December 2005

675 U. S. Courthouse

Nashville, Tennessee 37203

Telephone: 615/277-2531

FAX: 615/277-2577

USDA Natural Resources

Conservation Service

NRCS

From the office of the State Conservationist

Current

Developments

Inside This Issue....

 Page

Awards for FY-05 14

Do Not Call List for Cell Phones 5

Earth Team Update 6

EQIP Success Stories 5-6

FY-05 Accomplishments 6

Hurricane Katrina & NRCS

Employees Response & Impact 9-12

NRCS Represented at SAMAB 4

"Operation Pack the Bus" Welcomed

in Tennessee 8

RC&D News 7-8

State Office Employee Association 2

USDA Releases $12 Million for

Voluntary Conservation in TN 4

WHIP Initiative in Campbell County 11

25th Annual Soil Workshop 3

A

s the calendar year comes to an end, the new fiscal year is already in full swing. I

want to take this time to extend a sincere thank you to all NRCS-Tennessee

employees for your hard work this past year. We faced several challenges, from

EQIP Migration, to significant staff changes and learning new business tools. But in all

cases, you rose to the occasion, and I am proud of your achievements.

We did a lot of sprinting last year. This year, instead of being sprinters, I want us to think of

ourselves as marathon runners. We have to be ready if we want to run steady. This year,

to turn a phrase, we will Plan our Work and Work our Plan.

What do I mean by that? We need to be strategic about our approach to work. We want to

consolidate the gains we have made in conservation in Tennessee. To achieve excellence,

we must make good decisions early on, utilize Cooperative Conservation whenever

possible, and ensure that each NRCS-Tennessee employee is working to his or her

greatest potential.

We accomplished great things in 2005. We invested $13.8 Million in conservation throughout the state of Tennessee, and we achieved our agency goals. In 2005, we successfully

completed our first year in the Conservation Security Program, and already we can see

CSP growing dramatically in 2006. And we also put the Web Soil Survey online, making

that tool much more accessible and relevant to the public.

Thank you for helping NRCS-Tennessee to achieve these successes. By continuing to plan

and implement our work together, we will all have another productive and Happy New Year!

James Ford

State Conservationist

American Farm Bureau Federation January 8-11, 2006

87th Annual Convention

Opryland Hotel

Nashville, Tennessee

62nd Annual TACD Meeting February 26-28, 2006

Park Vista Resort Hotel

Gatlinburg, TN

Upcoming Events
Current Developments

Twas the Night before Christmas....2005

Tis the Season

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear, 

"Come in this moment, it’s freezing out here!

Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,

You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift, 

Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..

To the window that danced with a warm fire’s light,

Then he sighed and he said "It's really all right."

"I’m out here by choice. I’m here every night.

It’s my duty to stand at the front of the line, 

That separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me. 

I’m proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

My Gramps died at ’Pearl on a day in December."

Then he sighed, ”That’s a Christmas ’Gram always remembers.

My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ’Nam’, 

And now it is my turn and so, here I am."

"I’ve not seen my own son in more than a while,

But my wife sends me pictures, he’s sure got her smile."

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag, 

The red, white, and blue...an American flag.

"I can live through the cold and the being alone, 

Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,

I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.

I can carry the weight of killing another, 

Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..

Who stand at the front against any and all, 

To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.”

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright, 

Your family is waiting and I’ll be all right."

"But isn’t there something I can do, at the least,

Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?"

"It seems all too little for all that you’ve done,

For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,

"Just tell us you love us, and never forget,

To fight for our rights back at home while we’re gone,

To stand your own watch, no matter how long."

"For when we come home, either standing or dead,

To know you remember we fought and we bled,

Is payment enough, and with that we will trust, 

That we mattered to you as you mattered to us!"

NRCS State Office Employees Association's

- 2 -

Mother’s Day Basket- Member donations

provided two lovely baskets for Mother’s Day. 

Annie Timberlake (Cheryl Mitchell’s Mom) and

Tommy Hunt were the lucky winners. The

winning tickets were randomly picked by Carolyn

King from FSA. 

Special thanks to SOEA Officers for 2005:

Phil Cherry-President

Sandy Stewart-Vice President

Cheryl Mitchell-Secretary

Febe Ortiz-Executive Board Member

Beatriz Villa-Executive Board Member

Paul Bluhm-Executive Board Member

Photo top-SOEA members at Christmas luncheon. Bottom, l to r, Phil Cherry delivers good to Second Harvest; Cheryl

Mitchell & Tommy Hunt with Mother's Day Basket; and Susan Hopkins receives Blockbuster gift card from Sandy Stewart.

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light, 

I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.

My wife was asleep, her head on my chest

My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,

Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe, 

Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,

Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.

In perfect contentment, or so it would seem, 

So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn’t loud, and it wasn’t too near,

But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.

Perhaps just a cough, I didn’t quite know,

Then thesure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear, 

And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,

A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,

Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.

Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,

Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

The NRCS State Office Employees Association

purchased nearly $300 dollars of winter clothes

and delivered approximately 25 boxes of

purchased and donated items to the Nashville

Rescue Mission on December 7. The

employee association also plans to help four

families, selected from a Christmas Angel Tree,

with food this holiday season.

The employee association is active all year

with events such as:

Spring Food Drive-Thanks to the generous

donations of the State Office employees,

eleven boxes of much needed food were

collected for Second Harvest Food Bank. 

 

NRCS Anniversary Puzzle-Richard Bryan,

Susan Hopkins and Grace Lutz correctly

completed the NRCS 70th Anniversary Puzzle,

which was developed by Executive Committee

member Sandy Stewart. Mr. Ford randomly

selected Susan’s puzzle from the three eligible

entries, making her the winner of a $10

Blockbuster gift card, popcorn, and candy. 
Current Developments

About a hundred soil scientists and specialists along with forestry

 workers and geologists from several states gathered for the 25th

 annual Central States Forest Soils Workshop hosted by NRCS

and the Soil Scientist Association of Tennessee (SSAT).

