5-23-11

So this is my last in office day at the NRCS since everything is due the next week and I will spend my time working on the analytical paper and such. Today was definitely one of those final day feels, where guidance and support is given. I did some help with Farm Bill applications, but most of the time was spent talking about my future, how to utilize what I had learned and what jobs I am looking for. Rich really wanted to make sure I didn't have any questions about the process of the NRCS and what I was qualified to do. There is a position open in the Petaluma office doing a similar position to what I was doing as an intern with a bit more responsibility so Rich helped me go through and answer the 31 questions I have to answer to describe the level of my experience. I know I learned a lot at this internship, but I definitely don't want to overestimate my skills. Almost all the work I did had to have some review by Rich because I was only an intern, but in theory I could have done it without review. After hearing his opinion on my skills it made me feel like I not only learned a lot in these 6 months, but I also contributed to the NRCS. I think its great to know that my name will be in some applications and on some conservation plans and maps. It allows me to take pride in the work I had done there. Knowing what my skills are also allows me to consider other positions. While I really enjoyed my time at the NRCS and working in land management, I think in the future I would like to be international or work on a larger scale. I also have a big interest in getting involved in ocean policy. Overall, I think I would really enjoy working for the NRCS for a couple of years to get more experience but maybe not in a location strongly focused in farming. Its incredible to realize how much I learned about erosion, and crops, considering how very anti-agriculture I was when I first began this major. I was positive that I was going to do only policy and avoid being in the field. This internship combined with my course taken in New Zealand made me realize how fun it can be to be in the field, but more importantly, how being in the field and seeing the actual problem makes you a better policy person. I thinks this has been an invaluable experience in the actual skills in the field and in the office that I have learned.

5-17-11

I split half my time working on my internship paperwork and the other half working on NRCS things. Today I worked a bit more on adding more documentation to my application and developed an outline for each of the sections in the application. This is information I will use in the 5 page description of my plan and as a way to guide people on what they are seeing. A lot of the information in the plan is confusing and very technical, and one of the complaints I heard at the midterm seminar on a previous plan was that a lot of it was confusing. So I plan on explaining the six different sections of the folder and why each is necessary to the Farm Bill application. I then helped with some administrative things that have a tendency to build up in the office. Since Angie is still not full time and still has some adjustments to make as far as running smoothly with Rich, there is a tendency of things falling by the wayside. Therefore making interns helpful to pick up the slack. Today I organized envelopes to mail out to people we had met with and had promised to send them things. There were follow ups with people we had met with weeks before and probably had been expecting some follow up for a while now. Then I assisted with reviewing HEL determinations from all clients from 2008-2011. It was tedious but interesting to get a snapshot of all the different applications and clients the NRCS has worked with in the past 3 years.

5-16-11

As the deadline of the end of my two quarters at the NRCS approach, I have become more desperate to finish my project. Technically it shouldn't take too long to accomplish, but because I can only work on it while in the office and it has to be a day when Rich isn't there, it has been hard to do. Also, I know that Angie is working on her own things, and I always feel bad interrupting. So in exchange, I spent half my day helping her get CA EE 52 sheets done and she helped me begin my conservation plan.

For my conservation plan, a lot of the time was spent trying to figure out what practices would be necessary on this property. Once I had an idea, based off what was discussed in the field visit as well as what she was applying for (Organic EQIP). The difficult part was knowing what the "technical" name of each practice was, and since I was using Rich's computer, he wasn't there to ask. I decided brush management to help control the french broom invasives on her 1st field. This is meant to help reduce the fire load and create a field usable as a pasture. The goal of that field was to create a pasture area for sheep and goats. It is also on a slope so there needed to be fencing and some sort of erosion control. The client was hoping to use hedgerows as a type of separation on the field to allow for rotational grazing. That meant the entire field was consider prescribed grazing as well and had electrical fencing surrounding it. The last thing I wanted to include, was mulching on field 3. This was to recreate a top soil, since the field appeared to be a bedrock. I also wanted to redo the access road and do brush management followed by critical area planting on the sloped area near the barn.

I faced a couple of issues with all this. One of the first things was that the last time I had made a conservation plan map, I wasn't going to be generating the conservation plan as well. The correct way to create a conservation plan, is to create the map which generates the plan for you. However, Rich always makes the plan and then has someone else make the map, so I wasn't sure on how to generate the plan. I kept having to check in with Angie to make sure I was doing it right. And then I had issues with having practices on the outside of field boundaries. Because the client didn't identify her entire property, but rather fields, I was unable to make a plan for the access road and the brush next to the barn since they were outside the field boundaries. In the end, I created a plan that will most likely be used and added on to for the actual plan.

So in exchange of helping me with the map, I helped Angie out by doing CA EE 52 sheets, which are basically narratives of each of the practices and how they are benefitting the land. Since I don't have an extensive knowledge on each practice the NRCS does, I found this a bit intimidating but Angie told me to do my best. After a while, I begun to get the language right and it become easier. Then it became tedious and after dealing with GIS all day, we decided we were calling it a day. It is always a bit frustrating with Rich not there because it makes it difficult to get answers to questions making it hard to move forward with projects. On the other hand, I know Angie is definitely the person to talk to when I need to do anything with GIS so it was beneficial to have her there.

