last summer.

Dozier communicated with members of

the Plain Dirt Gardeners of Batavia about

their concept, their second entry to the

flower show. Members of that gardening

club donated many of the wildflowers in the

display from their home gardens. All of

the plant material was brought into early

bloom or grown at the University of Illinois

Research greenhouse in Geneva by club

members.

The Chicago Flower Show demonstrated

that these ideas represent a growing trend

in home gardens. The awards won included

the Land of Lincoln Award and the Governors

Award. The average attendance at the

show is about 150,000; this year the

attendance exceeded 200,000. While

people filed past the exhibit, they got a

close look at many common native plants.

Many attendees commented on the beauty

of the plants; they hadnt known these

plants were supposed to be used as

landscape plants. Some people reminisced

about where these plants used to grow.

(Left to Right) Ivan Dozier and Joe Standing

Bear Schranz standing near the display at

the Chicago Flower Show.

Whats

Happening

in Illinois
Yellow Lady Slipper, Green Dragon, wild

geranium, rue anemone, trillium, dogwood,

willows, and coneflowers  all combined to

make a peaceful spot. These native plants

generally need very little care, blooming in

their own season. They tolerate Illinois

unreliable weather and they multiply,

usually modestly.

The garden show is just one aspect of

work Dozier has done with Midwest

SOARRING. Macoupin County Soil & Water

Conservation District has joined with

Midwest SOARRING in applying for, and

obtaining a grant for providing a pair of

small greenhouses to experiment in the

production of native forbs and grasses.

They aim to continue to provide knowledge

and an opportunity to place these plants

back in a landscape where they can take

their place in the Sacred Circle of Life.

This assistance to the Batavia Plain Dirt

Gardeners brought Native American

sensibilities and their relationship with the

earth to the attention of a wide audience.

The possibilities of partnering with various

groups may prove important in helping

Midwest SOARRING in achieving their goal

of preserving the knowledge of their elders

and showing their youth that being fluent

in this knowledge can provide opportunities.

Repercussions of this effort, both in

future partnering of various groups as well

continued progress in the Midwest

SOARRINGs native plants efforts, should

be felt well into the future.

Joes Standing Bear Schranz demonstrating

weaving techniques amongst native plants at

the Chicago Flower Show.

Prescribed Burning Workshop

Interstate RC&D, NRCS, Rock Island

County Soil and Water Conservation District

(SWCD) and Illinois Department of Natural

Resources (IDNR) cooperated in conducting

a prescribed burning training/workshop to

small farmers with native grass plantings

on their land. The small farmers were invited

to attend the workshop by direct mail.

Interstate RC&D transported participants

from the classroom to the site where the

burn was conducted via bus. Sixty people

attended the classroom/field workshop to

learn about burn ecology, safety and

equipment.

Control burn in progress at Kenny Brushs

farm, Milan, IL

Participants watch initial burn at Kenny

Brushs farm, Milan, IL.

Hancock County SWCD Gets A

Big Hand with Newsletter

This spring the Hancock County SWCD

contacted the Hancock County Mental

Health Center to see if they would be

interested in helping with the Districts

newsletter. In the past, the SWCD has

How Do You Measure

Outreach Success?

Tammy Willis, Soil Conservationist, Freeport,

IL

What is true outreach? Is it the kind of

outreach that comes easy? For example, is

it working with traditional customers,

sending out brochures, or is it the kind of

outreach that takes two to five years to

complete a project? Heres my story!

While reading the morning mail, I came

across some information on starting a

community garden and I thought to myself,

this would be a good outreach project for

Freeport residents. I had worked on an

outreach project on the eastside of

Freeport before and noticed that there

were plenty of vacant lots. All I had to do

was to get the community interested in the

idea.

I made arrangements to attended four

neighborhood community meetings to share

the community gardens idea with residents.

At the meetings, I brought handouts on

starting a community garden as well as

beautiful pictures of a successful community

garden project in Winnebago County. Of the

four community meetings, two groups were

not interested; one group had a project that

they were currently working on, and only

one person showed-up at the fourth meeting.

Had I given up on this project? No, I had

to remind myself that I was not working

with traditional NRCS customers, but with

people with NO knowledge of NRCS, SWCD,

and the programs that we offer. The first

thing I had to do was win their trust, gain

respect, and inform them about our

programs.

I have learned many things trying to get

this project on the ground, but the three

most important things were: (1) Finding a

community leader to work with (initially)

instead of the whole group is essential, (2)

Do not to set a time limit on a projects,

and (3) Never give up!

