Farmers Embrace Successful Air Quality Program

Results are in from the first year of a new air quality program for farmers: 2,523 applications were submitted for the program to clear Central Valley skies by offering incentives to retire old inefficient engines and adopt cultural practices to improve air quality. The $22.6 million made available this year through USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service in California was able to fund 586 applications. Preliminary calculations suggest that the effect these farmers will make will be an emissions reduction equivalent to removing 153,000 vehicles from California highways.

Construction Complete On Phase 1 Of Stimulus-Funded Flood Control Project

Flood control work has been completed on the first stretch of the stimulus-funded Lower Silver Creek project that runs from Lake Cunningham into downtown San Jose. Construction on the project began the day after U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, and numerous local officials participated in a groundbreaking ceremony on August 27, 2009. At $18 million, Lower Silver is the largest stimulus-funded project from USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service and the first one to begin construction.

NRCS Soil Scientists Lead Yosemite Tour

NRCS soil scientists Kerry Arroues, Hanford, and Joe Seney, Arcata, and Dr. Ron Taskey, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, Professor Emeritus and co-author of the Yosemite National Park Soil Survey were co-organizers of the 2009 meeting of Professional Soil Scientists Association of California and the California Forest Soils Council. NRCS recently finished a soil survey of Yosemite, providing a basis for broad ranging discussions of landforms, vegetation, and fire ecology in minimally disturbed Sierra ecosystems.

To view soil survey information of Yosemite National Park see http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov.

Conservation Stewardship Program Encourages California Producers To Be Conservation Stewards

A new program is available to California agricultural and forestry producers offering financial incentives to adopt additional conservation activities on their land. The Conservation Stewardship Program is a voluntary program that encourages producers to maintain existing conservation activities and add new ones.