Boeuf River Soil and Water Conservation District is made up of Caldwell Parish east of the Ouachita River, Ouachita Parish east of the Ouachita River and Richland Parish west of Big Creek.

Employees of Boeuf River SWCD in the Rayville office are: Melissa Harwell, District Secretary and Owen Rockett, District Technician. NRCS employees in the Rayville office are: Larry Phillips, District Conservationist; Shannon Walters, Soil Conservation Technician and Lee Cater, Soil Conservationist. You can contact our office at 318-728-2081 ext. 3 or by fax at 318-728-2372. We are located at 141 Industrial Loop in Rayville, LA 71269.

District Employees of the Monroe Field Office are: Erika Huber, Program Assistant. NRCS employees in the Monroe Field Office are: James Shivers is District Conservationist, Terry May is Soil Conservationist and Terry Clampit, Soil Conservation Technician. You can contact the Monroe Field office at 318-343-4467 ext 3 or by fax at 318-343-4986. The Monroe Field office is located at 2410 Old Sterlington Rd. Suite B; Monroe, LA 71203.

NRCS Employees in Columbia are Ben Williams, Soil Conservation Technician and James Shivers is the District Conservationist. You can contact the Columbia Field office at 318-649-2651 or by fax at 318-649-2378. The Columbia Field Office is located at 7128 Hwy 165 South, Suite 2 Columbia, LA 71418.

District Board of Supervisors

Our Board meetings are held the 2nd Monday of every month at 9:00AM at our office in Rayville which is located at 141 Industrial Loop.

Pictures

Latest updates

Conservation Priority Report 12.20.11

Helping People Help the Land

12.20.2011

"Out of the long list of nature’s gifts to man,
none is perhaps so utterly essential
to human life as soil."

Hugh Hammond Bennett
First Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service
(formerly known as the Soil Conservation Service)

In the news . . .
Wetlands Reserve Program Evaluation Period Announced
First 2012 Application Evaluation Period
Ends January 20, 2012

Earlier this week, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced that the first 2012 application evaluation period for the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) in Louisiana ends
January 20, 2012.

If you are interested in or have applied for WRP and you would like to ensure your application package is complete and will be considered in the first evaluation period, please contact your local NRCS office.

Applications are accepted on a continuous basis for the Wetlands Reserve Program. There may be additional opportunities for application funding throughout 2012. Applications received after January 20, 2012, will be considered in future evaluation periods, if any, or carried into fiscal year 2013 on October 1, 2012.

The Wetlands Reserve Program is a national program authorized by the Farm Bill to assist eligible landowners restore, create, protect, and enhance wetlands on their property. Participation in this program is voluntary, and restoration is accomplished in an environmentally safe, cost-effective manner. Easement payments are based on the lowest of either the fair market value of the land using an appraisal or area-wide analysis, the Geographic Area Rate Cap, or an offer made by the landowner.

For more information on the Wetlands Reserve Program, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, or Soil and Water Conservation Districts, contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service office or Soil and Water Conservation District.

WRP is a popular conservation program because landowners have several options for enrollment.

A landowner may choose a restoration cost-share agreement, a 30-year conservation easement, or a permanent conservation easement—depending on their personal land use goals.

Commitment to Equality
USDA believes every farmer and rancher should be treated equally and fairly, and we are committed to resolving all cases involving allegations of past discrimination by individuals.

Referral Guide for USDA Settlements and Claims Adjudication Process

Women and Hispanic Farmers and Ranchers Claims Adjudication Process
If you believe that USDA improperly denied farm loan benefits to you for certain time periods between 1981 and 2000 because you are a female or because you are Hispanic, you may be eligible to apply for compensation. To request a claims package by telephone, call 1-888-508-4429. To request a claims package online, please visit www.farmerclaims.gov

Native American Farmer and Rancher Class Action Settlement (Keepseagle v. Vilsack)
If you are a Native American who was denied a farm loan or loan servicing by the USDA between January 1, 1981, and November 24, 1999, you may be eligible for benefits from a Class Action Settlement. To request a claims package by telephone, call: 1-888-233-5506. To request a claims package online, or for more information, please visit: www.indianfarmclass.com

African American Farmer and Rancher Class Action Settlement (Pigford II)
If you are an African American farmer (a) who submitted a request to file a late claim on or between October 13, 1999, and June 18, 2008, under the 1999 USDA settlement in the earlier class action known as Pigford v. Glickman ("Pigford") and (b) who did not receive a merits determination on your discrimination claim, you may be eligible for benefits from a Class Action Settlement. To hear information by telephone, call 1-866-950-5547 or 1-866-472-7826. To find information online, please visit: www.blackfarmercase.com

To find out more about this conservation opportunity and more, contact your local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Office Locator

Conservation Priority Report 12.14.2011

Helping People Help the Land

12.14.2011

In the news . . .

New Initiative!

January 13 Deadline!

Important Change!

Gulf of Mexico Initiative
(GoMI)

Conservation Stewardship Program
(CSP)

USDA Revises National Nutrient Management Standard

Agricultural Producers in Five States Will Help Improve Ecosystem Health of Gulf Coast

On December 5, 2011, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is launching an innovative water and wildlife conservation effort along the Gulf Coast of the United States. The new Gulf of Mexico Initiative will focus up to $50 million, over three years, in conservation assistance to farmers and ranchers in priority areas along seven major rivers that drain to the Gulf. All five states along the Gulf Coast are part of this effort, including Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

USDA will work with a team of local, state and federal partners to deliver this project. Through this effort, Gulf farmers and ranchers will invest in voluntary conservation to provide cleaner water and more abundant wildlife for their neighbors and communities.

NRCS and its conservation partners developed this initiative in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and President Obama's call to action to help restore the waters, shores and wildlife populations along the Gulf Coast. This effort incorporates what the public and communities have requested through their input into the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force Strategy to restore the Gulf Coast. This initiative is a perfect complement to the Task Force's first-of-its-kind strategy that was released today.

Sixteen priority watersheds in seven major river basins in five states are targeted for participation in the new Gulf of Mexico Initiative. In Louisiana:

Bayou Corne-Grand Bayou Watershed and Bayou St. Vincent-Little Grand Bayou Watershed in the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary

Bayou Grand Marais Watershed in the Mermentau River Basin

For more information on the Gulf of Mexico Initiative, visit Louisiana's GoMI web page or contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service office or Soil and Water Conservation District..

Applications Must Be Submitted by January 13, 2012, to be Considered for First Ranking Period of 2012

Agricultural producers interested in the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) should submit applications to their local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service office by January 13, 2012, to be considered during the first ranking period of 2012.

CSP is offered in all 50 states and the Pacific and Caribbean areas through continuous sign-ups. The program provides many conservation benefits including improvement of water and soil quality, wildlife habit enhancements, and adoption of conservation activities that address the effects of climate change. Eligible lands include cropland, pastureland, rangeland, nonindustrial private forest land, and agricultural land under the jurisdiction of an Indian tribe.

A CSP self-screening checklist is available to help potential applicants determine if CSP is suitable for their operation. The checklist highlights basic information about CSP eligibility requirements, contract obligations, and potential payments. It is available from local NRCS offices and on the CSP web page.

For more information on the Conservation Stewardship Program, contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service office or Soil and Water Conservation District.

New Standard Stresses Increased Use of Technology and Local Information

On December 13, 2011, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has revised its national conservation practice standard on nutrient management to help producers better manage the application of nutrients on agricultural land. Proper application of nitrogen and phosphorus offers tremendous benefits to producers and the public, including cost savings to the producer and the protection or improvement of ground and surface water, air quality, soil quality and agricultural sustainability.

The nutrient management conservation practice is an important tool in the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) conservation toolbox. NRCS uses this conservation practice to help farmers and ranchers apply their nutrients more efficiently. Proper management of nitrogen and phosphorus, including the use of organic sources of nitrogen such as animal manure, legumes and cover crops, can save producers money. The nutrient management standard provides a roadmap for NRCS staff and others to help producers apply available nutrient sources in the right amount, from the right source, in the right place, at the right time for maximum agricultural and environmental benefits.

NRCS' nutrient management experts worked with universities, non-government organizations, industry and others to revise the standard to ensure it is scientifically sound. Key changes in the standard include expanding the use of technology to streamline the nutrient management process and allowing states more flexibility in providing site-specific nutrient management planning using local information when working with producers.

Louisiana will adopt the new nutrient management standard by the end of 2012.

For more information about how nutrient management fits into conservation work, visit NRCS' Nutrient and Pest Management web page or contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service office or Soil and Water Conservation District.

Referral Guide for USDA Settlements and Claims Adjudication Process

To find out more about this conservation opportunity and more, contact your local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Office Locator

Conservation Priority Report 12.02.2011

Helping People Help the Land

12.02.2011

USDA Announces Ranking Dates for Four Major Conservation Initiatives
On November 30, 2011, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the ranking dates for the On-Farm Energy, Organic, Seasonal High Tunnel and Air Quality conservation initiatives. All four initiatives offer technical and financial assistance through the Natural Resources Conservation Service's (NRCS) Environmental Quality Incentives Program.

NRCS accepts applications for financial assistance on a continuous basis throughout the year.

There will be three ranking periods for the Organic, On-Farm Energy and Seasonal High Tunnel initiatives, all ending on February 3, March 30 and June 1, 2012.

Ranking periods for the Air Quality Initiative end February 3 and March 30, 2012.

At the end of a ranking period, NRCS ranks all submitted proposals for funding consideration. NRCS will notify all applicants of the results of the rankings and begin developing contracts with selected applicants.

The On-Farm Energy, Organic and Seasonal High Tunnel initiatives are available in all 50 states, the Caribbean Area and the Pacific Basin.

The Air Quality Initiative is available in Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Montana, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas. Air Quality funding is limited to counties within these nine States that have serious air quality resource concerns related to non-attainment for Ozone and Particulate Matter.

For more information on these conservation initiatives, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, or Soil and Water Conservation Districts, contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service office or Soil and Water Conservation District.

Conservation Priority Report 11.17.11

Helping People Help the Land

11.17.2011

Native American Farmer and Rancher Class Action Settlement - Keepseagle v. Vilsack
On October 19, 2010, USDA and the Department of Justice announced the settlement of a class action lawsuit filed against USDA by Native American farmers (Keepseagle) alleging discrimination by USDA. The settlement, which received final approval by a Federal court, ends litigation concerning discrimination complaints from Native Americans generally covering the period 1981-1999. Under the settlement agreement, $680 million will be made available to eligible class members to compensate them for their discrimination claims, plus debt forgiveness and tax relief.

The claim filing deadline for the Native American Farmer and Rancher Class Action Settlement (Keepseagle v. Vilsack) is December 27, 2011.

Meetings are scheduled across the United States to provide claims form assistance. As part of this effort, a series of meetings will be conducted in Dulac, Louisiana, December 6, 7, and 8, 2011.

For a complete list of claims form assistance meetings, click here, or visit: https://www.indianfarmclass.com//Meetings.aspx.

For more information on the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service or Soil and Water Conservation Districts, contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service office or Soil and Water Conservation District.

The claim filing deadline
for the Native American Farmer and Rancher Class Action Settlement (Keepseagle v. Vilsack) is
December 27, 2011.

Referral Guide for USDA Settlements and Claims Adjudication Process

To find out more about this conservation opportunity and more, contact your local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Office Locator

Conservation Priority Report 11.8.11

Helping People Help the Land

11.09.2011

NRCS' Soils Web Site is a Valuable Resource

Check it out . . .

Soil Quality: Improving How Your Soil Works

Soil Quality Concepts

Soil quality is defined as how well soil does what we want it to do. Healthy soil gives us clean air and water, bountiful crops and forests, productive rangeland, diverse wildlife, and beautiful landscapes. Click below to view information about soil organic matter and soil biology:

Soil Organic Matter

Soil Biology

Soil Quality Assessment

Soil quality assessment is the process of measuring management induced changes in soil as we attempt to get soil to do what we want it to do. The ultimate purpose of assessing soil quality is to provide the information necessary to protect and improve long-term agricultural productivity, water quality, and habitats of all organisms, including people. Click below to view guidelines for soil quality assessment, including use of the soil quality test kit and designing a soil health card. Soil Quality Indicator Information Sheets are available for physical, chemical and biological soil properties to assist users with soil quality assessment.

Soil Quality Management

How well we manage soil quality in a large part helps determine how well the soil does what we want it to do. This section offers guidance on managing soil quality by land use, including cropland, grazing lands, forested land, and urban areas. Considerable information is also provided on organic farming. Click below for more information on managing soil quality by land use:
Agronomy - Cropland
Grazing Lands
Forest
Urban
Organic Agriculture

Soil Quality Publications

Click here to visit our soil quality publication web page and browse through documents covering many aspects of soil quality. NRCS technical notes, information sheets, demonstrations and lesson plans, and posters are available to view, download, and print.

Other items of interest on NRCS' Soils Web Site:

Keys to Soil Taxonomy Released in E-Book Format

Web Soil Survey 2.3

Particle-Size Analysis by Hydrometer

Soil Stories

Referral Guide for USDA Settlements and Claims Adjudication Process

To find out more about this conservation opportunity and more, contact your local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Office Locator

Conservation Priority Report 11.1.11

Helping People Help the Land

11.01.2011
Training and Listening Sessions
A series of organic agriculture training and listening sessions will be hosted across Louisiana to provide agricultural producers an overview of National Organic Program standards and information on organic production in Louisiana, the organic certification process, organic marketing techniques, and current topics being discussed by the National Organic Board.

Schedule of Training and Listening Sessions:

November 29, 2011

November 30, 2011

December 1, 2011

Alexandria

Ruston

Baton Rouge

Louisiana State University at Alexandria

Dean Lee Research Center
8208 Tom Bowman Drive
Alexandria, Louisiana 71302

Louisiana Tech University

Lomax Hall
201 Lomax Drive
Ruston, Louisiana 71272

Southern University and Ag Center

Ashford O. Williams Hall
B.A. Little Drive
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70813

There is no cost and no registration for these sessions.

For more information regarding these training and listening sessions, contact Chris Coreil, (318) 473-7805 or chris.coreil@la.usda.gov.

Training sessions feature:

Organic Certification: History, Roles, and Process
Organic Production: Principles, Standards, and Practices
Organic Production: Utilizing Cover Crops and High Tunnels
Organic Marketing and National Organic Board Update
Organic Production: NRCS Programs

Each training session will be followed by a listening session to give attendees an opportunity
to discuss
organic agriculture issues.

Click here for an agenda.

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service provides reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities.

To request special accommodations, contact Chris Coreil at
(318) 473-7805 or chris.coreil@la.usda.gov
at least ten days prior to the date
of the workshop you plan to attend.

Referral Guide for USDA Settlements and Claims Adjudication Process

To find out more about this conservation opportunity and more, contact your local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Office Locator

Conservation Priority Report 10.26.11

Helping People Help the Land

10.26.2011
Web Resource Launched to Help Dairy Farmers Implement Energy Conservation Techniques

NRCS Chief Dave White announced today that NRCS has partnered with the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy to support the launch of a new web resource. This resource will help dairy farmers find and implement proven energy conservation techniques.

By helping farmers conserve energy, NRCS is helping to reduce agriculture’s carbon footprint; helping to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels; and saving farmers money – improving their bottom lines.

Visit the website and learn about this great resource here: www.usdairy.com/saveenergy

Farm energy audits can find
significant energy savings
with a 1-5 year payback.

A typical energy audit
includes a phone interview
and a two-hour farm visit

Financial assistance is
available through federal,
state, or utility sources

Referral Guide for USDA Settlements and Claims Adjudication Process

To find out more about this conservation opportunity and more, contact your local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Office Locator

Conservation Priority Report 10.18.11

Helping People Help the Land

10.18.2011

Little Leaf Louisiana, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to reforesting Louisiana, is working in partnership with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, the
St. Bernard Wetlands Foundation, and Southeastern Louisiana University to lead an acorn drive to help re-establish natural coastal forests that were lost or damaged by hurricanes.

Schools, clubs, and organizations across the state are being asked to collect acorns to plant in St. John the Baptist and Plaquemines Parishes. Live oak acorns are preferred, however, acorns of any Louisiana native oak will be greatly appreciated. If an abundance of acorns are collected, additional coastal areas may also be planted.

Soil and Water Conservation Districts across Louisiana are recruiting groups of acorn collectors (schools, clubs, etc.) in support of this year's acorn drive. If you are part of an organization that would be interested in collecting acorns to reforest coastal Louisiana, contact your local Soil and Water Conservation District for more information.

The deadline for bringing in acorns for this year's drive is January 10, 2012.

When a collection has been made, contact your local Soil and Water Conservation District to arrange a pick-up or contact one of the following:

Peggy McClain
(225) 802-0608
peggy@littleleafla.org

Joey Breaux
(225) 922-1269
joey_b@ldaf.state.la.us

Michael Schooler
(318) 387-8683, ext. 19
michael.schooler@la.nacdnet.net

Referral Guide for USDA Settlements and Claims Adjudication Process

To find out more about this conservation opportunity and more, contact your local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Office Locator

Conservation Priority Report 10.11.2011

Helping People Help the Land

10.11.2011
Restoring a Vital Habitat
Longleaf Pine Forests
Longleaf pine forests once covered 60 to 90 million acres throughout the southeastern United States. Today, only 3 to 5 million acres of this vital habitat remain.

The longleaf pine forest provides habitat for as many as 300 different species of groundcover plants and approximately 60 percent of the amphibian and reptile species found in the southeastern part of the United States. Additionally, these forests are home to at least 122 endangered or threatened plant and animal species, including the fox squirrel, northern bobwhite, red-cockaded woodpecker, and gopher tortoise.

To help sustain, enhance, and restore longleaf pine forests, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Longleaf Pine Initiative offers assistance through the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program to help private landowners restore and manage longleaf pine forests. Nine states are included in the Longleaf Pine Initiative: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.

The Longleaf Pine Initiative incorporates both technical and financial assistance to help landowners in Louisiana improve habitat on agricultural land, nonindustrial private forest, and Tribal land.

Approved participants will receive financial assistance for implementing conservation practices including planting longleaf pine, implementing site preparation, installing firebreaks, conducting prescribed burning, and controlling invasive plants.

For more information on the Longleaf Pine Initiative, contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service office or Soil and Water Conservation District.

Longleaf pine forests once covered
60 to 90 million acres from
West Virginia to Texas.

In Louisiana, only a small fraction of the original 6 million acres of longleaf pine forests still exists, with the majority of that being on the Kisatchie National Forest.

There are 6 million acres in Louisiana that have soils suitable for longleaf restoration.

62 species of animals classified as Species of Conservation Concern occur in Louisiana’s 4 longleaf pine habitat types.

Establishment and management of longleaf pine will benefit a large array of endangered and threatened plant and animal species, as well as popular game species such as white-tailed deer, Northern bobwhite quail, and the Eastern wild turkey.

Referral Guide for USDA Settlements and Claims Adjudication Process

To find out more about this conservation opportunity and more, contact your local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Office Locator

Conservation Priority Report 10.03.11

Helping People Help the Land

10.03.2011

Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) were established to fund projects that would stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) administers Conservation Innovation Grants as part of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program.

Grants are awarded to state and local governments, federally recognized Indian tribes, non-governmental organizations, and individuals. NRCS uses CIG to invest in innovative, on-the-ground conservation technologies and approaches with the goal of wide-scale adoption to address water quality and quantity, air quality, energy conservation, and environmental markets, among other natural resource issues.

Funding for Conservation Innovation Grants is announced each year through a funding notice, and funds are awarded through a nationwide competitive grants process. In addition, states have an opportunity to conduct an annual competitive Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) process.

FY 2011 Projects Announced
State Awarded Project
Irrigation Pumping Plant Efficiency Tests for Rice Producers
Awardee: LSU AgCenter
This project will demonstrate and conduct irrigation pumping plant efficiency tests for rice producers and empower and facilitate the development of "third-party" auditors to conduct these tests for crop producers across Louisiana.

Nationally Awarded Projects
In August 2011, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, announced 52 winning proposals for 2011 Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG).
Two of the winning proposals will be carried out in Louisiana:

Precision Nitrogen Injection Using Integrated Optical Sensing and Variable Rate Technologies
Project Locations:
AR, LA, MO, MS, TN
Awardee: University of Tennessee
This project will demonstrate to producers and other interested groups the procedures and benefits of utilizing these innovative precision technologies: optical sensing and variable-rate application, to manage spatial variability within individual fields of cotton. The goal of this project is to encourage producers' adoption of these new precision N management technologies and systems on their farms to reduce N fertilizer consumption and potential N losses, improve cotton productivity, and thus improve water quality and grower profitability in the Mississippi River Basin.

Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops
Project Locations:
AZ, AR, CA, CO, FL, GA, ID, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, NJ, NY, NC, OR, PA, SC, TX, WA, WI
Awardee: SureHarvest
The Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops (SISC) is a multi-stakeholder initiative to develop a system for measuring sustainable performance throughout the specialty crop supply chain. Renewal funding was awarded to continue an unprecedented collaboration amongst the nation’s most influential grower organizations, NGOs, and buyers of specialty crop products. This project is making progress toward providing a suite of outcomes-based metrics to enable operators at any point along the supply chain to benchmark, compare, and communicate their own performance in meeting sustainability goals.

For More Information

List of All 2011 Conservation Innovation Grants Awardees

Conservation Innovation Grants Fact Sheet

For more information about
Conservation Innovation Grants,
please contact:

National CIG Program Manager
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
1400 Independence Avenue SW
Room 6227-S
Washington, DC 20250
Telephone: (202) 720-8071
Fax: (202) 720-4839

Scott Edwards
State Resource Conservationist
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
3737 Government Street
Alexandria, Louisiana 71302
Telephone: (318) 473-7774
scott.edwards@la.usda.gov

Additional information is available at:

www.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/cig/index.html

For more information about grant opportunities with the
federal government, go to:

www.grants.gov

Referral Guide for USDA Settlements and Claims Adjudication Process

To find out more about this conservation opportunity and more, contact your local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Office Locator

Conservation Priority Report 9.26.11

Helping People Help the Land

9.26.2011

76 years ago, America was losing thousands of tons of topsoil as a result of relentless dust storms caused by years of catastrophic drought conditions and poor farming practices. In 1935, national leaders established the Soil Conservation Service to help save America’s soil resources. States followed suit by establishing soil and water conservation commissions and local districts.

In 1938, the Louisiana Legislature established the State Soil and Water Conservation Committee and authorized it to work with local farmers to establish local conservation districts.

Today, the Soil Conservation Service is known as the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the State Soil and Water Conservation Committee is known as the Louisiana Soil and Water Conservation Commission, and 44 Soil and Water Conservation Districts serve Louisiana's landowners.

The Conservation Partnership

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
(NRCS)

Soil and Water Conservation Districts
(SWCD)

Office of Soil and Water Conservation

An agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This federal agency works with private landowners and communities to improve our soil, water, air, plants, wildlife, and energy use. Ensuring productive lands in harmony with healthy environments.

Local units of government established under state law to carry out natural resources management programs at the local level.

An office of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry. This office provides financial assistance, administrative support, and coordination to Louisiana's 44 soil and water conservation districts.

NRCS and SWCD offices are staffed with experts from many disciplines to help landowners conserve natural resources in sustainable ways. On staff are soil scientists, resource conservationists, grazing lands specialists, engineers, biologists, botanists, agronomists, foresters, conservation technicians, administrative professionals, and many others trained to help landowners make the right decisions for every natural resource.

NRCS and SWCDs in Louisiana are successful because of partnerships, and because of the close working relationship among individual farmers and ranchers, landowners, government agencies, Tribes, Earth Team volunteers, and other people who care about the quality of Louisiana’s natural resources.

