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Emergency Watershed Protection Program


Rebuilding and Repairing a Piece of History

May 15, 2019 Creston Shrum, NRCS

On any sunny day in Faulkner County, Arkansas, you will find people boating, swimming, and camping at Lake Bennett in Wooley Hollow State Park. This 40-acre lake was named after Dr. Hugh Hammond Bennett, the first chief of USDA’s Soil Conservation Service, today known as the Natural Resources...

Conservation

Emergency Program Helps Community Repair Impacts of Roaring Lion Fire

March 28, 2018 Lori Valadez, State Public Affairs Specialist, NRCS Montana

The Roaring Lion Fire was first noticed on Sunday, July 31, 2016, near Hamilton, Montana. Hamilton is located in Ravalli County and is situated on the eastern fringe of the Bitterroot-Selway Wilderness. The fire was caused by a campfire started by teenage campers. The campfire was not completely...

Conservation

Disaster Recovery: USDA Answering the Call

March 13, 2018 Jonathon Groveman, Public Affairs Specialist, California NRCS

In early December, I gathered with a group of neighbors in a Puerto Rican community to watch work begin on a USDA project to protect a nearby bridge. Minute-by-minute, the sound of rumbling equipment grew louder as the excavators emerged from behind houses, rolled along the debris-covered horizon...

Conservation

70 Years in the Last Frontier

February 16, 2018 Molly Voeller and Brad Fisher, Natural Resources Conservation Service

From protecting people and their communities to growing food in high tunnels to restoring streams for salmon to protecting precious soils, the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has been investing in Alaska’s working lands for 70 years. The NRCS’s commitment to agriculture in...

Conservation

Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Sees the Power of Partnership in Urban Flood Control

March 19, 2015 Joanna Pope, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Nebraska

The saying, “When it rains, it pours,” can often apply to the heavy rain events in Omaha, Neb. where flooding is a concern. Due to the large amount of hard surfaces – roofs, parking lots, streets, etc. – a lot of the rainfall doesn’t soak into the ground. This generates runoff, which can quickly...

Conservation

USDA Rebuilds Levee, Resident's Peace of Mind

December 10, 2014 Creston Shrum, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Arkansas

When flood waters tore through the levee along Mill Creek in western Arkansas in May 2013, the small unincorporated community of Y City in Scott County sustained massive damage. Mill Creek rose more than 19 feet destroying lives, homes, businesses and a levee. Flood damage covered a five-mile area...

Conservation

Two Years after Sandy: USDA Continues to Aid in Recovery and Disaster Prevention Efforts

November 06, 2014 Ciji Taylor, Natural Resources Conservation Service

About two years ago, Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc on several states in the Northeast, causing $68 billion dollars’ worth of damage to critical infrastructure, businesses, homes and landscapes. Since 2012, multiple agencies, including the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), have...

Conservation

USDA Works With Remote Utah Tribe to Prevent Future Flooding

November 03, 2014 Ron Francis, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Utah

A massive wildfire followed by heavy rains greatly damaged the landscape of a Utah valley, home to the Skull Valley Band of the Goshute Indian Tribe. The natural disasters broke water delivery systems and disrupted vital community infrastructure. Recently, the band’s leadership met with USDA...

Conservation

Recent Forecast Shows Limited Water Supply in Westernmost States

February 19, 2014 Spencer Miller, Natural Resources Conservation Service

Limited water supplies are predicted in many areas west of the Continental Divide, according to this year’s second forecast by the National Water and Climate Center of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Right now, snow measuring stations in California, Nevada and Oregon that...

Conservation

Hurricane Assistance will Reduce Future Flood Damage, Provide Habitat

December 18, 2013 Kari Cohen, Natural Resources Conservation Service

When Hurricane Sandy came ashore on the northeast coast of the U.S. on October 29, 2012, it ravaged coastal communities, both human and natural. USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced today that it is investing in a number of hurricane-damaged communities in New Jersey, New...

Conservation
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