View allAll Photos Tagged RESOURCES.
Hypanus sabinus Atlantic Stingray
Huspah Creek, SC
May 2016
Photo by Brett Albanese (Georgia DNR – Wildlife Resources)
The Forty-Fourth Session of WIPO's Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) took place in Geneva, Switzerland from September 12 to September 16, 2022 in hybrid form – with delegates and observers attending physically in Geneva, Switzerland, and via remote participation from around the world.
Copyright: WIPO. Photo: Violaine Martin. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The entrance of Forever Grateful Ranch where owner Jim Chew grows pistachios, in Chowchilla, CA, about 150 miles east-southeast of San Francisco, on Nov 19, 2018.
Support from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) included incentive funding toward irrigation water management, soil moisture monitoring, a no-till grass cover crop, nutrient budgeting, and compost applications.
Mr. Chew grew up 20 miles north in Stevenson, CA where his father raised beef-cows. He then attended Modesto Junior College. After receiving an associate degree, he joined the Peace Corps who sent him to Africa. While there Chew developed a 4-H program in Lobatse, Botswana, where he taught and supervised modern swineherd management, and subsistence family farming plots. In the suburbs, about 90 miles northwest of Johannesburg, he operated a feeding program that provided meals and soap for those in need.
He returned to California and Fresno State University to study plant and animal sciences. But, before long he headed to Richmond, CA to be with his future wife, Maryam. While there he graduated with an engineering degree. For the next 15-years, he was an engineer in the San Francisco Bay area. Throughout that time he was a single foster parent to 15 children. Saving money from his civil service employment allowed him to move back to the Merced County area and purchase this home and orchard.
Now disabled with a prosthetic leg, he receives some help from USDA AgrAbility. AgrAbility seeks to enhance the quality of life for farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural workers with disabilities.
Work on the pistachio farm varies through the seasons. This week he is using a soil moisture monitoring station to help determine how much irrigation water his trees need. He also applies compost (at a rate of 10 tons per acre) in the fall to hold on to soil moisture and deliver nutrients to the trees over the winter.
However, first, he and his son Sonny will prepare his tractor for the task of pulling a large blower that is used to remove debris and “mummy nuts” from the berms, a pest control practice. “Mummy nuts” are nuts that fail to come off with the harvest. They harbor pests for next season, so they are removed from the trees, blown to the aisles and shredded. These tasks and just getting around the farm are a challenge for Jim.
Jim’s grandfather, a Texas farmer, started the tradition of farming that Sonny hopes to carry on. For now, he works long hours to learn all he can from his father and his realtor mother, Maryam, who handles the accounting.
Chew’s advice to would-be farmers is to get up in the morning and get going; work for it; expect long hard hours of work; read up on the latest farming technologies and ways the government can help you, and you can help the country.
Mr. Chew says a good day is when harvest trucks leave with loads of his pistachios.
He works closely with his local NRCS soil conservationist Priscilla Baker on his conservation plan that includes the cover crop of brome grasses between the rows of trees.
Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) is the Department’s focal point for the nation’s farmers and ranchers and other stewards of private agricultural lands and non-industrial private forest lands. FPAC agencies implement programs designed to mitigate the significant risks of farming through crop insurance services, conservation programs, and technical assistance, and commodity, lending, and disaster programs.
The agencies and services supporting FPAC are Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and Risk Management Agency (RMA).
Natural Resources Conservation Service has a proud history of supporting America’s farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners for more than 80 years. USDA helps people make investments in their operations and local communities to keep working lands working, boost rural economies, increase the competitiveness of American agriculture, and improve the quality of our air, water, soil, and habitat.
USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.
Landowner and Farmer Darrel Kjerstad, has farmed a variety of crops over the years, and along the way, he has utilized the U.S. Department of Agriculture, USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service, NRCS, in Quinn, SD, on July 20, 2021. He is a product of generations of farmers who were not afraid of innovation, an FFA participant throughout high school, he became interested in range management with native plantings, and involvement in Pheasants Forever habitat restoration. He has used filter strips with conservation cover to help clean the rainwater runoff and stabilize the soil in riparian areas. The USDA NRCS conservation cover practice 327 used in these strips helps to build wildlife habitats for deer, antelope, and pheasants. This resulted in hundreds of pheasants and increasing numbers of deer feeding and living on his 360 acres of land.
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Conservation cover practice is the establishing and maintaining perennial vegetative cover to protect soil and water resources on lands needing permanent protective cover that will not be used for forage production.
Conservation cover reduces soil erosion and sedimentation enhances wildlife habitat and improves water quality.
Conservation cover is applied on all lands needing permanent vegetative cover. It does not apply to plantings for forage production or to critical area plantings.
For more about Conservation Cover, please go to nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb1263478.
USDA Photo Media by Lance Cheung.
Log face on the Pacific Crest Trail. The Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009, Public Law No. 111-011, Section 1405, designated 24,100 acres of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument as wilderness. The Soda Mountain Wilderness encompasses the rich biological and geological diversity in the mountains southeast of Ashland, Oregon. The new wilderness lies on the south side of the Medford District. The heart of the wilderness is the 5,720-foot high Boccard Point where the great basin meets three mountain ranges. The older Klamath Range comes up from the south while the much younger Siskiyou Range extends from the west. Jutting up from the north is the very young Cascade Range.
Additional information about the Soda Mountain Wilderness, and all the other BLM Wilderness areas in Oregon/Washington, is available online at:
Community garden plots are just half of the Huerta del Valle (HdV) 4-Acre organic Community Supported Garden and Farm in the middle of a low-income urban community, where Co-Founder and Executive Director Maria Alonso and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Redlands District Conservationist Tomas Aguilar-Campos work closely as she continues to improve the farm operation in Ontario, California, on Nov. 13, 2018.
USDA NRCS has helped with hoop houses to extend the growing season, low-emission tractor replacement to efficiently move bulk materials and a needed micro-irrigation system for this San Bernardino County location that is in a severe drought condition (drought.gov). Huerta del Valle is also a recipient of a 4-year USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Community Food Projects (CFP) grant and a USDA funded California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP). She and her staff grow nearly 150 crops, including papayas and cactus. CSA customers pick up their produce on site, where they can see where their food grows. To pay, they can use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards. The price of a produce box is based on the customerâs income.
Alonsoâs inspiration came from her desire to provide affordable organic food for her child. This lead to collaborators that included students and staff from Pitzer College's âPitzer in Ontario Programâ and the Claremont Colleges, who implemented a project plan and started a community garden at a public school. Shortly after that, the City of Ontario was granted $1M from the Kaiser Permanente Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Zone initiative. Huerta del Valle was granted $68,000 from that grant for a three-year project to increase the scale of operation. The city of Ontario supported the project above and beyond the grant by providing a vacant piece of land next to a residential park and community center. Alonso says that this spot, nestled near an international airport, two major interstate highways, suburban homes, and warehouses, is a âgreen space to breathe freely.â
She far exceeded Kaiser's expectations by creating 60 10â X 20â plots that are in full use by the nearby residents. Because of the demand, there is a constant waiting list for plots that become available.
As the organization grew, it learned about the NRCS through an advertisement for the high-tunnel season extension cost-sharing program. The ad put them in touch with the former district manager Kim Lary who helped Huerta del Valle become federal grant ready with their Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) and System for Award Management (SAM) registrations and connected the young organization to NRCS as well as the Inland Empire Resource Conservation District (IERCD.) Since then, Alonso has worked closely with them sharing her knowledge with a broader community including local colleges such as the Claremont Colleges and California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona).
Cal Poly Pomona is an example where education institutions help the community. Cal Poly Pomona Plant Science Nursery Manager Monica Salembier has produced plant seedlings (plant trays) for transplant at HdV for many years. Aaron Fox and Eileen Cullen in the Plant Science department have hosted HdV in their classes and brought many groups on tours of the farm to learn about sustainable urban growing practices.