For more information on Soil and Water Conservation Districts, contact your local Soil and Water Conservation District or Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Louisiana's Soil and Water Conservation Districts

Click here for District Directory

Acadia

Allen

Avoyelles

Boeuf River

Boque-Chitto/Pearl River

Caddo

Calcasieu

Capital

Catahoula

Crescent

D'Arbonne

DeSoto

Dorcheat

Dugdemona

East Carroll

Evangeline

Feliciana

Grant

Gulf Coast

Iberia

Jefferson-Davis

Lafayette

Lafourche-Terrebonne

LaSalle

Lower Delta

Madison

Morehouse

Natchitoches

New River

Northeast

Plaquemines

Rapides

Red River

Sabine

Saline

St. Landry

St. Martin

St. Mary

Tangipohoa-St. Helena

Tensas-Concordia

Upper Delta

Vermillion

West Carroll

Bodcau

Referral Guide for USDA Settlements and Claims Adjudication Process

To find out more about this conservation opportunity and more, contact your local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Office Locator

Conservation Priority Report 9.19.2011

Helping People Help the Land

9.19.2011
Saving Louisiana's Coastal Wetlands
Since the 1930s, one million acres of Louisiana's coastal wetlands have been lost to open water. This loss has been primarily attributed to changes in the amount of sediment available to build and maintain our coastal wetlands, construction of canals in wetland areas, wave erosion, and subsidence.

The Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) is federal legislation enacted to identify, engineer and design, and fund the construction of coastal wetlands restoration projects. These projects provide for the long-term conservation of wetlands and dependent fish and wildlife populations. Projects funded by CWPPRA are cost-effective ways of restoring, protecting, and enhancing coastal wetlands. CWPPRA has a proven track record of superior coastal restoration science and monitoring techniques in Louisiana.

Since 1990, the net Louisiana wetland area that CWPPRA has protected, created, or restored is 112,000 acres. Greater than 426,000 acres have been enhanced.

CWPPRA Partners

State of Louisiana
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
NOAA-National Marine Fisheries Service
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

CWPPRA Success

149 Active Projects

91 Completed Projects

11 Active Construction Projects

47 Projects Currently in Engineering and Design

11 of the 47 Projects are Scheduled for Construction
in FY 2012

For more information about CWPPRA and coastal restoration in Louisiana visit www.lacoast.gov.
While you are there, check out the great resources available for teachers and students.

ATTENTION: Native American Farmers and Ranchers
Meetings have been scheduled to provide information on the claims process for the Native American Farmer and Rancher Class Action Settlement (Keepseagle v. Vilsack).

In Louisiana: Marksville, Louisiana - September 20, 21, 22, 2011 - 9:00 a.m.
Paragon Casino Resort, 711 Paragon Place, Marksville, LA

Other meetings are scheduled across the nation. CLICK HERE FOR A complete list of meetings.
THE CLAIM FILING DEADLINE FOR THIS SETTLEMENT IS DECEMBER 27, 2011

Referral Guide for USDA Settlements and Claims Adjudication Process

To find out more about this conservation opportunity and more, contact your local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Office Locator

Conservation Priority Report 9.12.2011

Helping People Help the Land

9.12.2011
Field Office Technical Guide
The Field Office Technical Guides is one of the primary scientific references for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) conservation planners. It contains technical information about the conservation of soil, water, air, and related plant and animal resources.

The body of information in the FOTG is the "gold standard" for conservation planning, meaning the FOTG provides conservation planners a comprehensive list of tools and techniques to use when addressing resource concerns.

Take a look at the FOTG for your area . . .
Parts of the Field Office Technical Guides are available (by parish) online as automated data bases, computer programs, and other electronic-based materials. Click below to go to the online FOTG, then select Louisiana, then select your parish:

What information is located in the Field Office Technical Guide?

Section I
General References

General state maps, descriptions of Major Land Resource Areas, watershed information, and links to NRCS reference manuals and handbooks

Conservation practice costs, agricultural laws and regulations, cultural resources, and information about protected plant and animal species.

Section II
Soil and Site Information

Detailed information about soil, water, air, plant, and animal resources

NRCS Soil Surveys, Hydric Soils Interpretations, Ecological Site Descriptions, Forage Suitability Groups, Cropland Production Tables, Wildlife Habitat Evaluation Guides, Water Quality Guides, and other related information

Section III
Conservation Management Systems

Information on NRCS Quality Criteria, which establish standards for resource conditions that help provide sustained use

Section IV
Practice Standards
and Specifications

NRCS Conservation Practices

Practice Standards define the practice and where it applies

Practice specifications are detailed requirements for installing the practice in the state.

Section V
Conservation Effects

Background information on how Conservation Practices affect each identified resource concerns in the state

For more information on the Field Office Technical Guide, contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service office or Soil and Water Conservation District.

Why is this information important to you as an agricultural producer?

The Field Office Technical Guide:

Provides the tools that NRCS conservation planners use to address resource concerns on your farm/ranch
Provides insight to the NRCS conservation planner's decision-making process for your farm/ranch
Helps you understand the questions asked by the NRCS conservation planners, as well as conservation "lingo"
Provides a "gold standard" for NRCS conservation planners
Empowers agricultural producers and landowners, enabling them to better assist conservation planners in identifying resource concerns on their property

Referral Guide for USDA Settlements and Claims Adjudication Process

Conservation Priority Report 9.6.2011

Helping People Help the Land

9.6.2011
20 Years of Conservation Success:
Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP)
More than half of all wetland acres in the continental United States have been lost. This loss is attributed to many different causes―land use changes, erosion, subsidence, and storms to name a few.

Wetlands are important for many reasons. They prevent flooding by holding water; they provide critical habitat for many different species of animals, birds, and insects; they help recycle nutrients; and they filter and cleanse water that flows through them.

During the past 20 years, private landowners have worked with the Natural Resources Conservation Service and our partners―Ducks Unlimited, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Mississippi River Trust, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and others―to make significant progress in restoring wetlands across America. Over 2.3 million acres have been enrolled by private landowners in NRCS' Wetlands Reserve Program―over 253,703 of these acres are in Louisiana.

To accelerate and enhance field delivery of the Wetlands Reserve Program in Louisiana, a team of conservation specialists was formed to work with NRCS District Conservationists on the Wetlands Reserve Program. This team will assist with application ranking, plan development, coordination of restoration and enhancements, compatible use reviews, as well as other program activities.

WRP Team Members
Marlin Jordan, WRP Team Leader
Cell: (318) 613-7746
Office: (318) 728-4451, Ext. 121

Andrew James, Wildlife Biologist
(318) 387-8683, Ext. 25

Buddy Smith, Civil Engineer
(318) 387-8683, Ext. 15

Jackie Millicks, Soil Conservationist
(318) 473-7748

Roger Snowberger, Soil Conservation Technician
(318) 387-8683, Ext. 16

For more information on the Wetlands Reserve Program, contact a Wetlands Reserve Program team member or your local Natural Resources Conservation Service office or Soil and Water Conservation District.

What is the
Wetlands Reserve Program?

The Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) provides technical and financial assistance to eligible landowners to address wetland, wildlife habitat, soil, water, and related natural resource concerns on private agricultural land. The program provides financial incentives to protect, restore, and enhance wetlands on their property.

The enrollment options for landowners are permanent easements, 30-year easements, and a restoration cost-share agreement, as well as 30-year contracts on acreage owned by Indian tribes.

Wetlands Reserve Program Links

Video: Learn about the Wetlands Reserve Program by watching a short Wetlands Reserve Program video.

Publication: A new publication commemorating 20 years of the Wetlands Reserve Program is now available for downloading on NRCS' website. The publication, “Restoring America’s Wetlands: A Private Lands Conservation Success Story,” features statistics, landowner quotes, success stories and scenic photos of NRCS wetlands work from across the country.

Website: NRCS LA

Referral Guide for USDA Settlements and Claims Adjudication Process

To find out more about this conservation opportunity and more, contact your local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Office Locator

Conservation Priority Report 8.26.2011

Helping People Help the Land

8.29.2011
Managing Drought Conditions on Grazing Lands
This year's drought conditions in Louisiana have caused a severe loss of pasture forages in some areas, and this has resulted in many livestock producers reducing their herd size and others considering it.

If your herd is suffering from drought conditions, consider the following:

Producers generally have two options for meeting the nutrient requirements of cattle on drought affected grazing lands. The first is to provide supplemental feed to ensure the cow herd has adequate energy, protein, vitamins, and minerals. The second is to reduce the nutrient requirements of the cow to a point where they can be met with available forage. One of the simplest ways to reduce cow nutrient requirements is to wean the calf. This practice can cut nutrient requirement by one-third to one-half depending on milk production of the cow.

If pasture conditions are extremely poor, producers may consider feeding cows in a dry lot or “feeding pasture.” This will allow other pastures a much needed rest period to begin recovering from drought. Select a “feeding pasture” convenient to quality water and avoid pastures sensitive to erosion and water runoff directly into streams/bayous.

Cattle water requirements increase during hot weather. If cattle do not meet their water needs, they may refuse to eat, experience lowered production, and become sick. Consider fencing ponds, streams, and dugouts to limit livestock access and loitering in water sources. Also, using livestock watering facilities with well or community water sources is the best approach to having dependable clean water available to your herd.

Drought may force animals to consume plants that are normally avoided and/or poisonous. Prussic acid and nitrate concentrations in plants will rise with drought stress. If animals are going to graze sorghum or be fed sorghum that has been baled, it is imperative that the sorghum be tested for prussic acid and nitrates.

A Grazing Management Plan Will Guide Land Managers Through Tough Times
Drought causes long-term effects, and recovery is a long-term process. To manage successfully under the constant threat of drought, a good grazing management plan with a drought component should be developed during the conservation planning process. The plan can guide the grazing land manager through both short and prolonged periods of drought.

For more information about grazing management plans and information on what grazing management decisions you should make after a drought, contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service office or Soil and Water Conservation District and ask to speak to a grazing lands specialist.

During drought conditions, grazing lands suffer from:

· Increased runoff and erosion

· A reduction of average carrying capacity

· The potential of reduced water quality

To Prepare for Drought

Plan for production of emergency forage sources

Maintain flexible herd composition

Establish key points in time when critical forage production decisions must be made

Consider enterprise diversity to reduce risks and offset grazing income losses

Work with the Natural Resources Conservation Service to develop a grazing management plan with a drought component!

Quick Links

U.S. Drought Monitor

National Weather Service, Climate Prediction Center - U.S. Drought Assessment

National Drought Mitigation Center

Referral Guide for USDA Settlements and Claims Adjudication Process

To find out more about this conservation opportunity and more, contact your local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Office Locator

Conservation Priority Report-8.19.2011

Helping People Help the Land

8.19.2011
Save ENERGY and Save MONEY
Pumping Plant and Irrigation System Efficiency
Throughout Louisiana, farmers are utilizing pumping plants and irrigation systems, but do we know just how efficient these pumps are operating on the farm? Are they saving farmers energy, fuel and expense while at the same time operating at peak performance?

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), in partnership with Louisiana State University AgCenter, offers a tool to landowners to help find ways to increase efficiency of irrigation systems. The NRCS Pumping Plant and Irrigation System Efficiency Evaluation Unit is a mobile unit that is driven on site to test irrigations systems, providing producers with data to help them achieve maximum overall efficiency for water production and energy conservation.

Check out Louisiana's Pumping Plant and Irrigation System Efficiency Evaluation Unit

Contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service office or Soil and Water Conservation District to schedule a visit by the Pumping Plant and Irrigation System Efficiency Evaluation Mobile Unit.

For more information about these conservation practices or how to save energy and money on your farm or ranch, visit the NRCS web site, or contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service office or Soil and Water Conservation District.

Conservation Practices Save Energy and Money
Farmers and ranchers can cut input costs, maintain production, protect soil and water resources, reduce the nation's dependence on fossil fuels, and save money by using conservation practices.

Conservation Practices That Save Energy and Money
click practice to learn more

Prescribed
Grazing Systems

Windbreaks/Shelterbelts

Integrated Pest Management

Precision Agriculture

Irrigation Water Management

Nutrient Management

Crop Residue Management

To make energy-efficient conservation practice decisions, use NRCS Energy Estimator Tools.

Energy Estimator: Animal Housing
Energy Estimator: Irrigation
Energy Estimator: Nitrogen
Energy Estimator: Tillage

Referral Guide for USDA Settlements and Claims Adjudication Process

To find out more about this conservation opportunity and more, contact your local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Office Locator

Conservation Priority Report 08.12.2011

Helping People Help the Land

8.12.2011
NRCS/SWCD Conservation Team
Providing Conservation Technical
Assistance to Land Users
The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Louisiana’s Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) work together to provide conservation technical assistance to help land users make sound natural resource management decisions.

Conservation Technical Assistance
can help land users

Maintain and improve private lands and their management

Implement better land management technologies

Protect and improve water quality and quantity

Maintain and improve wildlife and fish habitat

Enhance recreational opportunities on their land

Maintain and improve the aesthetic character of private land

Explore opportunities to diversify agricultural operations

Develop and apply sustainable agricultural systems

For more information about conservation technical assistance, visit the NRCS web site, or contact your local Natural Resources
Conservation Service office or Soil and Water Conservation District.

Are you interested in
finding out how
conservation
technical
assistance
can help you?
Contact
your local
Natural Resources
Conservation Service
office or
Soil and Water Conservation District

Referral Guide for USDA Settlements and Claims Adjudication Process

To find out more about this conservation opportunity and more, contact your local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Office Locator

Conservation Priority Report 08.05.11

Helping People Help the Land

8.5.2011
Protecting Resources . Increasing Production
Your Best Tool: A Conservation Plan
A conservation plan is a tool designed to help farmers and ranchers better manage the natural resources on their farms and ranches. A conservation plan helps farmers and ranchers protect the soil and increase productivity, improve water quality, improve soil fertility, manage soil moisture, protect the value of the land for future generations, position the farm or ranch to comply with environmental regulatory requirements, and enhance eligibility for USDA farm programs.

How is a Conservation Plan developed?

A Natural Resources Conservation Service conservationist meets with the interested farmer or rancher to evaluate the soil, water, air, plant and animal resources on their farm or ranch and offer several alternatives to address resource concerns. The NRCS conservationist will provide several alternatives and make some economic comparisons, but the farmer or rancher decides what to implement, when to implement it, and how to implement it.

The alternatives selected by the farmer or rancher are recorded in a conservation plan.

A schedule for installation is included in the conservation plan.

Are you interested in developing a Conservation Plan for your farm or ranch?
If you are interested in developing a conservation plan for your farm or ranch or finding out more about available conservation programs, contact your local NRCS office or soil and water conservation district.

What will the Conservation Plan cost? Nothing.
This service is provided by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in cooperation with local soil and water conservation districts.

What will it cost to install the Conservation Practices included on a Conservation Plan?
Some conservation practices selected by a farmer or rancher may require an investment. Part of the cost of these practices may be shared through federal, state, or local conservation programs.

Referral Guide for USDA Settlements and Claims Adjudication Process

To find out more about this conservation opportunity and more, contact your local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Office Locator

Conservation Priority Report 7.29.11

Helping People Help the Land

7.29.2011
Largest Natural Resource
Information System in the World
Web Soil Survey - Version 2.3
Web Soil Survey (WSS) provides soil data and information produced by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. It is operated by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and provides access to the largest natural resource information system in the world. Recently, the Web Soil Survey was updated with new features. Check out Web Soil Survey 2.3 today!

NRCS has soil maps and data available online for more than 95 percent of the nation’s counties and anticipates having 100 percent in the near future.

The site is updated and maintained online as the single authoritative source of soil survey information.

Soil surveys can be used for general farm, local, and wider area planning. Onsite investigation is needed in some cases, such as soil quality assessments and certain conservation and engineering applications. For more detailed information, contact your local USDA Service Center or your NRCS State Soil Scientist.

Are you curious to see how the Web Soil Survey works?
Give it a try!

Notice to Hispanic and/or Women Farmers or Ranchers:
Click here if you are a woman or Hispanic farmer and believe you were improperly denied farm loan benefits by USDA between 1981 and 2000. You may be eligible for compensation.

It is as easy as 1 - 2 - 3 - 4

1. Use the Area of Interest tab to define your area of interest.

2. Click the Soil Map tab
to view or print a soil map, and detailed descriptions of the soils in your Area of Interest.

3. Click the Soil Data Explorer tab to access soil data for your area and determine the suitability of the soils for a particular use. The items you want saved in a report can be added to your shopping cart.

4. Use the Shopping Cart tab to get your custom printable report immediately, or download it later.

Referral Guide for USDA Settlements and Claims Adjudication Process

To find out more about this conservation opportunity and more, contact your local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Office Locator

Conservation Priority Report-7.22.2011

Helping People Help the Land

7.22.2011
Working Together to Make a Difference
Earth Team Volunteer Program
The Earth Team is the volunteer arm of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Earth Team volunteers work side by side with professionals from NRCS, helping protect and conserve the earth's natural resources.

If you are interested in learning more about the Earth Team or volunteering your time, contact your local office of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service or soil and water conservation district - Office Locator

Volunteer Opportunity!
Volunteers are needed to help with
a coastal vegetation project!

Shoreline planting using Smooth Cordgrass, Bitter Panicum, and Roseau Cane

Friday, August 5, 2011 - 8 a.m.

Fontainebleau State Park

Project Objective: To reduce shoreline erosion, protect fragile interior marsh, and create wildlife habitat

Interested?
Contact: Sarah Clavier,
(985) 447-3871, ext. 3 or sarah.clavier@la.nacdnet.net

Volunteers should wear old clothes and old shoes. This volunteer effort requires planting in knee-high to waist-deep water. Please dress accordingly.

Lunch will be provided by the Bogue Chitto-Pearl River Soil and Water Conservation District.

Partners: Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Soil and Water Conservation Districts

Contact Sarah Clavier today if you are interested in this volunteer opportunity!

Referral Guide for USDA Settlements and Claims Adjudication Process

To find out more about this conservation opportunity and more, contact your local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Office Locator

Conservation Priority Report - Louisiana - 7.1.2011

7.01.2011
EQIP
Environmental Investment In Louisiana
The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) provides financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers to implement conservation practices that address local resource concerns. So far this year, NRCS has invested more than $18.2 million in Louisiana in financial and technical assistance through EQIP to implement conservation practices. USDA recently committed an additional $1.29 million to provide technical and financial assistance to Louisiana's producers through EQIP.

EQIP conservation practices help agricultural producers reduce soil erosion, improve water quality and quantity, create and enhance wildlife habitat, and improve and enhance non-industrial private forestland. Practices include, but are not limited to, field borders to trap nutrient run-off, heavy use protection areas to control erosion caused by livestock, grade stabilization structures to reduce gullies and field erosion, and installation of pumping plants and irrigation pipelines.

“NRCS’ investment in Louisiana’s natural resources will reap great environmental benefits for Louisiana,” said Kevin Norton, NRCS State Conservationist. “The water in our lakes, bayous, and rivers will be cleaner; nutrients applied to crops will not enter our streams and bayous; and we will enjoy abundant wildlife because our farmers and ranchers are installing conservation practices through EQIP.”

Continuous sign-up is available for EQIP. For more information about the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service or the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, visit your local USDA Service Center or visit our web site.

Referral Guide for USDA Settlements and Claims Adjudication Process

To find out more about this conservation opportunity and more, contact your local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Office Locator

Conservation Priority Report - Louisiana - 7.15.2011

7.15.2011

Improving Irrigation System Performance
PHAUCET...
The PHAUCET (Pipe Hole and Universal Crown Evaluation Tool) program was designed to calculate existing irrigation system performance and define alternatives for improving irrigation efficiency. PHAUCET assists farmers determine the sizes of the holes in the polypipe that best distribute the available water. The program also helps farmers improve timeliness of watering fields having different row lengths.

If you are interested in learning more about PHAUCET, contact your local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service office or soil and water conservation district - Office Locator

The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is a voluntary conservation program for farmers and ranchers to treat identified soil, water, and related natural resource concerns on eligible land. This program provides technical and financial assistance to eligible agricultural producers.

Top five EQIP practices in Louisiana during Fiscal Year 2011:
- Grade Stabilization Structures
- Nutrient Management
- Irrigation Land Leveling
- Heavy Use Area Protection
- Fence

If you are interested in learning more about EQIP, contact your local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service office or soil and water conservation district - Office Locator

Referral Guide for USDA Settlements and Claims Adjudication Process

To find out more about this conservation opportunity and more, contact your local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Office Locator

OFFICE OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION June 28, 2011

OFFICE OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION

STATE SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION COMMISSION

JUNE 28, 2011

1:15 PM

VETERANS MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM

Baton Rouge,

PROCEEDINGS/MINUTES

CALL TO ORDER

Chairman Fletcher called the regular monthly Commission Meeting to order at 1:19 P.M. and asked Mr. Holmes to give the invocation.

Chairman Fletcher led the Pledge of Allegiance.

ROLL CALL

The roll was called by Ms. Edwards

Members present: Chairman Randell Fletcher, Mr. Jerry Holmes, Dr. Ernest Girouard, Mr. Ed Yerger, Mr. John Compton, and Mr. George Guillory

Members absent: Dr. Paul Coreil

A quorum was present.

Others Present: Mr. Kevin Norton, USDA-NRCS State Conservationist; Mr. Brad Spicer, LDAF/SSWCC Executive Director; Mr. Dwight Landreneau, LSU AgCenter; Mr. Joey Breaux, LDAF-OSWC; Butch Stegall, LDAF-OSWC; and Ms. Laura Edwards, LDAF-OSWC.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

Chairman Fletcher called for a motion to approve the minutes of the May 24, 2011 State Commission Meeting.

Motion: Mr. Guillory made a motion to approve the minutes of the May 24, 2011 State Commission Meeting. The motion was seconded by Dr. Girouard and passed unanimously.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Chairman Fletcher said they would next take up Unfinished Business and requested Mr. Spicer to report on the items listed on the agenda.

Legislative Update

Mr. Spicer said that there were several bills and concurrent resolutions passed during the recent legislative session. He said the passage of Senate Bill #48 will make it much easier for the Ground Water Management Advisory Task Force to conduct business by reducing the number of members present to constitute a quorum. He said the legislation also confirming the Task Force is responsible to assist the Commissioner of Conservation in studying alternatives to ground water use and that such alternatives will include surface water. Mr. Spicer said Concurrent Resolutions include the approval of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority’s Annual Plan for FY 2011-2012 and a resolution encouraging the U.S. Congress to fund the continued dredging of the to ensure maintaining depths for ocean going ships.

FY 2011-2012 Funding

Mr. Spicer said most districts have submitted their FY 2011-2012 estimated Operating Budgets as required by state law and by June 30^th all of the districts will likely comply with this requirement.

Mr. Spicer said the Governor has not yet signed the Appropriations Bill and therefore he did not know the exact level of funding for the OSWC and the Soil and Water Conservation Districts. He said that based on discussions with the LDAF Office of Management and Finance that Soil and Water Conservation funding was not cut to the extent that some of the other LDAF budget units were cut and not to the reduced level proposed before the session by the administration. Mr. Spicer said he is hoping that the legislature made no additional cuts beyond the mid-year cuts made in January 2011. He said that the official appropriations figures will be provided to LDAF in mid-July. He said that he is requesting the Commission’s approval to send district allocation figures out to the district as soon as he received the actual amount of district funds. He said they would use the district allocation formula the Commission approved at the May 2011 Commission meeting.

Motion: Mr. Guillory made a motion to approve the OSWC to send the districts their FY 2011-2012 allocation figures. The motion was seconded by Dr. Girouard and passed unanimously.

NEW BUSINESS

Conservationist Report

Chairman Fletcher asked Mr. Norton to give the NRCS report.

Mr. Norton handed out copies of the NRCS Conservation Update and pointed out the very significant renewal of the “’s Native Plant Initiative.” He said the LNPI includes 19 partner agencies which cooperate to conserve the State’s diminishing native plants. Mr. Norton said that many important native plant species such as longleaf pine, little bluestem, eastern gamma, smooth cordgrass and many others are important for restoration, conservation, agriculture and economic stability. He then discussed the USDA’s increased efforts to ensure its continued effectiveness in technical assistance delivery, program application processing and general cooperator/applicant interactions. Mr. Norton also mentioned various conservation accomplishments from across the state, such as the summer intern workshop and the forest management field day.