Who said success stories had to have a

happy ending? I sure didnt. You might be

saying how is this an outreach success

story: Its a success story because even

though the four groups had no interest in

developing a community garden, I had the

privilege of meeting non-traditional

customers and sharing information on

starting a community garden. I was also

able to introduce them to NRCS and, other

agencies and programs that could benefit

them in their future endeavors. I may not

have assisted in planting a community

garden but I have planted future seeds for

a successful project. I am not certain of

when it will happen, but I am convinced it

will. Now thats success!

folded, addressed, sorted and prepared the

newsletter for mailing themselves, requiring

many hours of District and NRCS labor. The

Mental Health Center has a workforce that

contracts services to local businesses.

They recently completed the second edition

newsletter for the District and have done

a splendid job. The newsletter goes directly

from the printer to the Mental Health

Center and their finished product is ready

for the post office. Their fee for doing the

work goes towards ongoing programs at the

Center. The Hancock County SWCD/NRCS

office is glad to have the opportunity to

utilize this valuable workforce.

Outreach

Reporting
Local Youth Learn through

Agriculture and Conservation

Field Day

Around 780 fifth-graders from Brown,

Adams, and Pike Counties joined together

on April 28 to gain some hands-on

conservation and agriculture education. A

total of 26 stations manned by personnel

from local, state, and federal agencies

concentrated on the various areas of

natural resources  forestry, soils, wildlife,

and aquatics. The youth were chattering

throughout the day about the reptile tent

where the students were allowed to hold

various snakes in the Conservation Police

wildlife trailer. Other stations introduced

agriculture occupation opportunities,

erosion control conservation practices, farm

safety, and caring for the water supply. The

sponsors hope that the participants had

fun while they learned about our natural

resources. The event was held at the Orr

Research Center/John Wood Community

College Ag Center near Perry. The event

proved a huge success for the sponsors of

the event, the Soil and Water Conservation

Districts and the University of Illinois

Extension offices of the three counties.

Students learn through Conservation

Jeopardy game.

IDNR personnel talk about aquatics.

Central Illinois Students Get A

Touch of Nature

The Marshall-Putnam SWCD had the

opportunity to talk to 42 students from

Central Illinois about the soils of Illinois at

Wildlife Prairie Park near Peoria. The

students participated in the Students

Integrating Mathematics, Science, and

Technology (SIMaST) program which provides

low income, academically gifted, minority

middle school students with enrichment

experiences in scientific inquiry,

mathematical problem solving, writing skills,

use of new technologies, and career

opportunities. The four week, overnight,

program was conducted at ISU for two

weeks, a week at Wildlife Prairie Park, and

a week at Bradley University in Peoria.

Tom Miller, Resource Conservationist,

explained how the soils of Illinois were formed

and provided a historical perspective of the

Illinois River Valley. The students leaned

about soil profiles by viewing soil monoliths

and saw how soil particles settled showing

the sand, silt, and clay layers. A student

assisted Tom with soil borings in the Bison

pasture and everyone was able to see and

touch the soil cores. Students learned

about careers related to conservation and

what courses of study would prepare them

for this profession. The students had

excellent questions and challenged their

Chicago Area Youths Exposed

to Nature

Children in the Northwest suburbs of

Chicago rarely take part in environmental

outdoors-recreational activities. They are

often forced to play on the sidewalks and

parking lots around their homes and

apartment complexes. On July 7th, the Girl

Scouts of Naperville, IL conducted a threeday open site at the Girl Scout campground

to expose underprivileged children to

environmental activities. Approximately

three hundred elementary school age

children were in attendance. Elizabeth

Hagan of the St. Charles SWCD office set

up three workstations for the children to

experience nature and the environment.

Danielle Pleas, NRCS Summer Intern,

conducted a pond activity, which involved

identifying trees, flowers, insects, and

native birds. The children were able to take

pond water samples and identify what they

saw, such as damselfly nymphs and red

bloodworms. Handouts were provided and

questions were asked about the activities

conducted to determine what the students

retained from the project. The children

seemed very enthusiastic and eager to

learn about the environment and the

importance of sustainability.

Water Quality Workshop Held

for JoDaviess Residents

 A one day workshop titled Water

Quality: What Everyone Needs to Know was

held in Jo Daviess County on June 16th at

the River Ridge High School in Elizabeth.

The Jo Daviess County Ecosystem Partners,

Jo Daviess SWCD, and the Jo Daviess

Cooperative Extension Service sponsored

the workshop.