The mid-October workshop was held in the Great Smoky Mountain

National Park. NRCS has been conducting a soil survey in the park

since 1998. The workshop allowed participants to examine soils that

occur in high elevations (up to 6,650) and frigid zones.

NRCS employees Dave McMillen, Anthony Khiel, Dillon Gray, and

State Soil Scientist Doug Slabaugh were among the many NRCS-TN

employees responsible for the workshop’s success. Good job, guys! NRCS-Tennessee State Soil Scientist Doug Slabaugh at the Central States

Forest Soils Workshop.

25th Annual Central States Forest Soils Workshop

Front row: Dave McMillen, Soil Scientist; David Moore, Soil Scientist; Gabe Krantz, Soil Scientist; Debbie

Brasfield, Soil Survey Project Leader; Dillon Gray, Soil Scientist

Second Row: Anthony Khiel, Soil Survey Project Leader; Nathan Hartgrove, Soil Survey Project Leader; Melissa

Oliver, Soil Scientist; David Hargis, Soil Scientist; Clarence Conner, Resource Soil Scientist; Jennifer Yaeger,

Soil Survey Project Leader; Carlie McCowan, Soil Survey Project Leader; Jerry Prater, Resource Soil Scientist;

Doug Slabaugh, State Soil Scientist.

Photo at left: Soil Survey Project

Leader Anthony Khiel leads a field

lecture at the Central States Forest

Soils Workshop in the Great Smoky

Mountain National Park

Photo, bottom right: Soil Scientist

Dillon Gray displays a soil sample

from the Great Smoky Mountain

National Park.

Retired UT Professor Dr. Max Springer and Soil

Scientist Dave McMillen

- 3 -

Soils
Current Developments

NRCS Represented at SAMAB

The 16th Annual SAMAB (Southern Appalachian

Man and the Biosphere) Conference was held

November 1 – 3 in Cherokee, NC. “Southern

Appalachian Landscapes:Preserving Our

Heritage”, was the conference theme. Note

the theme written in Cherokee at the right.

The conference highlight was a field trip to

Kituwah, the Mother Town and cultural center

of the Cherokee for over 12,000 years. A

perpetual “sacred” fire burned within a hearth

located in the center of the town. Cherokee

people would travel hundreds of miles to get

the sacred fire from the hearth and bring it back

to their communities. Presently part of Kituwah

is being used for river cane and butternut tree

research and restoration. Kituwah is located

adjacent to US Hwy 19 between Bryson City

and Cherokee, NC.

The Water Resources Staff attended the conference. Charles Roberts is the NRCS representative on the SAMAB Executive Committee,

and Jenny Adkins is the Chairperson of the

Resource Committee. Carol Chandler presented a paper on the “Rebirth of Bear Creek:

Effects of acid mine drainage remediation”. Charles Roberts and Jenny Adkins on the field tour at the SAMAB conference.

- 4 -

On December 12, 2005, State Conservationist

James W. Ford announced the release of

$12,058,766 for three voluntary conservation

programs in Tennessee. The funds are being

released early to ensure farmers and landowners in Tennessee have more time to make

sound decisions regarding their conservation

practices. “We want to give producers time to

develop effective conservation plans. The

Tennessee sign-up deadline is January 17,

2006. We want to help farmers meet that

deadline so they can improve their land while

also making it more productive.” The

Tennessee funds are part of the national

release of nearly $2.7 billion for voluntary

conservation programs on working lands

announced by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike

Johanns last week. A total of more than $2.3

billion will be distributed to the 50 states, Puerto

Rico and the Pacific Basin.

With financial and technical assistance from

NRCS, Tennessee farmers and other landowners will continue to address resource

concerns on agricultural working lands,

promote environmental quality, address

challenges in water quality and quantity, protect

prime farmland and grazing lands and protect

valuable wetlands ecosystems and wildlife habitat.

Key voluntary conservation programs and

allocations for Tennessee include:

•Environmental Quality Incentives Program

(EQIP): $10,020,289. EQIP assists farmers and

ranchers to improve soil, air and water quality and

other related resources on private working lands.

•Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP):

$1,852,173. WRP helps landowners restore,

enhance and protect wetlands through permanent

easements, 30-year easements and restoration

cost-share agreements. The program maximizes

wildlife habitat and wetland functions and values.

•Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP):

$186,304. WHIP offers technical and financial

assistance through long-term agree-ments to

create, restore and enhance wildlife habitat for

USDA Releases $12 Million for Voluntary Conservation Programs in TN

upland wildlife, wetland wildlife, threatened,

endangered or at-risk species and fisheries and

other types of wildlife.

The Tennessee sign-up deadline to be eligible for

FY 2006 funds is January 17, 2006 for EQIP,

WRP, and WHIP.

Funds for the Farm and Ranchland Protection

Program (FRPP) and the Conservation Security

Program (CSP) will be allocated to Tennessee at

a later date.

Additional information about conservation

programs administered by Natural Resources

Conservation Service (NRCS) is available at

http://www.tn.nrcs.usda.gov under Programs.

Landowners who want specific information

regarding program participation should contact

their local USDA Service Center or NRCS office

located at http://offices.usda.gov or in the

telephone book under Federal Government, U.S.

Department of Agriculture.
Current Developments

- 5 -

An ongoing nationwide campaign is encouraging people to enter an emergency contact

number into their cell phone's memory under

the heading ICE so that paramedics or police

will know exactly who to contact in an

emergency situation.

Take a few minutes to program the phone

number of a designated relative, next of kin,

friend or co-worker in your cell phone so

rescue workers can quickly contact that

person if necessary. Simply select a new

contact in your phone book, enter the word

ICE and the phone number of the person you

wish to be contacted. You can enter more

than one contact by specifying after the word

ICE who they are. For example ICE wife Mary,

ICE son Bill, or ICE work.