Correspondence

Chairman Fletcher said the next agenda item is Correspondence and asked Mr. Spicer to review the Correspondence with the Commission.

Mr. Spicer said the first item is a copy of the letter from Chairman Fletcher to the 44 SWCDs regarding the proposed FY11-12 funding cuts to LDAF and the Soil and Water Conservation Districts. He said as he stated earlier that the cuts initially being proposed by the Administration were not enacted by the legislature. He said that Commissioner Strain worked with the legislative leaders to gain their support for reducing the level of proposed cuts to LDAF.

Mr. Spicer said next are copies of several letters that SWCD supervisors sent to their respective legislators regarding proposed budget cuts. He said that in their letters they outlined the impact that further budget cuts would have on the protection of the state’s soil and water resources as well as on the state’s agricultural industry. He said they requested that no additional cuts be made to the state conservation program or to LDAF’s budget.

Mr. Spicer said next is a copy of a letter Mr. Charles Dupuy sent to his state representative thanking him for his past support of the State Soil and Water Conservation program and requesting that he continue his strong support of funding the state soil and water conservation program.

Mr. Spicer said next is a copy of the State Commission letter to SWCD regarding the reduction in state funds beginning in FY 2011-2012. He said there is also a copy of a letter from the SWCD to Terrebonne Parish President, Mr. Michel Claudet stating that the district was closing the office, but the district and NRCS presence will continue in Terrebonne Parish.

Chairman Fletcher said the next item is the announcement of the Rice Research Station Field Day. He asked Dr. Girouard to comment on the program. Dr. Girouard said this field day is considered the best worldwide and he encouraged everyone to make a special effort to attend. He said they will have excellent speakers and as everyone knows, the station is an excellent research facility and a great place to visit. He said that he recommends attendees go on the early field tour at 7:30 AM when it is cooler and not so crowded. He said after the tour the main program will be held in the . Mr. Landreneau said that Ms. Hatch, Secretary of DEQ, will also be speaking at a separate meeting at the same time about concerns with regulation on runoff water and TMDLs. Mr. Norton said that he is apologizing in advance for not being in attendance due to an out of state travel commitment, but he commended the AgCenter for having such a great field day and said there is not a better field day in the U.S and encouraged everyone to attend it.

Mr. Spicer said the next item is a copy of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers letter responding to a joint letter from Chairman Fletcher and Commissioner Strain requesting the Corps to implement measures to deliver fresh water to rice producers and the fresh water marshes in southwest . He said in summary, the Corps has implemented well established operative procedures for the water control in the area and that these procedures are designed to minimize saltwater intrusion into the fresh water marshes and irrigation channels. Mr. Spicer said that saltwater in the irrigation channels continues to be an issue and will likely not be resolved until there is sufficient rainfall moves the saltwater out of the channels.

Mr. Spicer said next is an NACD urgent action alert email regarding the House passing the FY 2012 Agriculture Appropriations bill that cuts funding for NRCS assistance by nearly one hundred million dollars, the Watershed Rehabilitation Program by three million dollars and mandatory farm bill conservation funding by one billion dollars. He said NACD is urging all districts to contact their U.S. Senator and request their support in restoring the House cuts.

Mr. Spicer said the next two letters are from districts requesting permission for their supervisors and a district secretary to attend the 2011 NACD South Central Regional Conference in , on August 7-9, 2011. He said SWCD is requesting permission for three supervisors Mr. Leslie, Rodrigue, Ms. Rebecca Livaudais and Mr. Allan Ensminger to attend and the Sabine SWCD is requesting permission for two supervisors Mr. John Patrick Boudreaux and Ms. Marjorie Brown and the district secretary, Ms. Anita Manshack, to attend the conference.

Mr. Compton said he apologizes for not yet sending a letter, but he asked the Commission if they would also approve his district sending three supervisors to the NACD South Central Regional Conference. He said he would have the letter sent today, if the Commission agreed. The Commission agreed to Mr. Compton’s request providing the letter was emailed to OSWC today.

Chairman Fletcher called for a motion to approve the Crescent, Sabine and Capital districts sending supervisors or a secretary to the NACD in on August 7-9, 2011.

Motion: Mr. Guillory made a motion to approve Crescent and Sabine SWCD request for the supervisors and district secretary’s out of state travel to the 2011 NACD South Central Regional Conference in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on August 7-9, 2011; and tentatively approved the Capital SWCD supervisors travel to the same conference providing that the Capital SWCD emailed the request letter to OSWC today. The motion was seconded by Mr. Yerger and passed unanimously.

Mr. Spicer said the last two items are Commissioner Strain press releases. He said that the Commissioner has been elected president of the Southern United States Trade Association. Mr. Spicer said the Trade Association is made up of fifteen southern states and ’s Departments of Agriculture. He said they help small business with international trade. He said the other news release is urging farmers and ranchers that have losses from the recent flooding caused by the and its tributaries to sign up at their local FSA office for financial assistance.

Mr. Spicer said that concluded the Correspondence report.

Chairman Fletcher said if there were no questions, they would take up the next agenda item.

Supervisor Resignations/Appointments and Reappointments

Chairman Fletcher asked Ms. Edwards to report on the supervisor resignations and appointments. Ms. Edwards said there were two supervisor resignations; Mr. George Lynn, appointed position, Natchitoches SWCD and Mr. Patrick Churchman, elected position, Natchitoches SWCD

Motion: Mr. Compton made a motion to approve the resignations of supervisors Mr. George Lynn, appointed position, Natchitoches SWCD and Mr. Patrick Churchman, elected position, Natchitoches SWCD. The motion was seconded by Mr. Holmes and passed unanimously.

Ms. Edwards said the respective conservation districts are requesting the State Commission to appoint the following supervisors to a new term in office:

Natchitoches SWCD, Mr. Patrick Churchman, appointed to fill the expired appointed position of Mr. George Lynn. Term will begin June 28, 2011 and will expire on June 26, 2014.

Calcasieu SWCD, Mr. George Dauzat reappointed to fill his expired appointed position. Term will begin July 27, 2011 and will expire on July 27, 2014.

Motion: Mr. Guillory made a motion to approve the appointment of supervisors Mr. Patrick Churchman, appointed position, Natchitoches SWCD and Mr. George Dauzat, appointed position, Calcasieu SWCD. The motion was seconded by Mr. Yerger and passed unanimously.

NACD Legislative Conference

Chairman Fletcher asked Mr. Spicer to report on the next item. Mr. Spicer said that he along with LACD President, Dr. Ernest Girouard, LACD 1^st Vice-President, Mr. Bruce Frazier, and USDA-NRCS Assistant Conservationist, Mr. Britt Paul will attend the NACD Legislative Conference in on July 17-19, 2011. He said although it was Constituent Work Week and the House and Senate would be in recess, the group is trying to schedule visits with each Congressman’s staff to discuss the Conservation Title of the new Farm Bill, technical assistance funding for implementing USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) conservation programs in and related topics.

Mr. Spicer said that he participated last Thursday in a NACD conference call on Farm Bill conducted by NACD First Vice President, Mr. and that there were by far the most states (35-40) represented on the calls than on any NACD call he has been on in the past. He said he hopes to speak to Mr. Garber regarding the new Farm Bill during the NACD Washington conference in mid July.

Dr. Girouard said that Mr. Garber was currently in meeting with two applicants for the NACD CEO position, but he would be in in July for the NACD conference. He said if any district has any available funds, it would be beneficial to support NACD as they are the first line of defense and are tirelessly working in support to fully fund the Farm Bill, especially for conservation technical assistance and other conservation programs. He said if the districts cannot provide financial support, then phone-calls and emails to the legislators would be of great help. Dr. Girouard said we need to flood with our phone calls, letters and emails to let our congressmen know our ideas and needs.

NACD South Central Regional Meeting

Mr. Spicer said he would encourage all of the district supervisors to attend the South Central Regional Meeting in on August 7-9, 2011. He said, although times are tough budget-wise, this is one meeting that would be very beneficial to all district supervisors, especially newer supervisors. He said they would meet supervisors from other states and network with other attendees to compare and learn how other states are handling their conservation issues and if these solutions could be applied in . The Commission discussed requiring supervisors attending out of state meetings and conferences to actually prepare reports for their district board and attend a certain number/percentage of the various meetings offered to be sure the district travel funds are being used wisely. The Commission unanimously agreed that attending and fully participating in out of state conferences or meetings provides supervisors opportunities to learn how to be a better supervisor and assist the district with its conservation issues and concerns.

FYE June 30, 2011 District Audits

Mr. Spicer said Mr. Bennie Tate is working with the districts whose budgets were under $50,000 and their financial records will be completed by the September deadline. He said those districts whose budgets were over the $50,000 were also being assisted by Mr. Tate and Mr. Krielow and it is expected that all of the districts audits will be conducted and forwarded to the Legislative Auditor’s Office by the September and December deadlines.

Other Business

Chairman Fletcher welcomed Mr. Landreneau and asked if he wished to speak to the Commission. Mr. Landreneau said that like NRCS and LDAF, the AgCenter is required to do more with less including less funding. He said they had a 4.8 million dollar shortage in funding for the AgCenter and Research.

He said the AgCenter had a fifteen percent reduction in the Smith/Lever base funding for salaries and all that is left to cut is personnel. He said they are in the process of restructuring the AgCenter by reducing those programs that are not core components of the AgCenter’s mission. He said they are working toward keeping their mission whole. Mr. Landreneau said they will continue to do what needs to be done to provide quality expertise and programs such as the 4-H program. He said the 4-H program won the 4-H Programs of Distinction award again this year and this was the 5^th time in five years won the award. He said for a state to win one award in ten years is excellent, but for it to win five times in five years is extraordinary and they are very proud of their 4-H program. Mr. Landreneau said the 4-H Programs of Distinction award recognizes those programs that use high-quality youth development programs within the Cooperative Extension in local communities throughout the .

Mr. Breaux said he recently conducted a Project WET workshop in and about thirty of the participants came to the WET workshop because last year they had attended the AgCenter’s AgMagic event. He said that the participants stated they were so interested in what they learned at AgMagic that they decided to attend the Project Wet and learn more about the protection and management of our natural resources.

Chairman Fletcher asked if there was any other business and there was none.

Next meeting

Chairman Fletcher said the next State Commission Meeting is scheduled for 1:15 PM Tuesday, July 26, 2011 in the Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium,

, ,

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Chairman Fletcher asked if there were any comments from the public and there were none.

ADJOURNMENT

Chairman Fletcher said if there was no other business, he will accept a motion to adjourn.

Motion: Mr. Guillory made a motion to adjourn at 2:21 P.M. The motion was seconded by Mr. Yerger and passed unanimously.

/s/ Randell Fletcher______

Randell Fletcher, Chairman

ate Soil and Water Conservation Commission

OFFICE OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION April 26, 2011 MINUTES

OFFICE OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION

STATE SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION COMMISSION

APRIL 26, 2011

1:15 PM

VETERANS MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM

5825 FLORIDA BOULEVARD

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA

PROCEEDINGS/MINUTES

CALL TO ORDER

Chairman Fletcher called the regular monthly Commission Meeting to order at 1:27 P.M. and

asked Mr. Frazier to give the invocation.

Chairman Fletcher led the Pledge of Allegiance.

ROLL CALL

The roll was called by Ms. Laura Edwards

Members present: Chairman Randell Fletcher, Mr. Jerry Holmes, Dr. Ernest Girouard, Mr. Ed

Yerger, Mr. John Compton, Mr. George Guillory and Mr. Dwight Landreneau

Members absent: Dr. Paul Coreil

A quorum was present.

Others Present: Ms Sarah Haymaker, USDA-NRCS Asst. State Conservationist; Mr. Brad

Spicer, LDAF/SSWCC Executive Director; Mr. Joey Breaux, LDAF-OSWC; Mr. Bruce Frazier,

LACD Vice President, and Ms. Laura Edwards, LDAF-OSWC.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

Chairman Fletcher called for a motion to approve the minutes of the March 18, 2011 State

Commission Meeting.

Motion:
Mr. Compton made a motion to approve the minutes of the March 18, 2011 State

Commission Meeting. The motion was seconded by Dr. Girouard and passed unanimously.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Chairman Fletcher said they would next take up Unfinished Business and requested Mr. Spicer

to report on the items listed on the agenda.

SWCD Farm Bill Implementation Report

Mr. Spicer said they are in the process of closing out the NRCS/OSWC Cooperative Agreement

that ended on March 31, 2011. He said that they will not have any funds to re-distribute and

that the NRCS, due to budget issues, is not able to enter into a new Farm Bill Cooperative

Agreement at this time.

Ag Day Function

Mr. Spicer said the Ag Day Function was well attended and that Commissioner Strain was

pleased with the number of attendees. He said that the Department made a special effort to

invite individuals from across the state. He said Commissioner Strain is making an effort to get

more of the state’s leaders and others to become more knowledgeable of the importance of

Louisiana’s agriculture and forestry to the state’s economy as well as the social and

environmental benefits these industries provide to the state.

District Supervisors Election – June 11, 2011

Chairman Fletcher asked Mr. Spicer to give the report. Mr. Spicer said that only nine

nominating petitions have been received by the State Office for the supervisors’ election. He

said that Ms. Edwards has been in contact with all 44 SWCD offices reminding them of the April

th deadline for the petitions and that all 44 SWCDs are in the process of having at least one

petition completed on time. Mr. Spicer said that more than one petition was given out in the

Vermilion, Grant and the Lafourche-Terrebonne SWCDs and there is the possibility that these

three districts will be holding elections.

Mr. Fletcher said in the Grant SWCD the current supervisor that is up for reelection has decided

not to complete his petition. He said the supervisor is going to resign from the board or let his

term expire June 30

th, so there probably will not be an election in the Grand SWCD.

Mr. Spicer said that he will work with those districts with more than one petition submitted to

provide them guidance to ensure that they are prepared for the election in regards to selecting

polling locations, polling commissioners and that proper public announcements are made prior

to the election.

Mr. Spicer said in the Commissioner’s folders are two letters from districts requesting that the

State Commission waive the attendance requirements for Mr. Jim Harper, Rapides SWCD, and

Mr. Eddie Lewis, Lafayette SWCD, whose elected position terms expire June 30, 2011. He said

the letter from the Rapides board states that Mr. Harper’s absences were caused by critical farm

issues and that he will make every effort to attend future board meetings. He said the Rapides

board stated in their letter that Mr. Harper is a valuable asset to their board, very actively

promotes conservation, and is an officer of the Rapides Farm Bureau Federation and they wish

him to be eligible for re-election. Mr. Spicer said the letter from the Lafayette SWCD states that

Mr. Lewis’s absences were caused by the tremendous workload in his sugarcane farming

operation and an illness, but with his better health, he will now be able to attend the board

meetings. He said that the Lafayette SWCD board stressed in their letter that Mr. Lewis is a

vital member of the board, a hands-on farmer and a great asset to the Lafayette SWCD board.

Chairman Fletcher asked the Commission if they would consider taking favorable action on the

waiver requests.

Motion:
Mr. Compton made a motion to waive the attendance requirements for Mr. Jim Harper,

elected position, Rapides SWCD and Mr. Eddie Lewis, elected position, Lafayette SWCD. The

motion was seconded by Dr. Girouard and passed unanimously.

NEW BUSINESS

NRCS State Conservationist Report

Chairman Fletcher welcomed Ms. Sarah Haymaker, NRCS Assistant State Conservationist and

asked her to give the NRCS report.

Ms. Haymaker handed out copies of the

Conservation Update, highlighting the EQIP Organic

Initiative which provides funds for approved practices for organic producers or those

transitioning to organic production. She said that sign-up for the EQIP Organic Initiative will

continue through May 20, 2011. Ms. Haymaker reported next on the Conservation Stewardship

Program (CSP) and said that preliminary figures show enrollment of almost 220,000 acres of ag

land into the CSP in the recent sign-up. She said that, for perspective, there were two sign-ups

in 2010 with 264,000 acres enrolled, so nearly as much was done in a single sign-up period this

year as was done in two sign-up periods last year. She said this is probably due to several

factors, including the fact that most land users are now more familiar with the program, and that

the few start-up glitches of the early CSP rollout have been overcome. She said that as of now

there may be up to 52,000 acres in this sign-up that will not get funded, due to the acreage

allocation having exceeded the financial allocation, but efforts are being made to get these

remaining acres funded. She said that Louisiana ranks 14

th nationally in potential CSP

enrollment. Ms. Haymaker next discussed the prospects for the upcoming Farm Bill Technical

Assistance Agreement with the OSWC, saying that NRCS is ready to initiate a new agreement

as soon as the amount of available funds is known. She said that it is hoped that TA funds will

be sufficient to maintain an agreement at some level, and that the NRCS is planning to use the

same allocation formula as last year, but nothing can be guaranteed until the funding levels are

given them from the National Office. Ms. Haymaker next commented on the upcoming multiagency

tour of the Gulf Coast focusing on resource conservation issues unique to the area. The

states include in the tour are Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, and in Louisiana the primary

focus will the southeast LA coastal concerns, and dairy farms in the Florida parishes. Mr.

Spicer said that Commissioner Strain will participate in the tour as well.

Ms. Haymaker said this concluded her report.

Correspondence

Chairman Fletcher said the next agenda item is Correspondence and asked Mr. Spicer to

review the Correspondence with the Commission.

Mr. Spicer said the first item is a letter from the Dugdemona SWCD outlining their plans with

Boeuf River SWCD to staff the Columbia Field Office located in Caldwell Parish. He said that

portion of Caldwell Parish west of the Ouachita River is in the Dugdemona SWCD and the

portion of the parish east of the river is in Boeuf River SWCD. Mr. Spicer said that the

Dugdemona SWCD has proposed to take on the responsibility for placing an employee at the

Columbia Field Office and Boeuf River SWCD is in agreement with the proposal. He said that

the two districts wanted the Commission to be aware of their staffing plans because it will affect

the base allocation for the Dugdemona SWCD. Mr. Guillory asked if the Commission had to act

on the plan to staff the Columbia Field Office. Mr. Spicer said that the Commission did not

have to approve the staffing plan and that the letter from the Dugdemona SWCD was to

officially let the Commission know of the plans in that it has an impact on the base allocation for

the Dugdemona SWCD.

Mr. Spicer said the next item is an email from Ms. Katie Spears, President of the LACDE,

requesting State Commission approval of the expenditure of district funds for travel costs for

district employees to attend the LACDE meeting on August 30 and 31, 2011 at Camp Grant

Walker.

Motion:
Dr. Girouard made a motion to approve the expenditure of districts’ funds for travel

costs for district employees to attend the LACDE meeting on August 30-331, 2011. The motion

was seconded by Mr. Holmes and passed unanimously.

Mr. Spicer said the next item is a letter forwarded to the Commission by the LaSalle SWCD

regarding a proposed agreement to hire the John R. Vercher PC, certified public accountants to

conduct their district financial report.

Motion:
Mr. Yerger made a motion to approve the LaSalle SWCD to hire the John R. Vercher

PC to conduct their district financial report. The motion was seconded by Dr. Girouard and

passed unanimously.

Mr. Spicer said for the Commission’s information there are a number of Commissioner Strain’s

news releases contained in their folders. He said of special interest is the summary of the

agriculture and forestry production during the past year and a discussion of progress made in

the state to increase further processing of Louisiana agriculture and forestry products and to

facilitate the handling and exporting of our crops.

He said Commissioner Strain also has a serious concern about the long-term impacts resulting

from the loss of several research programs and facilities as a result of budget cuts to the LSU

AgCenter.

Mr. Spicer said that concluded the Correspondence report.

Chairman Fletcher said if there were no questions, they would take up the next agenda item.

Supervisor Resignations/Appointments and Reappointments – April 26, 2011

Chairman Fletcher asked Ms. Edwards to report on the supervisor resignations and

appointments. Ms. Edwards said there were no supervisor resignations. Ms Edwards said the

respective conservation districts are requesting the State Commission to appoint the following

supervisors to a new term in office:

Bogue Chitto-Pearl River SWCD, Mr. Jerry Bruhl reappointed to fill his expired appointed

position. Term will begin May 25, 2011 and will expire on May 25, 2014

Jefferson Davis SWCD, Mr. Jason Benoit reappointed to fill his expired appointed position.

Term will begin June 11, 2011 and will expire on June 11, 2014.

Lafayette SWCD, Mr. Douglas Foreman reappointed to fill his expired appointed position. Term

will begin June 11, 2011 and will expire on June 11, 2014.

Rapides SWCD, Mr. Max Johnston reappointed to fill his expired appointed position. Term will

begin June 26, 2011 and will expire on June 26, 2014.

Tangipahoa-St. Helena SWCD, Mr. Wilbert Albert (W.A.) Potts reappointed to fill his expired

appointed position. Term will begin May 25, 2011 and will expire on May 25, 2014.

Motion:
Mr. Compton made a motion to approve the appointment of supervisors Mr. Jerry

Bruhl, appointed position, Bogue Chitto-Pearl River SWCD; Mr. Jason Benoit, appointed

position, Jefferson Davis SWCD; Mr. Douglas Foreman, appointed position, Lafayette SWCD;

Mr. Max Johnston, Rapides SWCD, appointed position; Mr. Wilbert Albert (W.A.) Potts,

appointed position, Tangipahoa-St Helena SWCD. The motion was seconded by Mr. Guillory

and passed unanimously.

OTHER BUSINESS

Chairman Fletcher welcomed Mr. Landreneau and asked if he wished to speak to the

Commission. Mr. Landreneau said as the Legislative Session opened its fiscal session the

AgCenter has a stand-still budget and according to the Administration, with no more cuts, but

the Ag Center must re-direct $10 million in spending, so they are $10 million dollars short of

where they need to be to survive the upcoming fiscal year. He said they will try to work during

the session to get an additional $10 million more into their budget in order not to eliminate a lot

more of programs and not to terminate a lot more of people. Mr. Landreneau said the Smith-

Lever funds that were facing a 30% reduction was changed to a reduction of 1.5 percent but

still that is a lot of money that will be taken out of the AgCenter budget. He said they will be

watching closely to what happens in the 2012 federal funding year.

Mr. Landreneau said on the positive side, they have their Ag Magic event coming up next week,

May 2-7 in the Parker Coliseum. He said the Department of Ag and Forestry, NRCS, and in

some cases Farm Bureau will participate in the activities. He said this is a youth attraction of Ag

awareness; so the youth can see agriculture in action. Mr. Landreneau said already there are

almost 9,000 youths scheduled to come through the coliseum to see exhibits showing

agriculture in action. Mr. Landreneau said it really is a fascinating thing to see, so if you are in

or around Baton Rouge, you should come by and visit Monday - Saturday. He said Ag Magic is

normally held through Sunday, but this year because Sunday is Mother’s Day, Ag Magic will end

on Saturday.

Mr. Landreneau said they also wanted to invite the Commission to the AgCenter’s Hall of Fame

Activity to be held in Mansura at the 4-H Museum on Saturday, May 21

st at 1:00 PM where

twelve new individuals will be inducted into the Hall of Fame. He said it is worth the trip to see

the museum as it displays 4-H memorabilia going back 100 years. Mr. Landreneau said that

one of the Hall of Fame’s original inductees was Commission Chairman, Mr. Randell Fletcher.

Mr. Landreneau said another important item is that the AgCenter plans to use social media

avenues and encourages their employees to use media outlets such as Twitter, You Tube, and

Facebook to get the word out through the state and they have had very positive responses. He

said they encourage their agents and specialists to correspond with the clientele using these

types of instant time communications. He said their clientele have really responded positively.

Mr. Landreneau said on June 1

st the AgCenter will embark on a broad-band awareness program

where they will be working with 18 rural parishes trying to educate and make the clientele aware

of the value of broadband connectivity. He said they have a contract to do this program and will

be actually setting up these internet cafes in extension offices in urban areas where clientele in

the communities can come in and actually learn how to use these broadband social media and

the internet to enhance their farming operations and business enterprises. He said the

AgCenter is real excited about that and for everyone to watch the news for more notification on

this.