5-11-11

I specifically came in today to work on my senior project. Because my office only has two computers, one for Rich and one for Angie, I had to find a day where one of them would be out of the office. The missing parts of my project included mostly maps, so I needed help from Angie. Rich was out on field visits all day so this was the perfect opportunity. I think working on these maps are the most rewarding aspect of working on these folders because you get a finished product when you are done and they look so official. It’s the fact that I solely created them, and they are going to be used in the client’s application. So today I made a location and soil map. I also worked on the CNDDB map, which ended up being a nightmare. The property is mostly forestland and has a huge amount of endangered species on the property. Then on top of having a lot of endangered/threatened/species of concern, they had multiple one occupying the same habitat. It turned into how to make various patterns on top of each other just to see that there were 4 species in this one place. But after I accomplished that, it was time to work on the conservation map. This was the part I was most concerned/most eager to do. I had done one before, but this had been without needing to make it generate a conservation plan. Normally Rich will make a conservation plan and then after, have someone make the map. According to Angie, the easier and best way to make a conservation plan is to have it generated from when you make the conservation map. This is the meat of the application since it shows what practices they are doing, where on their property it is going, and when they are scheduled to do the practices. I got to the point of drawing shapefiles in to represent the various practices but hit some problems as soon as it was time to attribute them as particular practices and make them generate the conservation plan. After a while, I needed a break because its frustrating working for an extended time in GIS. I have joked with Angie that we need stress relieving techniques to deal with GIS. Instead we got coffee and called it a day. I’m planning on setting aside another day to complete that next week.

5-9-11

Today felt like it went by much faster than it normally does, probably due to the fact that the morning was spent in the office and the 2nd half of the day was done in the field. I worked in the office making some Soil Survey maps for upcoming field visits. Recently, a lot of the maps have been difficult to create because they aren’t off a road, or the entire property is forested. Until you have been out to the property it is hard to know exactly where the boundaries are. I also helped Angie with a couple HEL forms. She had just recently found out a better way of doing this from the office by creating a layer that had topographic lines which you could control the intervals in which they are placed. From there you can figure out the length and do rise over run to find the slope of the field, without going into the field. We were mostly focusing on one of the HEL determinations we had gone out into the field to do, because the FSA had made his entire farm one field, rather than splitting it by his various fields. We were determining if maybe he wouldn’t be classified as High Erosion Level if they had split the fields. Unfortunately, that was not the case. There was also issues with the fact that the tenant was the one that asked us to do an HEL not the landowner. This meant the landowner was now liable for creating a conservation plan with the NRCS to avoid farming with the high hazard of erosion. I also spent some time working on modifying 2004 and 2006 plans. Apparently modifications of plans change a lot, especially to keep your funding. That requires changing the expected dates of practices so that people are labeled as behind and dropped from the program. It used to be a few years ago, Rich encouraged everyone to sign up for everything they thought they could achieve. Now people are having difficulty finishing them so practices have to be deleted.

The field visit today was a bit interesting. The property was above a pretty severe cliff face drop with a meandering river at the bottom. The property owner had redwoods at the back of the property as well as a deck. The problem was due to lot of drainage going through the deck and then falling down the cliff to cause a slide. There was also the fact that the redwoods have increased weight on the top of the slide and were in danger of falling, as they are a shallow rooted tree. The client wanted Rich’s opinion on cutting the redwoods and using them to make a slope stabilization structure at the bottom to stop the river from meandering too much. The danger was that the client wanted to do this without getting permitting. Without permitting means that he could actually cause great harm because no one would ensure it was done correctly, and if something did occur, the project would have to be removed and/or a fine would be given. Overall, I didn’t feel comfortable that someone was going to be making this big of a change without any oversight. I also don’t think I enjoyed the meeting because the client wanted us to abseil down the cliff by holding onto a rope tied to his deck. I had a sprained ankle; definitely wasn’t going to happen. Thankfully, Rich told him we didn’t have time.

5-2-11

Today I came in to find...no Rich. Angie informed me that Rich was sick and wasn't going to be coming in. I knew he had to be really really sick if he wasn't coming to work, because over the time I have worked with him, I know how passionate he is about working. He has repeatedly said how he doesn't understand the concept of retiring when you can still be creating good and even tried to work when the rest of the government was looking at a furlough week. This also meant that there was most likely going to be little for me to do. I continued my project from the previous week working on sending out paperwork to all Farm Bill applicants from the past 3 years which involved sending a lot of emails. After I had exhausted that task, I helped Angie with some Conservation Plans. Normally, you map the Conservation practices on the map creating a Conservation Plan Map with generates a Conservation Plan. But because Rich is anti-computer and not a fan of GIS, he has a tendency to create Conservation plans without a map. This has now become the bane of Angie's existence when she attempts to create Conservation Plan maps from the Conservation plan. When I attempted to do so, I found it to be really difficult to work backwards and create the map from only the words found in the Conservation plan. So you end up having to draw on an assortment of paperwork found in the folder. Another recent discovery is that almost all applications require some sort of modification so I spent the rest of the time changing dates for planned actions back so that the clients had more time to develop their practices. After this, there really wasn't too much I could do to help without Rich's guidance.