This is easy, free, and could save lives. At the

very least, your family or friends will be aware

of an emergency situation.

Troy Davis, a landowner in southern

Humphreys County near Hurricane Mills,

participated in a federal cost share program

to protect his bottom land from a severe bank

erosion problem along the Buffalo River.

Each year the river would wash away several

feet of some of the best agriculture land in

the county. Much of the river bank erosion

has now been solved with the partnership of

the Humphreys County Soil Conservation

District, the Natural Resources Conservation

Service and cost share from the

Environmental Quality Incentive Program

(EQIP). The project included the installation

of approximately 1,200 tons of rock armoring,

900 tons of rock jetties and the planting of a

riparian forest buffer along the river.

Installation of these conservation practices

resulted in an estimated 1,000 tons of soil

saved every year.

Mr. Davis has completed numerous other

conservation practices such as pasture and hay

land management, conservation tillage, heavy

use area protection, native warm season grass

establishment, pond construction and wildlife

plantings.

Troy Davis, Humphrey County landowner, has

installed conservation practices that have

resulted in an estimated 1,000 tons of soil saved

annually.

Humphreys County Landowners Reduces Erosion along the Buffalo

River

Safety - ICE

(In Case of Emergency)

Add your Cell Phone to Do Not

Call List

Just a reminder....In January, cell phone

numbers are being released to telemarketing

companies and you will start to receive sales

calls. YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE

CALLS...telemarketers will eat up your free

minutes and end up costing you moeny.

To prevent this, call the following number

from your cell phone: 888/382-1222. It is the

National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a

minute of your time. It blocks your number for

five (5) years. You can also register online at:

https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx

Charlie Davis, a local farmer and landowner in the Fort Pillow community, recently begin

the implementation of a Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) contract

with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Mr. Davis applied for the EQIP program back in 2004 and due to a lack of funds the original

contract was disapproved, however, sometimes persistence pays off and Mr. Davis reapplied

again in 2005 and his contract was approved.

Most of the local people know Mr. Davis as “Sweet Charlie”. Mr. Davis is retired from the

U.S. Corp of Engineers and has a cattle farm and raises produce.

The EQIP program is designed to help landowners and or farmers establish erosion control

practices on there farm, and provide cost share assistance. Practices such as terraces,

diversion, grade control structures, and cropland conversion are eligible for cost share

assistance.

Lauderdale County has had one of the most active EQIP programs in the state with

approximately 300 contracts being developed since the program begin. The EQIP program

requires that a contract be developed with the landowner ranging from 5 to 10 years and it is

Photo above, l to r: Donald Moony Contractor, Charlie require that the landowner carry out all practices as stipulated in the contract. Davis Landowner; and Dwaine Johnston NRCS.

"Sweet Charlie" Implements EQIP
Current Developments

- 6 -

ick up a copy of almost any agribusiness

related magazine today and you will

probably find an article about the “new” USDA

programs available through your local Farm

Service Center. Even though many of these

programs, such as the Environmental Quality

Incentives Program (EQIP), have been in place

since 1996, they have continually been modified each year to improve their effectiveness.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service

has worked with Local Work Groups annually

to seek information on the most critical natural

resource concerns that our farmers are faced

with on their land. Those resource concerns

are then addressed through a ranking sheet

which prioritizes conservation practices that

are most effective in solving the problems.

In Giles County, Tennessee, the primary

resource concern identified by this process has

been Grazing Lands Health and Surface Water

Quality. To many USDA clients and staff, this

was old news. Cattlemen had been applying

“pasture” practices for many years. One of the

most requested practices had been pasture

renovation. “What we began to realize across

the state was that the same people asking for

assistance in reseeding eroding pasture fields

were coming back on a 5 year rotation,”

according to Gregg Brann, NRCS Agronomist.

This was the key to many of the changes

incorporated into EQIP. NRCS now has moved

to a systems based approach. In other words,

“fix the cause of a problem instead of wasting

funds treating symptoms.”

There has been a tremendous amount of

research conducted by universities, cattlemen,

and state and federal agencies that have

shown the economic and environmental

benefits of this approach. NRCS has developed

technical guidance for a new practice called

Prescribed Grazing. Does it work? Ask those

who have tried it. “It’s the best change we have

made in our farming operation,” according to

Mary Haehl of Beechwood Farms in Pulaski,

TN. In 1996 the Haehl family began

implementing some of the basic concepts of

this system by developing a nutrient, pest and

grazing management plan (Water Quality

Incentives Program) with the local Soil

Conservation District. This plan basically

focused on managing for the needs of the

forage by following current soil tests and

regulating the grazing to allow the pastures an

opportunity to recover. Based on soil tests, the

Haehls reduced fertilizer applications to a

“minimum” yield level and shifted operating

costs to address low soil pH. In 1997,

Mrs. Haehl reported significant improvements

in forage quality with basically no change in

operating costs. Additional fencing was

installed to protect streams and woodland

areas and also to split fields into manageable

grazing paddocks.

Tommy Burns, a second generation cattleman

in Giles County, has also seen the benefits of

a systems approach. “We are seeing more

weight gain and better body condition scores

than any time in the past,” Mr. Burns recently

reported. “This is the second year after

implementing his Prescribed Grazing EQIP

plan. Our biggest change has been to focus

more on the plant needs by applying lime

based on the soil test and placing more

emphasis on resting pastures”.

Other clients, like Orlando Lima who owns a

farm south of Pulaski and is just starting an

EQIP plan, has already seen improvements.

“We have kept records for the past year on

cattle rotations, moving the heard to a new

field every two weeks,” said Mr. Lima. “The

grass is short now due to no rainfall in over 5

weeks, but we feel we are better off than we

would have been without the grazing system.

While we have started feeding some hay, we

still have fields we can rotate to.”

