In This Issue:

• Director's Message

• Important Dates

• Spotlight: From the Field

• Management & Strategy

• Public Affairs

• Soil & Geographic Information System

• News From Our Partners

• Civil Rights

• Who's Who

• Quick Links

Instilling Connective Relationships throughout PIA Conservation Districts

By J.B. Martin
NRCS PIA Director

It feels like I’ve been spending more time at airports and on airplanes than behind my desk. That’s okay with me. Because my work doesn’t only happen within four walls. My focus is to instill connective relationships throughout the conservation districts in PIA.

Surrounded by the vast Pacific Ocean, we are blessed with an abundance of natural resources, strong cultural heritage, and genuine caring communities. It’s only natural to want to help people help their land. Sometimes, to reach those people requires hours of traveling and face-to-face meetings.

Building those meaningful connections is the foundation of a successful partnership. And building partnerships is vital to our mission as we strive to reach private landowners by providing them with technical and financial assistance to protect our natural resources. When you have connective relationships, you are more attuned to their needs and are more than eager to follow up with suggestions and plans for improvement. This is my vision for us at PIA.

If you have any creative suggestions or ideas on how we can connect with more people, feel free to contact me directly. No ideas are too big or too small. I encourage you to think outside the box and speak up. Oftentimes, we must challenge the status quo to grow as an organization. Let’s work together to make sure we are reaching the people who need us the most.

J.B.

State Office and area staff at recent Quality Assurance Review in American Samoa.

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September 4: Labor Day
September 5 or 7: CD-CART Edamame Release
September 11: PIA OneUSDA Conference (FSA & NRCS)
September 12-13: PIA NRCS Operations Meeting
October 9: Columbus Day
October 17 or 19: CD-CART Fig Release (ROLLOVER)
November 10: Veterans Day
November 21 or 23: CD-CART Garlic Release
November 23: Thanksgiving
December 25: Christmas Day
January 9 or 11, 2024: CD-CART Honey Release

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Using CTA to Bring Pasture Back to Health

By Nicole Fernandez, Mauna Kea SWCD

In the small town of Hāwī, located in Kohala on Hawai’i Island, Barbara Jackson and Charlie Wade have a 10-acre horse and goat pasture that has been grazed and mowed for many years, leading to an overgrazed, unhealthy pasture.

They initially applied for the Fiscal Year 2022 Environmental Quality Incentives Program but decided the program was not right for them. Instead, they applied for Conservation Technical Assistance to help improve their pasture health. 

When I first started working with them in November 2021, the pasture grasses were hard to identify. I suggested to stop mowing and possibly to block off a portion of the grazing area from the horses. 

In January 2022, they moved horses from a portion of the grazing area, which then experienced a mixed growth of Guinea, rat tail, Desmodium, bahia, and foxtail – with Guinea being the dominate. Surprisingly, very little weeds, such as fireweed, vervain, sourgrass, rattlepod, false mallow, partridge pea, and cow pea, were found and proved to be more manageable once Barbara and Charlie established a rotational grazing system.

I also recommended they remove the horses and goats for five to six months to give the remaining grazing area a good rest. Doing so for several months allowed the grasses (Guinea with bahia intermixed) to grow again, and the grazing area started looking healthy and ready for the horses to be introduced back to the pasture. 

In July 2022, Barbara and Charlie introduced a reduced number of horses back into the grazing area, which originally held five to six but now holds three horses on a rotational grazing system that uses electrical cross fencing to facilitate prescribed grazing.

Left to Right: November 2021: Goat grazing area; November 2021: Horse grazing area; January 2022: Horse grazing area.

Left to Right: April 2022: Horse grazing area; July 2022: Goat grazing area; July 2022: Horse grazing area.

Next E-News Submission Due Date

American Samoa FO (COB Thursday Aug 3, for Issue #136 (To be released on Aug 7)

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Appropriations Law Training

Several employees of the PIA M&S team participated in “Principles of Federal Appropriations Law” on-site training in Honolulu last week. Instructor Virginia Kinakin, of Management Concepts, has a passion for teaching this course and has been doing it for many years. Participants learned the main principles and authorities set forth by Congress when they allocate funds to agencies.  Every allocation has language and expectations that go with it, such as ensuring our spending meets the rules for “Purpose, Time, and Amount” criteria.  It was a lot of content over four days, including some exercises that engage participants who put the principles into practice.  Congratulations to all the participants for earning their certificates!

Pictured in the group photo are: (l to r) Jason Hanson, Laura Nelson, Michael Daskam, Joe Doronila, Kori Hisashima, Jeremiah Ulu, Bobbie Jones, Gerald Gregory, Emily Isotalo, Jenna Dunn, Matt Polen, Zachery Freeman, Zephyr Usinger, Alyssa Fujii, Nick Haas, Amy Koch, Dan Bowman, Malia Angay-Konanui, Johnny Mendoza, and Virginia Kinakin, the instructor.