The shaded picnic tables in the center of the garden have been the site of three USDA NRCS workshops for regional farmers, students, and visitors. The site also serves as a showcase for students and other producers who may need help with obtaining low-emission tractors, micro-irrigation, and high tunnel âhoop houses.â
Alonso says, âevery day is a good day, but especially at the monthly community meetings where I learn from my community.â
For more information, please see www.usda.gov and www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/community-supported-agriculture
Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) is the Departmentâs focal point for the nationâs farmers and ranchers and other stewards of private agricultural lands and non-industrial private forest lands. FPAC agencies implement programs designed to mitigate the significant risks of farming through crop insurance services, conservation programs, and technical assistance, and commodity, lending, and disaster programs.
The agencies and service supporting FPAC are Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and Risk Management Agency (RMA).
Natural Resources Conservation Service has a proud history of supporting Americaâs farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners. For more than 80 years, we have helped people make investments in their operations and local communities to keep working lands working, boost rural economies, increase the competitiveness of American agriculture, and improve the quality of our air, water, soil, and habitat.
As the USDAâs primary private lands conservation agency, we generate, manage, and share the data, technology, and standards that enable partners and policymakers to make decisions informed by objective, reliable science.
And through one-on-one, personalized advice, we work voluntarily with producers and communities to find the best solutions to meet their unique conservation and business goals. By doing so, we help ensure the health of our natural resources and the long-term sustainability of American agriculture.
For more information, please see www.usda.gov.
USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.
All views (and comments) are most appreciated. Thank you. If you use this image on your web site, you need to provide a link to this photo.
[This is one of a set of 8 photos} The John Waddey Carter House in Martinsville, Virginia, was built in 1896; the architect was George Franklin Barber, mail-order architect from Knoxville, Tennessee. This was a wedding present for Carter’s second wife, Kizziah Drewery. Locally the house is known as the “Gray Lady.” Carter was a lawyer and politician, one-time mayor of Martinsville.
A somewhat subdued Barber design, this is still a remarkable Queen Anne with architectural features galore. It’s a 2-story frame weatherboard structure with a dominating central gable, under which are found porches on both first and second floors. The roofline is complex with the front gable, steep-pitched cross gables, and a tower with onion dome. The roof is hipped, standing-seam metal-clad. A large dormer window is on the side with narrow double windows. Running bond brick forms the foundation.
The first level front façade has a wrap-around porch that contains the bulge of the tower. It has a frieze of beaded spindlework, turned posts and lace brackets, and a balustrade consisting of thick balusters but with panels at the corners. The porch gable has a board-and-batten decoration and a very basic bargeboard. The second-level porch has more involved ornamentation with a base of fish-scale shingles, a wide, subdued bargeboard, and stylized floral corner medallions. The central gable is decorated with fish-scale shingles and has two small 1/1 windows, the upper portions with a design of diagonal muntins.
The octagonal tower is more a part of the mass of the house rather than a taller, more prominent element. Fish-scale shingles form the base of the tower above the roofline; above this are small sunburst windows; and above the windows is an overhang with prominent brackets. Capping the tower is a small onion-dome with patterned metal shingles. A variety of windows exists throughout—tall but narrow 1/1 paned windows, single-paned, round, half-round, arched, and stained glass (I didn’t spot this). The entrance is simple with large sidelights and a decorative sunburst pattern below them.
Modifications have been made to the original house to accommodate additions of a bathroom and kitchen.
The house was listed November 3, 1988 on the National Register of Historic Places with ID #88002180. The Virginia Department of Historic Resources nomination file includes a very detailed account of the interior arrangement and decorative elements.
www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Cities/Martinsville/120-00...
A nice b&w photo (no date given) at
www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Cities/Martinsville/Carter...
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
Naoko Ishii, Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson, Global Environment Facility, USA speaking during the Session: Restoring Ocean Resources at the Annual Meeting 2017 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 20, 2017
Copyright by World Economic Forum / Sikarin Thanachaiary
Virtual panorama of event room where Agriculture Senior Advisor to the Secretary for Environment and Climate Change Robert Bonnie (white shirt) hosts a live Virtual Office Hours session on Twitter, in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, November 29, 2012. Supporting the event are U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Communications Director of Web Communications Amanda Eamich (left), Deputy Press Secretary Stephanie Chan (right, at computer), Forest Service Media Relations Officer Lawrence Chambers, and Natural Resources Conservation Service Internal/External Communications Team Lead Jody Holzworth (at table). Online questions about U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) record on conservation achievements and efforts to reconnect Americans to the great outdoors were answered during the event. Questions were submitted live and in advance to the @USDA Twitter account using the hashtag #AskUSDA. USDA Photo Illustration by Lance Cheung.
Steve Nash Foundation presents the SHOWDOWN in DOWNTOWN photos by RonSombilonGallery.com
Sponsored by Coast Capital Savings and BC Hydro PowerSmart
Showdown in Downtown is a collaboration of sponsors, local non-profits, sports superstars who educate and empower new energy for community action, the Street Festival brings together private and public resources to show off all we can do together.
About the Steve Nash Foundation
About the Foundation
Formed in 2001, given U.S. charitable status in 2004, and Canadian charitable status in 2007, the Steve Nash Foundation is a private foundation dedicated to assisting underserved children in their health, personal development, education and enjoyment of life. Like its NBA MVP founder, the Foundation is fast becoming a leader in assists . . . to a slightly shorter population.
Through our own initiatives, and through grants to public service and nonprofit entities in British Columbia, the Foundation aims to grow health in kids by funding projects that provide direct services to children affected by poverty, illness, abuse, or neglect, and create opportunity for education, health, and empowerment. We love the opportunity to get involved in the good work being done by child-focused ngo’s in our home province.
The Foundation also seeks to afford thoughtful solutions to community needs through our own projects to address critical health and education needs. The Foundation focuses its resources on underserved populations of children in British Columbia, Arizona, and the country of Paraguay. Equipping a neonatal intensive care ward in Asuncion to provide basic necessities for infants and their families, developing an early childhood education center of excellence to bring best practices to young kids that don’t always enjoy that access in Arizona, and uniting civic outreach, corporate and social service organizations to show kids how to get involved in their communities are examples of the daily work of the Foundation’s small but dedicated staff. Stemming from our first ever Steve Nash Foundation Charity Classic, held in Toronto, Ontario, in 2005, the Foundation is also working closely with the City to establish an all-access, all-kids after-school center there to build hope through hoops for kids.
While our work focuses exclusively on child welfare, we believe that corporations must share responsibility for the well-being of our communities. The Foundation employs and encourages environmentally-friendly office practices, and offers grantees assistance in developing their own recycling and energy conservation programs (check out our Green Leaf here). We also like to highlight the important work of other individuals and organizations, using our website links to increase their exposure, and contribute to their efforts. Further, we are proud to be working with young people that excel in their chosen fields, from whom we welcome energetic leadership and fresh voices.
The Steve Nash Foundation. Growing health in kids.
For more info, visit
SteveNash.org/about-the-foundation/
.
Salvador Prieto uses his tractor to get mulch, while daughter Nadya Prieto enjoys driving a six-wheeled utility vehicle along the family farm roads between rows of Hass avocados and Meyer lemons, with mother Martha Romero, in Somis, CA, on Nov 15, 2018.
Salvador Prieto grew up watching and helping his father grow corn and beans on a small farm in Mexico. The journey from bean fields to 20-acre orchard owner with his wife Martha Romero was not a straight and narrow path to Somis, Calif. In fact, it was music that brought him to the United States. Today the passion is agriculture.
Similarly, Romero didn’t follow a career in agriculture to her beautiful and healthy avocado and lemon orchard. Romero grew up a city girl in the heart of Los Angeles. Now sharing this farm with her husband and two children, she quickly credits her success to the support and assistance from her family to navigate the learning curve.
Constantly seeking improvement on the family’s orchard, Romero discovered the local Farm Bureau and the Ventura County Agricultural Irrigated Land Group (VCAILG) coalition. VCAILG put Romero in touch with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Ventura Resource Conservation District, for technical and financial assistance to implement conservation and management practices.