A New Frontier: USDA Program Bringing Land Management

Technology to the Field

P

The EARTH TEAM in Tennessee

Tennessee’s Earth Team has been busy this

year. Under the direction of Tennessee Earth

Team Coordinator Dimple Geesling, more than

600 volunteers participated in Earth Team

activities in 2005. Volunteers put in nearly

14,000 hours of work throughout the state.

Dimple was an area volunteer coordinator in

Middle Tennessee for 11 years before being

appointed State Earth Team Coordinator earlier

this year by State Conservationist James Ford.

Tennessee’s Earth Team Area Coordinators

are Debbie Blankenship and Faye Floyd in

West Tennessee; Heather Conner and Cory

Hodge in Middle Tennessee; and Lorella

Jennings and Terron Hillsman in East

Tennessee. Dimple will be scheduling a

workshop for the area coordinators in the

near future to discuss ideas and work on a

statewide plan for 2006.

Congratulations, Dimple, and keep up the

good work! Dimple is pictured here with her

son, Brandon, back at Camp Lejeune, NC

after Brandon returned from a tour of duty in

Iraq with the US Marine Corp.

FY-05 Accomplishments in TN

Listed below are just some of the highlights of

the work we did in Tennessee last fiscal year.

To accomplish this much, it took everybody –

NRCS and our partners, technical and

administrative specialists in our state, area,

and field offices – working together as a team.

Congratulations to everyone on a job well

done! Here’s what we accomplished:

 • 3,500 new conservation plans written on

 349,000 acres

 • Reconciled 2500 EQIP contracts

 transferred to NRCS from FSA

 • 680,000 acres of soil surveys updated or

 newly mapped

 • 948 new EQIP contracts totaling over

 $10,000,000

 • 103 CNMPs written

 • 1,917,000 tons of soil saved from erosion

 • 123 new RC&D projects completed

 • 40 individual EWP projects started and/or

 completed at a cost of over $10,000,000

by Susan Hopkins

Dimple Geesling and son, Brandon
Current Developments

- 7 -

RC&D News

2005 TN RC&D Annual Meeting

by Allen Persinger

The Central Basin Resource Conservation & Development Council hosted the 2005 AnnualTennessee RC&D meeting August 4th – 5th with approximately 130 people attending the

meeting at Lane Agri-Park in Murfreesboro. Meeting participants were treated to a variety of

educational sessions, good food and musical entertainment.

The first day of the meeting provided participants with two forum options. These break out

sessions dealt with sustainability and growth of RC&D councils in one session and project

opportunities in the other session. Following the breakout sessions, a forum discussion was

held to formulate strategies to improve council stability and increase public awareness of

RC&D activities and capabilities.

Attendee’s were treated to a banquet and musical entertainment by 2nd Nature, a bluegrass

band made up of employees from TWRA. As part of the banquet, outstanding employees,

projects, partners & councils were recognized and presented awards. This year’s award

recipients were:

Outstanding Council – Chickasaw–Shiloh

Outstanding Coordinator – Chris Moyers

Outstanding Office Assistant – Debbie Blankenship

Outstanding Project – Camp Discovery Shade Project

Outstanding Council Member – Audrey Burton

Outstanding Youth Involvement – Cumberland County High School

Outstanding Partner – Lewis Kearney

The following day representatives from some RC&D partner agencies and organizations

addressed the meeting. These included James Ford - NRCS State Conservationist, Barry

Lake - TACD Vice President, and Jim Fyke - Commissioner TDEC.

Bill Williams, President of the Smoky Mountain RC&D Council , was elected President of the

state RC&D Council.The 2006 annual meeting will be hosted by Cumberland Mountain

RC&D.

Chris Moyers, Chickasaw-Shiloh RC&D Coordinator

received the Outstanding Coordinator Award. Debbie

Blankenship, Chickasaw-Shiloh RC&D Office Assistant

was the recipient on the Outstanding Office Assistant

award.

James Ford speaking at the 2005 Annual RC&D meeting.

RC&D Council President Charlene Shelton welcomed

everyone to the 2005 Annual RC&D Meeting in

Murfreesboro.

Lewis Kearney, a longtime friend and supporter of

RC&D, was presented the Outstanding Partner Award

for his long term commitment and assistance to the

Tennessee RC&D Councils. Lewis was also presented

a Career Achievement Award by the Appalachian

RC&D Council at their annual meeting.
Current Developments

Hull-York Lakeland RC&D received two

awards at the annual Tennessee RC&D

Meeting held in Murfreesboro August 4-5,

2005. The first award was for Outstanding

Project for the Shade Shelter project at

Camp Discovery in Jackson County. This

shelter is being used in the outdoor pool area

to protect camp residents from overexposure

to the sun.

Camp Discovery is a summer recreational

camp that hosts an average of 700 children

and adults with physical and mental

disabilities, and is located on the shore of

Cordell Hull Lake. Partners in this project

included the Tennessee Jaycees, Hull-York

Lakeland RC&D, USDA Rural Development,

and USDA Natural Resources Conservation

Service.

The second award went to the Cumberland

County High School Environmental Club for

Outstanding Youth Involvement. Instituted by

Ecology teacher Annell Fields, the

enthusiastic group participated in events such

as: the Obed River Park bird, water-fowl and

squirrel habitat boxes project; assisted the

Cumberland County Tree Board with

development of a bird and butterfly garden;

numerous field trips; recycling projects

including eyeglasses recycling; household

hazardous waste collection; adopt a highway

program; Daddy’s Creek and Lake Tansi

water’s edge litter cleanup; the Envirothon;

and many other worthwhile projects.

The Environmental Club won an award for

youth involvement and Ms. Fields will travel

to Orlando, Florida to receive the award at

 the Southeast Regional RC&D meeting.

Photo above, l to r : Jan Lee HYL President; Lynn Carey, HYL Vice-President; Tom Pointer, HYL Secretary/

Treasurer; Dolores Angelini, HYL Past President; Dimple Geesling, NRCS Office Assistant; and Jeff Sanders,

NRCS Coordinator.