4-26-11

Today was a full field day, but I got to spend some time with Angie. Since she is new and is still technically not full time, Rich has not been giving her too much to do, but I was finally beginning to see some delegation of work. Because she is still learning her job and I am always learning, it is fun to work through it together. We had receieved a call from someone the day before asking for help with determining an HEL which confused me since we normally only perform HELs when someone is applying for a Farm Bill Program. However, after getting us slightly lost, we arrived at the farm to determine their slope. It turned out to be a farm name I had heard around down at the farmer's market so it was interesting to see where their products came from. Basically in determining an HEL, it is a matter of the soil type and the slope. So in this case, Angie used a slope determining tool, found what angle she was pointing to have it match with me across the field, and did a rise/run by determing what her stride equaled in feet. Because there was a flatter portion of the field and then a steeper portion, we considered these two different fields and determined the HEL for both. I also got to see Angie do a basic soil test to check whether the soil was loam or sand or clay. Apparently, in her undergrad at Cal Poly SLO, they would have competitions with other schools to compete on who could best determine the soil type. It was interesting to hear how different her version of environmental studies was compared to the program I am in at UCSC.

After struggling to drive on the unpaved land, we finally made it to our next appointment. This was a follow up meeting with one of the larger land owners for a strawberry field. They had previously met and created a mock up of the conservation plan, including sediment ponds and crop rotation. One of the problems they were facing was the fact that they rented the field out every other year to allow for different crops and were unsure of whether the other farmer would be ok with these practices. To be honest, there was a lot of repetition and this was mostly a meeting between Rich, the land owner, and Jim, the engineer and felt little to contribute. I have found that the initial meeting when we survey the property to find the problems are the ones that are most enjoyable to me because I have an opportunity to ask questions and develop my problem solving skills myself. It is extremely difficult to stay involved and interested when you are only watching a conversation and not contributing.

4-25-11

It's definitely Spring in the office which meant one thing; SPRING CLEANING! So I came in and helped get out forms to everyone in the last 3 years who had participated in any Farm Bill Funding programs. This basically entailed searching through a lot of filing cabinets to collect all the emails I could find. Once I wrote the list and prepared it to be mailed out the next day, it was on to the cleaning. The NRCS shares an office with the RCD and when your boss has been there for 25 years, things definitely begin to accumulate. The "conference room" had become a storage room to signs used by the RCD and years and years of files. I worked with Angie and John to move the 10 ft long RCD sign into the room and then began the long process of going through paperwork. Apparently, after a certain amount of years, most the files from the NRCS are supposed to be shipped to storage somewhere on the east coast. So we had to be really careful on what we threw out. There was also a lot of strange things we found. There were weird publications, still relevant today, and waders, and even my boss' old modeling resume. Eventually, we found paperwork that was no longer required but was confidential. There are occasionally times where I see how working for the federal branch varies from any other job. I ended up on staple removing and shredding for the rest of the day. Clearly, this was not the most educational day or fun day, but it was necessary. It shows the need to stay organized especially when you are required to keep paper files. But mostly it was a history into this organization and the kind of work they have produced over the years. There was a lot pertaining to issues that are still occuring today and shows that environmental work is a continued process in educating people and encouraging them to become better stewards of the land.

4-19-11

Today began in the Safeway parking lot waiting for Rich to pick me up. On days where it is going to be field visits all day and they are in the Santa Cruz area, Rich will usually pick me up rather than have me back track by driving to the office. Our first stop was in Davenport where we picked up our geologist, the most impressive and sharp minded 80 year old I have ever met, Roberta. Once in Davenport we met with a resident to discuss the issues of land movement they have been having. I say land movement over land slide because of how far the land moved. The neighborhood is situated at the base of a slight slope where there is land that was irrigated 10 years ago but now is just open pasture. Last year, there was a movement of soil covering about 100 yards before reaching the streets which from there it moved down the street before hitting the side of the 1. There was another less severe occurrence of this at the end of March which spurred our visit. From what we could see, there was a gully forming among the small hillsides that led to the neighborhood. Despite attempts to divert it, it moved over the open space and then went for the lowest points which was the streets. This was being considered for the Emergency Watershed Protection program but since that requires danger to life and property and this was more of a nuisance, it was unlikely it would receive funding. However, it definitely required follow up because it was not normal expectations for the land type.

The next location was in Bonny Doon as a first meet with a new client. The property owner had a large parcel of mostly forest land but was interested in what NRCS had to offer. I don't think I had been on a first visit with Rich since the first month of my internship and it was fun to hear the great things NRCS has to offer. The client just continued to look at Rich with awe while exclaiming you are a gift from heaven. There was also another girl there, a graduate of UCSC interested in helping to create pastured areas on the property. Overall we discussed the different land types we addressed and decided that a follow up visit to walk the entire property or at least the problem areas would be necessary to get a better understanding of what we had to offer.

The last visit took me far, far into the Santa Cruz mountains on more back roads than I ever imagined and places I never expected to see. We drove East from Bonny Doon on winding roads to end up closer to Felton and in Boulder Creek. We were greeted by a large assortment of dogs to assist with erosion problems on a horse facility. The property was not very big and tucked away in the hills. The "sacrifice area" was clearly eroding since the paddocks were approximately 5 inches higher leaving an area of concrete as the horses had to step down. There was also a long pasture that was sloping downwards the entire way with plateaus filled with water. Apparently they had used the area as a wedding location a few months ago and had cut into the sides to make plateaus for tables. Unfortunately with the rainfall we had and cutting into the clay level, they have hit the water table leading to a lot of unwanted water. The things I noticed on this visit was that horse people forget there are non horse people in the world. I love horses and would say I have medium experience around them, but if I was uncomfortable around them, I definitely would not want to immediately walk into a pasture and be nudged repeatedly for carrots by two large animals. Fortunately, I know to just push them away. Overall this meeting felt more like a social call than a regular field visit, with the horses showing off and being offered a ride on the worlds highest tree swing (130 feet). But I think that no matter the feeling of the visit, if the solution to their land problem is understood and resolved, then the meeting is a success.