NRCS California District Conservationist Dawn Afman, Soil Conservationist Elizabeth Keith, and Resource Conservationist Brooks Engelhardt, have all provided technical assistance and invested their time and expertise in helping Prieto and Romero incorporate conservation practices in their orchard. Prieto and Romero were immediately intrigued by NRCS’s efforts to improve soil health.
“At first it was overwhelming, but many other farmers I know are members, so it is comforting to know that I am not alone,” said Romero. “We need to make a profit, obviously, but, for me, I want to do it while protecting mother nature and precious resources like water. I am able to do this with NRCS’s help.”
Prieto and Romero learned a lot from trial and error. Romero admits that she even bought her trees before the land was ready. But learning opportunities, like an early community garden project, gave them critical knowledge and experience.
A big first conservation practice they learned was mulching to save water and reduce weeds. NRCS helped Prieto and Romero with this, through an Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) contract, to apply mulch to their orchard floor to conserve soil moisture and improve soil health in the Fall of 2018.
“Every time we have a question or need assistance, NRCS has been nothing but helpful,” added Romero. “They let us know about other programs out in the community and invited us to their annual Latino Farmer Conference, where my husband and I learned about other helpful resources.”
Recently, Prieto and Romero entered into a new NRCS contract to implement Irrigation Water Management (IWM) to their orchard. The IWM plan includes installing moisture sensors into the ground, which transmit continuous data to cloud-based storage, and accessed through a smart device app on their phones. The information lets them know when, where and how long to irrigate. This knowledge will help them toward their goal of producing 6,000 pounds of produce per acre.
Looking toward the future, Romero expressed that knowledge is key. “Before we plant further, we need to get educated on how to do it best,” concluded Romero. “From the planting of a seed or planting of a tree, we need the entire process to be profitable. It's not just about planting it. It's about preparing the land and using the resources wisely.”
In the meantime, Romero enjoys the weekends because she does not need to be worried about picking up the kids from school or rushing around. She just wants to be out in the orchard, making it better From mulching to pruning or irrigating and weeding. The family’s goal is to make the farm “better tomorrow than it was today.”
Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) is the Department’s focal point for the nation’s farmers and ranchers and other stewards of private agricultural lands and non-industrial private forest lands. FPAC agencies implement programs designed to mitigate the significant risks of farming through crop insurance services, conservation programs, and technical assistance, and commodity, lending, and disaster programs.
The agencies and services supporting FPAC are Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and Risk Management Agency (RMA).
NRCS has a proud history of supporting America’s farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners for more than 80 years. USDA helps people make investments in their operations and local communities to keep working lands working, boost rural economies, increase the competitiveness of American agriculture, and improve the quality of our air, water, soil, and habitat.
From weather to pests, and from a lack of time to markets, each American farmer faces a unique set of challenges. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) helps agricultural producers confront those challenges – all while conserving natural resources like soil, water, and air.
This voluntary conservation program helps producers make conservation work for them. Together, NRCS and producers invest in solutions that conserve natural resources for the future while also improving agricultural operations.
Through EQIP, NRCS provides agricultural producers with financial resources and one-on-one help to plan and implement improvements, or what NRCS calls conservation practices. Using these practices can lead to cleaner water and air, healthier soil and better wildlife habitat, all while improving agricultural operations. Through EQIP, you can voluntarily implement conservation practices and NRCS co-invests in these practices with you.
USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.
For more information, please see:
USDA
FPAC
ww.usda.gov/our-agency/about-usda/mission-areas
NRCS
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/site/national/home/
EQIP
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/national/program...
Forever Grateful Ranch is in Chowchilla, CA, 150 miles east-southeast of San Francisco, CA, where owner Jim Chew grows pistachios using dual-line drip micro-irrigation, and utilizes a no-till grass cover crop. Nov 19, 2018.
Additional support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources and Conservation Service (NRCS), includes incentive funding toward irrigation water management, soil moisture monitoring, a no-till grass cover crop, nutrient budgeting, and compost applications.
Mr. Chew grew up 20 miles north in Stevenson, CA where his father raised beef-cows. He then attended Modesto Junior College. After receiving an associate degree, he joined the Peace Corps who sent him to Africa. While there Chew developed a 4-H program in Lobatse, Botswana, where he taught and supervised modern swineherd management, and subsistence family farming plots. In the suburbs, about 90 miles northwest of Johannesburg, he operated a feeding program that provided meals and soap for those in need.
He returned to California and Fresno State University to study plant and animal sciences. But, before long he headed to Richmond, CA to be with his future wife, Maryam. While there he graduated with an engineering degree. For the next 15-years, he was an engineer in the San Francisco Bay area. Throughout that time he was a single foster parent to 15 children. Saving money from his civil service employment allowed him to move back to the Merced County area and purchase this home and orchard.
Now disabled with a prosthetic leg, he receives some help from USDA AgrAbility. AgrAbility seeks to enhance the quality of life for farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural workers with disabilities.
Work on the pistachio farm varies through the seasons. This week he is using a soil moisture monitoring station to help determine how much irrigation water his trees need. He also applies compost (at a rate of 10 tons per acre) in the fall to hold on to soil moisture and deliver nutrients to the trees over the winter.
However, first, he and his son Sonny will prepare his tractor for the task of pulling a large blower that is used to remove debris and “mummy nuts” from the berms, a pest control practice. “Mummy nuts” are nuts that fail to come off with the harvest. They harbor pests for next season, so they are removed from the trees, blown to the aisles and shredded. These tasks and just getting around the farm are a challenge for Jim.
Jim’s grandfather, a Texas farmer, started the tradition of farming that Sonny hopes to carry on. For now, he works long hours to learn all he can from his father and his realtor mother, Maryam, who handles the accounting.
Chew’s advice to would-be farmers is to get up in the morning and get going; work for it; expect long hard hours of work; read up on the latest farming technologies and ways the government can help you, and you can help the country.
Mr. Chew says a good day is when harvest trucks leave with loads of his pistachios.
He works closely with his local NRCS soil conservationist Priscilla Baker on his conservation plan that includes the cover crop of brome grasses between the rows of trees.
Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) is the Department’s focal point for the nation’s farmers and ranchers and other stewards of private agricultural lands and non-industrial private forest lands. FPAC agencies implement programs designed to mitigate the significant risks of farming through crop insurance services, conservation programs, and technical assistance, and commodity, lending, and disaster programs.
The agencies and services supporting FPAC are Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and Risk Management Agency (RMA).
Natural Resources Conservation Service has a proud history of supporting America’s farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners for more than 80 years. USDA helps people make investments in their operations and local communities to keep working lands working, boost rural economies, increase the competitiveness of American agriculture, and improve the quality of our air, water, soil, and habitat.
USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.
Kanban board can be successfully implemented in a Human Resources departments to manage the interview procedures.
Salvador Prieto, wife Martha Romero and daughter Nadya Prieto park their red quad and green six-wheeled utility vehicles and stand in a line where there will be rows of windbreak trees that will help protect their Hass avocado and Meyer lemon orchards, in Somis, CA, on Nov 15, 2018.
Salvador Prieto grew up watching and helping his father grow corn and beans on a small farm in Mexico. The journey from bean fields to 20-acre orchard owner with his wife Martha Romero was not a straight and narrow path to Somis, Calif. In fact, it was music that brought him to the United States. Today the passion is agriculture.
Similarly, Romero didn’t follow a career in agriculture to her beautiful and healthy avocado and lemon orchard. Romero grew up a city girl in the heart of Los Angeles. Now sharing this farm with her husband and two children, she quickly credits her success to the support and assistance from her family to navigate the learning curve.
Constantly seeking improvement on the family’s orchard, Romero discovered the local Farm Bureau and the Ventura County Agricultural Irrigated Land Group (VCAILG) coalition. VCAILG put Romero in touch with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Ventura Resource Conservation District, for technical and financial assistance to implement conservation and management practices.
NRCS California District Conservationist Dawn Afman, Soil Conservationist Elizabeth Keith, and Resource Conservationist Brooks Engelhardt, have all provided technical assistance and invested their time and expertise in helping Prieto and Romero incorporate conservation practices in their orchard. Prieto and Romero were immediately intrigued by NRCS’s efforts to improve soil health.