Hull-York Lakeland RC&D Receives Award

- 8 -

NRCS-TN and the Chickasaw-Shiloh RC&D

welcomed “Operation Pack the Bus” as it

traveled through West Tennessee December 5.

The project is an effort of the Interstate RC&D

Council in northwestern Illinois and eastern

Iowa to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Volunteers loaded a bus formerly used as a

bookmobile full of school supplies, materials,

and monetary donations onto a flatbed truck

and drove it to coastal Mississippi, where it was

presented to the Mississippi Coastal Plains

RC&D.

On the way, they spent the night in Memphis

where Shelby County District Conservationist

presented the traveling caravan with gift

certificates to Cracker Barrel donated by the

Chickasaw-Shiloh RC&D Council. Those

traveling with the caravan included Illinois’ State

Conservationist William J. Gradle, and Charles

Curry, who conceived the idea for “Operation

Pack the Bus”.

District Conservationist Andy Neal of Shelby County

presents a certificate of appreciation on behalf of

the Chickasaw-Shiloh RC&D Council to Volunteer

Charles Curry, Interstate RC&D Council member

who came up with the idea for Operation Pack the

Bus.

"Operation Pack the Bus" Welcomed

in Tennessee
 Current Developments

- 9 -

Paul McQuade, District Conservationist, grew up in New Orleans and still has

family and close friends in the city. When he saw and heard of the devastation from

Hurricane Katrina, he felt powerless to help. Paul said, “It was so hard to watch TV, it made

me want to jump in my truck and go help. But I was told you can’t get in.”

As soon as the city opened up, he made some calls and within a

day, he had six friends from Memphis, Knoxville, and Georgia who

said, “I’ve got a truck, a chainsaw, and gas. Let’s go.”

They spent most of their time cutting broken and uprooted trees.

The biggest was a huge Pecan that had snapped off about 30

feet up and had a dangerous limb

hanging. They hooked up cables and a

come-a-long and pulled the limb while it

was being cut to prevent it kicking back.

They also helped carry out flood

damaged furniture and knocked out

moldy walls. “I can’t describe how

heartbreaking it was to see all the

ruined antiques and family photos,

knowing there are thousands of homes

just like these. It was sad to see the damage, but it was good to

do something hands-on to help,” stated Paul. “We all got as

much as we gave.”

As Paul headed home, unsettled by the devastation he had

seen, he stopped for gas in Mississippi. There, he encountered a

displaced welder from the Bayous south of New Orleans. The

gentleman asked for food and change and said he’d spent 6

days in the water. His pregnant wife had miscarried and she

died as a result. In all, he had lost 2 cars, a truck, his home, his

wife, and his unborn child. He said that he had found a job

welding and was waiting for his first paycheck while he and his 4

year old daughter were living in a local motel. They cried

together, they hugged, and Paul gave him a bag of food and

some money before driving off. “During my trip, I saw the tragic

destruction of personal property and the painful desolation of a

place I call home, but the human toll is much harder to

measure.”

Paul and his friends now feel better knowing they made a difference and they feel connected to the people of the Gulf area. They also have

lots of new friends and places to stay during Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest. “I hope to go back very soon,” says Paul.

Hurricane Katrina Assistance

McQuade Journey's Home in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

T

he hurricane season of 2005 was the busiest hurricane season ever recorded.

Hurricane Katrina was one of the most devastating storms in history, taking

hundreds of lives across the Gulf Coast and forcing the largest relocation in American

history. It also impacted people far beyond those living in its path. Tennessee NRCS

employees were also impacted by the hurricanes...some watched their friends and families

lose everything and several reached out to help. Following are some of those stories.

Photo above: Paul McQuade and friends take a

break from their recovery efforts for a photo in

New Orleans.

The group spent much of their time cutting broken and uprooted trees, but also

 carried out flood damaged furniture and knocked out moldy walls.
Hurricane Katrina Assistance Current Developments

I consider the Mississippi gulf coast my second

home because that is where my parents and two

sisters have lived for 30 years. For me, Hurricane Katrina’s impact was up close and personal.

Not only did this storm destroy a region I was

fond of visiting, it turned my family’s life upside

down. They all lost their home, cars, furniture,

treasured possessions and a loved family dog.

For my parents, who are in their 70’s, years of

hard work were obliterated in eight hours.

Possessions that were a part of our family history were scattered, broken, twisted around

trees, mangled and buried deep in piles of rubble.

But their sad story is one of thousands along

Mississippi’s eleven coastal communities that

were wiped out overnight by this monster storm.

I was finally able to see my family four anxious

weeks after Katrina made landfall. Since they all

lived close to the beaches I had an exclusive

opportunity to see in person the worst of Katrina’s

wrath. To get to the epicenter of destruction you

have to cross the railroad tracks that run parallel

to the coast. But the tracks are guarded by miles

of razor wire and armed military checkpoints.

Only residents with ID, relief workers, and clean

up and utility crews are allowed to cross over.

As we crossed the tracks the landscape went

from bad to unbelievable. I truly felt like I was

stepping into a war zone. TV images and photos

simply cannot convey the scale of this disaster.

Gulfport neighborhoods were littered with overturned freight cars, mangled trailers, fishing

boats, and other debris from its shipping port. A

shipping container of frozen chicken and pork

bellies landed in one neighborhood causing a

literal stink. Those containers were still there

during my visit and the smell of rotting chicken,

dead fish, combined with muck, mud and fetid

pools of standing water, created an unbearable

stench wherever you went. Incredibly, a massive

casino barge was ripped from its moorings,

tossed across the beach, and deposited on the

middle of highway 90. It was later blown up by

dynamite. Gulfport’s quaint marina was shredded

by the storm. Several dolphins were found in the

gulf and rescued. But most of its inhabitants

suffered the fate of one sea lion that was found

dead on top of rubble – more than 5 miles from

the marina. Amazing how far things were tossed.