4-18-11

I came in to work today to find absolutely no one in the office. Its never a good sign when you walk in and there is a dark office ahead of you. After talking to one of the RCD employees, I found out Rich was still out on a field visit. I decided to work on some homework to use my time I had available, but I realized that without access to the computer there was very little I could do without Rich around. Because it is a Federal office, all the computers are password protected and despite being a registered volunteer, I do not have a computer login.

Once Rich arrived with Jim, our engineer, I got to work on creating a handful of soil maps. The interesting thing about this job has always been you never see the same thing twice. Each place is different, each problem is a new problem. Rich always says that's why he never tried to get a promotion, he never gets bored working in the field. Anyway, there is a certain aspect of problem solving that always gets me excited. Even soil maps which I should be a pro at by now, are always a new task to face. When you have no farm number or tract number, its impossible to know exactly where someones property line is. I usually pull up google maps and the soil map and by using the given acreage and the fuzzy outlines of properties google provides I can usually infer where my boundaries should be drawn. But there have definitely been times where the information just doesn't match up and its those times that I remind myself to do the best I can with what is given to me.

After completing my maps, Rich and I headed not far from the office for a few field visits. Once we got to the neighborhood, we met with a county employee. Turns out that all the properties on that street were against a creek. Their property lines were against county property on the creek sides and the banks were experiencing landslides. Now since the end of March, almost every field visit I've seen has been the same; they have all been landslides. A lot of Santa Cruz county has some serious slopes with natural soil, compared to where I grew up in flat suburbia covered in concrete. While this is good in allowing more water to permeate into soil, it also results in landslides. The problem in this case was that it was occurring on county land but the problem was from natural causes on the private land owners. Due to a lot of the private property not managing their runoff, it allowed for too much water to enter the county's property and destabilized the bankside. Almost in every case we've seen, the water oversaturated the topsoil and then hit a clay layer in which it could no longer penetrate and then slid off the clay layer. The properties we saw were in danger from the slides because once a slide occurs it will try to stabilize which usually involves moving up the slope where the properties were. Mostly, there needed to be some french drains or some way of collecting the water to stop it from heading directly for the slope.

After seeing four properties lining the creek, we went back to the office where Rich came up with an idea for a project to work on. Because he hadn't been there to give me access to the computer and he believed he was repeating a lot of solutions for similar projects that I should create folders to address certain land issues. These would include necessary publications to share, information such as cover crops etc, and a solutions letter. I worked the rest of the day making the letters I had previously worked on more generic. This included generalizing the farming on a slope letter, the landslide letter, and the horse facility letter.

4-12-11

Because of my schedule this quarter, I am coming in a lot later in the day than I previously have. This meant I am missing out on some of the field appointments I originally would have gotten to go on. The reason this was a problem today was that Rich was out on a field visit when I got to the office. And because its a federal office, I don't have access to the computers when Rich isn't there, meaning there was very little I could do until he arrived. I tried to organize the folders a bit, but the real work didn't start till he got there. At least I got some of my homework done for my other class right?

So basically we did all the things we have been avoiding or haven't gotten done today. The letters I had organized last week, which I thought had been completed and mailed out, were not done. So I had Rich send me everything that might be relevant so I could personalize it to the client and include it in their mailing package. This led to an idea for something I could do when Rich wasn't in the office. We decided that we should create a packet for each type of land use we face that is already prepared to send to clients. These would be Streams/Stream bank erosion, landslides, roads, fire, livestock and drainage control. Rich was talking about how he often feels like he is repeating himself to clients who continue to have similar problems. Once he sent me previous letters he sent to people following up a field visit, I went through and made them more generic. I specifically worked on a horse visit, roads, and hillside farms letters to create spaces where the clients name, dates, details about the property etc. should go. This way, it would make the turnover rate to the clients much quicker. I also worked on a generic summary of most of the problems one sees in Santa Cruz. Rich had previously used it for a presentation four years back so I just organized it and updated it a bit.

I also got to learn about another fun system I could use. Just like the Web Soil Survey, there is a program to help you pick the best seed mix for your property. You can choose based on your location (to know what species are there) and a series of influencing factors such as soil pH, wetness, dryness, salinity, as well as a section based on native vs. non native, irrigated or not, and a few more options. This would then let you choose the percentage of each species. However, I did learn that most people will get upset if you choose perennial grasses. They are known to be expensive and on occasion wont even sprout. So knowing what is best for the client is very important. Also knowing what the property is going to be used for. I noticed fescue being an option. From working on the toxic weeds for horses poster, I remembered that this was a threat to pregnant horses. It would be terrible to recommend someone a pasture mix that would result in killing their horse.

Lastly, we discussed a bit about my senior project. I had originally chosen a client who was at the very beginning of the AWEP stage. Unfortunately, that meant they hadn't registered with the Farm Bureau yet which meant they didn't have a farm number or parcel number. Basically, I wasn't going to be able to map their property or create a Conservation Plan until they did so. So that left me without a particular client. Rich then suggested another one, which I had gone to last quarter. She had various land practices that would allow for a complicated conservation plan and had many elements contributing to their land use. It was also great because I had been to the property and could distinctly remember the issues we had. There had also been no follow up since our field visit except to confirm her interest in the EQIP. So I am now super excited to get started on this senior project. Not only because it means this client is moving forward in her process for funding, but because I know it will be a challenge. I was dreading doing the senior project because I work on the 6 part folders almost everyday. They have a tendency to become bureaucratic and tedious so knowing that I have a complicated, large acreage property to use, I get excited to make the maps.