“At first it was overwhelming, but many other farmers I know are members, so it is comforting to know that I am not alone,” said Romero. “We need to make a profit, obviously, but, for me, I want to do it while protecting mother nature and precious resources like water. I am able to do this with NRCS’s help.”
Prieto and Romero learned a lot from trial and error. Romero admits that she even bought her trees before the land was ready. But learning opportunities, like an early community garden project, gave them critical knowledge and experience.
A big first conservation practice they learned was mulching to save water and reduce weeds. NRCS helped Prieto and Romero with this, through an Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) contract, to apply mulch to their orchard floor to conserve soil moisture and improve soil health in the Fall of 2018.
“Every time we have a question or need assistance, NRCS has been nothing but helpful,” added Romero. “They let us know about other programs out in the community and invited us to their annual Latino Farmer Conference, where my husband and I learned about other helpful resources.”
Recently, Prieto and Romero entered into a new NRCS contract to implement Irrigation Water Management (IWM) to their orchard. The IWM plan includes installing moisture sensors into the ground, which transmit continuous data to cloud-based storage, and accessed through a smart device app on their phones. The information lets them know when, where and how long to irrigate. This knowledge will help them toward their goal of producing 6,000 pounds of produce per acre.
Looking toward the future, Romero expressed that knowledge is key. “Before we plant further, we need to get educated on how to do it best,” concluded Romero. “From the planting of a seed or planting of a tree, we need the entire process to be profitable. It's not just about planting it. It's about preparing the land and using the resources wisely.”
In the meantime, Romero enjoys the weekends because she does not need to be worried about picking up the kids from school or rushing around. She just wants to be out in the orchard, making it better From mulching to pruning or irrigating and weeding. The family’s goal is to make the farm “better tomorrow than it was today.”
—
Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) is the Department’s focal point for the nation’s farmers and ranchers and other stewards of private agricultural lands and non-industrial private forest lands. FPAC agencies implement programs designed to mitigate the significant risks of farming through crop insurance services, conservation programs, and technical assistance, and commodity, lending, and disaster programs.
The agencies and services supporting FPAC are Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and Risk Management Agency (RMA).
NRCS has a proud history of supporting America’s farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners for more than 80 years. USDA helps people make investments in their operations and local communities to keep working lands working, boost rural economies, increase the competitiveness of American agriculture, and improve the quality of our air, water, soil, and habitat.
From weather to pests, and from a lack of time to markets, each American farmer faces a unique set of challenges. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) helps agricultural producers confront those challenges – all while conserving natural resources like soil, water, and air.
This voluntary conservation program helps producers make conservation work for them. Together, NRCS and producers invest in solutions that conserve natural resources for the future while also improving agricultural operations.
Through EQIP, NRCS provides agricultural producers with financial resources and one-on-one help to plan and implement improvements, or what NRCS calls conservation practices. Using these practices can lead to cleaner water and air, healthier soil and better wildlife habitat, all while improving agricultural operations. Through EQIP, you can voluntarily implement conservation practices and NRCS co-invests in these practices with you.
USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.
For more information, please see:
USDA
FPAC
www.usda.gov/our-agency/about-usda/mission-areas
NRCS
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/site/national/home/
EQIP
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/national/program...
Rugged, windswept mountains rise abruptly out of gentle prairie grassland in spectacular Waterton Lakes National Park. Here, several different ecological regions meet and interact in a landscape shaped by wind, fire, flooding, and abundant plants and wildlife. The park helps protect the unique and unusually diverse physical, biological and cultural resources found in the Crown of the Continent: one of the narrowest places in the Rocky Mountains. The highlight of Waterton's sparkling chain of lakes is the international Upper Waterton Lake, the deepest lake in the Canadian Rockies. In 1932, the park was joined with Montana's Glacier National Park to form the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park - a world first.
www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ab/Waterton/index_e.asp
In 1895, a 140 sq. km (54 sq. miles) area was protected through an Order in Council of the federal government. After a variety of status and name changes, it became what it is now known as Waterton Lakes National Park.
Waterton was Canada's 4th national park, the smallest in the Canadian Rockies. Its size has varied considerably over the years but its area is now 505 sq. km (195 sq. miles).
The first major step toward preservation of Waterton was taken by a Pincher Creek rancher, F.W. Godsal, who sent a proposal to Ottawa in 1893 recommending that the Waterton Lakes area be set aside as a national park.
The park's name derives from the Waterton Lakes. This chain of lakes, named by Lieutenant Blakiston (a member of the Palliser Expedition), honours a British naturalist, Squire Charles Waterton (1782-1865).
As part of a Canada-wide system of national parks, Waterton Lakes National Park represents the southern Rocky Mountains Natural Region - where some of the most ancient mountains in the Rockies abruptly meet the prairie. It is a landscape shaped by wind, fire, and flooding; with a rich variety of plants and wildlife.
The park is part of the Crown of the Continent ecosystem; a place with unusually diverse physical, biological and cultural resources. This ecosystem is one of the narrowest places in the Rocky Mountain chain. This means Waterton and its surrounding region sits on a key pinch point of a crucial north-south Rocky Mountain wildlife corridor.
Several different ecological regions meet in Waterton - with prairie plants of the Great Plains, Rocky Mountain plants from northern areas, and coastal plants from the Pacific Northwest all overlapping. The park contains 45 different habitat types, including grasslands, shrublands, wetlands, lakes, spruce-fir, pine and aspen forests, and alpine areas. This means Waterton has an unusually rich and varied number of plants for its size, with more than 1000 vascular plant species, 182 bryophytes and 218 lichen species. Many of these are rare or threatened. More than half of Alberta's plant species can be found in Waterton.
The park's variety of vegetation communities provides homes for many animals, including more than 60 species of mammals, over 250 species of birds, 24 species of fish, and 10 reptiles and amphibians. Large predators include wolf, coyote, cougar, grizzly bear, and American black bear. The grasslands are important winter range for ungulates such as elk, mule deer, and white-tailed deer. In the fall, the marsh and lake areas of the park are used extensively by migrating ducks, swans, and geese. Some animals found here are considered rare or unusual eg. trumpeter swans, Vaux's swifts, and vagrant shrews.
Waterton Lakes National Park also has global importance because of several key international designations:
Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park (1932) - The Peace Park was originally created as a symbol of peace and goodwill between the United States and Canada, but has now evolved to also represent cooperation in a world of shared resources. Both parks strive to protect the ecosystem through shared management, not only between themselves, but also with their other neighbours.
On December 6, 1995 UNESCO designated the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park as a World Heritage Site because it has a distinctive climate, physiographic setting, mountain-prairie interface, and tri-ocean hydrographical divide. It is an area of significant scenic values with abundant and diverse flora and fauna.
Criteria (revised in 2006)
(vii) Both national parks were originally designated by their respective nations because of their superlative mountain scenery, their high topographic relief, glacial landforms, and abundant diversity of wildlife and wildflowers.
(ix) The property occupies a pivotal position in the Western Cordillera of North America resulting in the evolution of plant communities and ecological complexes that occur nowhere else in the world. Maritime weather systems unimpeded by mountain ranges to the north and south allow plants and animals characteristic of the Pacific Northwest to extend to and across the continental divide in the park. To the east, prairie communities nestle against the mountains with no intervening foothills, producing an interface of prairie, montane and alpine communities. The international peace park includes the headwaters of three major watersheds draining through significantly different biomes to different oceans. The biogeographical significance of this tri-ocean divide is increased by the many vegetated connections between the headwaters. The net effect is to create a unique assemblage and high diversity of flora and fauna concentrated in a small area.
Waterton Biosphere Reserve (1979) - As Canada's second biosphere reserve, Waterton was the first Canadian national park to take part in this UNESCO program. Biosphere Reserves are created to achieve a better understanding of the relationship between humans and the natural environment by integrating knowledge and experience from both natural and social sciences. Major goals are to support information exchange, research, education, training and improved land management; largely through cooperation and shared projects with local private landowners and government agencies.