Mr. Landreneau said they will continue addressing the issues and are looking forward to next

year and try to survive the budget cuts.

Mr. Spicer said that the Louisiana House of Representatives Egg Breakfast has not yet been

scheduled. He said that at this late date it may be difficult to organize a Soil and Water

Conservation component and a Capital Rotunda NRCS and District Soil and Water

Conservation exhibit.

Mr. Spicer said he has already received several pre-filed House and Senate bills for review. He

said to date he has not seen any serious issues with the bills he has reviewed. Mr. Spicer said

as this is a fiscal session there should not be as many bills as are filed during a regular session

of the legislature.

Mr. Spicer said he will attend a Drought Planning Meeting in Memphis, Tennessee on May 11-

12, 2011 to develop a drought plan for Louisiana. He said representatives from Oklahoma,

Mississippi, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee and Louisiana will develop state and regional drought

plans.

Mr. Spicer thanked all of the Commission members and alternates for completing their Oath of

Office and being sworn in. He said the Oaths will be sent to the Secretary of State’s office.

Mr. Spicer asked Mr. Breaux to report on the status of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

(NFWF) grant proposal.

Mr. Breaux said that the NFWF were referring to this recent grant opportunity as the Recovered

Oil for Wildlife Grant (ROFW), as all funds available through this initiative were generated

through sale of skimmed oil from the Deepwater Horizon incident. He said that applications

from governmental entities were not accepted, but he submitted two separate proposals on

behalf of the LACD; one focusing on installation of vegetated floating islands in critical coastal

areas, and small-scale reforestation, and the other on seasonal shallow water areas for

migratory waterfowl. Mr. Breaux said that he had recently received notice that the floating

islands proposal had been accepted for the amount of $350,000.00 with a required

$400,000.000 in-kind match; the match will be derived from non-federal contributions to the

LDAF/OCPR Coastal Vegetative Planting Program. He said that the seasonal shallow-water

area proposal had been entirely dismissed as the NFWF chose to focus all ROFW habitat

restoration on coastal intermediate/brackish wetland areas. Mr. Breaux said that the NFWF was

currently developing an agreement to be signed with the LACD and that work would proceed

from that point, hopefully beginning in late May or early June 2011, and extending through

December 2012.

Mr. Breaux then provided an update on the Coastal Vegetative Planting Program. He said that

the OSWC had recently hired a vegetative specialist to manage the VPP in southeast LA, and to

work with the districts there, and that a district technician would soon be hired to assist the

revegetation efforts in that part of the State. Mr. Breaux said that over the past two planting

seasons, the program had been severely understaffed, causing almost routine delays in

completion of contract deliverables. He said that with the program once again fully staffed, and

as the new employees gain experience, this essential program will gain efficiency.

Mr. Breaux said this concluded his report

Chairman Fletcher asked if there was any other business and there was none.

NEXT MEETING

Chairman Fletcher said the next State Commission Meeting is scheduled for 1:15 PM Tuesday,

May 24, 2011 in the Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium, 5825 Florida Boulevard, Baton Rouge,

Louisiana.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Chairman Fletcher asked if there were any comments from the public and there were none.

ADJOURNMENT

Chairman Fletcher said if there was no other business, he will accept a motion to adjourn.

Motion:
Mr. Guillory made a motion to adjourn at 2:38 P.M. The motion was seconded by Mr.

Holmes and passed unanimously.

/s/ Randell Fletcher
______

Randell Fletcher, Chairman

State Soil and Water Conservation Commission

OFFICE OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION March 18, 2011 Minutes

OFFICE OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION

STATE SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION COMMISSION

MARCH 18, 2011

12:30 PM

VETERANS MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM

5825 FLORIDA BOULEVARD

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA

PROCEEDINGS/MINUTES

CALL TO ORDER

Chairman Fletcher called the regular monthly Commission Meeting to order at 12:36 P.M. and

asked Mr. Frazier to give the invocation.

Chairman Fletcher led the Pledge of Allegiance.

ROLL CALL

The roll was called by Ms. Laura Edwards

Members present: Chairman Randell Fletcher, Commissioner Mike Strain, Dr. Ernest Girouard,

Mr. Ed Yerger, Mr. John Compton, Mr. George Guillory and Dr. Bobby Fletcher

Members absent: Dr. Paul Coreil and Mr. Jerry Holmes

A quorum was present.

Others Present: Mr. Kevin Norton, USDA-NRCS State Conservationist; Mr. Brad Spicer,

LDAF/SSWCC Executive Director; Mr. Joey Breaux, LDAF-OSWC; Mr. Britt Paul, NRCS; Mr.

Bruce Frazier, LACD Vice President, Mr. Butch Stegall, LDAF-OSWC; and Ms. Laura Edwards,

LDAF-OSWC.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

Chairman Fletcher called for a motion to approve the minutes of the February 22, 2011 State

Commission Meeting.

Motion:
Mr. Guillory made a motion to approve the minutes of the February 22, 2011 State

Commission Meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Compton and passed unanimously.

Chairman Fletcher welcomed Commissioner Mike Strain and asked if he would comment on the

proposed LDAF budget and the state of Louisiana Agriculture and Forestry.

Commissioner Strain said that the Governor’s Preliminary FY 2011-2012 Budget originally

proposed to cut LDAF by $1.38 million. He said, however that the $1.38 million cut has been

put back into the LDAF proposed budget. Commissioner Strain said that he and his staff have

been working with the Administration and the legislature in efforts to maintain LDAF’s current

funding level. Commissioner Strain said that the midyear cuts of $102,000 to SWCD will not be

restored to FY 2011-2012 conservation district budget. The Commissioner said the total budget

for the OSWC including the pass thru account and the operational account will be $4.7 million.

He said monies going to the district are in the pass thru account which is outside of LDAF’s

operating budget and cannot be used for OSWC operational expenses. He said the pass thru

budget unit includes $1.7 million in state funds, approximately $400,000 in interagency transfers

and over $2 million in federal funds, which includes NRCS Farm Bill funds and EPA 319 Grant

funds. He said LDAF has moved over $8M in pass thru accounts to ensure these funds are

available as needed by districts and program participants. He said this is a very good thing as

this means pass thru funds can be paid to vendors even if LDAF does not have funds in the

operational account. He said this is only one of the very positive things that we have done to

improve the Department’s operations. He said since he took office LDAF has cut their vehicle

fleet by 387 units or 37 percent. He said 33 percent of the remaining Department vehicles each

have over 150,000 miles and they plan on replacing 160 of these high mileage vehicles during

the upcoming year. He said they plan to upgrade the entire fleet within four years. He said to

save money he plans for LAFA to purchase the new vehicles and then lease them to the

Department.

Commissioner Strain said that we have worked hard to educate the Legislature of the

importance of soil and water conservation and that SWCD funds help leverage $125-$150M in

USDA NRCS funds annually. He said LDAF greatly appreciates the partnership that it has with

NRCS and other federal agencies. Commissioner Strain said OSWC has a working agreement

with not only the NRCS but also with EPA, LDNR, DU and others. He said he is very mindful of

hand-in-hand work being done by OSWC, the local districts, the NRCS, and other agencies and

organizations.

He said he has made a special effort to educate the Legislature and the state populace of the

greater need for soil and water conservation as we are expected to increase production on all of

our available agricultural and forestry lands as well as increased fisheries production. He said

in our work with farmers and ranchers on the coastal plains and in all the other landscapes of

the state, we have to be mindful of protecting and conserving our soil and water resources or we

will fail in the supply side of our mission.

Commissioner Strain said his major focus for the past two years has been to encourage new

agriculture and forestry based projects across the state, for the purpose of being able to process

many of the products that we produce. He said our expectations are that we will be successful

in our efforts and that will put a lot of new dollars in the state’s economy. He said Louisiana is

currently processing many products that we produce but we must be mindful of what is right and

what is sustainable as we increase production in years to come. Commissioner Strain said we

must be mindful of regulations such as EPA’s regulatory efforts in the Chesapeake Bay

drainage basin. He said that EPA will want to require everything they are doing in the

Chesapeake Bay area to be implemented in Louisiana and other states in the lower Mississippi

River Basin. He said that is quite alarming. Commissioner Strain said it is especially troubling

when you look at establishing Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) and how that action will

affect the ability of all our farmers, ranchers and fishermen to continue to sustain or increase

production and at the same time maintain a profitable operation. He said we will be looking

hard at the formulation of state regulations and setting standards for TMDLs. He said the

state’s role is important because in many cases the federal government will allow states to act

preemptively and in so doing we may control our own destiny such as we did last year regarding

legislation authorizing the OSWC to have the responsibility for establishing a program for overseeing

carbon sequestration and greenhouse gases emissions from agricultural and forestry

operations. He said as we move forward our mission is going to be more critical therefore, it is

absolutely imperative that you continue to do what you do. He said as in the past this will be

achieved by maintaining a strong working relationship that we have with our conservation

partners.

Commissioner Strain said the Department’s National Ag Day ceremony will start at 2:00 PM and

invited the Commission members and visitors to attend the function. He said it is a celebration

of agriculture, forestry, aquaculture and all the things that we do in conservation. He said we are

celebrating the things we do together and the strong partnerships we have in Louisiana among

the many local, state and federal agencies and other organizations. Commissioner Strain said

for the past three years we have seen an economic surge in agricultural businesses wanting to

do business in the state. He said that is because Louisiana has a strong business friendly

mechanism already in place to help businesses in all phases of planning and development.

Commissioner Strain said Louisiana can immediately help new businesses and because of that,

we are seeing positive results and we will see that continue in the future.

Commissioner Strain asked the Commission to let him know if they had anything they want him

to work on or to focus on during the Legislative Session. He said they are currently drafting

LDAF bills and that generally speaking, all bills must be filed two weeks prior to the beginning of

the session.

Commissioner Strain asked if the Commissioners had any questions.

Mr. Guillory asked Commissioner Strain if he was going to run for re-election for Commissioner

of Agriculture and Forestry. Commissioner Strain said that these past three years since being

elected have really gone by fast and yes, he was going to run again and the election primary will

be held in about seven months. Commissioner Strain said he has traveled the state prior to and

since his election and has continued on the same pace because he believes he has a

responsibility to be in the field and readily available to Louisiana citizens. He said he has Deputy

Commissioner Dr. Brent Robbins to deal with the administrative issues on a day-to-day basis

but our job is to travel the state to find out what is going on and to bring forward issues and

opportunities that will benefit our agriculture and forestry industries.

Dr. Girouard and the other Commission members thanked Commissioner Strain for his

commitment to the state and district soil and water conservation program and how he has

followed through on his campaign commitment to support and strengthen the state’s soil and

water conservation program.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Chairman Fletcher said they would next take up Unfinished Business and requested Mr. Spicer

to report on the two items listed on the agenda.

SWCD Farm Bill Implementation Report

Mr. Spicer said that three districts probably would not use all of their Farm Bill funds, but there

were many more districts that had earned over their allocation and we can share any unused

Farm Bill funds with them. He said there would likely be less than four thousand dollars to be

swept at the end of March.

Ag Day Function

Chairman Fletcher reminded the Commission members of the National Ag Day Festivities at

2:00 PM today to showcase Louisiana agricultural and aquacultural products such as fish,

crawfish, beef, chicken, sugar cane, rice, strawberries, peaches, forestry, dairy, many

vegetables and fruits, to name a few.

NEW BUSINESS

NRCS State Conservationist Report

Chairman Fletcher asked State Conservationist Mr. Kevin Norton to give his report. Mr. Norton

passed around the

NRCS Louisiana Conservation Update and introduced Mr. Britt Paul, NRCS

Assistant State Conservationist for Water Resources and Resource Conservation and

Development. He said that Mr. Paul has been in Baton Rouge working on coordination of

coastal restoration programs with the State and would remain with us today for the National Ag

Day Celebration. Mr. Norton said in about two weeks he will be attending a federal executive

institute for a full two-week period and attend another two week session immediately after July

4, 2011. Mr. Norton said that in his absence, Mr. Paul will be serving as the Acting NRCS State

Conservationist. He said that during his July absence, Mr. Paul will attend the NACD

Legislative Conference and will oversee preparation of the Conservation Report for distribution

to the Congressional offices as well as other responsibilities. Mr. Norton said that Mr. Paul is

very effective in leading NRCS’s coastal management responsibilities and maintaining

partnership relations.

Mr. Norton said that he is working through the current federal budget issues and that the House

and Senate have presented the White House a three-week Continuing Resolution extension,

which the President has signed. He said this Continuing Resolution contains a six billion dollar

cut and thus far the two Continuing Resolutions have cut ten billion dollars from the federal

budget. He said the RC&D program has a very high potential of being eliminated and a closeout

plan for the Louisiana RC&D is being developed at the time. Mr. Norton said the House is

looking to eliminate the RC&D program and that the Office of Management & Budget has taken

the position that any program being zeroed out in either the House or Senate budgets shall

begin to establish close-out procedures. He said that if the RC&D program is indeed eliminated,

that the RC&D Coordinators will not lose their jobs, but will be integrated into the 700 or so

unfilled positions currently existing within the agency nationwide. He said that there has been a

“soft” hiring freeze imposed for NRCS, meaning that he can not advertise or fill vacancies

without approval from the National Office. He said operating under Continuing Resolutions has

had serious impacts on the agency. Mr. Norton said entering into a new Farm Bill Agreement

with the OSWC will also be affected and that typically at this time of year the new Farm Bill

Agreement for the upcoming fiscal year would be in place, but when operating under a

Continuing Resolution, he can not enter into any new agreements. He said that not only is he

prohibited from entering into a new agreement, but there are simply no federal funds available

to contribute to it. He said that in short, he can not promise a new Farm Bill Agreement with the

OSWC and the local SWCDs this year and under the current situation that he will have to do

everything possible to ensure that he keeps the NRCS workforce intact for the remainder of the

fiscal year. Mr. Norton said that one huge positive note among all this is that through the MBHI,

the Louisiana Partnership obligated the financial equivalent of what the annual conservation

program budget would normally have been at the end of the year. He said that he has no

knowledge of what their funding level will be for FY 2012. Mr. Norton said this concluded his

report.

Dr. Girouard asked what the effects would be to those districts currently receiving Farm Bill

assistance funds.

Mr. Spicer said most of the districts receive Farm Bill funds and that they would need to adjust

their budget to comply with all budget cuts. He said if Congress passes a budget for the

remainder of FY 2011 there may be funds made available for a new Cooperative Agreement.

He said they could reduce spending through a combination of actions such a finding other

sources, partnering with neighboring districts and especially by staying in touch with the State

and Federal elected officials regarding this situation. Mr. Spicer also said that over $300,000

has been disbursed to districts through the current Farm Bill Agreement. He said the lose of

funds would have the greatest impact on those districts with the heaviest Farm Bill workloads.

Correspondence

Chairman Fletcher said the next agenda item is Correspondence and that each Commission

member had copies of the correspondence in their folders. He asked Mr. Spicer to review the

Correspondence with the Commission.

Mr. Spicer said the first item is an email from NASDA announcing the introduction of HR 872 by

Congressman Gibbs (R-OH) in the U.S. Congress. He said the legislation is intended to clarify

congressional intent regarding the regulation of pesticides in or near navigable water. Mr.

Spicer said the legislation, if enacted will bar EPA and State Administrators from requiring

permits for use of registered pesticides provided they are applied according to the registration

label or per the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act.

Mr. Spicer said the next item is a News Release outlining Commissioner Strain’s efforts to urge

the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) to maintain the lower Mississippi River channel to a

depth of 45-feet. He said this is critical to the movement of ocean going vessels from the Port of

Greater Baton Rouge and all other ports south of Baton Rouge to the Gulf of Mexico. Mr.

Spicer said that there is broad support for funding the COE from Louisiana congressional

officials.

Mr. Spicer said that concluded the Correspondence report.

Chairman Fletcher said if there were no questions, they would take up the next agenda item.

Coastal Prairie CREP 319 Project

Mr. Spicer said the Commissioners have a press release by Commissioner Strain announcing

the signing of Louisiana Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program II by the Secretary of

USDA. He said the CREP II is referred to as the Louisiana Coastal Prairie Project and is

located in the southwestern part of the state. He said the implementation will be carried out by

a working partnership consisting of FSA, NRCS, OSWC, LDWF, Ducks Unlimited and the

Nature Conservancy. He said the purpose of the project is to improve water quality in the

project areas and to increase acreage of native Coastal Prairie vegetation.

Supervisor Resignations/Appointments and Reappointments

Chairman Fletcher asked Ms. Edwards to report on the supervisor resignations and

appointments. Ms. Edwards said there were two supervisor resignations; Ms. Beverly Bruce,

elected position, DeSoto SWCD; and Mr. Charles Gary Anderson, elected position,

Natchitoches SWCD.

Motion:
Mr. Yerger made a motion to accept the resignations of Ms. Beverly Bruce, elected

position, DeSoto SWCD; and Mr. Charles Gary Anderson, elected position, Natchitoches

SWCD. The motion was seconded by Mr. Guillory and passed unanimously.

Ms Edwards said the respective conservation districts are requesting the State Commission to

appoint the following supervisors to a new term in office:

DeSoto SWCD, Mr. Glen Caldwell reappointed to fill his expired appointed position. Term will

begin March 23, 2011 and will expire on March 23, 2014.

DeSoto SWCD, Mr. M. L. George appointed to fill unexpired elected position of Ms. Beverly

Bruce. Term will begin March 18, 2011 and will expire on June 30, 2011.

Dorcheat SWCD, Mr. David Lowe reappointed to fill his expired appointed position. Term will

begin March 23, 2011 and will expire on March 23, 2014.

Evangeline SWCD, Mr. Earl Fontenot, Jr. reappointed to fill his expired appointed position. Term

will begin March 26, 2011 and will expire on March 26, 2014.

Lower Delta SWCD, Mr. John F. Gay reappointed to fill his expired appointed position. Term will

begin May 4, 2011 and will expire on May 4, 2014.

Natchitoches SWCD, Mr. David McGraw, appointed to fill unexpired elected position of Mr.

Charles Gary Anderson. Term will begin March 18, 2011 and will expire on June 30, 2012.

Plaquemines SWCD, Mr. Bartol J. Talianich reappointed to fill his expired appointed position.

Term will begin May 28, 2011 and will expire on May 28, 2014.

St. Martin SWCD, Mr. Jeffery Durand reappointed to fill his expired appointed position. Term will

begin March 26, 2011 and will expire on March 26, 2014.

Upper Delta SWCD, Ms. Eloise M. Jewell Smith reappointed to fill her expired appointed

position. Term will begin May 13, 2011 and will expire on May 13, 2014.

Motion:
Dr. Girouard made a motion to approve the appointment of supervisors Mr. Glen

Caldwell, appointed position, DeSoto SWCD; Mr. J. L. George, elected position, DeSoto SWCD;

Mr. David Lowe, appointed position, Dorcheat SWCD; Mr. Earl Fontenot, Jr., Evangeline

SWCD, appointed position; Mr. John F. Gay, appointed position, Lower Delta SWCD; Mr. David

McGraw, elected position, Natchitoches SWCD; Mr. Bartol J. Talianich, appointed position,

Plaquemines SWCD’ Mr. Jeffery Durand, appointed position, St. Martin SWCD; and Ms. Eloise

M. Jewell Smith, appointed position, Upper Delta SWCD. The motion was seconded by Mr.

Compton and passed unanimously.

Ms. Edwards said the last letter was from the Bodcau SWCD and asked Mr. Spicer to review

the letter with the Commission. Mr. Spicer said the Bodcau SWCD is requesting Mr. Ronald

Griggs, an elected supervisor replace Mr. J. Davis McCall, an appointed supervisor. Mr. Spicer

said he spoke to the Bodcau Chairman, Ronald Griggs, but due to a misunderstanding, the

district did not submit to the Commission the required letters regarding the resignation of Mr.

Griggs and Mr. McCall. He said the letter received from the district requested that Mr. Griggs be

appointed to Mr. McCall’s appointed position and Mr. McCall be appointed to Mr. Griggs elected

position. Mr. Spicer said that he spoke to the district chairman again as well as the district

secretary instructing the district to revise the resignation and appointment letters an send them

as soon as possible. He said that Mr. McCall has agreed to serve on the board until June 30,

2011, at which time his term will end and he does not plan on running for re-election to the

board.

Mr. Spicer asked the Commission to approve the resignation of Mr. Griggs and Mr. McCall and

to appoint to the Bodcau SWCD of supervisors, Mr. J. Davis McCall, to fill unexpired elected

position of Mr. Ronald Griggs with his term to begin March 18, 2011 and to expire on June 30,

2011 and to appoint to the Bodcau SWCD supervisors, Mr. Ronald Griggs, to fill unexpired

appointed position of Mr. J. Davis McCall with his term to begin March 18, 2011 and to expire

March 22, 2014, contingent on receipt of the revised resignation/appointment letters.

Motion:
Mr. Guillory made a motion to approve the appointments of supervisors Mr. J. Davis

McCall, elected position, Bodcau SWCD and Mr. Ronald Griggs, appointed position, contingent

on the Bodcau board’s revised resignation/appointment letters being received by the

Commission/OSWC prior to processing the new appointment. The motion was seconded by Mr.

Yerger and passed unanimously.

Note: The letters with the required attachments requesting that the Commission appoint Mr. J.

Davis McCall and Mr. Ronald Griggs to the Bodcau SWCD were received on March 22, 2011.

District Supervisors Election – June 11, 2011

Chairman Fletcher asked Mr. Spicer to report on this item. Mr. Spicer said that each

Commission member has a packet of the election materials in their folder and he is requesting

the nomination period be set for April 1, 2011 through April 30, 2011 and the election on June

11, 2011, the second Saturday in June.

Chairman Fletcher said a motion is needed to approve the supervisors’ election materials and to

send them out as presented to the Commission to the districts.

Motion:
Mr. Guillory made a motion to approve the district supervisors’ election materials and

forward them to the districts. The motion was seconded by Mr. Compton and passed

unanimously.

Caddo SWCD Red River Waterway Commission (RRWC) Project

Chairman Fletcher asked Mr. Spicer to report on this item. Mr. Spicer said that the draft

agreement is to provide for the RRWC to develop and solicit bids for early construction phases

of the Red Bayou Irrigation Project in Caddo Parish. After an OSWC review of the draft

agreement and discussion by the State Commission, the Commission decided that at a

minimum, the agreement should include a total contract dollar amount, a budget and scope of

services and if possible, a list of costs per task performed is also recommended.

Motion:
Mr. Guillory made a motion to approve the draft agreement pending the inclusion of a

contract budget and scope of services. The motion was seconded by Mr. Compton and passed

unanimously.

OTHER BUSINESS

Chairman Fletcher welcomed Dr. Bobby Fletcher and asked if he wished to speak to the

Commission. Dr. Fletcher said he appreciated the opportunity to attend the meeting

representing Chancellor Richardson and Dr. Coreil for the LSU AgCenter in their absence. He

said his comments would be similar to those made by Mr. Norton concerning the LSU

AgCenter’s federal budgetary problems because the AgCenter receives funding (Smith-Lever

capacity funds) from USDA through the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and

was cut $460,000 in the mid-year cut in federal funds and all of it was in salaries. He said it is

challenging to make up such a huge cut in such a short period of time. Dr. Fletcher said that

additional funds were put into more competitive funding (AFRI) for five to 10 year multi-state

projects. He said the President’s proposed budget had a five percent cut, about $230, 000 in

Smith-Lever. He said they will continue to work with our congressmen concerning federal

funding and will work toward mitigating the current cuts as much as possible. He said the

Extension Service is the only entity of higher education with an office in every parish of the state

and therefore these cuts potentially impact all the citizens.