4-11-11

So I got to end up working today after all. Since we were most likely going to spend all day reviewing the situation with the embankment collapse in Bonny Doon, Rich just picked me up in Santa Cruz and we met up at the Bonny Doon Fire Station with Conrad, a Fish and Game employee as well as Jim, our engineer. There was also Brian from the RCD, who was in charge of the Roads program they have. We went over to the private road that led to the area. I am still unsure whether we were on public land or private land. I knew I overheard some talk about it being on an easement but I don't know whose.

So some history on this project. Rich had been out to see this years in advance, there had always been problems with this one location and erosion. It was after the big Marshall fire right in that area that they started noticing more problems than normal. This was due to the fire wiping out everything that would have usually taken in some of the water. They had created a plan that involved removing the 18 inch culvert for a 3 foot one with another pipe leading down the slope. All of this was to be at a certain angle with 10 inch rock preventing it from eroding. What was in fact done was two 3 foot culverts side by side, without a long enough rock area to prevent erosion, and without a critical dip in case of an overflow.

On the intake side, there was definitely some erosion showing that the pipes were possibly put too low and was allowing the stream to erode the surface. The big problems were on the downstream side. Next to the culverts was a huge gash in the sides where they had fallen into the stream. The rocks were not 10 inches but rather giant boulders which had now also fallen in from the ravine. Most shocking was the fact that two trees were currently lying over the ravine since their root ball had fallen out of the hillside.

The problem with this location is that no one was there to see it. Trying ot figure out what happened so we could avoid it in the future was like attempting to figure out a crime scene. What we seemed to have decided was that because the culvert didn't have a pipe leading down the slope, that the water had moved under the rocks to eat away at the soil. This continued to cut under the rocks leading to a destabilization of the hillsides. This led to them falling into the stream. Another thing we noticed was a large amount of water was not flowing through the culverts. They were actually flowing under the left culvert and out of the cuts where the streambank sides had fallen in. The fact that they water was seeping out showed that it was possible the water was percolating to the clay layer and then moving above the clay layer. This would encourage the land slide we saw.

Another contribution to the flow was actually something I noticed. Being a bit of a scaredy cat, I didn't particularly want to get under the culverts which had so recently had a boulder slide. It didn't seem like a good way to go considering I was only there as an intern. So while they were all looking closely at the culverts, I was looking at the road. The road had originally been pure sand and since Rich's first visit, they had managed to grow some grass on it so that it would have less erosion. They had also installed water bars to direct the water off the road. The exact spot we were also had a layer of hay on it. I was looking at the erosion on the upstream side and was trying to figure out if maybe more water on the upstream was having an effect. It was then that I noticed all the hay was pointing the same direction from the road to the upstream side. I felt just like Aragorn in Lord of the Rings when he's tracking the hobbits (geeky I know). I had managed to figure out something I had not seen from clues shown on the land. It was really exciting to know that I had found a clue in the larger mystery of what happened at those culverts on the 26th.

There was a lot of discussion of next steps on this project. The RCD did have funds for road improvement, but they believed this would be a much larger scale than they usually did. There was also an issue of that this was not the first time everyone had been out to see this. The fact that Fish and Game had ignored the first time NRCS had supplied them with a plan was not working in their favor. However, there was also a discussion that a lot of the materials were already available since they used the same products, just didn't install them correctly. The following are some of the pictures from the location. You can truly see how bad the damage was.

4-6-11

After a day in the field, you know there is a lot of office work to do the day that follows. Because I wasn't really feeling invested in the first field visit yesterday, I took the beginning of the day to get more details on what exactly we had decided for that property. Because so much was already known to Rich from working with the client before, not all the information had been said out loud in front of Angie and I. Turns out the neighbor had sold his land and due to the buyer foreclosing, had received the property again. He had also deep tilled his property so it was creating even more runoff where as a non tilled property would have been able to take in the water coming from the clients property. There had also been some confusion of what practices we were going to do. Basically, this was going to be an intensive project involving leveling one side of the field, taking almost 1/3 of the property out of production and then installing a french drain that would collect the water and pipe it to the other side of the property where there was a natural area to disperse it to allow it to become sheet flow. I definitely felt a lot happier about the project once I fully understood the history and the suggested projects. It is difficult to decide what may be the best option if u are unaware of the property's history.

I also discussed more about the poisonous plants for horses poster. Even though I am no longer doing it as my senior project, I still wanted to have something I could contribute to the RCD and NRCS. Plus, there is a poster symposium and workshop on campus that I thought would be fun to do. This solves the problem of trying to find time to work with Angie (RCD) in the office on creating the style of the poster. We had decided a while ago it would be 10 plants shown, as well as the symptoms, the severity, and how to manage it. I talked to George today, the "plant guy" despite being focused in restoration ecology, about which plants to use. I expect to hear back from him what he believes is the most common in the Santa Cruz area. From there, I plan to get in touch with the veterinarian who has been involved with the livestock and land program about what she sees most often. We plan on putting her name at the bottom as an incentive.