My sister’s home was near the marina – it was

leveled. She was not able to salvage anything.

Katrina – Up Close and Personal

 by Sandy Stewart West of Gulfport is Long Beach where my

other sister lived. On the way there I felt

lost. There were no familiar landmarks.

Gone were the beautiful antebellum

homes that gave the coast its southern

charm. Even the ones that withstood

Camille were not able to bear up under

Katrina’s ferocity. It was surreal. The

vacant lots, the silence, and the crippled

live oak trees stripped of leaves made it

seem like a ghost town. Since there were

no homes, no cars traveling US 90, no

businesses to illuminate the night, it was a

very eerie place to be. One irony - the 72-

foot tugboat, SS Camille, washed ashore by the

storm that changed its name, remains unmoved

from the place it landed in 1969. A little more

weathered, but unmoved. Yet all around it,

including the gift shop built alongside the boat,

everything was wiped out. Another affect of the

storm is the tremendous amount of stuff tangled in

the trees - clothing, curtains, plastic, all sort of

materials. I wonder...how will Mississippi clear 26

miles of littered trees short of chopping them all

down?

In Long Beach maneuvering through the neighborhoods was difficult. A 4-5 foot wall of debris,

trash, furniture, appliances, bedding lined the

narrow streets. My sister’s home was damaged

by the tidal surge, but not leveled. Everything she

owned was still ruined either by water damage or

by fuzzy green and black mold. Her house had to

be gutted. This monumental task could not have

been done without the help of Robert Anderson,

NRCS State Engineer. Robert had recently gone

to Long Beach with his church to help in relief

work. Upon hearing about my family, he passed

the need onto his church and they sent a team to

lend a hand. In one day these hard-working men

were able to gut her house down to the studs.

When I was there I saw firsthand the great impact

the churches, the Red Cross, and the Salvation

Army are having on the area. Church groups were

everywhere chainsawing, roofing, feeding,

distributing clothes and supplies. I took my mother

to one distribution center near her property to get

some bottled water and cleaning supplies. As we

entered the huge tent, they gave us a lawn & leaf

size bag to put our goods in. We were amazed at

the selection and quantity of stuff available – food,

medicines, clothing, cleaning supplies, baby

items. My family has been so touched by the

outpouring of help and donations.

The worse part of my trip was going to my parent’s

property in Pass Christian. Pass Christian took the

full force of the hurricane’s strength. Nearly all 2500

homes in this quaint harbor town were leveled by a

23 ft tidal surge. Only 15 houses were spared. My

parent’s house was not one of them. Their entire

neighborhood had vanished in the storm. A brand

new home, just completed and worth over a million

dollars, never saw its new owners move in-it was

leveled. Not one brick remained standing. Another

unlucky homeowner had just signed settlement

papers two days before the storm to buy a house

that’s no longer there. Immediately after the storm

my two sisters combed through my parent’s

property to try and salvage anything they could.

The destruction was so complete that after weeks

of rummaging, they were only able to find a handful of items worth keeping. We couldn’t stay long

because of the bad smell coming from a neighbor’s

pool. It was filled with mucky green water, a fallen

tree, items caught in its limbs, and the family’s van

which was also oozing fuel into the water. I didn’t

want to leave but I didn’t want to stay. I longed to

go “home,” but it was gone forever. As I stood on

their vacant concrete slab, I thought how strangely

peaceful and quiet it was there. All around me was

sadness and destruction, yet in front of me was

the beautiful, calm Mississippi gulf coast.

Katrina has come and gone, the news has moved on,

but many people are still in need. Some are still living

in tents. Many want to rebuild but cannot because

insurance companies are stating that damages were

done by water not wind, therefore folks like my parents

have a very uncertain future. Please continue to

remember Katrina victims in your giving and in your

prayers. They will need both for a long time to come. - 10 -

Sandy’s mom, Saipin Larimer, looks at the empty slab in

Pass Christian, MS where Mrs. Larimer’s house used to sit.
Hurricane Katrina Assistance Current Developments

- 11 -

J

eanne Eastham is the lead Incident Information Officer for the

Southern Area Incident Command Blue Team, one of 17 Type 1

interagency incident management teams in the nation. Jeanne has

been on the team for approximately five years and is the first NRCS

employee to serve on an Incident Management Team. NRCS is reimbursed

for her time and travel through an MOU with the USDA Forest Service. She

has responded to forest fires in the southeast and the western states, to the

Columbia Shuttle Recovery and to hurricanes in 2004 and 2005.

This year, Jeanne’s team was called out for Hurricanes Dennis, Katrina,

and Rita. On hurricane assignments, Jeanne works with FEMA information

officers on press releases, conducts VIP tours, manages internalinformation

for the team, meets with all media sources and arranges or conducts tours for them. Jeanne is

the first point of contact on these assignments for all VIP visitors, media, agency heads, and

political leaders. The hours are long, but as Jeanne says, “the job is very gratifying in terms of

helping those less fortunate than me.”

The Southern Area Blue Team was assigned to Hurricane Katrina support at the Naval Air

Station Meridian in Mississippi from August 29 to September 16, 2005. NAS Meridian,

cooperating with FEMA, hosted a federal Operational Staging Area (OSA) to support Hurricane

Katrina recovery efforts. The Meridian OSA was the staging area for distribution of relief

supplies to hurricane victims state-wide in Mississippi. "Our team was in place before the

hurricane hit, rode out the hurricane in the military barracks, and began shipping supplies as

soon as it was safe," said Jeanne. Supplies shipped were primarily water, ice, MREs (meals

ready-to-eat), cots, blankets, and generators. The geographic scale of this operation was

unprecedented. The Meridian OSA surpassed 1,000 truck shipments in the first six days of operation, and shipped approximately 3,000 trucks

with relief supplies during the assignment. "Not only are we shipping and receiving emergency supplies 24 hours a day, but since we are

usually staged on a military installation, we have to work closely with the military to not impact their operation," said Jeanne. "Parking trucks on

the tarmac of an active military base requires a lot of coordination and teamwork between the team, FEMA and the military."