Dr. Fletcher said since July 1, 2008 the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service (LCES) has

been cut almost $8 million, which is a 29 percent reduction in state appropriated funds and the

Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Stations (LAES) has been cut 25 percent in state

appropriated funds during the same period. He said the other states in the southern region

have been cut an average of only fifteen percent during the same period. He said the Louisiana

Cooperative Extension Service has been cut almost two times the amount of the other states in

the southern region. He said in the surrounding states Texas had a five percent cut, Arkansas

has not had an appropriations cut; Mississippi is about eight percent and Alabama is about

where we are, at 28-29 percent. He said the AgCenter will continue to fight the battle and to

provide excellent, accurate research based information that our agents can transfer to the

citizens at the local level and continue to provide high quality programs, although we may have

to discontinue some programs due to the funding cuts. He said they cannot stop a program

overnight when there are tenured employees because there is a process they must go thru and

it takes time.

Dr. Fletcher said they are looking at programs that may have to be cut, but their hands are tied

until the State Budget is finalized. Dr. Fletcher said they have not yet seen the AgCenter’s

budget in the Governor’s proposed FY 2011-2012 budget, but they will continue to keep the

Commission posted. He said they will try to keep the priority programs and services in place as

much as possible, but there will come a time when we will not be able to continue selected

programs where there are not enough local, state or federal funds. He said that over the next

several months there may be some changes, but it all depends on the state and federal funding.

Dr. Fletcher said he appreciated the support of the Commission and the local districts

throughout the state. He said the LSU AgCenter will continue to provide high quality research

and locally focused extension programs to the citizens of Louisiana.

Mr. Kevin Norton said he visited with Mr. Garland Colvin who is hospitalized with congestive

heart failure and that Mr. Colvin was in good spirits and was hoping to move to rehab soon for

three weeks. He said Mr. Colvin was hoping to stay on the Caddo SWCD board, but he would

have to evaluate the situation when he gets back home.

Dr. Girouard reminded the Commission members that the Ethics Reporting Form was due

annually May 15

th. Mr. Spicer said that OSWC or the Ethics Board could not advise anyone on

whether to complete the form or not. He said if members had questions they should seek the

advice of counsel. Mr. Spicer also reminded everyone to mail the form directly to the Ethics

Board to the address listed on the front page of the form.

Mr. Spicer said that all of the Commission members and alternates were required to complete

an Oath of Office to be sent to the Secretary of State’s office. He said those members present

at the next Commission board meetings should fill out their Oath of Office form and get them

notarized at the April meeting by the LDAF attorney. He said those that would not be attending

the April meeting would need to have them completed and mailed to OSWC by April 25.

Chairman Fletcher asked if there was any other business and there was none.

NEXT MEETING

Chairman Fletcher said the next State Commission Meeting is scheduled for 1:15 PM Tuesday,

April 26, 2011 in the Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium, 5825 Florida Boulevard, Baton Rouge,

Louisiana.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Chairman Fletcher asked if there were any comments from the public and there were none.

ADJOURNMENT

Chairman Fletcher said if there was no other business, he will accept a motion to adjourn.

Motion:
Mr. Guillory made a motion to adjourn at 1:25 P.M. The motion was seconded by Mr.

Yerger and passed unanimously.

/s/ Randell Fletcher
______

Randell Fletcher, Chairman

State Soil and Water Conservation Commission

Annual Election of District Supervisors

The nominating period for applicants interested in qualifying as candidates for the office of District Supervisor of the Boeuf River SWCD is from April 1st-April 30th. Nominating petitions can be obtained at our office located at 141 Industrial Loop, Rayville between the hours of 7:30 AM and 4:00 PM Monday through Friday.

To qualify as a candidate to run for district supervisor, the candidate must be a landowner or farm operator; be a qualified voter within the state; and provide to the State Commission a nominating petition containing the names of at least 25 qualified voters. This petition shall be signed by the Registrar of Voters attesting that the names on the petition are qualified voters in the names Soil & Water Conservation District.

The Soil & Water Conservation Commission practices non-discriminatory policies & any person, regardless of race, creed, color, religion or national origin may be eligible as a candidate.

Nominating petitions containing the names of candidates, together with the signatures of at least 25 qualified voters & certified by the Registrar of Voters must be postmarked prior to May 1, 2011. Petitions will not be accepted if dated or postmarked outside the nominating period of April 1, 2011 through April 30, 2011.

For further information, please contact Melissa Harwell at 728-2081 x 101

USDA ISSUES WILDLIFE HABITAT INCENTIVE PROGRAM FINAL RULE

Contact: Brad Fisher
(202) 720-4024

USDA ISSUES WILDLIFE HABITAT INCENTIVE PROGRAM FINAL RULE
Adds a New National Priority for Restoration and Enhancement of Wildlife Habitat

WASHINGTON, November 23, 2010— USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) today issued a final rule for the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) that adds a new national priority for restoration and enhancement of wildlife habitat.

“WHIP helps our nation’s landowners address one of the biggest challenges of our day -- restoring fish and wildlife habitats, and benefitting at-risk species,” said NRCS Chief Dave White. “In keeping with our new national priority, we’ll be focusing our efforts on filling in habitat areas to provide continuous habitat for migrating species.”

The new WHIP national priority is “to protect, restore, develop, or enhance important migration and other movement corridors for wildlife.” This priority complements the four existing national WHIP priorities that focus on activities to benefit native fish and wildlife habitats, at-risk species, and declining or important aquatic wildlife species, in addition to reducing the impacts of invasive species on fish and wildlife habitat.

Authorized by the 2008 Farm Bill, WHIP is a voluntary program for conservation-minded landowners who want to develop and improve fish and wildlife habitat on agricultural land, nonindustrial private forest land, and Indian land. Since WHIP was first established in 1997 to the end of fiscal year (FY) 2010, more than 37,000 WHIP agreements were in place and resulting in habitat improvements on approximately 6.5 million acres nationwide.

The final rule incorporates a number of other changes to the original program, including:

• Restricting eligible lands to private agricultural land, nonindustrial private forest lands, and Tribal land;

-more-

USDA ISSUES WILDLIFE HABITAT
INCENTIVE PROGRAM FINAL RULE 11/23/10

• Clarifying that pivot corners and irregular areas are eligible habitat;

• Increasing the proportion of annual funds available for long-term agreements (15 years or longer) to 25 percent;

• Providing the Secretary of Agriculture discretionary authority to address state, regional, and national conservation priorities; and

• Establishing a $50,000 annual payment limit per person or legal entity.

Applications are accepted continuously and are ranked by the State Conservationist, based upon criteria developed with input from the state technical committee. The program is available in all 50 states and territories.

WHIP applications must address traditional natural resource issues such as water quantity, water quality, grazing lands, forest health, soil management, emerging natural resource issues, and climate change.

USDA published an interim final rule for WHIP on January 16, 2009, and published amendments to the interim final rule on March 12, 2009, and July 15, 2009, each time soliciting public comments.

Additional information about WHIP is available at: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/whip/. To view the final rule, go to www.regulations.gov.

2010 represents the 75th year of NRCS “helping people help the land.” Since its inception in 1935, the NRCS conservation delivery system has advanced a unique partnership with state and local governments and private landowners delivering conservation based on specific, local conservation needs, while accommodating state and national interests.

For more information about NRCS conservation programs, visit: www.nrcs.usda.gov, or the nearest USDA Service Center in your area.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202-720-6382 (TDD).

Length of Service Awards

Congratulations! The following local employees were recognized at the 2010 All Employees meeting for the following length of services to NRCS:

25yrs: Larry Phillips, DC Rayville

30 yrs: Anthony Bridgewater, DC Tallulah

Stephen Cruse, AC Area 2 Alexandria

35 Yrs: Marlin R Jordan, AC Area 1 Monroe

Roger W Snowberger, Area Soil Cons. Tech, Monroe

Congratulations Rayville Field Office!

During the 2010 All Employees Meeting, Rayville Field Office was recognized with the State Conservationist Award for Area 1. During the fiscal year 2009-2010 the following employees were responsible for helping Rayville Field office achieve this award: Larry Phillips, DC; Shannon Walter, District Technician; Owen Rockett, District Technician; Melissa Harwell, District Secretary;Terry May, Soil Conservationist (transferred to Monroe); Jay Crawford, Soil Agronomist (no longer with us); Robby Miller; District Conservationist (no longer with us); Danielle Mack, Soil Conservationist. Keep up the good work!

2010 All Employee Meeting

The 2010 All Employee Meeting was held November 9th-10th at the Alexandria Riverfront Center. The theme of this years meeting was "Ride the Conservation Trail" with a tie in of the 75th anniversary of NRCS. Our Master of Ceremonies was our Monroe District Conservationist, James Shivers, who did an outstanding job. We had several great speakers such as our State Conservationist, Kevin Norton; 5th Congressional District Congressman Rodney Alexander; Assistant Commissioner of LDAF over the Office of Soil and Water, Brad Spicer; President of the Louisiana Association of Conservation Districts, Dr. Ernest Girouard and our very special guest from Washington, DC and head of the USDA-NRCS Chief Dave White. After the close of day one, we had a talent show and gumbo supper which was very entertaining!

EQIP 2011

Applications are currently being accepted for the EQIP Program. To be eligible to participate in EQIP, an applicant must be an individual, legal entity, or joint operation and meet eligibility criteria.

Eligible land includes agricultural and nonindustrial private forest land, and other land on which agricultural products, livestock, or forest-related products are produced and resource concerns may be addressed. In general, the the term "agricultural land" means land on which agricultural products, livestock, or forest related-products are produced and resource concerns can be addressed in order for an agricultural producer to meet the requirements included in 440-CPM, Part 515, Subpart F. Agricultural land types include: (a.) Cropland (b) Rangeland (c) Grassland (d)Pastureland (e)Other agriculural land including cropped woodland, marshes, incidental areas included with the production of livestock. (f) Nonindustrial private forestland.

An example of eligible conservation practices and activities that can be signed up under an EQIP contract are:

1. Agricultural water enhancement program applications that include water conservation or irrigation efficiency

2. Land Management practices are those that require primarily management techniques and methods to implement the practice. These practices include but are not limited to:

(i) Nutrient management

(ii) Waste utilization

(iii) Pest management

(iv) Irrigation water management

(v) Prescribed Grazing

(vi) Residue & tillage management

(vii) Stripcropping

(viii) Contour farming

(ix) Upland & wetland wildlife habitat management

(x) Conservation crop rotation

(xi) Prescribed forestry

For further information concerning the EQIP program, please contact Larry Phillips or Shannon Walters at 728-2081 x3.

Mississippi River Basin Initiative (MRBI-CCPI)

Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative Maps
and List of Watersheds

Updated 08/10/2010

Forty-one watersheds in the 12 Mississippi River Basin Initiative (MRBI) states known as Focus Areas were selected by NRCS State Conservationists based on potential for avoiding, controlling, and trapping nutrients and improving water quality in selected watersheds within the Mississippi River Basin. The Focus Areas were selected based on input from conservation partners, including participants in State Technical Committees and state agencies with water quality responsibilities using the best available data at the state level.

MRBI projects will be selected from smaller watersheds within Focus Areas through a competitive process under the Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative (CCPI) leveraging partner contributions and accelerating conservation assistance to achieve MRBI objectives. Additional programs and funding will be available to support CCPI funded projects, including the Wetlands Reserve Enhancement Program and Conservation Innovation Grants.

Click to enlarge or download (1.34MB)


MRBI Focus Watersheds with Conservation Effects Assessment Project Studies. Click to enlarge or download (1.3MB)	MRBI Focus Watersheds with Ranking of Total Nitrogen Yields. Click to enlarge or download (1.6MB)	MRBI Focus Watersheds with Ranking of Total Phosphorous Yields. Click to enlarge or download (1.6MB)

Map of the Mississippi River Basin

OFFICE OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION May 25, 2010

OFFICE OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION

STATE SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION COMMISSION

MAY 25, 2010

1:15 PM

VETERANS’ MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM

5825 FLORIDA BOULEVARD

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA

PROCEEDINGS/MINUTES

CALL TO ORDER

Chairman Fletcher called the regular monthly Commission meeting to order by at 1:15 P.M. and

asked Mr. Colvin to give the invocation.

Chairman Fletcher asked everyone to stand and pledge allegiance to the flag of the United

States of America.

ROLL CALL

The roll was called by Laura Edwards.

Members present: Chairman Randell Fletcher, Bruce Frazier, Ed Yerger, Garland Colvin and

George Guillory

Members absent: Ernest Girouard and John Compton

A quorum was present.

Others Present: Sarah Haymaker, USDA-NRCS Assistant State Conservationist/Operations;

Dwight Landreneau, LSU AgCenter; Brad Spicer, LDAF/SSWCC Executive Director; Joey

Breaux, LDAF-OSWC; Laura Edwards, LDAF-OSWC, Michael Schooler, LDAF-OSWC and Gay

Colvin, Shreveport, LA.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

Chairman Fletcher called for a motion to approve the minutes of the April 27, 2010 State

Commission meeting.

Motion:
Mr. Colvin made a motion to approve the minutes of the April 27, 2010 Commission

meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Guillory and passed unanimously.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Chairman Fletcher said they would next take up Unfinished Business and requested Mr. Spicer

to report on the items listed on the agenda.

SWCD Farm Bill Implementation Report

Mr. Spicer said that districts earned approximately 20% of the total Farm bill funds during the

first month of the new cooperative agreement. He said this is significant considering that only

30 districts out of the 43 SWCDs with Farm Bill funds reported earnings for April. Mr. Spicer

said if there were no questions that concluded his report.

2010 Regular Session of the Legislature

Chairman Fletcher asked Mr. Spicer to give an update on legislation that the Office of Soil and

Water Conservation has been following. Mr. Spicer said that he has been tracking a large

number of bills but there are three House of Representative surface water use bills and one

House Concurrent Resolution also addressing surface water issues that he would like to report

on to the Commission. He said HB 926 by Representative Little is a one page bill that has been

substituted by HB 1486 which is a ten page bill. Mr. Spicer said HB 1486 retains the rights for

surface water use by riparian owners as did HB 926. He said, however, that HB 1486 also

provides for cooperative endeavor agreements with an agency or subdivision of the State or the

Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for withdrawal of running surface water and that the

Secretary of DNR be required to charge a fair market value for such withdrawals. He said that

HB 1486 sunsets December 31, 2012 and it will not affect HB 1449 by Representative Fannin

that provides for the rights of riparian owners to access running water for agricultural and

aquacultural purposes at no cost to the riparian users. Mr. Spicer said that it appears that HB

1449 will make it through the legislative process with little or no change to the provisions

currently contained in the bill. He said the same is true for HCR 1 which provides for the State

Ground Water Commission to evaluate the State’s ground and surface water resources and to

provide recommendations for the management and protection of these water resources and to

submit a report to the legislature no later than March 1, 2011. Mr. Spicer said in addition to the

water bills that they are also working with the legislature on HB 733 by Representative Anders

which when enacted will authorize LDAF to establish a carbon sequestration program for

agricultural and forestry in the Office of Soil and Water Conservation. He said that he has

worked with the Chairman of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority on an

amendment that excludes all coastal restoration and hurricane protection projects from the

LDAF carbon and greenhouse gases program.

Mr. Spicer said that this concluded his Legislative Report.

District Supervisors’ Election June 12, 2010

Chairman Fletcher said the next agenda item is the 2010 Supervisors Election. He said that

forty-five petitions for the supervisors’ annual election scheduled for June 12, 2010 were

received by the April 30, 2010 deadline. He said that all forty-five petitions were checked to

determine that each contained the required minimum of twenty-five signatures, and the

signatures were certified by the Registrar of Voters as being qualified voters within each

nominee’s district.

Chairman Fletcher said that three districts, Caddo, Catahoula and Dugdemona, did not have

anyone complete petitions. Catahoula and Caddo districts did not return an election petition

because their board members that are up for re-election chose not to run for re-election and no

other petitions were submitted to the districts. He said the Dugdemona district did not return a

petition because the supervisor that was up for re-election was appointed to the vacant

appointed position on the board and no petition was submitted to the district for the vacant

elected position. He said there were a total of four supervisors that chose not to run again, but

wished to let their terms expire on June 30, 2010.

Chairman Fletcher said that thirty-eight districts returned only one petition; that two districts,

Lafourche-Terrebonne and West Carroll, returned two petitions; and that Vermilion SWCD

returned three petitions.

Chairman Fletcher said that the State Commission has the authority to declare nominees with

no opposition and who met all qualifying requirements duly elected supervisors. Mr. Spicer said

that would be the thirty-eight districts as listed on the July 1, 2010 – June 30, 2013 district

election report.

Chairman Fletcher said that listed below are the petitions received from the thirty-eight districts

that had no opposition for the 2010 Supervisors Elections. He said all petitions received are in

compliance with State Commission election requirements and the term of office for the

candidates listed below starts on July 1, 2010 and expires on June 30, 2013.

DISTRICT SUPERVISOR

Acadia Wade Delahoussaye

Allen Ronald “Ronnie” Sonnier

Avoyelles Ruben Dauzat

Bodcau Elmore L. Morris

Boeuf River Christopher Brian Johnson

Bogue Chitto-Pearl River Leston McKenzie

Caddo VACANT

Calcasieu Wesley Coffman

Capital Jack Gober

Catahoula VACANT

Crescent Rebecca “Becky” Livaudais

D'Arbonne Patrick “Pat” Risinger

DeSoto Martha Jean Rogers

Dorcheat Gary Greene

Dugdemona VACANT

East Carroll George Larry Sanderson

Evangeline Walter J. Tortorich

Feliciana Hubert E. Morris

Grant Charles E. Yerby

Gulf Coast Louie D. Barbe, III

Iberia Darrell Judice

Jefferson Davis Paul O. Johnson

Lafayette Ronous J. Duhon

LaSalle Twyman Appleby

Lower Delta * Edward P. Hymel

Madison Todd Windham

Morehouse Chris Carter

Natchitoches Leslie Danielle G. Curole

New River Leroy Laiche, Jr.

Northeast Charles “Dale” Beavers

Plaquemines Earl Armstrong

Rapides Richard J. Melder

Red River George Lormand

Sabine Thomas Christian Pearce

Saline Billy Joe Vise

St. Landry Ike Boudreaux

St. Martin *Michael G. Melancon

St. Mary *Edward Payton, III

Tangipahoa-St. Helena Carolyn Falgout

Tensas-Concordia Jon Hardwick

Upper Delta Donald Schexnayder

*
Denotes new nominees (3)

Chairman Fletcher asked for a motion to duly elect the qualified supervisors.

Motion:
Mr. Guillory made a motion to declare the above list of unopposed candidates duly

elected district supervisors. The motion was seconded by Mr. Frazier and passed unanimously.

Resolved, the above list of nominees, having met all qualifying requirements and are

declared duly elected supervisors for the period beginning July 1, 2010 and expiring

June 30, 2013.

Chairman Fletcher said there will be an election in three districts, Lafourche-Terrebonne,

Vermilion and West Carroll districts. He said the Lafourche-Terrebonne and the West Carroll

districts have two candidates and the Vermilion district has three candidates. Mr. Spicer said

the Office of Soil and Water Conservation is assisting the districts in preparing for the June 12,

2010 election.

DISTRICT CANDIDATES

Lafourche-Terrebonne Wayne Bordelon

Lafourche-Terrebonne

* Cory Thibodeaux

Vermilion Sherrill Sagrera

Vermilion

*Charles Guidry

Vermilion

*William Husband

West Carroll

*Bill Duckworth

West Carroll

*Vendal Fairchild
*
Denotes new nominees (5)
NEW BUSINESS

NRCS State Conservationist Report

Chairman Fletcher said that Mr. Norton was unable to attend and that Ms. Sarah Haymaker

would give the NRCS Report. Ms. Haymaker handed out the

May 2010 NRCS Louisiana
Conservation Update
and the Conserving Louisiana’s Coastal Wetlands. She said that
Conserving Louisiana’s Coastal Wetlands
was a report that Mr. Norton was requested to

prepare for congress explaining the importance of Louisiana’s marsh and wetlands and how

NRCS was assisting landowners in conserving their soils and water resources. She said that

the report was so well received that members of the Secretary’s staff are now using it to

demonstrate the importance of coastal protection and restoration projects.

Ms. Haymaker continued the report with an update on Farm Bill program funding status. She

said that at this time there are no additional EQIP dollars allocated to the state and that

approximately one million dollars remain unobligated at this time but is reserved for the special

projects across the state such as irrigation tailwater recovery systems and precision land

forming on sugarcane fields. She said no additional EQIP funds are expected at this time but

there is a possibility that unobligated funds could be reallocated late in the year. She said the

national obligation deadline is July 2, 2010.

Ms. Haymaker said that additional funds have been received for WHIP and all eligible

applications will be funded. She said NRCS will continue to process applications for this

program and encourages interested landowners to apply. She said the second sign-up for CSP

is currently underway and that the application deadline to be considered in this funding round is

June 11, 2010. She said Louisiana expects to receive a similar allocation as the first round or

approximately 129,000 acres to be enrolled.

Ms. Haymaker said that additional funds for the WRP have also been received to continue

processing applications as NRCS works toward a goal of enrolling 18,000 acres. She said,

additionally, the program staff is working on reserved grazing rights exhibits for the warranty

easement deeds for possible WRP implementation in the marsh areas. She said marsh lands

that are restorable could potentially be enrolled in WRP and the landowner be allowed to

continue grazing operations but marsh lands need to be either grazed or burned to maintain the

desired plant communities. She said NRCS is seeking additional WRP applications and within a

month anticipates beginning a public service announcement on television and radio to

encourage landowners to apply for the program.

Ms. Haymaker said the MRBI proposals are in the final stages of approval and that Louisiana

submitted proposals for three watersheds, including the proposal submitted for the Boeuf River

watershed by the Office of Soil and Water Conservation. She said NRCS anticipates the

proposal selections to be announced around June 3, 2010.

Ms. Haymaker said she is currently finalizing a revision to the NRCS-OSWC contribution

agreement. She said upon suggestion by the Tensas-Concordia SWCD, she has begun

analyzing the workload associated with complex program applications for CSP and WRP. She

said that in the newest revision SWCDs will receive workload credit for these program

applications and NRCS anticipates adding approximately $40,000 to the contribution agreement

when CSP funds are received.

Ms. Haymaker said this concluded the report

Correspondence

Chairman Fletcher asked Mr. Spicer to report on the agenda items under Correspondence

Mr. Spicer said the first item is a copy of a letter from Mr. George Guillory, Chairman of the

Acadia SWCD to Congressman Coa asking him to oppose HR 5088 that provides for deleting

the term “navigable waters” from the Clean Water Act (CWA). Mr. Spicer said that by removing

the term navigable waters from the Act would likely allow for the regulating agencies to put a

huge amount of new land areas under the permitting requirement of section 404 – jurisdiction

wetlands.

Mr. Spicer said the next item is a report from the Marten Law News covering several wetland

issues such as is being addressed in the Acadia SWCD letter. He said the first issue concerns

the Supreme Court opinion on federal jurisdiction over intermittent water bodies under section

404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The issue being that many persons believe that the Corps

of Engineers exceeded its statutory authority by requiring a 404 permit for activities in such

areas. Mr. Spicer said the next issue discussed is a suit filed by the American Farm Bureau

Federation seeking to reinstate the exclusion from the CWA regulation for wetlands converted to

agricultural use prior to 1985. The Corps has taken the position in 2009 that prior converted

cropland remains exempt from CWA jurisdiction only as long as it remains farmland. Mr. Spicer

said the final water quality/wetland issue deals with upland ditches. He said that the plaintiffs in

a U.S. Court case argued that regulators can not consider upland ditches both “point sources”

and “navigable waters” and that each case would stand on its own merits.

Mr. Spicer said that for the Commission’s information he is providing news releases on the Point

Bio Energy plant to be built at the Port of Greater Baton Rouge. He said the wood pellet plant

will use locally produced woody biomass to make the pellets for use as an alternative energy

source which will be shipped to Europe.

Mr. Spicer said that concluded the items under Correspondence.

Chairman Fletcher said if there were no questions they would take up the next agenda item.

Supervisor Resignations/Appointments and Reappointments

Chairman Fletcher said there was only one resignation and it was from the Catahoula SWCD

and Mr. Curtis Roark, an elected supervisor, stating that his current term will expire June 30,

2010 and although he enjoyed serving on the board, he is not seeking re-election.