Then we were off to the Soquel water district office to hear the RCD's road plan. I was expecting it to be a discussion of the roads program they have. It actuality it was a ranking of the various projects that have said they have an interest in getting grant money to improve their roads. Most of the projects involved better culverts or replacements of current culverts. They were ranked based on their cost, the amount of effect they would have (either on a high number of people or how far into the watershed they were). There were a lot of projects done in pretty remote areas, but because they would improve turbidity downstream in valuable steel head and coho habitat, they were ranked higher. The RCD expects that they should be able to fund them all. We also saw project successes one of which was attached to the building. They had used last years grant money to install a rain garden and catchment system to the Water District building. One of the most interesting things I saw them do was put crates underground to create more space to hold water underground.

Lastly they presented us with a very recent project resulting from the rains on the 26th. I had previously seen these pictures when they were sent to Rich requesting for assistance, but seeing them after a discussion of these roads and putting it in context, I realized how bad the situation was. The problem was an incorrect culvert was installed after ignoring a design created by the NRCS which had resulted in the side of the waterway to fall in, and this isn't just feet. This was the loss of a few square yards on each side and two full trees. It comes to show you how a change in grade in a culvert or a deviation from an engineered plan can make a huge differences. Rich also informed me that we were going to go look at this project on Monday, if the government allowed it.

Starting this internship, Rich had always guaranteed me that working for the federal government has the highest job security. Now 3.5 months later, we were looking at furlough days with an unknown deadline. Its amazing how much can change in a short amount of time. I knew that unemployment was at a new high, but I never thought they would completely shut down the government. And yet, I was told I was to call in before I came to my internship to make sure I could still show up. Rich was desperately trying to considered as emergency response (they could still work on Monday) since he was responding to people with landslide or property issues relating to the storm. It truly amazed me how much he enjoys his job. Rather than relishing in a day off, he was not just waiting to find out if he could work on Monday, but advocating for a chance to help more people. I found truly inspirational that there are still some people out there who truly enjoy what they do everyday.

4-5-11

Today we had two field visits. The first was apparently a project they had discussed 10 years ago but faced a problem with a neighbor not allowing a pipe through his property. Now 10 years later, the neighbor is back and complaining about the water running off onto his property. The field is currently being rented out to a strawberry grower and is completely lined with plastic. The slope of the property means that all the water gathers on one side of the property. This combined with the plastic means a lot of water is heading to the neighbors property. Since piping it through his property was not an option last time, we decided that this time there could be some regrading and then a sediment pond with controlled releases. While this is one of the most extensive projects and well defined field visits we've done, I was not really feeling useful. Most of the meeting was discussing what was an option before and a lot of it was technical. I definitely benefited from hearing what the solution was to the problem but didn't have anything to contribute because it was so technical.

The next visit was so interesting mostly because of the location. It was in the Aptos area off a private road and had a pasture next to the house. But the most noticeable thing I saw was the 3 llamas lining the road way. Overall this was an incredible property, but we were there to address their land issues. The issue this land owner was having was a stream running through the middle of the pasture. Because of the amount of rain we had, it had grown to be rather large and she had moved the horses out of the pasture because it was unsafe due to unstable ground. That resulted in the grass growing really high, higher than the horses would probably eat. The solution for her land was to pick a better seed mix and to possibly fence off the stream. In reality, it is most likely against the law that the horses were in the pasture at all. When there is a waterway on a property with horses, there are a lot of issues regarding manure. While they had been put in the sacrifice area (a smaller location for the winter so they don't destroy the field) she had been gathering the manure to put in a compost pile. But during the year when they have free range of the pasture, she was not collecting the manure. We suggested maybe splitting the pasture so that the stream was no longer an option. Of course this would be difficult considering it was directly in the middle.

Overall, the day ended well. I think one of the best benefits from this job not pertaining to what I'm learning is the opportunity to see parts of Santa Cruz county I would not normally be allowed to. This was a private road location and we were welcomed onto their land with their permission. It is truly lucky that we get welcomed in considering how wary most people are of the federal government walking around their property. It truly shows the reputation the NRCS carries.

4-4-11

One of the joys of working at this internship 12-15 hours a week means that there is a strong continuation of the work you do. You are able to participate in the request for assistance to the conservation plan, and possibly even the start of the practices. Today was a follow up day from all the field visits from the week before. Because Rich doesn't work on Fridays, and I work Monday through Wednesday, I feel like I usually get to see everything he works on. It also seems like there are certain things he will save for the days where us interns are in to finish. Today my major task was creating envelopes to send out to the four field visits with the information we had promised them. I worked on making soil maps for the clients and finding various information such as a brochure on the EWP and create a database of possible geotech engineers to help with building environmental retaining walls, as well as plants that would be useful on hillsides without creating a load weight. There was also a general letter from Rich telling them it was information following up the field visit. We also included relevant publications the NRCS and RCD had made about drainage near homes and fire control. Overall this was an extremely slow day for me and I got the feeling that Rich was really busy, but unable to delegate work to me. Because of the huge storm event, he was doing a lot of work contacting the large amount of people asking for help with landslides and road damage. This wasn't something I could help him with so I felt a bit unnecessary today. I really wished I had been able to help take some of the work, or possibly search through the NRCS databases to find applications these clients needed but occasionally there is work that I am not legally allowed to do. I guess its part of working for the federal department and from lacking experience.