The park has two national historic sites located within its boundaries. These are the Prince of Wales Hotel National Historic Site (1995) and the Lineham Discovery Well National Historic Site (the site of western Canada's first producing oil well) (1968).
Waterton is located in the southwest corner of Alberta. It is bordered...
on the west by the province of British Columbia (Akamina-Kishinena Provincial Park and Flathead Provincial Forest);
on the south by Glacier National Park, Montana;
on the north and east by the Bow-Crow Forest, and private lands in the Municipal Districts of Cardston and Pincher Creek;
and includes a large timber reserve belonging to the Kainaiwa (Blood Tribe.)
The townsite sits at 1280 m (4200 ft) above sea level and the park's highest peak, Mt. Blakiston, is 2940 m (9645 ft) above sea level or approximately 1,490 m (4900 ft) tall.
The park is open year round although most facilities are closed in winter. Annual visitation is approximately 425,000. The year round residential population of about 100 people increases in the summer to about 2,000.
UNIQUE NATURAL FEATURES OF WATERTON
Some of the oldest, exposed sedimentary rock in the Canadian Rockies the Lewis thrust fault has exposed 1,500 million-year-old sedimentary rock.
Argillite the vivid colours of green and red layers of sedimentary rock are a result of oxidized and unoxidized iron in the rock. Both rock types, called argillite, derived from iron rich muds laid down on the bottom of an ancient sea.
Climate Waterton receives Alberta's highest average annual precipitation levels (1,072 mm) It is also one of Alberta's windiest places. Winter winds over 100 km/hr are common. Waterton has many chinooks, which contribute to it being one of Alberta's warmest areas in winter (about 28 winter days with temperatures of 2.5 C and above). These winds can cause temperatures to rise dramatically over short periods of time.
Foothills fescue prairie this grassland region stretches along the plains and foothills from southern Alberta into Montana. Waterton Lakes is the only Canadian national park that preserves foothills fescue grasslands.
Rare Vegetation Of 45 vegetation types identified in Waterton's recent Ecological Land Classification, 16 are considered significant because they are rare (small area in the park) or fragile and threatened. Notable are two grassland types and two types of aspen forest. These are threatened by non-native plant invasion, disturbance and heavy grazing pressure.
Rare Plants Amongst Waterton's more than 1000 species of vascular plants, 179 species are rare in Alberta. Twenty-two of these plants are not found anywhere else in Alberta.
Moonwort Hot Spot Waterton has globally significant genetic diversity, best symbolized by its amazing variety of small ferns called moonworts. Waterton has 8 different moonworts. The Waterton moonwort (Botrychium x watertonense) is only found here and is considered the rarest plant in the park.
Beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax) Tall beargrass flowers and their tufts of grassy leaves are Waterton's showiest plant. Waterton Lakes is the only Canadian national park that protects this lily. It is the unofficial emblem of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.
Plains-dwelling Grizzly Bears Waterton is one of the last places in North America where grizzlies commonly range into the edges of its former grassland range.
Sheep at Forever Grateful Ranch is in Chowchilla, CA, on Nov 19, 2018, where owner Jim Chew grows pistachios.
Support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) included incentive funding toward irrigation water management, soil moisture monitoring, a no-till grass cover crop, nutrient budgeting, and compost applications.
Mr. Chew grew up 20 miles north in Stevenson, CA where his father raised beef-cows. He then attended Modesto Junior College. After receiving an associate degree, he joined the Peace Corps who sent him to Africa. While there Chew developed a 4-H program in Lobatse, Botswana, where he taught and supervised modern swineherd management, and subsistence family farming plots. In the suburbs, about 90 miles northwest of Johannesburg, he operated a feeding program that provided meals and soap for those in need.
He returned to California and Fresno State University to study plant and animal sciences. But, before long he headed to Richmond, CA to be with his future wife, Maryam. While there he graduated with an engineering degree. For the next 15-years, he was an engineer in the San Francisco Bay area. Throughout that time he was a single foster parent to 15 children. Saving money from his civil service employment allowed him to move back to the Merced County area and purchase this home and orchard.
Now disabled with a prosthetic leg, he receives some help from USDA AgrAbility. AgrAbility seeks to enhance the quality of life for farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural workers with disabilities.
Work on the pistachio farm varies through the seasons. This week he is using a soil moisture monitoring station to help determine how much irrigation water his trees need. He also applies compost (at a rate of 10 tons per acre) in the fall to hold on to soil moisture and deliver nutrients to the trees over the winter.
However, first, he and his son Sonny will prepare his tractor for the task of pulling a large blower that is used to remove debris and “mummy nuts” from the berms, a pest control practice. “Mummy nuts” are nuts that fail to come off with the harvest. They harbor pests for next season, so they are removed from the trees, blown to the aisles and shredded. These tasks and just getting around the farm are a challenge for Jim.
Jim’s grandfather, a Texas farmer, started the tradition of farming that Sonny hopes to carry on. For now, he works long hours to learn all he can from his father and his realtor mother, Maryam, who handles the accounting.
Chew’s advice to would-be farmers is to get up in the morning and get going; work for it; expect long hard hours of work; read up on the latest farming technologies and ways the government can help you, and you can help the country.
Mr. Chew says a good day is when harvest trucks leave with loads of his pistachios.
He works closely with his local NRCS soil conservationist Priscilla Baker on his conservation plan that includes the cover crop of brome grasses between the rows of trees.
Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) is the Department’s focal point for the nation’s farmers and ranchers and other stewards of private agricultural lands and non-industrial private forest lands. FPAC agencies implement programs designed to mitigate the significant risks of farming through crop insurance services, conservation programs, and technical assistance, and commodity, lending, and disaster programs.
The agencies and services supporting FPAC are Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and Risk Management Agency (RMA).
Natural Resources Conservation Service has a proud history of supporting America’s farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners for more than 80 years. USDA helps people make investments in their operations and local communities to keep working lands working, boost rural economies, increase the competitiveness of American agriculture, and improve the quality of our air, water, soil, and habitat.
USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) helped Terry and Gail Small with their Animal Mortality Facility, In-Vessel Composter that disposes of daily poultry mortality; a process that produces a pathogen free compost product that can then be applied to the land according to the nutrient management plan, Hector AR, on June 26, 2019. The purpose of this composters is to reduce the impact of pollution on surface and groundwater and reduce odor. Even in the event of a power outage, the process continues in the safety of its large long horizontal plastic container. The ingredients are simple, for every bucket of chicken, in goes a bucket of wood shavings.
Inside, an internal drum with spiral blades rotates very slowly mixing, moving and aerating the mixture. The natural process brings the interior temperature to120-125 degrees Fahrenheit. At the end, the compost is slowly expelled -- ready to use. The producer is then able to use it in fields or sell it.
The Smalls work with NRCS District Conservationist Joe Tapp and Agricultural Engineer Britt Hill on their conservation plan that includes this mortality facility.
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NRCS has a proud history of supporting America’s farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners. For more than 80 years, we have helped people make investments in their operations and local communities to keep working lands working, boost rural economies, increase the competitiveness of American agriculture, and improve the quality of our air, water, soil, and habitat.
As the USDA’s primary private lands conservation agency, we generate, manage, and share the data, technology, and standards that enable partners and policymakers to make decisions informed by objective, reliable science.
And through one-on-one, personalized advice, we work voluntarily with producers and communities to find the best solutions to meet their unique conservation and business goals. By doing so, we help ensure the health of our natural resources and the long-term sustainability of American agriculture.
Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) is the Department’s focal point for the nation’s farmers and ranchers and other stewards of private agricultural lands and non-industrial private forest lands. FPAC agencies implement programs designed to mitigate the significant risks of farming through crop insurance services, conservation programs and technical assistance, and commodity, lending, and disaster programs.
The agencies and service supporting FPAC are Farm Service Agency (FSA), NRCS, and Risk Management Agency (RMA).
For more information please see www.usda.gov.
USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.
by Stephen Badger | Office of Communications, Maryland Department of Natural Resources
2019 Maryland Natural Resources Police awards ceremony.
A Human Resources manager address a crowd at the North Carolina National Guard's Education and Employment Center begins a two-day Job Readiness Workshop and Hiring Event at NCNG Headquarters, here Sept. 4, 2013. A team of local HR professionals trained participants on job search and interview skills. Tomorrow, local employers will hold job interview and screening sessions with Soldiers, Airmen, eligible family members or veterans pre-registered with the EEC office. (U.S. Army National Guard Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Robert Jordan /Released)
Credits and Resources:
Anxiety Exit 9b (Backdrop) from Anxiety: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Baku/226/190/1890
June Bento 5 Pose from BellePoses: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/No%20Comment/131/67/34
Alexa Top and Skirt from Hilly Haalan: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife//135/124/23
Desta Mesh Hair from Elikatira: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Elikatira/128/122/3007
Tarantella Gypsy Dancer Bracelet and Earrings from Maxi Gossamer Jewelry: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cynful/150/144/1003
Desire Fringed Heels from KC | Couture: marketplace.secondlife.com/p/KC-DESIRE-FRINGED-HEELS-MAIT...
Steve Nash Foundation presents the SHOWDOWN in DOWNTOWN photos by RonSombilonGallery.com
Sponsored by Coast Capital Savings and BC Hydro PowerSmart
Showdown in Downtown is a collaboration of sponsors, local non-profits, sports superstars who educate and empower new energy for community action, the Street Festival brings together private and public resources to show off all we can do together.
About the Steve Nash Foundation
About the Foundation
Formed in 2001, given U.S. charitable status in 2004, and Canadian charitable status in 2007, the Steve Nash Foundation is a private foundation dedicated to assisting underserved children in their health, personal development, education and enjoyment of life. Like its NBA MVP founder, the Foundation is fast becoming a leader in assists . . . to a slightly shorter population.
Through our own initiatives, and through grants to public service and nonprofit entities in British Columbia, the Foundation aims to grow health in kids by funding projects that provide direct services to children affected by poverty, illness, abuse, or neglect, and create opportunity for education, health, and empowerment. We love the opportunity to get involved in the good work being done by child-focused ngo’s in our home province.
The Foundation also seeks to afford thoughtful solutions to community needs through our own projects to address critical health and education needs. The Foundation focuses its resources on underserved populations of children in British Columbia, Arizona, and the country of Paraguay. Equipping a neonatal intensive care ward in Asuncion to provide basic necessities for infants and their families, developing an early childhood education center of excellence to bring best practices to young kids that don’t always enjoy that access in Arizona, and uniting civic outreach, corporate and social service organizations to show kids how to get involved in their communities are examples of the daily work of the Foundation’s small but dedicated staff. Stemming from our first ever Steve Nash Foundation Charity Classic, held in Toronto, Ontario, in 2005, the Foundation is also working closely with the City to establish an all-access, all-kids after-school center there to build hope through hoops for kids.
While our work focuses exclusively on child welfare, we believe that corporations must share responsibility for the well-being of our communities. The Foundation employs and encourages environmentally-friendly office practices, and offers grantees assistance in developing their own recycling and energy conservation programs (check out our Green Leaf here). We also like to highlight the important work of other individuals and organizations, using our website links to increase their exposure, and contribute to their efforts. Further, we are proud to be working with young people that excel in their chosen fields, from whom we welcome energetic leadership and fresh voices.
The Steve Nash Foundation. Growing health in kids.
For more info, visit
SteveNash.org/about-the-foundation/
.
If nude models are hard to find, then check out these alternative life drawing resources to help you develop your drawing skills! Go to bit.ly/alternativelifedrawingresources for the complete article!
Norwood Farms owners and producers Don and son Grant Norwood work with U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) District Conservationist Ron Harrison to implement their crop rotation and residue management practices to reduce erosion leading to improved land use and crop production; they also practice no-till farming on nearly every acre in the operation, in Henry County, TN, on Sept 19, 2019.
The stover of remaining corn stalk stubs, leaves, and cobs that are expelled and and left behind the corn harvester becomes a cover crop. The stover can be seen between soybean crop.
Crop dusters adapted with a seed spreader can seed directly into standing corn and standing soybeans. This gives the seeds a chance to get established before it freezes. In the spring, the cover crop will grow up through the corn stover.
Norwood Farms have successfully established the building blocks of conservation with conservation crop rotation on the entire Norwood operation. The crops are rotated between corn, wheat, soybeans and in some cases, corn cover crops and soybeans cover crops. The practices are implemented to reduced erosion sediment in surface water and are leading to improved land use and crop production.
Conservation Crop Rotation (Practice Code 328) is a management practices where growing a planned sequence of various crops takes place on the same piece of land for a variety of conservation purposes. Crops included in conservation crop rotation include high-residue producing crops such as corn or wheat in rotation with low-residue- producing crops such as soybeans. Crop rotations vary with soil type, crops produced, farming operations, and how the crop residue is managed. The most effective crops for soil improvement is fibrous-rooted high-residue producing crops such as grass and small grain.
Residue and Tillage Management (Practice Code 329) is managing the amount, orientation and distribution of crop and other plant residue on the soil surface throughout the year. For our area, we are utilizing reduced tillage and no-till. Residue and Tillage Management should be used on all cropland fields, especially where excess sheet and rill erosion are a problem. Residue and tillage management is most effective when used with other conservation practices like grassed waterways, contouring, field borders, etc.
NRCS has a proud history of supporting America's farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners. For more than 80 years, we have helped people make investments in their operations and local communities to keep working lands working, boost rural economies, increase the competitiveness of American agriculture, and improve the quality of our air, water, soil, and habitat. As the USDA's primary private lands conservation agency, we generate, manage, and share the data, technology, and standards that enable partners and policymakers to make decisions informed by objective, reliable science. And through one-on-one, personalized advice, we work voluntarily with producers and communities to find the best solutions to meet their unique conservation and business goals. By doing so, we help ensure the health of our natural resources and the long-term sustainability of American agriculture.
Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) is the Department's focal point for the nation's farmers and ranchers and other stewards of private agricultural lands and non-industrial private forest lands. FPAC agencies implement programs designed to mitigate the significant risks of farming through crop insurance services, conservation programs, and technical assistance, and commodity, lending, and disaster programs.
The agencies and services supporting FPAC are Farm Service Agency (FSA), NRCS, and Risk Management Agency (RMA).
For more information please see www.usda.gov
USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.
Two exciting new kits have been added to the Literacy Collection, which is located in the Reference section of the library. 'Workplace English: get ahead with everyday business English' by James Schofield; and, 'Hotel & hospitality English: communicate confidently with guests' by Mike Seymour. These self-study books, from the Collins English for work series, include CDs and a DVD,adding to the fun of learning.
A BLM Natural Resources Specialist fulfills both a technical and supervisory role in a wide variety of fields, including: resource management protection, wildlife, GIS, range, ecology, botany, environmental planning, customer relations and education, and recreation. The Natural Resources Specialist’s work involves inventory, data collection, and resource analysis. It includes developing management plans, prescribing solutions to resource management problems, supervising staff, managing budgets and programs, as well as preparing reports. It requires a working knowledge of laws, regulations, and policies related to natural resource protection. The BLM Natural Resources Specialist draws from this knowledge and experience to communicate effectively with external organizations, from tribal governments to landowners to non-profit organizations, who have varied interests in Federal lands, resources, and programs!
All tall order for sure, but BLM’s got the staff to tackle this challenging profession…
Also,check out this great little short, where Todd Allai, Natural Resource Specialist for the Vale District BLM, talks about his work in monitoring the Willow Creek area in Southeastern Oregon:
Steve Nash Foundation presents the SHOWDOWN in DOWNTOWN photos by RonSombilonGallery.com
Sponsored by Coast Capital Savings and BC Hydro PowerSmart
Showdown in Downtown is a collaboration of sponsors, local non-profits, sports superstars who educate and empower new energy for community action, the Street Festival brings together private and public resources to show off all we can do together.