Mr. Spicer said that Mr. Roark did not resign but chose not to run for re-election, therefore, the

Commission does not need to take any action.

District Allocation Formula

Chairman Fletcher said the next item is the District Allocation Formula. He said that it is the

Commission’s policy to review the allocation formula at least once every five years to insure that

it continues to capture all major activities within the districts that contribute significantly to the

SWCD’s annual workload. He said that it was last reviewed in 2008. Chairman Fletcher said

he has no knowledge of significant changes in district activities that would warrant revising the

workload formula. He said if there were no objections, he would request a motion to use the

same workload formula that the Commission used in allocating district state funds in 2009.

Motion:
Mr. Colvin made a motion to use the same workload formula that the Commission

used in allocating district state funds in 2009. The motion was seconded by Mr. Guillory and

passed unanimously.

District Audits FY 2009-10

Chairman Fletcher said the next agenda item is annual district audits and asked Mr. Spicer to

report on district audits. Mr. Spicer said the first item is a copy of a letter that Mr. Bruce Frazier,

Chairman of the Dugdemona SWCD, wrote to Mr. Bennie Tate notifying him that they are

terminating the district agreement with him to provide the district assistance in management of

the financial records and preparing the required financial documents for the district’s annual

audit.

Mr. Spicer said that Mr. Bennie Tate has started working with the districts in preparation of their

annual audits. He said that Mr. Ed Krielow has informed him that everything went well last year

and therefore, he agreed to proceed as they did last year with Mr. Tate preparing the districts’

financial statements and Mr. Krielow reviewing, compiling and signing off on the district

audits/reviews.

OTHER BUSINESS

Chairman Fletcher said that Mr. Ruben Dauzat, Secretary-Treasurer with the Avoyelles SWCD

sent a letter to Dr. Ernest Girouard and copied the Office of State Soil and Water Conservation

suggesting changes to the district supervisor training schedule. He said that the Commission

has just revised the Commission’s Supervisor Training Policy. Chairman Fletcher said that the

first option recommended by the Avoyelles SWCD was to go back to holding a training session

at the LACD Annual meetings. He said this has been tried and it failed to meet the

Commission’s training requirements. Chairman Fletcher said that LACD could not dedicate a

specific session to supervisor training. He said that the Commission allowed supervisor’s

attendance at certain LACD breakout sessions to qualify for training but determined after two

years that the breakout sessions were not meeting the training objectives set by the

Commission, which led to the recent change in the training schedule. Chairman Fletcher said in

his opinion, the second option of rotating training sessions among the five areas would make it

more difficult for supervisors to attend a training session every two years. He said the current

policy which provides for training opportunities in all five areas annually makes it easier for

supervisors to attend a training session. Chairman Fletcher asked if any of the Commission

members had thoughts or comments regarding the Avoyelles SWCD proposal. Mr. Breaux said

that he thinks most supervisors prefer holding annual training session out in the five areas. Mr.

Guillory said if the current scheduling is working, then we should not change it. Chairman

Fletcher said that he would inform Dr. Girouard and the Avoyelles SWCD of the Commission’s

decision to retain the current supervisor training schedule.

Mr. Landreneau said that the AgCenter responded to the Office of the Governor’s request to

cut/save $1.6 million in the current year’s budget. He said they could achieve the savings by

cutting all travel, purchases including supplies and stopping all other spending that they could,

but without any personnel layoffs. Mr. Landreneau said they were told this $1.6 million was not

a budget cut, but a budget adjustment. He said that a budget cut is permanent, but an

adjustment is for that one time only during the current fiscal year. He said that the AgCenter’s

budget was cut earlier and revenues were also reduced, so all in all, the AgCenter’s budget this

fiscal year has been reduced approximately $7.0 million dollars. Mr. Landreneau said that even

with these reductions the AgCenter is sticking with its core mission and is prepared to meet its

goals by doing more with less people and cross-utilizing personnel.

Mr. Landreneau said the Agricultural Irrigation Efficiency Program was re-tooled due to Dr.

Sheffield’s ongoing medical problems and that the Efficiency Trailer was delivered to the Rice

Station in Crowley yesterday where it will be assembled and put into service. He said that this

is a great project and demonstrates how well the NRCS/AgCenter partnership is working for

Louisiana farmers.

Mr. Fletcher asked Mr. Landreneau what role the AgCenter was playing in the oil spill. Mr.

Landreneau said that the AgCenter was working closely with Sea Grant to educate the people in

the areas of what can be done, but they were not yet doing restoration work. He said

restoration is being done by other agencies that had specialized experience and training such

as Haz-Mat training. He said the AgCenter along with the other four Gulf states from Texas to

Florida have formed a task force to deal with damage assessment and they conduct weekly

conference calls. He said that some experts associated with the Valdez oil spill are coming to

visit Louisiana. He said that it is important to gather critical, correct information now on the

effects of the oil spill on wildlife, cattle grazing in the marshes, seafood and other health, safety

and environmental aspects. Mr. Landreneau said he was also on the Louisiana Seafood

Promotion Board and they are concerned with safety compliance and the quality of the seafood.

He said that promoting consumer confidence is important and they were getting the word out

that Louisiana’s seafood is safe.

Mr. Landreneau said that through the Oilfield Spill Communications network that they were

trying to get the facts out to the public about what the oilfield industry was doing regarding the

spill and not rely on gossip.

He said all of this was done out of the AgCenter’s current budget as the only available funds

would be from a $200,000 grant to be shared with the five states –Texas, Louisiana,

Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

Mr. Landreneau said the AgCenter has hired an Extension Associate to work closely with the

Louisiana Sea Grant to assist in their work associated with the oil spill.

Mr. Landreneau said that at the plant development lab they were working on extracting the good

genes from selected plants that have survived oil spills and other contaminants to create plants

that will have a better survival rate if planted in areas impacted by the oil spill. He said that it will

take a long time to develop plant materials and therefore, it is a long-range solution.

Mr. Landreneau said that the AgCenter’s 4-H Program won the national Program of Excellence

Award was for

Smart Bodies, a nutrition based program to educate kids about obesity. He said

this is a very prestigious award and that Louisiana has won it three times in the last few years.

Mr. Colvin congratulated Mr. Landreneau and the AgCenter and commented that the reason the

AgCenter is winning the awards is that the AgCenter has good programs and is doing an

excellent job.

Chairman Fletcher asked if there was any other business to come before the Commission and

there was none.

NEXT MEETING

Chairman Fletcher said the next State Commission Meeting is scheduled for 1:15 PM Tuesday,

June 22, 2010 in the Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium, 5825 Florida Boulevard, Baton Rouge,

Louisiana.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Chairman Fletcher asked if there were any other comments and there were none.

ADJOURNMENT

Chairman Fletcher said if there was no other business, then he will accept a motion to adjourn.

Motion:
Mr. Guillory made a motion to adjourn at 2:17 P.M. The motion was seconded by Mr.

Yerger and passed unanimously.

/s/ Randell Fletcher
______

Randell Fletcher, Chairman

State Soil and Water Conservation Commission

Migratory BirdHabitat Initiative

Migratory Bird Habitat Initiative (MBHI)

Staff Contact:
Leslie L. Michael Assistant State Conservationist/Programs Phone:(318) 473-7755	Tim Landreneau State Program Specialist Phone: (318) 473-7759
Fax: (318) 473-7682

Overview

Under a new Migratory Bird Habitat Initiative, USDA will work with farmers, ranchers and other landowners to manage portions of their land to enhance habitat for migrating birds.

The initiative includes portions of eight States: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas. USDA will use conservation programs administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), which is coordinating with State and private organizations. NRCS will assist producers in developing, enhancing and managing habitat for the migratory birds expected to pass through two major North American flyways to the Gulf in the coming months. In cooperation with its conservation partners, NRCS has identified priority areas in each state that offer the greatest habitat potential for migrating bird populations. NRCS anticipates improving habitat on up to 100,000 to 150,000 acres based on projected producer participation.

The signup will run from June 28 to August 1. Interested producers should contact their local USDA Service Center for additional information.

Louisiana Migratory Waterfowl Priority Areas
Click on map for full screen version in PDF format which requires Adobe Acrobat.

Map of Louisiana Migratory Waterfowl Conservation Project Priority Areas (PDF; 745 KB)

USDA TO HELP FARMERS AND RANCHERS EXPAND HABITAT FOR MIGRATING BIRDS

State Conservationist Kevin Norton has announced that USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will work with farmers, ranchers, and other landowners to develop and enhance habitat for birds making their annual migration south towards the Gulf of Mexico. Under the Migratory Bird Habitat Initiative, NRCS will partner with producers to manage portions of their land to provide additional food and habitat for migrating birds.

Norton estimates more than $1 million in funding for the initiative in Louisiana.

“More than 50 million migratory birds traveling south in coming months will instinctively head toward the marshes and coastlands of the northern Gulf of Mexico,” said Norton. “With some marshes and shorelines already degraded and the potential for larger-scale oil impacts in the coming months, it is essential that we provide inland and coastal food, water, and cover for migratory birds before they reach the oil-impacted areas.”

Priority areas in Louisiana are in Acadia, Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Caldwell, Cameron, Catahoula, Concordia, East Carroll, Evangeline, Franklin, Iberia, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Ouachita, Pointe Coupee, Rapides, Richland, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary, Tensas, Vermilion, and West Carroll Parishes.

“We expect there will be great interest from our farmers and ranchers who want to do something positive to help the migrating birds–not only this fall, but next spring and in subsequent years as well,” said Norton.

MBHI Total Estimated Habitat Acres in Applications

Map of Total Estimated Habitat Acres (PDF; 38 KB)

Click on map for full screen version in PDF format which requires Adobe. Acrobat.

All Program Applications for Migratory Bird Habitat Initiative

Map of All Program Applications for MBHI (PDF; 445 KB)

Click on map for full screen version in PDF format which requires Adobe. Acrobat.

Download maps in PDF format which requires Adobe Acrobat.

Map of Total Estimated Habitat Acres in Applications (PDF; 38 KB)
Map of All Program Applications for MBHI (PDF; 445 KB)

USDA will use conservation programs administered by NRCS and will work with partners, both public and private, to provide a variety of habitats to meet the needs of different species. Emphasis will be on creating or enhancing habitat for shorebirds and waterfowl, including shallow water, mudflat, and sandflat habitats. Of special interest are agricultural lands that contain wetlands farmed under natural conditions and prior converted croplands. Rice fields are particularly well-suited for this initiative, as are catfish and crawfish farms.

USDA will deliver this initiative with the support from partners in Louisiana including Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Gulf Coast Joint Venture, Ducks Unlimited, LSU AgCenter, USA Rice Federation, The Nature Conservancy, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Louisiana’s Soil and Water Conservation Districts.

Migratory Bird Habitat Initiative

WRP Easements and Bird Habitat Joint Venture Regions

Map of WRP Easements and Bird Habitat Regions

Click on maps for full screen version in PDF format which requires Adobe Acrobat.

Map of Migratory Bird Habitat Initiative (PDF; 3.4 MB)
Map of WRP Easements and Bird Habitat Joint Venture Regions (PDF; 4.1 MB)

Additional Information:

The documents below require Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Migratory Bird Habitat Initiative Introduction (PDF; 12 KB)
MBHI System Practice Type List with Cost and Payment Rate (PDF; 145 KB)

<Back to NRCS Louisiana Conservation Programs

OFFICE OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION-April 27, 2010

OFFICE OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION

STATE SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION COMMISSION

APRIL 27, 2010

1:15 PM

VETERANS’ MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM

5825 FLORIDA BOULEVARD

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA

PROCEEDINGS/MINUTES

CALL TO ORDER

The regular monthly Commission meeting was called to order by Chairman Fletcher at 1:15

P.M. and asked Mr. Colvin to give the invocation.

Chairman Fletcher asked everyone to stand and pledge allegiance to the flag of the United

States of America.

ROLL CALL

The roll was called by Laura Edwards.

Members present: Chairman Randell Fletcher, Ernest Girouard, Ed Yerger, John Compton,

Garland Colvin and George Guillory

Members absent: None

A quorum was present.

Others Present: Kevin Norton, USDA-NRCS State Conservationist; Dwight Landreneau, LSU

Ag Center; Brad Spicer, LDAF/SSWCC Executive Director; Joey Breaux, LDAF-OSWC; Laura

Edwards, LDAF-OSWC, Butch Stegall, LDAF-OSWC; Sherrill Sagrera, Vermilion SWCD and

Gay Colvin, Shreveport, LA.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

Chairman Fletcher called for a motion to approve the minutes of the March 23, 2010 State

Commission meeting.

Motion:
Mr. Guillory made a motion to approve the minutes from the March 23, 2010

Commission meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Colvin and passed unanimously.

NRCS State Conservationist Report

Chairman Fletcher said that Mr. Norton had a meeting with Commissioner Strain and would

need to leave the State Commission meeting early, so he asked Mr. Norton to give the NRCS

report first.

While handing out the

NRCS Louisiana Conservation Update, Mr. Norton said that he enjoyed

the fellowship at the Egg Breakfast hosted by the Louisiana Egg Commission prior to the

Conservation Stewardship proclamation signing ceremony. He said he appreciated being

invited to participate in the ceremony and the proclamation signing at the State Capitol House

Garden Plaza Thursday, April 22

nd. He said this was the first conservation ceremony held at the

capitol in recent years. Mr. Norton said the conservation partnership was well represented and

everyone works so well together resulting in a great event. He said there were representatives

from Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Louisiana Association of Conservation Districts,

Office of Soil and Water Conservation, NRCS staff from throughout the state, LSU AgCenter

representing the science and research communities, plant materials specialists and other

conservationists attending the ceremony. He said we were all there to celebrate the 75

anniversary of the NRCS and the 72

nd anniversary of the Soil and Water Conservation Districts,

and for Commissioner Strain to proclaim April 25-May 2, 2010 as CONSERVATION

STEWARDSHIP WEEK in Louisiana. He said these agencies accomplished a lot of

conservation work because they all worked together for the common goal of conserving

Louisiana’s natural resources. Mr. Norton thanked Mr. Spicer and his staff, Chairman Fletcher

and Dr. Girouard for allowing NRCS to participate in the ceremony. Mr. Spicer said that Mr.

Norton and his staff played a major role in planning and conducting the ceremony.

Mr. Norton said recent vacancies on his staff created by the retirements of Mr. Ron Marcantel,

Mr. Ed Giering and Mr. Steve Carmichael were filled by Ms. Sara Haymaker, Mr. Brad Sticker

and Mr. Scott Edwards.

Mr. Norton said he attended a locally led meeting hosted by the Gulf Coast SWCD, it was a

coastal resources meeting that held an Earth Team Sponsor Appreciation Day. He said that

there were many different sponsors representing private businesses, radio stations, and others.

Mr. Norton said the sponsors donated paper goods, food and other items needed by the Earth

Team. He said it was rewarding to see so many people of all walks of life working together to

solve conservation issues.

Mr. Norton said several districts have inquired about getting additional funds. He said that at

this time he only has $180,000 that is not obligated out of a $100 million dollar budget. Mr.

Norton said that at this point he can not provide additional funds, but if they are very

conservative in their spending that there could possibly be some limited funds available toward

the end of their fiscal year to add to the current Farm Bill Cooperative Agreement. He said he

received a letter from the Tensas-Concordia SWCD that had some very good suggestions that

NRCS is considering for next year. He said that he had received letters from the Iberia and Gulf

Coast SWCDs concerning the formula used to calculate the Farm Bill allocations for the

districts. He said he sent a copy of his response to the State Commission and OSWC.

Chairman Fletcher asked if the funding amounts contained in the 2008 Farm Bill are guaranteed

or mandatory amounts. Mr. Norton said that amounts placed in the Farm Bill are mandatory

unless congress decides to move the amount of growth funds elsewhere and that congress has

already taken the growth amount and redistributed to another program. He said that only in the

2002 and 2008 Farm Bill did they receive the full amount.

Mr. Norton said in addition to EQIP/WHP they plan to include workloads for the Conservation

Stewardship Program and maybe WRP as well in the allocation calculations for the next Farm

Bill Cooperative Agreement.

Mr. Norton said this concluded his report and again he wanted to thank everyone for their hard

work.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Chairman Fletcher said they would next take up Unfinished Business and requested Mr. Spicer

to report on the items listed on the agenda.

SWCD Farm Bill Implementation Report

Mr. Spicer said that the 2010 Farm Bill Cooperative Agreement began April 1, 2010 and would

end March 31, 2011. He said the new agreement information has been set up in the electronic

reporting system and they are prepared to start receiving and entering district earning reports.

He said the allocation formula has been changed and the NRCS staff has done a good job of

explaining the changes in the new formula. Mr. Spicer said the new formula does a better job

capturing the amount of work that the district does in implementing the various Farm Bill tasks.

He said that they closed out the 2009 Farm Bill with only a few thousand dollars left unearned

by a couple of districts. Mr. Spicer said they will sweep the surplus funds and reallocate them in

early May.

2010 Regular Session of the Legislature

Mr. Spicer said that there are currently five bills dealing with surface water use being debated in

the legislature. He said House Bill (HB) 926 by Representative Little and Senate Bill 723 by

Senator Kostelka both confirm current state law regarding riparian water rights. He said HB 926

also states the riparian owner may share water with adjacent landowners and that the state can

not charge any fees for such use. Mr. Spicer said that HB 1449 by Representative Fannin also

confirms riparian owner’s rights to use surface water for agriculture or aquaculture; the riparian

owner can assign access rights by non-riparian owners and it prohibits any state fees from

being charged for such usage. Mr. Spicer said LDAF supports this bill or any other bill that

provides free access to surface water for riparian and adjacent landowners for agricultural and

aquacultural uses. Mr. Spicer said HB 1375 by Representative Abramson also provides for the

right of use of running water for the adjacent landowners but extends the use to production of

minerals. He said HCR 1 authored by Representative Fannin and others requests the State

Ground Water Resources Commission to prepare a report on the state’s groundwater and

surface water resources and provides recommendations for the management and protection of

the state’s water resources and that the Commission is to report to the state legislature no later

than March 1, 2011.

Mr. Spicer said HR 31 by Representative Andy Anders recognizes the 75

th anniversary of the

NRCS and the 72

nd anniversary of the State Soil and Water Conservation Commission and

Conservation Districts. He said it further proclaims April 25 – May 2, 2010 as Conservation

Stewardship Week. He said a similar resolution SR 32 by Senator Francis Thompson was also

passed by the Louisiana Senate.

Mr. Spicer said that there are two other bills that warrant being followed. He said HB 310 deals

with the prohibition of the state or its political subdivisions from entering into agreements with

federal agencies that would allow for the expropriation of wetlands and other natural habitats for

mitigation. He said this bill, if passed in its present form, could cause serious problems with

NRCS water resources projects. He said that he has discussed this with the Governor’s staff

and they are working on trying to amend the bill so it would not adversely impact future federal

projects. Mr. Spicer said SB 788 proposes to enact the Louisiana Professional Geoscience

Practice Act. He said if it is passed in its present form it would exclude federal and state

scientists from having to be licensed including NRCS Soil Scientists, but when they leave state

or federal services they would not be permitted to continue to practice their profession without

being licensed by the state.

Mr. Spicer said that this concluded his Legislative Report.

District Supervisors’ Election June 12, 2010

Chairman Fletcher asked Ms. Edwards to give the report. Ms. Edwards said that only nine

nominating petitions have been received by the State Office for the supervisors’ election. She

said it seems that most nominees wait late in the nominating period to complete their petitions.

She said that she has been in contact with all 44 SWCD offices reminding them of the April 30

deadline for the petitions and to assist them with other elements of the election process. Ms.

Edwards said that more than one petition was given out in the Boeuf River, Vermilion and the

Lafourche-Terrebonne SWCDs. She said there is the possibility that these three districts will be

holding elections.

Ms. Edwards said included in the Commission’s folders is a list of the district supervisors whose

term expires June 30

th and are therefore up for re-election. She said as of today, there are six

districts whose current supervisors chose not to run for re-election. She said as of today in the

six districts, Caddo, Catahoula and Dugdemona SWCDs have had no one request a petition.

She said Lower Delta, St. Martin and St. Mary SWCDs have indicated that they have had at

least one person request a nominating petition. She said these three districts do plan for the

completed petitions to be submitted to the State Commission by April 30

th.

Mr. Spicer said that he will work with those districts with more than one petition submitted to

provide guidance to the districts to ensure that they are prepared for the election in regards to

selecting polling locations and polling commissioners and that proper public announcements are

made prior to the election. He said that he would also contact those districts that are having

difficulty in getting candidates to complete nominating petitions.

Ms. Edwards said in the Commission’s folders is a letter form the Tensas-Concordia SWCD

board of supervisors requesting that the State Commission waive the attendance requirement

for Mr. Jon Hardwick, whose elected position term expires June 30, 2010. She said that the

letter from the Tensas-Concordia board stated that Mr. Hardwick’s absences were caused by

extenuating circumstances and scheduling conflicts with other conservation meetings and his

job, but he has since changed his schedule and will be able to attend the board meetings on a

regular basis.

Chairman Fletcher asked the Commission if they wanted to take action on the waiver request.

Motion:
Dr. Girouard made a motion to waive the attendance requirement for Mr. Jon

Hardwick, elected position, Tensas-Concordia SWCD. The motion was seconded by Mr.

Compton and passed unanimously.

Ms. Edwards said also in the Commission’s folders is a letter form the Grant SWCD board of

supervisors requesting the State Commission waive the attendance requirement for Mr. Charles

Yerby, whose elected position term expires June 30, 2010. She said the board’s letter stated

that Mr. Yerby’s absences were caused by an illness, but now he will be able to attend the

board meetings on a regular basis. She said that the Grant SWCD board stressed in their letter

that Mr. Yerby is a valuable, hands-on farmer and a great asset to the Grant SWCD board.

Chairman Fletcher asked the Commission if they wanted to take action on the waiver request.

Motion:
Mr. Compton made a motion to waive the attendance requirement for Mr. Charles

Yerby, elected position, Grant SWCD. The motion was seconded by Mr. Guillory and passed

unanimously.

NEW BUSINESS

Correspondence

Chairman Fletcher asked Mr. Spicer to report on the agenda items under Correspondence.

Mr. Spicer said the first items are copies of letters from Chairman Fletcher to the Acadia and the

Vermilion Police Juries thanking them for passing a resolution requesting that the Louisiana

Legislature not make further cuts to the State’s Soil and Water Conservation Program. He said

the two resolutions also requested that the legislature increase the Conservation Program

funding when the level of state revenues improve.

Mr. Spicer said next is a copy of a letter from NRCS State Conservationist Mr. Kevin Norton to

Mr. Darrell Judice, Chairman of the Iberia SWCD. He said the letter is in response to Mr.

Judice’s inquiry into the Farm Bill Cooperative Agreement Allocation Formula. Mr. Spicer said

that Mr. Norton gave a very good summary of the recent changes in the allocation formula in his

NRCS report and in this letter. He said charts accompanying the letter to Mr. Judice shows how

the total Farm Bill implementation workload is captured by the new formula.

Mr. Spicer said the next item is an email summarizing the lawsuits filed by rice growers in the

six rice growing states against Bayer CropScience regarding damages they suffered as a result

of genetically altered rice making its way into the commercial rice market. He said it appears

that the issue surrounding genetic modification is a growing problem and goes beyond

genetically altered rice.

Mr. Spicer said that the next email covers the LDAF’s effort to make individuals aware that the

state must monitor all cotton plants for boll weevil presence, including cotton grown for

ornamental purposes. He said it is critical to make sure that all cotton grown is free of the

insect. He said the state is on the threshold of eradicating the boll weevil.

Mr. Spicer said another email for review by the Commission members is an email regarding

National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA)’s push to get EPA to

withdraw their proposed draft guidance for off-target pesticide spray drift. He said they believe

that the guidance will create significant problems for state regulators. He said in our case, the

Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry would have the responsibility for enforcing the

guidance.