3-30-11

This past weekend we had a huge storm pass through Santa Cruz and it created a lot of work for the NRCS and the RCD. Many properties were damaged due to a lot of water runoff and today was all about trying to find ways to resolve that. It was also the first day I met the other intern for this quarter, Michelle, who was doing a 2 unit to get more experience. The first house we saw was in a residential area overlooking the Santa Cruz bay. It was a small property and the issue was the huge slope in their backyard. They had a large deck and starting at the edge of the deck there was a slide in the middle of their backyard slope. It was about 1/3 of the backyard with one of the other sides covered with ice plant and the base of the backyard going into a nature area. So there was no damage to any property below, but there was a concern for the destabilized hillside and the large pile of soil at the base of it. When looking at the stratification of the soil where the slide occured, you could see that the first 18 inches or so which had slid, was sandy surface soil while below that was a clay layer. What Rich decided was that water moving from the front yard and through the deck had gone into the soil, hit the clay layer, and moved forward taking the soil with it, resulting in the slide.

I learned that the short term options for a landslide like this was very small. Basically there was a ponding of water where the soil was gathered at the bottom of the slide. Rich recommended that the landowner try to keep that dry so that the hillside will not become further destabilized. Long term, they had been considering a retaining wall at the base of the deck to keep the soil under the deck from exposing the foundations. The problem with this is that unless it was engineered correctly, water would build up pressure behind it and cause it to collapse. The suggestion was to build the retaining wall with piping to remove the water pressure behind it. Another suggestion was to put a french drain under the entire front yard to move the water from just going along the clay layer. Once the hillside was restabilized, there should be planting of non heavy woody plants with a deep root system but not too much weight on the hillside. Also to find fire and drought resistant plants which is always a concern in the Santa Cruz area. Overall, I found this visit to be one thats extremely frustrating for the landowner and costly in the future.

The next visit was probably even more frustrating for all parties. We went to a property that bordered a creek and owned the property to the middle of the creek. The problem was that this creek was below a 150 foot cliff next to the house and was continuing to eat away at the cliff side, making the property next to the house unstable. There was very little that the NRCS can do, because the project would be a very large scale. She had already lost part of the property to it falling into the creek. The creek was creating a meandering patter which had the thalwag (the point where if the water is low will continue going also where there is the most velocity) was coming against the cliff side and continued erroding it. I definitely got to apply my restoration ecology terms such as thalweg and oxbow lake to this property since my professors experience was in river restoration. The only thing we could offer her was an entry into the Emergency Watershed Program, which has funding from the government to help these large scale projects endangering a valuable waterway. The client was mostly concerned with losing parts of the property and her safety and was willing to help in any way possible.

I think today was the first time I had seen severe problems that we necessarily weren't able to provide a large amount of help. It was frustrating for me to know that there was so little help for someone fearful for their house falling into a creek and had very little control over mother nature, which in this case was the nature meandering pattern of the creek. Angie pointed out that she did buy a property next to the cliff, but through being environmentally friendly through allowing the river to take its general course is now coming back to threaten her home.

Lastly, we headed to the Santa Cruz Farm Bureau where they had a guest lecturer discuss the benefits of lined furrows in strawberry plants. The main concern of this groups is the Pajaro Valley watershed and refilling aquifers to use for irrigation of agriculture in the area. The study showed that there was an decrease in runoff and the need for a sediment pond as well as an increase in water refilling the ground water. It was interesting to hear how the environmental practices are also the most cost effective in the long run. When you are discussing land manangement with farmers, they are going to care less about being a good steward of the land and more about the most cost effective way for them to farm. It is really important that this group realizes they need to be concerned for groundwater before they have a drought.

3-29-11

Today was one of those days at work that make me realize that sometimes I am a bit un-prepared. I haven't really thought too much about a "work dresscode" meaning I usually wear what I was wearing earlier that day. That has left me in a tough spot once before when I was walking around someone's property in flip flops and trying to not slip down a hillside. Since then, I had tried to make sure I wore closed toe shoes, but this time, I was wearing shorts.

The property we went to first was a hillside property hoping to have pastures for horses, either through a circle pasture to run them or a possible one into the forest. The first idea was a discussion of permits. How close can a pasture be to a well? These are one of those times we realize that there are rules you must comply with before you decide "this is my property and I can do whatever I please with it." There was also a problem with a huge amount of springs "daylighting" to the surface around the area. This meant that there were concerns of contaminating waterways with horse manure as well as unsteady ground and erosion due to these springs. The other idea the client had was to put a pasture in the forest. Right away I knew that was not the best idea. First, the ways were treacherous (I definitely slipped trying to walk up through the springs popping up) and then from working on the toxic weeds poster I noticed a large amount of acorns on the ground, which are known to cause colic and death in horses. It was also around this time that I looked at Angie and said "Hey Angie, thats poison oak isn't it?" And which she replied, "Yes I'm pretty sure it is. Also watch out for ticks." Great. I was now slipping in mud, tramping through poison oak, and had to regularly check my body for little black bugs burrowing into my skin. Definitely not what I had planned on doing that day when I heard we were having a horse visit.

We discussed a bit more about creating a trails system around the property as a sort of "pasture" which would include fencing on both sides to keep the horses from the dangerous hillside. We also reviewed a lined waterway that had been built on the property. It was not finished yet but was a great start to controlling runoff and erosion on a hillside property. It had softball sized rock with filter fabric underneath and led to a culvert with a large slotted fence in front to catch debri. It was an excellent project to see, and while NRCS weren't the ones who designed/recommended it, it was the first time I had gotten to see a finished product of the type of projects we recommend.