About the Steve Nash Foundation
About the Foundation
Formed in 2001, given U.S. charitable status in 2004, and Canadian charitable status in 2007, the Steve Nash Foundation is a private foundation dedicated to assisting underserved children in their health, personal development, education and enjoyment of life. Like its NBA MVP founder, the Foundation is fast becoming a leader in assists . . . to a slightly shorter population.
Through our own initiatives, and through grants to public service and nonprofit entities in British Columbia, the Foundation aims to grow health in kids by funding projects that provide direct services to children affected by poverty, illness, abuse, or neglect, and create opportunity for education, health, and empowerment. We love the opportunity to get involved in the good work being done by child-focused ngo’s in our home province.
The Foundation also seeks to afford thoughtful solutions to community needs through our own projects to address critical health and education needs. The Foundation focuses its resources on underserved populations of children in British Columbia, Arizona, and the country of Paraguay. Equipping a neonatal intensive care ward in Asuncion to provide basic necessities for infants and their families, developing an early childhood education center of excellence to bring best practices to young kids that don’t always enjoy that access in Arizona, and uniting civic outreach, corporate and social service organizations to show kids how to get involved in their communities are examples of the daily work of the Foundation’s small but dedicated staff. Stemming from our first ever Steve Nash Foundation Charity Classic, held in Toronto, Ontario, in 2005, the Foundation is also working closely with the City to establish an all-access, all-kids after-school center there to build hope through hoops for kids.
While our work focuses exclusively on child welfare, we believe that corporations must share responsibility for the well-being of our communities. The Foundation employs and encourages environmentally-friendly office practices, and offers grantees assistance in developing their own recycling and energy conservation programs (check out our Green Leaf here). We also like to highlight the important work of other individuals and organizations, using our website links to increase their exposure, and contribute to their efforts. Further, we are proud to be working with young people that excel in their chosen fields, from whom we welcome energetic leadership and fresh voices.
The Steve Nash Foundation. Growing health in kids.
For more info, visit
SteveNash.org/about-the-foundation/
.
Rt. Wor. Bro. Leif R. B. Andersen was born and raised in Ottawa/Lanark County and attended Carleton University in Ottawa. He majored in psychology. Leif worked in child protection, human resources, quality and environmental auditing and is currently in occupational health and safety with the City of Thunder Bay. He joined Kerr Lodge #230 in Barrie, was initiated on January 20, 2000, passed on October 19 2000, raised on January 18 2001 and was Master of Kerr lodge in 2006/07.
www.flickr.com/photos/21728045@N08/10339810444/in/album-7...
He affiliated to Superior Lodge A.F. & A.M. No. 672 in 2007.
He purchased a house in Red Rock in 2006 and moved up to Algoma district in 2008 once all his children were out and on their own. He has 4 children and currently 8 grandchildren.
For some reason I couldn't copy the link from the Algoma Masons website.
ALGOMA DISTRICT TRAVELLING SQUARE
THE WAGES OF AN ENTERED APPRENTICE - June 09, 1958
PRESENTED TO: PORT ARTHUR LODGE A.F. & A.M. No. 499 BY HORNEPAYNE LODGE A.F. & A.M. No. 636
THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO
Journeying onward the Travelling Square will leave Hornepayne Lodge No. 636 and journey to Port Arthur to be presented to Port Arthur Lodge No. 499 on June 9th 1958
THE WAGES OF AN ENTERED APPRENTICE
The catechisms of the Craft and the conventional lecture on the Tracing Board of the Second Degree, all of which speak with that authority that belongs to age, tell us that the wages of an Entered Apprentice are Corn, Nine and Oil. Sometimes it is added that he received Corn for food, 7ine for nourishment, and Oil for comfort. The broad difference that was thought to be set up between the Apprentice and the Fellowcraft apparently was that the Fellowcraft was paid in coin while the apprentice was paid in kind. I fear it would be difficult to produce any authority for this, and probably the distinction between the liaisons of the two degrees is the invention of some imaginative brother who may have got the hint from a practise that was not uncommon among early operatives. Two or three centuries ago the conditions of labour were laid down as firmly as they are today by our powerful trade unions. A master could not employ more than a certain very limited number of apprentices - often the number was restricted to one - and these apprentices were taken bound to serve their masters for a period of seven years. Not infrequently, alike in mason and other trades, the apprentice went into residence with his master and during the early years of his apprenticeship received no remuneration except board and lodging. Only when he became a journeyman, or Fellowcraft, and was free from the master who had taught him his business, was he entitled to wages in the form of cash. If, as it is possible, some elaborator of Freemasonry, got the hint here as to the remuneration of an apprentice one can easily understand that commonplace language such as “board and lodging” would not appeal to him, and that he would seek to ornament the matter with just such combination of words as “Corn, Wine and Oil.”
One of the traditions of the craft, dearly beloved by uncritical Freemasons, says that the whole number of workmen engaged on the Temple at Jerusalem amounted to 217,281 persons, and that of these 80,000 were Fellowcraft and 30,000 were Entered Apprentices - the latter of whom were arranged into one hundred lodges with three hundred members in each. This immense multitude was paid weekly on the sixth day of the week; and one tradition solemnly asserts that the 80,000 Fellowcraft toiled up the Winding Stair to the Inner Chamber to receive their wages. Mackey tells us in this “Lexicon” that the Fellowcraft “were paid in corn, wine and oil”, and the authors of “The Reflected Rays of Light upon Freemasonry” adopting the same view say “What could be more absurd than to believe that eighty thousand craftsmen had to ascend such a stair, to the narrow precincts of the Middle Chamber to receive their wages in Corn, Wine and Oil? “It is very evident that Mackey and the authors of “Reflected Rays” have misread the Lecture on the Second Tracing Board. It was the Entered Apprentice who received the corn, wine and oil and wherever he got it, he did not receive it in the Inner Chamber. To gain access to that apartment a workmen required the pass-grip and pass-word of a Fellowcraft, and it is obvious that no Entered Apprentice could have possessed these.
One may pause here for a moment to remark that according to another tradition, all the workers of every degree were paid in current coin. The total wage bill is alleged to have amounted to about £140,000,000 sterling, and it was distributed among the craftsmen on a progressive scale which was quite obviously adjusted on the principle of the more honour the more pay. At the one end of the industrial line stood the humble Entered Apprentices who received one shekel, or about 2s 3d of English money (.50) per day, while at the other end, was the Super-Excellent Mason who received 81 shekels per day, equal to about £9 2s 3d sterling (One Masonic author very generously described this as “only a fanciful speculation of some of our ancient brethren, “and we may return, therefore, to our Corn, Wine and Oil.
If I am right in my theory that the wages of an Entered Apprentice in Speculative Freemasonry were suggested by the board and lodging which were the reward of the operative youth while learning t his trade, I think it is clear that the person who fixed to Wages of the Speculative A found his material in the Volume of the Sacred Law. We read in the Second Chapter of the Second Book of Chronicles that when Solomon appealed to the King of Tyre for assistance in building the Temple, he said, “Behold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.” The offer of Solomon was accepted by the King of Tyre who replied “now, therefore, the wheat, and the barley, the oil and the wine, which my lord hath spoken of, let him send unto his servants; and we will cut wood out of Lebanon as much as thou shalt need.” The account preserved. In the 5th Chapter of the first book of Kings, indicates that the gifts were made annually to Hiram’s work people, but there is a discrepancy as to the amount. In 1st Kings the Wines is omitted, and the oil is set down as “twenty measures” equal to about 1340 gallons, whereas the 20,000 baths of 2nd Chronicles were more than ten times as much, being the equivalent of about 165,000 gallons.
It is clear that these gifts of Corn, Wine and Oil were made to the hewers of wood in the forests of Lebanon, none of whom were Entered Apprentice Masons, but it would be unprofitable and useless to linger upon a discussion of the matter, as the wages of the first degree in Speculative Freemasonry are merely symbols upon which to meditate, and. from which to draw inspiration for everyday duties.