Mr. Spicer said the next item is a news release covering the LSU Alumni Association Hall of

Distinction ceremonies held on April 16

th where Commissioner Mike Strain was inducted along

with Mr. Jeff Kleinpeter, President of Kleinpeter Farms. Chairman Fletcher said it is an honor to

have Commissioner Strain and Mr. Kleinpeter receive such recognition and to have them

represent Louisiana agriculture.

Mr. Spicer said that the last item is an email from Ms. Kathleen Nichols with LDWF thanking Mr.

Joey Breaux for presenting a short course session at the 2010 Environmental Education

Symposium. Mr. Spicer said according to the attendees’ evaluation sheets attached to the letter

Mr. Breaux’s workshop was very beneficial to the participants of the Environmental Education

Symposium. Chairman Fletcher thanked Mr. Breaux for the work he does throughout the year

and throughout the state regarding environmental education through Project WET and other

educational events.

Mr. Spicer said that concluded the items under Correspondence.

Chairman Fletcher said if there were no questions they would take up the next agenda item.

Supervisor Resignations/Appointments and Reappointments

Chairman Fletcher asked Ms. Edwards to report on the resignations and appointments.

Ms. Edwards said the first letter is from Mr. Keith Matirne, elected supervisor, Lower Delta

SWCD stating that his current term will expire June 30, 2010 and although he enjoyed serving

on the board, he is not seeking re-election.

Ms. Edwards said the next letter is from the St. Mary SWCD stating they received a letter of

resignation effective March 16, 2010 from Mr. Anthony Boudreaux, an elected supervisor whose

current term will expire June 30, 2010. She said the letter also stated that Mr. Boudreaux had

served on the St. Mary board for more than twenty-three years.

Ms. Edwards said the next letter is from Mr. Claude McMillan, appointed supervisor,

Dugdemona SWCD, stating that he will resign May 11, 2010. She said Mr. McMillan had served

on the board for fourteen years.

Ms. Edwards said the next letter is from Mr. Billy Gaines, elected supervisor, Dugdemona

SWCD stating that he is resigning from his elected position on the board in order to be

appointed into the vacant appointed position of Mr. Claude McMillan. She said Mr. Gaines’

current elected position will expire June 30, 2010.

Mr. Guillory asked if possibly the reason for so many supervisor resignations could be the

Personal Financial Disclosure requirements by the Louisiana Board of Ethics? Mr. Spicer said it

could be, but he thought it more likely that many of these supervisors are resigning for other

reasons and that the current number of resignations is close to the annual average number of

resignations.

Chairman Fletcher asked for a motion to accept the resignations of Mr. Keith Matirne, Mr.

Anthony Boudreaux, Mr. Claude McMillan and Mr. Billy Gaines.

Motion:
Mr. Colvin made a motion to accept the resignations of Mr. Keith Matirne, elected

supervisor, Lower Delta SWCD; Mr. Anthony Boudreaux, elected supervisor, St. Mary SWCD;

Mr. Claude McMillan, appointed position, Dugdemona SWCD and Mr. Billy Gaines, elected

position, Dugdemona SWCD. The motion was seconded by Mr. Guillory and passed

unanimously.

Ms. Edwards said the respective conservation districts are requesting the State Commission to

appoint the following supervisors to a new term in office:

Crescent SWCD, Dr. Thomas Vitrano reappointed to fill his expired appointed position. Term will

begin June 21, 2010 and will expire on June 21, 2013

Dugdemona SWCD, Mr. Billy Gaines appointed to fill unexpired appointed position of Mr.

Claude McMillan. Term will begin May 11, 2010 and will expire on March 25, 2012.

Gulf Coast SWCD, Dr. Harold Aymond reappointed to fill his expired appointed position. Term

will begin June 11, 2010 and will expire on June 11, 2013.

Lafourche-Terrebonne SWCD, Mr. Roland Bourgeois reappointed to fill his expired appointed

position. Term will begin June 11, 2010 and will expire on June 11, 2013

Natchitoches SWCD, Mr. Sidney Evans reappointed to fill his expired appointed position. Term

will begin June 26, 2010 and will expire on June 26, 2013.

Plaquemines SWCD, Mr. Lawrence Rousselle reappointed to fill his expired appointed position.

Term will begin May 28, 2010 and will expire on May 28, 2013.

St. Mary SWCD, Mr. Dan Hidalgo appointed to fill unexpired appointed position of Mr. Theron

Casselman. Term will begin April 27, 2010 and will expire on June 25, 2010.

St. Mary SWCD, Mr. Edward Payton, III appointed to fill unexpired elected position of Mr.

Anthony Boudreaux. Term will begin April 27, 2010 and will expire on June 23, 2010.

Chairman Fletcher asked for a motion to accept the supervisor appointments.

Motion:
Mr. Guillory made a motion to approve the appointments of supervisors Dr. Thomas

Vitrano, appointed position, Crescent SWCD; Mr. Billy Gaines, appointed position, Dugdemona

SWCD; Dr. Harold Aymond, appointed position, Gulf Coast SWCD; Mr. Roland Bourgeois,

appointed position, Lafourche-Terrebonne SWCD; Mr. Sidney Evans, appointed position,

Natchitoches SWCD; Mr. Lawrence Rousselle, appointed position, Plaquemines SWCD; Mr.

Dan Hidalgo, appointed position, St. Mary SWCD and Mr. Edward Payton, III, elected position,

St. Mary SWCD. The motion was seconded by Mr. Compton and passed unanimously.

Conservation Stewardship Week

Chairman Fletcher said that they held a Conservation Stewardship ceremony at the State

Capitol on Earth Day, April 22

nd. He said that they were invited to hold the ceremony in

conjunction with the Louisiana Egg Commission Breakfast. He said that all the State Soil and

Water Conservation leadership attended the event and made brief presentations before a group

of legislators and State Capitol, NRCS and LDAF employees. Chairman Fletcher said it was

one of the best Soil and Water Stewardship events he had attended. He said Commissioner

Strain conducted the ceremony then read and signed the proclamation proclaiming April 25 –

May 2, 2010 as Conservation Week. Chairman Fletcher said that in addition to him, Mr. Kevin

Norton, Mr. Earl Garber, Dr. Ernest Girouard and Dr. Paul Coreil all made presentations

regarding the efforts by the NRCS and districts to control soil erosion and to protect and

conserve the nation’s soil and water resources over the past 75 years. He said that without the

work of the conservation partners, huge sections of our nation would likely be a barren

wasteland. Chairman Fletcher said that he recommends that the proclamation be made an

addendum to the April 27, 2010 Commission minutes.

Dr. Girouard said that he thought the ceremony was outstanding and that we should make an

effort to do it again next year and to increase the participation of the SWCDs.

OTHER BUSINESS

Chairman Fletcher asked if there was any other business to come before the Commission.

Mr. Landreneau said that DNR Secretary Mr. Scott Angelle was the 2010 National Winner of the

Epsilon Sigma Phi Friend of Extension Award for his outstanding public service and support of

extension programs, especially the 4-H Youth Wetlands Program. He said that Ms. Ann Keene

was inducted in the National 4-H Hall of Fame. Mr. Landreneau said that Louisiana has only

had six persons inducted in the National Hall of Fame.

Mr. Landreneau said that over 12,000 persons visited Ag Awareness/Ag Magic held last

weekend in conjunction with Earth Day. He said the Ag Magic event was outstanding and in his

opinion a much better event than last year. He said Ag Magic provides opportunities for

attendees, especially young children, to learn about many aspects of agriculture by seeing and

touching and to learn about how and from where their food products come. He said the wetland

exhibit was excellent. Dr. Girouard said that he knew of eight SWCDs that attended Ag Magic

and they were impressed with the exhibits.

Mr. Landreneau said the AgCenter continues to struggle with budget cuts and they are looking

at the possibility of combining programs and to implementing other cost reduction measures.

Mr. Landreneau said that Dr. Paul Coreil wanted to thank Mr. Spicer and the Commission for

the invitation to be a part of the 75

th anniversary celebration of NRCS and the 72nd anniversary

of the Soil and Water Conservation Districts at the capitol on April 22, 2010.

NEXT MEETING

Chairman Fletcher said the next State Commission Meeting is scheduled for 1:15 PM Tuesday,

May 26, 2010 in the Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium, 5825 Florida Boulevard, Baton Rouge,

Louisiana.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Chairman Fletcher asked if there was any other business or comments.

Mr. Sherrill Sagrera, Vermilion SWCD supervisor said that he had attended some meetings of

the Southwest Coastal Study Group and with the Corps of Engineers and other groups. Mr.

Sagrera said these groups were not focusing on the damage done to rice production or the

value of the lost rice production to the agriculture economy. He said they were not including the

impact of the damage salt water intrusion has on the rice production in that area of the state

when making decisions. He said they were not looking at agriculture as an economic factor and

asked if the State Commission or Commissioner Strain could stress the fact that rice is an

important economic factor in agriculture. Mr. Sagrera said that when they spoke to the Lt.

Colonel of the Army Corps of Engineers, he said “If you can’t grow rice in Vermilion Parish, you

can grow it elsewhere”. Mr. Sagrera said there are people making new legislation regarding

land use who do not understand how land is used and that is why he is asking the Commission

for assistance. Mr. Sagrera said farmers do not want to see agriculture land replaced with

commercial and urban development.

Mr. Spicer asked Mr. Sagrera to provide him with detailed specifics and he would speak to the

groups and Commissioner Strain. Mr. Spicer said the Commission would put the impact of

agriculture in SW Louisiana on the Commission’s May agenda providing the Commission is

provided specific issues and the individual or groups that need to be contacted regarding the

problem or issues.

Chairman Fletcher asked if there were any other comments and there were none.

ADJOURNMENT

Chairman Fletcher said if there was no other business that he will accept a motion to adjourn.

Motion:
Mr. Guillory made a motion to adjourn at 2:40 P.M. The motion was seconded by Dr.

Girouard and passed unanimously.

/s/ Randell Fletcher
______

Randell Fletcher, Chairman

State Soil and Water Conservation Commission

OFFICE OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION-March 23,2010

OFFICE OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION

STATE SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION COMMISSION

MARCH 23, 2010

11:00 AM

VETERANS’ MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM

5825 FLORIDA BOULEVARD

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA

PROCEEDINGS/MINUTES

CALL TO ORDER

The regular monthly Commission meeting was called to order by Chairman Fletcher at 11:00

A.M.

ROLL CALL

The roll was called by Joey Breaux.

Members present: Chairman Randell Fletcher, Ernest Girouard, Ed Yerger, John Compton,

Garland Colvin and George Guillory

Members absent: None

A quorum was present.

Others Present: Sarah Haymaker, USDA-NRCS Assistant State Conservationist/Operations;

Dwight Landreneau, LSU Ag Center; Brad Spicer, LDAF/SSWCC Executive Director; and Joey

Breaux, LDAF-OSWC.

Chairman Fletcher asked Mr. Compton to give the invocation

.
APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

Chairman Fletcher called for a motion to approve the minutes of the February 23, 2010 State

Commission meeting.

Motion:
Mr. Guillory made a motion to approve the minutes from the February 23, 2010

Commission meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Yerger and passed unanimously.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Chairman Fletcher said they would next take up Unfinished Business and requested Mr. Spicer

to report on the items listed on the agenda.

SWCD Farm Bill Implementation Report

Mr. Spicer said that it appears that up to four districts may not be able to earn their 2009 Farm

Bill funds. He said that funds will be swept in early April and redistributed to the districts that

have heavier Farm Bill workloads and that have a large Farm Bill earnings credit. He said the

total amount to be reallocated will likely be less than four thousand dollars.

Mr. Spicer said new Farm Bill Cooperative Agreement data has been entered into the system.

He said all districts were informed of their new Farm Bill 2010 funding levels and that the new

cooperative agreement will become effective April 1, 2010 and end March 31, 2011.

NEW BUSINESS

Chairman Fletcher said they will now take up New Business and asked Ms. Haymaker to give

the NRCS Report.

NRCS State Conservationist Report

Chairman Fletcher asked for the NRCS report, and asked Ms. Haymaker to introduce herself to

the Commission. Ms. Haymaker said she is the Assistant State Conservationist for Programs,

(ASCP) the position previously held by Ron Marcantel. She said that although she is originally

from Oklahoma, her entire NRCS career has been in Louisiana, beginning in 2002 as an

agronomist in Rayville, a District Conservationist (DC) in Coushatta, then as a DC in

Monroe/Columbia and finally to her current position as ASCP. The Commission gave very

favorable comments to Ms. Haymaker, some having known her as a hard working and efficient

DC, and looked forward to working with her in her position as ASCP. Ms. Haymaker said that

Mr. Norton had been called away to a meeting in Washington DC and sent her on his behalf.

She began by handing out printed copies of her report, saying that a very successful Master

Farmer Meeting had been held in East Carroll Parish on February 26, 2010 where information

on the Master Farmer Program was presented, and irrigation water management, water well

laws and regulations, grade stabilization structures and Farm Bill programs were discussed. Ms

Haymaker then discussed the Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative projects (CCPI);

Longleaf Pine ecotype creation and enhancement in the Florida Parishes, statewide Master

Farmer Program participant support, and South Central Louisiana and Turkey Creek watershed

resource conservation. She said that these CCPI project areas are funded through a special

pool of EQIP funds that are set aside for landowners in these priority areas, and that the

participants in these programs in the project areas compete only amongst themselves and their

cost share rates are higher in these areas. Ms. Haymaker said that Mr. Britt Paul, Assistant

State Conservationist for Water Resources, will be in Baton Rouge this afternoon to attend the

Groundwater Advisory Task Force meeting and he will be on the program at Congressman

Cassidy’s Rural Development Conference being held in Denham Springs next Tuesday.

Ms. Haymaker said this concluded her report.

Correspondence

Chairman Fletcher asked Mr. Spicer to continue with the agenda items under Correspondence.

Mr. Spicer said the first item is a copy of a letter from Chairman Fletcher to Mrs. Jane Netterville

thanking her for her efforts to get the Tensas Parish Police Jury to pass a resolution requesting

that the Louisiana Legislature not make further cuts to the State’s Soil and Water Conservation

Program. He said that Ms. Netterville was also instrumental in getting the Louisiana Police Jury

Association to approve a resolution requesting the legislature not cut funding for the

Conservation Program and when state revenues improved that the conservation funds be

increased. Mr. Spicer said that he has spoken to both Jane and Richard Netterville regarding

their effort to gain legislative support for district funding.

Mr. Guillory said that the Acadia Police Jury also passed a resolution supporting state funding

for Soil and Water Conservation Districts. Dr. Girouard said the Vermilion Police Jury also

passed a similar resolution. Chairman Fletcher said that he would send a letter to both the

Acadia and Vermilion Police Juries thanking them for their support.

Mr. Spicer said the next items are copies of letters NACD has sent to the Chair and Ranking

Members of the U. S. Senate and the U. S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on

Agriculture, Rural Development and FDA Committee on Appropriations requesting that they

increase funding for Conservation Technical Assistance (TA). He said NACD is requesting

$960.678 million which is $36.969 million above the President’s request. Mr. Spicer said that he

has also emailed both Congressmen Cassidy and Senator Landrieu’s legislative staff requesting

that they support an additional $200 million in TA funds. He said this is the amount we believe

will be needed for Louisiana and other states to offset both state funding cuts and lack of

increased federal funding needed to support servicing our SWCD/NRCCS customers.

Mr. Spicer said the next item is an article from the Natchez Democrat covering comments

Commissioner Strain made as a guest speaker at the Ferriday Rotary Club meeting last week.

He said the Commissioner discussed the down turn in forestry and agriculture in Louisiana and

throughout the country. Mr. Spicer said that Commissioner Strain, however, did state that he is

very optimistic about the future of Louisiana’s agriculture and forestry industries.

Mr. Spicer said the next item is the NASDA E-News. He said there are a number of articles in

the E-News that would be of interest to the Commission members. Mr. Spicer said that time will

not permit a discussion on all of the topics and that he would only call attention to the discussion

on Atrazine, efforts by U. S. Congress to reform Toxic Chemical Law and USDA Secretary’s

announcement on the USDA’s Office of Environmental Markets.

Mr. Spicer said next is a request for the Commission to approve out of state travel for two

Rapides SWCD LANG employees. Chairman Fletcher said the travel is related to the

employees’ work and requested a motion to approve the travel request.

Motion:
Mr. Colvin made a motion to approve the out of state travel for two Rapides SWCD

LANG employees as per the State’s Travel Policies. The motion was seconded by Mr.

Compton and passed unanimously.

Chairman Fletcher said if there were no questions they would take up the next agenda item.

Supervisor Resignations/Appointments and Reappointments

Chairman Fletcher asked Mr. Spicer to report on the resignations and appointments.

Mr. Spicer said the Rapides SWCD board of supervisors is requesting the State Commission to

waive the two-thirds meeting attendance requirement for Mr. Larry Gillespie, whose appointed

position term expires June 26, 2010. He said that Mr. Gillespie has attended only forty-nine

percent of the board meetings during this term. He said Mr. Gillespie’s low attendance was due

to a timing conflict with his employment, but this problem has been resolved and he is now

attending the monthly board meetings on a regular basis. Mr. Spicer said that the Rapides

board states that Mr. Gillespie is a valuable board member and has not missed any meetings

since he changed his work schedule and that he will continue to improve his board meeting

attendance in the future.

Motion:
Mr. Colvin made a motion to waive the attendance requirement for Mr. Larry Gillespie,

appointed position, Rapides SWCD. The motion was seconded by Mr. Guillory and passed

unanimously.

Mr. Spicer reported on the resignation of the following supervisor: Mr. Theron Casselman,

appointed position, St. Mary SWCD. He said Mr. Casselman has served on the St. Mary Board

for over 36 years and was a very dedicated board member and a strong supporter of LACD.

Motion:
Mr. Colvin made a motion to accept the resignation of supervisor Mr. Theron

Casselman, appointed position, St. Mary SWCD. The motion was seconded by Mr. Guillory and

passed unanimously.

Mr. Spicer said the respective conservation districts are requesting the State Commission to

appoint the following supervisors to a new term in office:

Acadia SWCD, Mr. Earl Garber reappointed to fill his expired appointed position. Term will begin

June 11, 2010 and will expire on June 11, 2013.

Boeuf River SWCD, Mr. Fred Huenefeld reappointed to fill his expired appointed position. Term

will begin May 1, 2010 and will expire on May 1, 2013.

Bodcau SWCD, Mr. Jesse C. Deen reappointed to fill his expired appointed position. Term will

begin March 22, 2010 and will expire on March 22, 2013.

Dugdemona SWCD, Mr. Don Price reappointed to fill his expired appointed position. Term will

begin March 25, 2010 and will expire on March 25, 2013.

Grant SWCD, Mrs. Ellen “Lucille” Thompson reappointed to fill her expired appointed position.

Term will begin March 28, 2010 and will expire on March 28, 2013.

LaSalle SWCD, Mr. Mike Crooks reappointed to fill his expired appointed position. Term will

begin March 28, 2010 and will expire on March 28, 2013.

Lower Delta SWCD, Mr. Eugene Woods reappointed to fill his expired appointed position. Term

will begin May 4, 2010 and will expire on May 4, 2013.

Motion:
Mr. Yerger made a motion to approve the appointments of supervisors Mr. Earl

Garber, appointed position, Acadia SWCD; Mr. Fred Huenefeld, appointed position, Boeuf River

SWCD; Mr. Jesse C. Deen, appointed position, Bodcau SWCD; Mr. Don Price, appointed

position, Dugdemona SWCD; Mrs. Ellen “Lucille” Thompson, appointed position, Grant SWCD;

Mr. Mike Crooks, appointed position, LaSalle SWCD and Mr. Eugene Woods, appointed

position, Lower Delta SWCD. The motion was seconded by Mr. Guillory and passed

unanimously.

LDAF Outreach Sessions

Chairman Fletcher asked Mr. Spicer to address this item. Mr. Spicer said that the LDAF

completed the outreach tour of the state with the ninth session being held on Ag Day last Friday

in Baton Rouge. Mr. Spicer said that at several of the meetings they had very good interaction

with attendees. He said Commissioner Strain did an outstanding job of leading the sessions.

He said the Commissioner was well pleased with the effort to give citizens an opportunity to

learn about the mission and responsibilities of the various offices with in the Department and to

interact with Department staff. Mr. Breaux said that he had a number of opportunities to discuss

in detail Soil and Water Conservation programs and opportunities for individuals to participate in

the Office’s conservation outreach and other programs.

District Supervisor Election June 12, 2010

Chairman Fletcher said the next item on the agenda is the 2010 district supervisor’s election

and asked Mr. Spicer to give the election report. Mr. Spicer said that he is requesting the

nomination period be set for April 1, 2010 through April 30, 2010 and the election on June 12,

2010.

Chairman Fletcher said a motion is needed to approve the supervisors’ election materials and to

send them out as presented to the Commission to the districts.

Motion:
Dr. Girouard made a motion to approve the District Supervisors election materials and

forward them to the districts. The motion was seconded by Mr. Guillory and passed

unanimously.

Chairman Fletcher said there are two supervisors that did not meet the district board meeting

attendance requirement. He said that he recommends that these boards be given the

opportunity to request an attendance waiver.

Motion:
Dr. Girouard made a motion to send a letter to the two districts giving them the

opportunity to request an attendance waiver. The motion was seconded by Mr. Guillory and

passed unanimously.

Personal Financial Disclosure – Ethics Commission

Chairman Fletcher said that each Commission member is being provided a set of Personal

Financial Disclosure forms. Mr. Spicer said it is likely that Commission members would be

required to complete Tier 2.1 forms. He said that OSWC sent Tier 2.1 forms to all of the

districts with instructions that each board member is required to determine if they are obligated

to complete the Disclosure forms. Mr. Spicer said that he has been filing a Personal Financial

Disclosure document for years and it takes less than five minutes to complete. He said if you

are not doing private business or own part of a company that is doing business with the state

you only have to complete a very brief two page questionnaire.

Attorney General Memorandum – Sale of State Surface Water

Mr. Spicer said that he has provided for the members’ review a joint letter and memorandum

from the Louisiana Attorney General and the Department of Natural Resources providing legal

advice regarding the management and sale of surface water owned or controlled by the State of

Louisiana. He said under Louisiana law, possibly except for riparian landowners, a person does

not have the authority to remove State owned surface water without obtaining prior written

approval from the State and without paying fair value. He said that the memorandum also

states that until such time as the State Legislature specifically provides for the allocation of any

funds from the sale of state waters, funds received for the sale of state waters will be held in

escrow and not released or expended without written approval and consent of the office of the

Attorney General and Louisiana Department of Natural Resources.

2010 Regular Session of the Legislature

Chairman Fletcher asked Mr. Spicer to address this item. Mr. Spicer said, for the Commission

members information, the 2010 Regular Legislative Session will convene at noon on Monday,

March 29, 2010 and will end no later than 6:00 PM on Monday, June 21, 2010. He said all prefiled

bills had to be filed by March 19

th. He said he is currently in the process of going through

the pre-filed bills in an effort to identify bills that may impact Louisiana Department of Agriculture

and Forestry as well as those that may affect the management of the state’s natural resources

or the state’s Soil and Water Conservation Program.

Mr. Spicer said that he has provided copies of HCR 1 by Representative Fannin, HB 926 by

Representative Little and HB 733 by Representative Anders.

He said HCR 1 provides for the Louisiana Ground Water Resources Commission to prepare a

report on the state’s groundwater and surface water resources. He said the report will provide

recommendations for the management and protection of the state’s water resources and to be

submitted to the State Legislature by March 1, 2011. Mr. Spicer said this is, except for the

makeup of the entities compiling the report, very similar to the proposal put forth by

Representative Anders on behalf of LACD during the last legislative session. He said last year

they were not able to gain the support of key individuals and agencies needed to get it enacted.

Mr. Spicer said it appears that it now has the support needed of the key players to move it

through the legislative process.