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NRCS Pacific Islands Area Connects with O’ahu Farmers

By Derrick Crawford
Public Affairs Specialist, NRCS PIA

“Your voice matters,” is the message that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) of the Pacific Islands Area (PIA) recently delivered to O’ahu farmers interested in possible funding and technical assistance.

A team from the NRCS PIA Honolulu Field Office and O’ahu Resource Conservation and Development (ORC&D) met with about 15 local producers July 14 in a small, breezy room in Tommy Kakesako Hall on the Ke’ehi Lagoon Memorial Park grounds in Honolulu to hear their views on how NRCS funding opportunities can best serve them.

It also was an opportunity to connect local producers with NRCS PIA Honolulu Field Office team members and partner organizations, including the Forest Service Agency, O’ahu Soil and Water Conservation Districts and EcoLOGIC Hawai’i.

Due to a change of approach in recent years, input from these annual meetings now help drive and shape NRCS PIA programs, said Zachery Freeman, NRCS PIA Honolulu Field Office district conservationist. What hasn’t changed is the resolve for it to be an exchange of information and ideas, a forum for the community to share experiences and a grassroots approach to expand collaborations and partnerships across agencies.

“For the longest time, these NRCS programs have been in place, but we haven’t held these meetings where we get their voice out, and sit down to listen to them, rather than only bringing opportunities and funding to them,” said Freeman. “We now sit down and listen to their needs.

“We provide them a voice for us at NRCS, where traditionally they’ve seen it as, ‘This is a federal program. The funding for programs is there, and they cannot be changed. And they cannot be catered to us.’ 

Attendees like Riz Almagro, a grant manager for Keiki O Ka ‘Āina Family Learning Centers and Farms, welcomed the opportunity to be more than a passive part of the process.

“It’s been helpful, and I was able to connect to other people as well, also provide them with some information about our experiences with the application process,” said Almagro, who has tapped into NRCS programs to implement conservation practices at their Waimanalo farm site, using Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) funds, and has applied for Environmental Quality Incentive Program funding at their Waiawa farm site.

“The CSP allowed us to identify three practices under that five-year contract,” she said. “We just got certified for our first practice, which is mulching, so we got funding for that.  And right now, we’re in the middle of our windbreak practice, and then we’ll be doing our cover crops.”

NRCS PIA recognizes that helping O’ahu-based farmers like Almagro calls for a tailored conservation approach that supports their unique challenges and needs, said Freeman.

“This targeted conservation plan is needed because it provides conservation delivery in a very specific manner to address specific resources that are unique to the island of O’ahu,” said Freeman, “and meeting with the producers on O’ahu annually to identify all those challenges and struggles and what’s working and what’s not is the biggest tool we use to adjust our programs and our funding and our outreach.”

Recommendations and insights gained from these open house sessions impact future NRCS PIA program implementation and assist planners in developing the best solutions to help local producers improve production, reduce costs and conserve natural resources.

“To me success would look like not only more producers signing up for programs,” said Freeman, “but more producers who really need them gaining awareness and knowledge of our programs and more local communities providing food to the people on the island.”

More information about NRCS PIA programs is at https://bit.ly/3QghcSR.

Members of the NRCS PIA Honolulu Field Office and partner organizations, including the Forest Service Agency, O’ahu Soil and Water Conservation Districts and EcoLOGIC Hawai’i, connect with local O’ahu farmers July 14 in Tommy Kakesako Hall on the Ke’ehi Lagoon Memorial Park grounds in Honolulu to hear their views on how NRCS funding opportunities can best serve them.  

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Celebrating Maʻona Community Garden – ‘The Peopleʻs Garden’

By Jennifer Fedenko
Resource Soil Scientist, NRCS PIA

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently designated the Ma’ona Community Garden as a “People’s Garden,” making it one of five in the state, with three on Hawaiʻi, one on Maui, and one on Oʻahu.

In celebration of the honor, State Soil Scientist Amy Koch, along with the Kealakekua Field Office and Kona Water and Conservation District, visited Ma’ona Community Garden, located in the Captain Cook area of Hawaiʻi island, last month to give a soil health talk and answer questions from the community.

Chantal Chung and two of her friends created the garden, saving the land from years of neglect and illegal dumping. Chantal’s social media is overflowing with educational posts about community events at Ma’ona Garden with resourceful tips like how to read a pallet code to determine if the wood is treated with chemicals, which is a concern for those who reuse wood for garden beds or building material.