Participants received a packet of water

quality related handout materials as they

registered and then had the choice of

attending 3 hour long sessions from the 14

sessions offered. The sessions were: Buffer/

Filter Strips by Jerry Misek, NRCS; Sewer/

Septic Systems Management by Gordon

Coursen, Jo Daviess Co. Health Dept.;

Nutrient Management by Wes Winter, U of I

Extension, Stephenson County Extension;

The Mississippi River by Mike Steuck, Iowa

Dept. of Natural Resources; Streambank

Stabilization by Chris Haring, Jo Daviess

SWCD; Stream Monitoring by Nancy Winter,

Jo Daviess Co. Natural Area Guardians;

Water Testing by Larry Lyons, Lyons Well

Drilling, Gordon Coursen, Jo Daviess Co.

Health Dept.; Developers & Water Quality,

Thomas Krapf, NRCS; Understanding

Government Programs, Jim Ritterbush,

NRCS; Herbicides, Nitrates, & Surface

Contamination by John Church, U of I

Extension, Rockford Extension Center;

Wetland by Pam Steinhous, U.S. Fish and

Wildlife; Well Capping/Sealing/Abandoned

Wells by Gordon Coursen, Jo Daviess Co.

Health Dept., Larry Lyons, Lyons Well

Drilling; Ponds by Tim Ertmer, NRCS; Keeping

Madelynn Wilharm (w/net) demonstrating

sampling procedures for the River Watch

program during the Apple River tour.

teachers on certain soil related concepts,

which the teachers were unable to answer!

Their eagerness to gain additional knowledge

about soils made the presentation fun and

exciting.

A virtual tour of the program can be

viewed at their website:

http://coe.ilstu.edu/labschool/metcalf/

simast/index.htm
 The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases

apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audio-tape etc.) should contact USDAs TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).

 To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity employer.

If you have an outreach

related article, story idea,

or success story to share,

please send it to:

John Glover, USDA-NRCS

402 North Kays Drive

Bloomington, IL 61761

Email address:

John.Glover@il.usda.gov

Make A Connection!

Get NRCS products and services into the hands of ALL who need them!

Who Do I Call With

Outreach Questions?

John Glover

State Outreach Coordinator

309-452-0830 Ext. 112

Bruce Bennett

Asst. State Conservationist (FOD 1)

618-993-5396 Ext. 110

Steve Mozley

Asst. State Conservationist (FOD 2)

217-492-5045

Tessa Chadwick

Asst. State Conservationist (FOD 3)

815-937-3233 x114

Bob Dean

Asst. State Conservationist (FOD 4)

309-342-5138 x115

Lue Walters

Asst. State Conservationist

(Community Assistance)

309-452-0830 x111

Jody Rendziak

Community Planner & Sociologist

217-353-6632

Internet Connections

Outreach Website

An Illinois outreach website has been

established to provide resource information.

The site provides general outreach

information on developing an outreach

strategy and it has links to other agencies,

possible funding sources, and other valuable

information. The Illinois NRCS outreach

website can be accessed at:

www.il.nrcs.usda.gov/outreach/Outreach.html

Grant Info On-Line

Grant News, a grant listing newsletter

produced by the Illinois State University

Applied Social Research Unit is now available

on-line. The newsletter lists grant

opportunities available from various private

and public sources. Grant News can be

accessed at:

www.socialresearch.ilstu.edu/asru/publications.htm

Conferences

November 3-4, 2000

8th National Small Farm Trade Show

and Conference, Columbia, MO.

For more information call:

1-800-633-2535

September 17-20, 2000

Third National Small Farm Conference,

Albuquerque, New Mexico

For more information call:

202-205-0467

Contaminants Out of Groundwater by John

Church, U of I Extension, Rockford Extension

Center.

Lunch was served at noon at the nearby

Elizabeth Community Building where several

water quality displays were exhibited.

The afternoon session included a bus tour

throughout the county featuring: farm

ponds, actual sealing of an abandoned well,

contour buffer strips, a river sampling

demonstration, grassed waterways and

erosion control structures, a confined hog

operation with a complete manure and

nutrient management system, riparian

buffer planting, contour strips and

pastureland, and streambank stabilization.

The program reached a wide range of people

and will likely be offered again next year.

Grants Opportunities

USDAs Small Business Innovation

Research (SBIR) program is soliciting for

proposals. The SBIR program supports

innovative R&D projects on all aspects of

American Agriculture and/or rural America.

All small business owners, including farmers

and ranchers are eligible to apply. Proposal

must be submitted in nine different project

areas: forestry, and related resources,

plant production and protection, air, water,

and soils; food science and nutrition; rural

and community development; aquaculture;

industrial applications; and marketing and

trade. Approximately $16 million is

available nationally. More information can

be found at the following website:

www.reeusda.gov/sbir or by calling (202)

401-4002.