Following Hurricane Rita, the Blue Team was deployed to Texas. The team managed an Operational Staging Area receiving and shipping

emergency supplies at the Astrodome in Houston. The team also supported (housed, provided shower units, and fed) 500 emergency workers.

Incident Management Teams (IMTs) manage the incident, whether it is a forest fire, hurricane, 9-11 homeland security disaster, or an avian flu

outbreak. "We are expected to be ready to deploy within two hours of receiving a call out and travel with sleeping bags, tents, laptop computers

and other necessary supplies," said Jeanne. IMTs are self-sufficient. The logistics unit can set up a base camp and the team can be

operational within 24 hours. Often the team is setup in a remote location. "We are literally a small city", said Jeanne. "Our logistics unit orders

the caterer, shower unit, and tents for us to operate from. Our communication section will tap into power and phone lines if they are available,

or we may operate off of generators, King radios and cell phones. We have to be flexible."

"My role as the lead incident information officer is to manage the information function of the incident, which includes developing a communication strategy, ordering information officers to staff the unit, establishing and maintaining contact with the host agency public affairs

representative, monitoring cost, participating in Command and General Staff and planning meetings, preparing for and hosting visits from

dignitaries/VIPs and the media, and maintaining contacts with elected officials and other key contacts," stated Jeanne.

There are two national interagency incident management teams in the southeast. All 17 teams are on a national rotation for assignment. The

Blue Team is represented by federal and state land management agencies in the 13 southern states and team members are from the USDA

Forest Service, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the US Park Service, and various state forestry agencies.

All federal and state agency employees are suppose to receive training in the Incident Command System (ICS). ICS is so efficient that the

Coast Guard and the New York City Fire Department are using ICS. Also, APHIS and other USDA agencies have trained or are in the process

of training their employees in ICS. Jeanne served on the instructor cadre for the first USDA Incident Command System Command and General

Staff training held in Arizona in the fall of 2004.

Incident Management Teams Respond to Hurricanes

Jeanne Eastham is interviewed by the local ABC affiliate

at NAS Meridian on the Hurricane Katrina incident.

Trucks on the tarmac at the Naval Air Station Meridian, an active miltiary base.
Hurricane Katrina Assistance Current Developments

Hurricane Relief Volunteers

Tennessee NRCS employees Allen Persinger

(Central Basin RC&D Coordinator), Paul

Bluhm (State Office Civil Engineer) and Ralph

Smith (Chattanooga TST Ag Engineer) served

on a 30 day voluntary detail to assist the U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers with their Debris

Removal Mission in Jefferson Parrish

Louisiana. Jefferson Parrish was divided into

three primary work zones of the East Bank,

West Bank and Grand Isle. Ralph Smith

worked on the East Bank which is the North

section of Jefferson Parrish between Lake

Ponchartrain and the Mississippi River with the

towns of Kenner and Metarie. Allen Persinger

worked on the West Bank which is across the

river from the East Bank and covered the

towns of Westwego, Marrero, Harvey & Laffite.

Paul Bluhm worked in Grand Isle which is the

southern tip of Jefferson Parrish which meets

the Gulf of Mexico.

Allen, Paul & Ralph all worked as Quality Assurance representatives for the

USACE. They were responsible for the supervision of work crews as they

removed demolition & vegetation debris from the communities. They were

responsible for ensuring all safety gear was being used properly and that

equipment was being operated in a safe manner along with watching for

potential safety hazards for local residents that could result from the debris

removal operation. In addition they ensured items such as tires which were

being taken to a special disposal site or refrigeration units which were being

taken to a certified refrigerant disposal contractor to remove the refrigerant gas

and compressor oil prior to being crushed or shredded for recycling instead of

getting mixed in with the demolition and vegetation debris. When not in the

field, they worked at dump sites performing load inspections for incoming trucks

and issuing load tickets to the drivers from which the contractors were paid.

”With the exception of Thanksgiving Day, the three worked 7 days a week and 11 to 12 hours per day which took a little getting used to compared

to a 5 day work week back home,” said Allen Persinger. Allen went on to say that it was a unique and rewarding experience that he would

consider doing again in the future if the need arose.

- 12 -
Current Developments

- 13 -

Campbell County Landowner Installs Wildlife Habitat Improvements

William and Ann Lowe have wild turkey, whitetail deer, bobwhite quail,

grouse, fox squirrel, blue herons and elk in the wildlife habitat area

they created on their East Tennessee farm. The elk, which were

released at a nearby Tennessee Wildlife Management Area in the

winter of 2000-2001, have migrated to the Lowe farm. The Lowes are

proud of the fact they have elk on the farm and enjoy watching the elk

when they come off the mountain to graze in the valley below.

Mr. and Mrs. Lowe moved back to the family farm between Caryville

and Jellico in Elk Valley in 2002 after living in Seattle, Washington for

21 years. Mr. Lowe had known for some time that he wanted to have a

farm that attracted a wide variety of wildlife. The Lowes now own over

200 acres including Bill’s grandparent’s farm. In addition to acreage

set aside for wildlife habitat, the Lowes have three horses and maintain

approximately thirty acres of cool season grasses and legume pasture.

The farm had a wide variety of terrain and vegetative cover including

mature hardwood timber, cool season hay fields, and creek bottoms

with row crops nearby, but it needed some improvements to the habitat especially small game

cover, water availability, and food sources.