Corn, Wine, and Oil were the three staple crops of the Holy Land, and each of them entered into the fibre of the national life, furnishing figures of speech for the Hebrew poets, and points or the proverbs of the people.
Corn was always regarded as an element of national wealth. It formed part of the tribute brought to Hezekiah on the restoration of the Priesthood. Bread was one of the signs of welcome and. goodwill to Abraham.
Wine, in a metaphorical sense, represents the essence of goodness. Jerusalem, Israel, the Messiah, the righteous -- all were compared to wine. The wicked are likened unto vinegar, and the good man who turns to wickedness is compared to sour wine. An abundance of wine was regarded as an indication of prosperity. Jacob blessed Judah that “he washed his garments in wine, and. his clothes in the blood of grapes. “ We read in the 9th chapter of Judges that, when the trees went forth to anoint a king, they said unto the vine, “Come thou, and reign over us;” whereupon, “The vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?” A writer in the “Jewish Encyclopaedia” says that as wine “cheereth God” no religious ceremony should be performed with other beverages.
Oil was one of the most important, and perhaps the most characteristic of the products of Palestine. It is mentioned no fewer than two hundred times in the Bible, and with one exception, the references are to “olive oil” as it is expressly termed in Exodus and Leviticus, according to the more correct rendering of the Revised Version of the Scriptures. Oil was largely used in the preparation of different kinds of food, and it was spread on bread very much in the same way as we use butter; it was employed in the lighting of houses and places of worship -- that used in the Temple being no doubt of the finest quality like the “beaten oil” for the Tabernacle — and it occupied a very prominent place in the ceremonial of anointing Kings and priests. The metaphorical uses of the word “oil” are many. Part of the blessing of Asher was that he should “dip his foot in oil” that he should have a large measure of worldly prosperity in oil” by finding an abundance of oil within his territory. In the book of the Proverbs we find the foolish use of oil quoted as a token of extravagance and a source of poverty while the husbanding of it is a certain proof of wisdom. Words of deceit are said to be smoother and softer than oil and cursing is said to permeate the life of the wicked even as oil soaks into bone. The power and use of oil are illustrated in many ways in sacred writings. The scholars of Palestine were often referred to as sons of oil”. One injunction has a singularly poetic fancy about it; “ye shall take olive oil to light the Temple as atonement for your souls which are like to lamps.” The Yoke of Sennacheriab was said to have broken “because of the oil which Hezekiah lighted in the schools;” and. we have a singular parallel to this in the slaying of one of the early English reformers who, when Ridley was burned at the Stake exclaimed, “Thou has lighted such a fire in England today, Master Ridley, as shall not be put out.” One common and significant use of oil in Palestine was that of anointing the heads of guests entertained at a festive meal, and from this daily custom oil came to be regarded as a symbol of joy and gladness.
The Wages of an Entered Apprentice constitute the Masonic elements of consecration. Corn, wine and oil figure very prominently in the elaborate ceremonial by which buildings are set apart and dedicated to the purpose of Freemasonry. After appropriate exercises of prayer and praise the Junior Warden, handing the Cornucopia to the consecrating Master says, “In the dedication of Masonic Halls, it has been of immemorial Custom to pour corn upon the Lodge in token of the divine goodness exhibited in the liberal provision made for all our wants, spiritual and temporal. I therefore present to you this vessel of corn, to be employed by you according to use and want”. The Master thereupon accepts the vase and sprinkling some corn upon the floor, says, “In the name of the great Jehovah, to whom all be g1ory, I do solemnly dedicate this Hall to Freemasonry”.
Thereafter the Senior Warden presents the Vase with Wine, saying “Right Worshipful Master, Wine, the symbol of strength and gladness, having according to ancient custom been used by our brethren in the dedication and consecration of their Lodges, I present to you this vessel of Wine, to be used on the present occasion according to established Masonic form,” and the Master sprinkling some of the wine upon the floor, says, “In the name of the holy Saint John, I do solemnly dedicate this Lodge to Virtue”.
Finally the Substitute Master approaches with the vase containing Oil and says, “Right Worshipful Master, I present to you, to be used according to ancient custom, this vessel of Oil, an emblem of that joy and peace which should animate ever bosom on the completion of every important undertaking.” And the Master, sprinkling some oil upon the floor, says, “In the name of the whole Fraternity, I do solemnly dedicate this Lodge to Universal Benevolence.”
In ancient days Corn, Wine and Oil constituted the wealth of the people and were esteemed as the main supports of life. The Psalmist counts them among the greatest blessings mankind enjoys and you may recall that he brings them together in the 104th Psalm where he speaks of them as “‘Wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart.” It is sometimes said that modern Freemasonry is but ancient sun-worship disguised. We believe in a beneficent Creator; the sun-worshipper paid his adorations to the glorious luminary of the day to whose genial agency the fruits of the earth - corn, wine and oil - were due. To that extent we have a community of thought, and Freemasons and sun-worshippers alike look from Nature up to Nature’s God.
Moralizing upon the Wages of the Entered Apprentice as symbols instinct with meaning to the Mason who would be true to the altruistic spirit of the Craft, the Rev. Thaddeus Harris says “Wherefore, my brethren, do you carry corn, wine and oil in your processions, but to remind you that in the pilgrimage of human life you are to impart a portion of your bread to feed hungry, to send a cup of your wine to cheer the sorrowful, and to pour the healing oil of your consolation into the wounds which sickness hath made in the bodies, or affliction rent in the hearts of your fellow-travellers.”
And surely, brethren, that is the sum and substance of the matter. As Entered Apprentices we receive these wages in spirit, not to expend upon ourselves but as a constant source of aid to our less fortunate craftsmen. As corn is an emblem of plenty, let us be abundant in the measure of our brotherly love, ever ready to use what means God hath given us to assist a brother who may claim our help. As Wine is an emblem of Cheerfulness, let us foster the spirit of joy and gladness so that, when sorrows throw their shadows upon life, we may be enabled to look forward to the brighter day when the trials of our earthly pilgrimage shall be forgotten and sadness shall be unknown.
And as Oil is an emblem of peace, may it be ours to extend the boundaries of her Empire, so that strife and discord may be banished forever from the mind of men. “Nothing” says Emerson, in one of his Essays, “Nothing can bring you peace but you yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.” And this personal note is emphasized in a striking passage in one of Ruskin’s “Lectures.” “People”, he says, “are always expecting to get peace in Heaven; but you know whatever peace they get there will be ready made. Whatever making of peace they can be blessed for, must be on the earth here. The whole teaching of the Craft is the promotion of peace on earth, goodwill to men, and it is the personal duty of every one of us to advance the cause of the universal brotherhood of man.
Brethren, I do not know that anyone could leave a sweeter memory behind him than just this, that he had faithfully used the Wages of an Entered Apprentice. The day will come when the walls of our Lodge shall know us no more, and we shall live in the recollection of our fellows for but a little while – a month, a year, at the most a generation. But that recollection will be a sacred one if those whom we have laboured recall our names from time to time and tell those who did not know us that, faithful to our trust, we were ever ready to relieve distress, aid the weak, and comfort the mourner. Thus shall we have proved our right to the Wages of an Entered Apprentice and thus may we hope for the recognition that awaits all faithful Craftsmen at the hands of the Great Architect of the Universe.
Presented by Bro. William Harvey
Eastern Portion of the Soda Mountain Wilderness. The Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009, Public Law No. 111-011, Section 1405, designated 24,100 acres of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument as wilderness. The Soda Mountain Wilderness encompasses the rich biological and geological diversity in the mountains southeast of Ashland, Oregon. The new wilderness lies on the south side of the Medford District. The heart of the wilderness is the 5,720-foot high Boccard Point where the great basin meets three mountain ranges. The older Klamath Range comes up from the south while the much younger Siskiyou Range extends from the west. Jutting up from the north is the very young Cascade Range.
Additional information about the Soda Mountain Wilderness, and all the other BLM Wilderness areas in Oregon/Washington, is available online at: