Contact:
Paul Laustsen 909-684-3722, extension 104
RIVERSIDE, CA, April 12, 2004 - The USDA Natural Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS) will update soil survey information on privately owned land
within the San Bernardino National Forest in an eight-week period beginning
April 19.
The update will fill data gaps and provide more detailed soils information to
assist teams with planning large-scale tree removal and subsequent erosion
control efforts as a result of the seven-year drought period which exacerbated
current bark beetle infestation and fires in late 2003.
The survey is needed as part of NRCS' Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP)
Tree Mortality Program. Through EWP, NRCS will work with local sponsors to
remove dead and dying trees and install erosion control practices in areas with
a potential threat to life and property.
The detailed soils information will be useful to homeowners, conservation
planners, foresters, and local agencies working on tree removal, revegetation,
and erosion control projects. This information will help individuals evaluate
the capabilities and limitations of their soils and choose appropriate
revegetation species and implement erosion control measures.
The total acreage to be surveyed by NRCS employees is about 65,000 acres,
including 25,000 acres around Lake Arrowhead, 15,000 acres around Big Bear City,
20,000 acres in the Idyllwild area, and 5,000 acres in the Wrightwood area. The
initial soil survey was completed in 1979.
NRCS Soil Scientists will be visiting various sites within your community to
obtain the needed soils information. NRCS will work with the counties in the
survey area to obtain access to private property. Experienced soil scientists
will use shovels to open a small hole about two foot square and about three to
five feet deep to observe the soil and to describe properties such as pH, clay
content, depth to bedrock etc. Soil scientists will choose undisturbed
locations, away from landscaped or modified areas, to describe the soils. The
hole will be refilled and packed down to return the surface to near original
conditions. Care will be taken to minimize any visible impact from the work.
The NRCS is the lead federal agency for the National Cooperative Soil Survey
with a goal to provide useful soils information to help people understand and
manage soils.
For more information about the soil survey work in your area, contact
Paul Laustsen, NRCS Public Affairs Specialist, 4500 Glenwood Drive, Bldg. B,
Suite B, Riverside, CA 925012, phone: 909-684-3722, extension 104.
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