Mr. and Mrs. Lowe contacted the USDA-NRCS Service Center in Clinton and Mike Shoffner,

previous District Conservationist and Robin Mayberry, Area 3 Wildlife Biologist met with them

on the farm. They determined what practices would positively affect wildlife habitat and

discussed the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) and the Conservation Reserve

Program (CRP) as possible avenues to obtain cost-share funding. Early in 2005, the Lowes

were approved for both WHIP and CRP funding. Mr. Lowe also submitted an application for

Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) funding for a pond and was also approved for this

funding.

Mr. Lowe completed the pond in April of 2005 and planted fourteen acres of Switchgrass and Kobe Lespedeza field borders utilizing the

continuous signup CRP (CP33) in May of 2005. This fall Mr. Lowe is planning to install a one acre hedgerow with Sawtooth Oak, Persimmon,

and Dogwood species, three one acre forest opening food plots with clover mixes, a tree and shrub field border with oaks species, and a one

acre perennial food plot with clovers and chicory. With the installation of the water source and the warm season grass and legume buffers

and the planned practices this fall, the farm will be wildlife friendly and should protect our rare species from habitat loss. The Lowe’s hope

these conservation practices will keep the elk there for a very long time and sustain other game species as well.

Bill Lowe is shown standing in his Warm Season Grass and Legume Field Border

on his farm in Campbell County.

Elk grazing in the valley.

The Overton County SCD coordinated the 2005 Overton County

Progressive Farmer Farm Safety Day Camp which is designed

for the 275 4th graders of Overton County.

This day camp involved 162 earth team volunteers and 2,048

volunteer hours for Overton County as well as a wide range of

local people and businesses involved. Volunteers were from Farm

Bureau, Overton County Co-op, 911, Overton County Fire

Department, Overton County Board of Education, TN Technology

Center, all county banks, U.T. Extension, NRCS, Upper Cumberland Electric membership corporation, FSA, Overton County

Sheriff’s Department, and Progressive Farmer just to name a few.

Overton County Progressive Farmer Farm Safety

Day Camp

4th graders of Overton County at the Progressive Farmer Farm Safety Day Camp.
Current Developments

Outstanding Performance Award

Eugene Andrews Bronnie Hartman

David Barker Kristina Hinds

Matthew Brown Ray Holyfield

Trent Cash Harold Jones

Heather Conner Larry Lofton

William Dailey Grace Lutz

Charles Davis David McMillen

W. Dwight Dickson Ronald Owen

Phillip Dixon Tony Sexton

E. Faye Floyd Ralph Smith

Paul Fulks William Walker

Naomi Hamilton-Johnson James Woodall

Performance Award

Robert Anderson Richard Livingston

Arthur Bentley Curtis McDaniel

Debra Blankenship John Morrow

Paul Bluhm Chris Moyers

Phillip Brasfield Will Nesby

Mark Carroll Ronald Perkins

Jennifer Chastain J. Todd Reynolds

Richard Cooke Paula Schroth

Meredith Crosby Wiley Scott

Charles Frost Vic Simpson

Susan Hopkins Denise Watkins

Terry Horne Joseph Zimmerman

Gary Johnson

Brandi Lamb

Special Act/Service Award

Gregg Brann Katherine Sells

Gary Handley Sandy Stewart

Michael Hart David Tatum

Larry Hasty Annsue Wattenbarger

Kristina Hinds Mike Zeman

Herb Paugh

Special Act/Service Award - Group

Mark Carroll Louis Grissom

Wayne Coates Tommy Hunt

James Denton Cheryl Mitchell

Phillip Dixon Linda Reames

Jerry Frady

NRCS – Tennessee Awards for Fiscal Year 2005

Spot Award

Jenny Adkins Hugh Jackson

James Brown Lorella Jennings

Richard Bryan Steve Koonce

Chester Bush Patty Lane

Carol Chandler Lynda Lemay

Jennifer Chastain Terrill Mayberry

Matthew Denton David Merinar

Carolyn Dillard Alton Miller

Mitzi Dunham John Mimms

B. Jeanne Eastham Lori Pittman

Charlotte Epps Johnny Sandefur

Natalie Freeman Elaine Smith

James Gilliam Barbara Swindell

Dillon Gray Beatriz Villa

Spot Award - Group

Linda Bierley Michael McElroy

Wayne Coates Carl Tinker

Jerry Frady Kenneth Williams

James Gilliam

Time Off Award

Mildred Fields Paul McQuade

Grace Lutz LaSonya Moore

TimeOff Award Group

William Abbott Andrew Faulkner

Nearlene Bass Cory Hodge

Jeff Bowie Gary Johnston

Gary Blackwood Harold Jones

Phillip Brown Curtis McDaniel

Chester Bush Gary Moore

Richard Cooke James Needham

William Dailey Randy Parnell

W. Dwight Dickson Charles Parris

Phillip Dixon Wray Pulliam

Mark Dorsett J. Todd Reynolds

Craig Ellis William Walker

David Hargis Henry Webb

Nathan Hartgrove

Kristina Hinds

Employee Awards

- 14 -

TSP Percentage Limits Limited The percentage limits on employee contributions to TSP will be lifted in January 2006. However,

your TSP contributions in 2006 cannot exceed the Elected Deferral Limit of $15,000. TSP no longer has open seasons; employees are able

to make changes at any time. You may begin to contribute a higher dollar or percentage amount for TSP in pay period 25. Changes to the

amount of your TSP contri-bution may be submitted to the Human Resources Office using the TSP-1 form or may be done through the

Employee Personal Page (EPP). Contributions will be effective no later than the first full pay period after the receipt of the election form or

change input to EPP.

It is important for employees to realize that contributing a higher amount to TSP could adversely affect your other bi-weekly deductions. It is

the employee’s responsibility to ensure that the amount deducted for TSP does not do this. The TSP website http://www.tsp.gov is a good

source of additional information. Or if you have any questions, please contact Charlotte Epps, Human Resources Assistant, at 615/277-2542

or Sharon Young, Human Resources Assistant, at 615/277-2548.