Readers can also find details about Indian blue worms that create vermiculture casts from recycled cardboard, paper, and compost donated by the community. These tiny workers break down the material into a vermicast fertilizer, which is given away to schools and organizations and made available to farmers and gardeners for a small donation. Chantal is currently working on a closed-loop aquaponics system, using water catchment and an off-grid solar water pump. There are many projects happening within the garden, and there are always plans for more on the horizon! Check out this website to learn how you can help your local community farm or garden in the PIA qualify as a People’s Garden. You can also view a map of all the People's Gardens in the U.S. at https://www.usda.gov/peoples-garden/registration-form.

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Aloha mai kākou

It's a bittersweet feeling to announce that my last day as an HACD partner planner with the Oʻahu Field Office will be on August 4th. I will be transitioning to a Soil Con position in my hometown of Brighton, CO. I wanted to extend a sincere mahalo nui loa to all who have taught me during my time with PIA. “Mōhala i ka wai ka maka o ka pua” is a proverb from the ʻŌlelo Noʻeau that means unfolded by water are the faces of flowers. The conditions between partners in Hawaiʻi and all of the Pacific Islands Area is one that has specially curated a uniquely intimate role between farmers and planners. I am honored to have been a part of such an incredible, passionate, and tenacious group of people who care for our islands. As always, continue to be the water that helps flowers bloom.

A hui hou,

~Mariah Garrison
  HACD Oʻahu Conservation Specialist
  Oʻahu Field Office

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Import Information for Women Veterans

The Center for Women Veterans (CWV) and the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) invite you to join in a Virtual Exchange & Women Veterans Empowerment PACT Act event.  VBA will give an overview of PACT Act and you will learn how to apply for PACT Act-related benefits or submit an intent to file, enroll in VA health care, where to get screened for toxic exposures, and more.

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Registration is required. 

Friday, July 28th at 12:00 P.M. ET REGISTER HERE

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Shout out to the American Samoa FO team for being amazing hosts and colleagues during the Quality Assurance Review last week.  The QAR team completed our duties and enjoyed the field work, it was the first visit to AmSam for most of us.   What a great experience!   Fa’afetai!!      ~ James Eller and the QAR team

A group of PIA employees were gathered last week for Appropriations Law training in Honolulu, which was heavily coordinated by Jeremiah Ulu, Management Analyst in M&S.   Kudos to you Jeremiah, for locating and booking the free training room, coordinating participant travel, handling communication, and ensuring the course went off without a hitch!   Thanks for taking care of everyone and all of the details that go into contracting for important courses like this!   ~Julie Fisher, ADMS

Shout out to everyone at PIA. I will be leaving Hawai’i soon as I have accepted a position as a Soil Conservationist in my hometown. Mahalo to everyone that I’ve worked with during my time here. Will miss you all. ~ Mariah Garrison

Thank you Jocelyn Bamba for serving as Acting DC for the CNMI Saipan FO while I was on leave. Your support and assistance kept things flowing and on track.  Excellent work! Thank you Team CNMI (Martin, Solly and Josephine) for their every hard work and team work keeping recruiting new customers and increasing conservation on the ground!  Awesome work Team, keep up the Great Work!  Thank you Brent Schumacher for all your assistance in training Team CNMI Engineer and continuing to move forward and keep us on track and up to date with all our Engineering Design work requests!  Keep up the great work! ~ Pamela Sablan

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Selections/Reassignment:

Details:

Vacancies / Opportunities to be Filled:

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Photo Contest

Submit photos to nrcs-pia-enews@usda.gov by September 30, 2023.  Contest categories and rules are on the PIA Photo Contest SharePoint page.

Civil Rights Committee (CRC) Inbox

Contact Civil Rights Committee Inbox anonymously with suggestions for improvement or scan the QR code.

DAB Suggestion Box

Send comments anonymously through the DAB suggestion box. Comments will be reviewed every week.

Employee Innovation Portal

Find or share innovation tools, process improvements, or resources nationwide through the NRCS Employee Innovation Portal - Home (sharepoint.com).

Employee Recognition Award

Submit nominations by August 7, 2023 with the Awards Nomination Form to recognize extra effort and achievements of staff and peers.

Earth Team Volunteers

Earth Team volunteers are a valued source of talent and enthusiasm for NRCS. These dedicated volunteers work with conservation professionals to improve soil quality, conserve water, improve air quality, and enhance wildlife habitat. Find information about the Earth Team and resources for enrolling and managing volunteers on the PIA Earth Team SharePoint site.

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Thank you for reading the PIA E-Newsletter.

Communications Committee:

Derrick Crawford     Terri Dux     Karl Mikasa

Email to submit eNews articles: nrcs-pia-enews@usda.gov

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