Mr. Spicer said that HB 926 by Representative Sam Little provides that riparian landowners may

authorize the use of the surface water adjacent to his riparian land for agricultural purposes by

non-riparian owners without restriction as to the form of any agreement and that the state can

not charge any fee for such use. Mr. Spicer said this legislation, if enacted, would partly clarify

the current situation regarding riparian landowners use rights in regards to the current Attorney

General‘s Memorandum on use of state surface waters.

Mr. Spicer said that HB 733 by Representative Anders authorizes Louisiana Department of

Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) to participate in programs relative to carbon sequestration and

greenhouse gas emission reduction programs and that the Office of Soil and Water

Conservation shall function as the state agency for such participation. Mr. Spicer said that he

would continue to keep the Commission informed of all legislation that would likely be of interest

to them. He said that the Appropriations Bill, HB 1, will likely be discussed in great detail

throughout the early weeks of the 2011 session.

Mr. Spicer said that the Division of Administration announced last Friday that LDAF would take

another $2.6 million cut between now and the end of the fiscal year. He said this would be

disastrous to the entire department and that would have a direct and immediate impact. Mr.

Spicer said should the cut be made, the Commissioner would look at all possible alternatives to

make sure that his decisions have the least adverse impacts on the department and the

services it provides.

Mr. Landreneau said that LSU AgCenter is facing a similar cut of approximately five percent.

He said that like LDAF, about the only place they could cut funds would be in personnel

salaries. He said this would create some very serious staff problems in light of 58 employees

taking advantage of the buy-out at the beginning of the current fiscal year.

OTHER BUSINESS

Chairman Fletcher asked if there was any other business to come before the Commission.

Mr. Breaux briefed the Commission on the new supervisors’ training policy and Chairman

Fletcher’s letter to the district announcing the change in scheduling supervisors’ training

sessions. He said this should make it easier for supervisors to comply with the Commission’s

training requirements.

Mr. Spicer said that the OSWC is in the process of submitting an RFP to the NRCS to enter into

a partnership agreement with the NRCS and the local SWCD in the Bayou Lafourche

Watershed in the Ouachita River Basin. He said that the agreement would provide for the local

district and LDAF/OSWC to promote agriculture producers participation in the Mississippi River

Basin Health Watershed Initiative.

NEXT MEETING

Chairman Fletcher said the next State Commission Meeting is scheduled for 1:15 PM Tuesday,

April 27, 2010 in the Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium, 5825 Florida Boulevard, Baton Rouge,

Louisiana.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Chairman Fletcher asked if there was any other business or comments. None replied.

ADJOURNMENT

Chairman Fletcher said if there was no other business that he will accept a motion to adjourn.

Motion:
Mr. Guillory made a motion to adjourn at 12:09 P.M. The motion was seconded by Mr.

Yerger and passed unanimously.

/s/ Randell Fletcher
______

Randell Fletcher, Chairman

State Soil and Water Conservation Commission

Farewell Jay Crawford

The Rayville Field Office will be losing a valuable asset as NRCS Soil Agronomist, Jay Crawford, bids farewell to the agency in pursuit of employment outside of NRCS. Thank you Jay for your dedication and hard work! God Bless you as you begin your new journey.

OFFICE OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION-Feb 23, 2010

OFFICE OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION

STATE SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION COMMISSION

FEBRUARY 23, 2010

1:15 PM

VETERANS’ MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM

Baton Rouge,

PROCEEDINGS/MINUTES

CALL TO ORDER

The regular monthly Commission meeting was called to order by Chairman Fletcher at 1:15 P.M.

ROLL CALL

The roll was called by Joey Breaux.

Members present: Chairman Randell Fletcher, , Ed Yerger, John Compton, and George Guillory

Members absent: Colvin

A quorum was present.

Others Present: Kevin Norton, USDA-NRCS State Conservationist; Dwight Landreneau, LSU Ag Center; Brad Spicer, LDAF/SSWCC Executive Director; Joey Breaux, LDAF-OSWC; Laura Edwards, LDAF-OSWC; and Sherrill Sagrera, Vermilion SWCD.

Chairman Fletcher asked Mr. Compton to give the invocation.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

Chairman Fletcher called for a motion to approve the minutes of the January 13, 2010 State Commission meeting.

Motion: Mr. Guillory made a motion to approve the minutes from the January 13, 2010 Commission meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Compton and passed unanimously.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Chairman Fletcher said they would next take up Unfinished Business and requested Mr. Spicer to report on the items listed on the agenda.

SWCD Farm Bill Implementation Report

Mr. Spicer said that several districts are behind schedule on earning their Farm Bill funds. He said that as directed by the Commission, he sent notices to those districts that their funds would be swept in early March and redistributed to the districts that have heavier workloads and are out of Farm Bill funds.

Mr. Spicer said they are still in the process of entering the new Farm Bill Cooperative Agreement data into the system. He said that the formula for distributing the Farm Bill funds has been adjusted to better reflect the actual workload associated with managing Farm Bill programs and implementing the associated conservation measures. He said Mr. Norton will provide details about the new formulas that the NRCS is using to allocate the funds to the SWCDs.

LACD and NACD Annual Meetings

Chairman Fletcher asked Dr. Girouard to report on this item. Dr. Girouard said the LACD Legislative Sessions were extremely insightful. He said Mr. Jerry Guillot, Chief of Staff, Louisiana Senate did a fine job of explaining the “sausage making” of how a bill becomes law, the budget process and the Capital Outlay Procedures and Constitutional limits. Dr. Girouard said the handouts that Mr. Guillot had were very clear, concise and helpful. He said he was impressed by how well Mr. Guillot knew the SWCDs strong points and was very well informed on the important issues concerning the conservation districts. He said actually, both legislative sessions were very good; in both sessions the speakers were well prepared and the questions were answered well. He said a number of legislators understand how districts operate because they have worked with districts and some of them own farmland.

Dr. Girouard said the NACD meeting in , was well attended, but not as well as when it was held in . He said the reason may have been because is expensive. He said the meeting was very fast paced and they really kept busy. Dr. Girouard said that Mr. really represented very well. He said that Mr. Garber is very knowledgeable and was well prepared and that he even got some applause on certain subjects he was speaking on.

Dr. Girouard said most actions at the meeting were well received, but one was controversial, the election procedures of executive officers. He said a task force was created to make recommendations for change, but their recommendations were not well received, so another task force was established to again review the election procedures. He said it was universally agreed that if an officer was in a position of succession to a higher position but he wanted to also run for another office, he should resign his current position in order to run for the other office; no one should be able to run for another position if they are currently holding an elected position.

Mr. Norton said that ’s leadership is recognized and respected nationwide for their knowledge and they all do an excellent job of representing . He said he appreciates the close working relationship the districts have with NRCS and the cooperative partnerships among other agencies in . He said this close working relationship is not the case in some other states and he really appreciates the willingness for others to work together for the common good of our conservation program and the cliental we serve. Mr. Norton said he will continue to support the districts and the OSWC as much as he can in every way.

Dr. Girouard said Mr. Jeff Eisenberg is the new Chief Executive Officer of NACD and that

the NACD 2011 Annual meeting will be held in . He said he also wanted to thank Mr. John Compton for all of his hard work and his many years of service with NACD. Chairman Fletcher said, and other Commission members agreed, the LACD Annual Meeting was one of the best meetings content wise that they have attended.

Dr. Girouard said there will be an NACD conference call on April 3, 2010 and if anyone had items they wished to be discussed, please contact him, Mr. Bruce Frazier or Mr. John Compton with the information. He said that the South Central Region Directors will also have a conference call on the same day, April 3^rd.

Dr. Girouard said he also wanted to mention that the Vermilion SWCD won a $10,000 National Conservation Award. He said the district, in partnership with the school board, LSU AgCenter, 4-H’ers in eleven parishes, NRCS and others, won the award for their on-the-ground community project to teach the importance of implementing healthy conservation measures.

Revised PPM #13 for Supervisors Training

Chairman Fletcher asked Mr. Breaux to present the revised PPM #13, Supervisors Training.

Mr. Breaux said that the Soil & Water Conservation Commission PPM #13 has been revised to reflect the Commission’s decision made at the last meeting to conduct the required district supervisor’s trainings by Area; to conduct one training session in each of the 5 areas per year, with priority given to conducting the trainings in conjunction with the LACD Area Meetings. Mr. Breaux said that in the event that the LACD Area Vice President elects not to have the training session in conjunction with the LACD Area Meeting, he would work with the Commission’s members of that area, and the individual SWCDs, to determine the most favorable time and location for the training session.

Motion: Mr. Guillory made a motion to approve the amended State Commission’s PPM #13, Supervisors Training to hold supervisors training sessions in conjunction with the five annual LACD Area Meetings or if warranted, to schedule supervisors training sessions on another date. The motion was seconded by Mr. Compton and passed unanimously.

NEW BUSINESS

Chairman Fletcher said they will now take up New Business and asked Mr. Norton to give the NRCS Report.

Conservationist Report

Mr. Norton said that Mr. Brad Sticker was appointed as State Conservation Engineer, to fill the vacancy when Mr. Ed Giering retired and that Ms. Sarah Haymaker was appointed Assistant State Conservationist of Operations, filling the vacancy made when Mr. Ron Marcantel retired. He said that Mr. Steve Carmichael will be retiring on April 2, 2010. Mr. Norton said these employees were going to retire when Mr. Gohmert left, but put their retirement on hold to stay and help him with a smooth transition and to make sure he was firmly grounded before they retired. He said he really appreciated them and all the assistance they provided. He handed out copies of the February Conservation Update and an EQIP Allocation for FY 2010. Mr. Norton that he would now present a PowerPoint presentation detailing the changes in the formula used to distribute Farm Bill technical assistance funds. Mr. Norton said that the changes in the formula better reflect the overall workload associated with planning and implementing Farm Bill measures and the work associated with processing cliental paper work.

Mr. Norton said this concluded his report.

Correspondence

Chairman Fletcher asked Mr. Spicer to continue with the agenda items under Correspondence.

Mr. Spicer said that the first item under correspondence is a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement between the DeSoto Parish Police Jury and the DeSoto SWCD that provides funding to the district to support district technician salary. Mr. Spicer said that the agreement is actually an extension of the current agreement the DeSoto SWCD has with the DeSoto Police Jury. Chairman Fletcher called for a motion to approve the Cooperative Endeavor Agreement.

Motion: Mr. Compton made a motion to approve the DeSoto SWCD Cooperative Endeavor Agreement with the DeSoto Parish Police Jury. The motion was seconded by Mr. Yerger and passed unanimously.

Mr. Spicer said the next item is a response letter from the State Commission to Mr. George Dauzat, Chairman of the Calcasieu SWCD regarding funding sources for the State Soil and Water Conservation Program. He said the letter clarifies the misinformation on state funding the Calcasieu SWCD was provided by one of their State Representatives. Mr. Spicer said apparently the legislator misinterpreted the district’s request regarding funding of Soil and Water Conservation.

Mr. Spicer said the next item is a copy of a resolution offered by Police Jury member Mrs. Jane Netterville and adopted by the Tensas Parish Police Jury regarding proposed budget cuts to the State Soil and Water Conservation Program. He said the resolution recognizes the importance of the work carried out by the 44 SWCDs in partnership with USDA/NRCS and that additional cuts to the state conservation program would jeopardize federal revenues the district assists in bringing into the state, resulting in jobs being lost and the loss of protection to the states soil and water resources. He said the resolution requests that no additional cuts be made to the State Soil and Water Conservation Program and as soon as feasible that funding be restored to the FY 2008 level. Mr. Spicer said that he has discussed the resolution with Mr. Richard Netterville, member of the Tensas Concordia SWCD and asked him to thank Mrs. Netterville and the Tensas Police Jury for their support of the State Soil and Water Conservation Program.

Chairman Fletcher said that the Commission will send a letter to the Tensas Policy Jury thanking them for their support.

Mr. Spicer said the next item is a listing of the dates and locations of the nine LDAF Outreach Sessions being held in March. He said that he would like to thank the NRCS and especially Ms. Holly Martien for her assistance in the planning and construction of the Office of Soil and Water Conservation’s exhibit for the Outreach Sessions. Mr. Spicer said he is encouraging district supervisors and district and NRCS employees to attend the sessions. He said he is also asking districts to inform the general public about the sessions and to also encourage them to attend the sessions.

Mr. Spicer said the next item is a copy of a NASDA eNEWS that has two articles that are important to . He said on the first page is an article covering the introduction of a Senate Resolution asking EPA to stop their efforts to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. Mr. Spicer said that resolutions do not create new law and therefore does not keep EPA from going forward with efforts to regulate greenhouse gases. He said that each Commission member has a copy of the resolution in their folders. Mr. Spicer said the other article discusses the concerns that 53 commodity groups and producers have with activist groups urging EPA to re-evaluate recently completed re-registration of the herbicide Atrazine. He said also included in correspondence is an article from the Delta Farm Press that outlines Commissioner Strain’s position on a number of issues including water management, cap and trade proposals being considered by Congress and that Louisiana is on the brink of declaring the boll weevil eradicated.

Mr. Spicer asked if there were any questions and if not, that concluded correspondence.

Supervisor Resignations/Appointments and Reappointments

Chairman Fletcher asked Mr. Spicer to report on the resignations and appointments. Mr. Spicer reported on the resignation of the following supervisors: Mr. Rodger Coody, elected position, East Carroll SWCD; and Mr. Matt Miller, elected position, St. Landry SWCD.

Motion: Mr. Yerger made a motion to accept the resignation of supervisors Mr. Rodger Coody, elected position, East Carroll SWCD and Mr. Matt Miller, elected position, St. Landry SWCD. The motion was seconded by Mr. Compton and passed unanimously.

Mr. Spicer said the respective conservation districts are requesting the State Commission to appoint the following supervisors to a new term in office:

Catahoula SWCD, Mr. Aaron Wade reappointed to fill his expired appointed position. Term will begin March 28, 2010 and will expire on March 28, 2013.

Desoto SWCD, Mr. Jerry Holmes reappointed to fill his expired appointed position. Term will begin March 23, 2010 and will expire on March 23, 2013.

Dorcheat SWCD, Ms. Harol T. Thompson reappointed to fill her expired appointed position. Term will begin March 22, 2010 and will expire on March 22, 2013.

Rapides SWCD, Mr. Jim T. Harper appointed to fill unexpired elected position of Mr. Woodrow Young. Term will begin February 23, 2010 and will expire on June 30, 2011.

Sabine SWCD, Mr. John Alan Williams reappointed to fill his expired appointed position. Term will begin March 23, 2010 and will expire on March 23, 2013.

St. Landry SWCD, Mr. Kirt Bollich to fill vacant elected position of Mr. Matt Miller. Term will begin February 23, 2010 and will expire on June 30, 2011.

West Carroll SWCD, Mr. Alton Welch, Jr. reappointed to fill his expired appointed position. Term will begin February 24, 2010 and will expire on February 24, 2013.

Motion: Dr. Girouard made a motion to approve the appointments of supervisors Mr. Aaron Wade, appointed position, Catahoula SWCD; Mr. Jerry Holmes, appointed position, Desoto SWCD; Ms. Harol Thompson, appointed position, Dorcheat SWCD; Mr. Jim T. Harper, elected position, Rapides SWCD; Mr. John Alan Williams, appointed position, Sabine SWCD; Mr. Kirt Bollich, elected position, St. Landry SWCD and Mr. Alton Welch, Jr., appointed position, West Carroll SWCD. The motion was seconded by Mr. Guillory and passed unanimously.

2010 Regular Session of the Legislature

Chairman Fletcher asked Mr. Spicer to address this item. Mr. Spicer said, for the Commission members information, the 2010 Regular Legislative Session will convene at noon on Monday, March 29, 2010 and will end no later than 6:00 PM on Monday, June 21, 2010. He said all bills are to be filed by March 29^th.

Other Business

Chairman Fletcher asked if there was any other business to come before the Commission.

Mr. Dwight Landreneau said although higher education was not going to suffer additional cuts, in reality they were cut over $60 million at the mid-year budget cut, so they will begin the year with less funding and since all unfunded mandates will be taken from the funding, this will be another $5 million cut. He said they have lost almost 400 employees statewide, with 68 retired or resigned from service, but there have been no terminations. He said programs will have to be eliminated or downsized and they have identified those programs and they are ready to make tough decisions if need be to deal with the budget cuts.

Dr. Girouard thanked everyone for the Master Farmer Awards Program. He said Mr. Norton and staff, Mr. Spicer and staff, and the Ag Center all helped with the Master Program Awards and each year it gets better. He said this year there was not only a husband and wife team winner, but a father/son/son-in-law team winner.

Next meeting

Chairman Fletcher said the next State Commission Meeting is scheduled for 1:15 PM Tuesday, March 23, 2010 in the Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium,

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Chairman Fletcher asked if there was any other business or comments. None replied.

Mr. Spicer said they had just received word that Mr. Charlie Dupuy’s grandson, Brad Smith had died from a heart attack and the funeral services will be Thursday, February 25, 2010, at the in .

ADJOURNMENT

Chairman Fletcher said if there was no other business that he will accept a motion to adjourn.

Motion: Mr. Guillory made a motion to adjourn at 2:24 P.M. The motion was seconded by Mr. Yerger and passed unanimously.

/s/ Randell Fletcher______

Randell Fletcher, Chairman

State Soil and Water Conservation Commission

Assistant State Conservationist for Operations Selection

I am pleased to announce that Sarah Haymaker, District Conservationist, Monroe, Louisiana, has been selected as the Assistant State Conservationist for Operations (ASTC/O). Sarah will report for duty in the state office on February 14, 2010. Until then, Mike Cooley will continue to serve as the Acting ASTC/O.

Kevin D. Norton

State Conservationist

USDA-NRCS

3737 Government Street

Alexandria, LA 71302

Office: (318) 473-7751

FAX: (318) 473-7626

Email: kevin.norton@la.usda.gov

"Helping People Help the Land"

Conservation Stewardship Program unveiled by USDA

– The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)/Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has announced the sign-up period for the new Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), heralding a new and exciting opportunity for farmers, ranchers and other landowners and is now accepting applications on a continuous basis.

“The new CSP program represents a real opportunity for those agriculture producers and other landowners who practice good stewardship on their land,” NRCS State Conservationist, Kevin Norton, said. “Unlike traditional conservation programs that cost-share with producers on improvements, this program will actually give a per acre direct payment to producers based on how well they are managing their natural resources. This represents a real opportunity to help the bottom lines of producers.”

CSP is a voluntary conservation program that encourages producers to address resource concerns in a comprehensive manner by:

· Undertaking additional conservation activities; and

· Improving, maintaining, and managing existing conservation activities

Through CSP, NRCS will provide financial and technical assistance to eligible producers to conserve and enhance soil, water, air, and related natural resources on their land. Eligible lands include cropland, pastureland, rangeland, and nonindustrial

private forest lands on which resource concerns related to agricultural production could be addressed.

CSP offers participants two possible types of payments:

Annual payment for installing and adopting additional activities, and improving, maintaining, and managing existing activities
Supplemental payment for the adoption of resource-conserving crop rotations

Mr. Norton, in consultation with the State Technical Committee and local work groups, will focus program impacts on natural resources that are of specific concerns to and the specific geographic areas within . Applications will be evaluated relative to other applications addressing similar priority resource concerns to facilitate a competitive ranking process among applicants within who face similar resource challenges.

Prospective applicants interested in obtaining a stewardship contract for CSP assistance may file an application at any time. Please contact the Rayville Field Office at: 318-728-2081 ext. 3 to learn more about CSP and the many benefits it offers. For more information on NRCS and other Farm Bill programs, please visit: www.la.nrcs.usda.gov

<END>

FY 2009-2010 mileage and travel expenses-sent on behalf of Brad Spicer

New State Travel Guide FY 2009-2010

MILEAGE:

Reimbursement from official domicile to area of travel based on most

direct route. (Mileage is not reimbursable in domicile.)

Mileage shall be reimbursable on the basis of $0.52 per mile.

Mileage shall be computed by one of the following options:

1. On the basis of odometer readings from point of origin to point of

return.

2. By using a website mileage calculator or a published software package

for calculating mileage. Employee is to print the page indicating mileage

and attach it with their travel expense form.

Normally mileage goes up each July 1, but this new fiscal year it stayed the same……. but meal and lodging allowances changed.

The whole guide and the pocket guide can be found at: http://doa.louisiana.gov/osp

Click on State Travel, then the 2009-10 Travel Guide for the whole booklet or the Pocket Guide.

Boeuf River Soil & Water Conservation District - boeufriversoilwaterconservationd

Featured pictures

Links to other pages

Site members

Guestbook

Favorite sites

Welcome to Boeuf River Soil and Water Conservation District

District Board of Supervisors

Pictures

09-24-10

2009-07-14

Latest updates

Conservation Priority Report 12.20.11

Conservation Priority Report 12.14.2011

Agricultural Producers in Five States Will Help Improve Ecosystem Health of Gulf Coast

Applications Must Be Submitted by January 13, 2012, to be Considered for First Ranking Period of 2012

Agricultural producers interested in the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) should submit applications to their local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service office by January 13, 2012, to be considered during the first ranking period of 2012.

Conservation Priority Report 12.02.2011

Conservation Priority Report 11.17.11

Conservation Priority Report 11.8.11

NRCS' Soils Web Site is a Valuable ResourceCheck it out . . .

Soil Quality: Improving How Your Soil Works

Soil Quality Concepts

Soil Organic Matter

Soil Biology

Soil Quality Assessment

Soil Quality Management

Soil Quality Publications

Conservation Priority Report 11.1.11

Conservation Priority Report 10.26.11

Conservation Priority Report 10.18.11

Conservation Priority Report 10.11.2011

Conservation Priority Report 10.03.11

Conservation Priority Report 9.26.11

Conservation Priority Report 9.19.2011

Conservation Priority Report 9.12.2011

Conservation Priority Report 9.6.2011

Conservation Priority Report 8.26.2011

Conservation Priority Report-8.19.2011

Conservation Priority Report 08.12.2011

Conservation Priority Report 08.05.11

Conservation Priority Report 7.29.11

NRCS has soil maps and data available online for more than 95 percent of the nation’s counties and anticipates having 100 percent in the near future.

The site is updated and maintained online as the single authoritative source of soil survey information.

Conservation Priority Report-7.22.2011

7.22.2011Working Together to Make a DifferenceEarth Team Volunteer ProgramThe Earth Team is the volunteer arm of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Earth Team volunteers work side by side with professionals from NRCS, helping protect and conserve the earth's natural resources.

Conservation Priority Report - Louisiana - 7.1.2011

Continuous sign-up is available for EQIP. For more information about the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service or the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, visit your local USDA Service Center or visit our web site.

Conservation Priority Report - Louisiana - 7.15.2011

7.15.2011

OFFICE OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION June 28, 2011

OFFICE OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION April 26, 2011 MINUTES

OFFICE OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION March 18, 2011 Minutes

Annual Election of District Supervisors

USDA ISSUES WILDLIFE HABITAT INCENTIVE PROGRAM FINAL RULE

Length of Service Awards

Congratulations Rayville Field Office!

2010 All Employee Meeting

EQIP 2011

Mississippi River Basin Initiative (MRBI-CCPI)

OFFICE OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION May 25, 2010

Migratory BirdHabitat Initiative

Migratory Bird Habitat Initiative (MBHI)

Overview

Links

USDA TO HELP FARMERS AND RANCHERS EXPAND HABITAT FOR MIGRATING BIRDS

MBHI Total Estimated Habitat Acres in Applications

All Program Applications for Migratory Bird Habitat Initiative

Migratory Bird Habitat Initiative

WRP Easements and Bird Habitat Joint Venture Regions

Additional Information:

OFFICE OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION-April 27, 2010

OFFICE OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION-March 23,2010

Farewell Jay Crawford

OFFICE OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION-Feb 23, 2010

Assistant State Conservationist for Operations Selection

Conservation Stewardship Program unveiled by USDA

FY 2009-2010 mileage and travel expenses-sent on behalf of Brad Spicer

LACD Employee Directory 2009-2010

Related Pages

NRCS' Soils Web Site is a Valuable Resource

Check it out . . .