The next property we looked at was a small farm that was already CCOF certified and was looking for anything that would help make their farm more environmentally friendly. Overall, they had already done a lot that we recommend such as crop rotation, well managed drip irrigation, lined furrows. Basically they were interested in finding a way to improve their road. Measures were discussed about organic sprays that keep the dust from the road down, or rerouting it to a different location farther from the crops. The following is some of the pictures of the road where throughcuts are evident.

an example of the drip irrigation

3-28-11

So my first day back was not one filled with a ton of excitement. It was more like a day to get back into the groove of things and adjust to having Angie (the new employee who was part time before break) around for more of the time. Basically the deadline for AWEP applications were coming up so we spent most of the day adding more paperwork to the six part folder. I created folders for those who had only so far been a few correspondance note and a request for assistance paper clipped together and made them official folders. We also worked a bit on mapping the sites, since a majority of them were already in the system. This included property, CNDDB, and Soil maps (not from the web soil, but through GIS) to add to their folders. We also prepared for the field visits the next day.

I definitely was feeling very unmotivated at work today. I know there are often days where it is exciting and we go out into the field, but I also get really tired of working on the six part folders. I originally had planned on working on a toxic weeds poster as my senior project. I knew it would be useful to the RCD and NRCS and wanted to have something I contributed back to them. However, the more time I spend working on the folders, I realize why every intern before submits one of those folders as their senior project. It is because it is the single most item you have the most familiarity with and because it covers every aspect of the internship, whether its communicating with the clients, notes from the field, maps, and conservation plans. All of the work we do is put in paper form as one of these folders. And while they get tedious and I definitely get irritated with updating them and organizing them with the checklist, they are absolutely necessary to the job. Which is why I have now changed over to a six part folder for my senior project.

3-14-11 Part 1 completed!

So I have completed part 1 of my internship and can't wait to begin once more next quarter. I really have enjoyed working at the NRCS and am amazed at what I have learned. I have done 2 internships before this and while both were fun experiences, I left each of them learning more about how frustrating working on environmental projects can be instead of seeing the success. At NRCS, I see mostly success. I know a lot of that has to do with Rich. He goes above and beyond to try to help as many people as he can, even going to people's land that is far below the acreage we should be seeing. He understands that this can help in ways we would not be able to measure, depending on their land use and where they are in the watershed.

I have also learned so much. Not only am I learning how to apply the techniques I learned in my restoration ecology class, I am seeing the type of problems you face in the resource management field and learning how to solve them. I have been able to improve my GIS skills which I look forward to improving more next quarter. I also have learned to perform erodible land determinations, how to create conservation reports, and the people skills necessary when coming onto someones land as a guest and giving them advice againsts what they normally do. Most importantly, I've learned to have hope for my field once more. A lot of what you hear in environmental studies is the difficulty of never being able to do enough, or facing a lot of conflict when trying to create environmental projects. At NRCS, I see federal money being used on valuable projects and people interested in being better stewards of the land. I would love to be the person helping facilitate this growth and change in the future and I can't wait to start work next quarter.

3-9-11

I have never felt so frustrated by something only to feel complete and utter pride at the end than I did today. So each EQIP application not only needed the map I made yesterday under the tutelage of Angie showing the endangered species, they also need one showing the conservation practices that will be included in their plan. Rich gave me a folder with some general instructions and wished me the best of luck. I having really had to do my own GIS project, by myself, in over a year. I was fearful and doubtful in my abilities to make something correctly. The problem was that under normal circumstances, you make the GIS map first and it generates the conservation plan for you. Due to time constraints, Rich had already made the conservation plan and now needed the map. Which is where I came in.

So I had to work backwards in attempting to create this map. The pressure was on as I checked it out of the NATIONAL database, where if I screwed up, someone else could check it out and see the damage I had wreaked. I began comfortably enough, adding layers that needed to be included. Finding the property I was focusing on wasn't difficult after my refresher yesterday. However, once it was time for me to make layers, then it got interesting. I had to create lines, points and polygons for the various practices. Unfortunately, if you miss one step, you can do a lot of damage. I accidentally edited a layer rather than make a new one, which then meant I spent the next hour trying to undo what I had done. Once I finally got it back to normal (which led to a loud YES! and my fists being shot into the air) I started the real work. Once I got the hang of it, it wasn't too difficult to keep repeating. Once I finished, I looked doubtfully at the attribute table, found it didn't look too shady and told Rich I had finished. I had no doubt that if someone looked carefully at the data behind what I created it would not be correct, but the map looked pretty! Then I looked at the clock and realized I had taken the entire day working on one map. Rich was amazed I had figured it out and then tried to figure out if he could get me to come in extra so he wouldn't have to do the next five applications. At the rate I took, I didn't have 25 hours during finals week to make maps. It may have taken me forever and frustrated me to the point of tears, but I successfully made a GIS map! I was very proud of my creation and left for the day smiling.

3-7-11

I finally got to have some experience working with GIS today! I had originally planned to do a GIS intermediate seminar as my graduation requirement. I really liked seeing what the program was capable of doing and wanted to have a better understanding of GIS. Unfortunately, I needed something between intro and intermediate first. So the goal was to find an internship that had some GIS in it so that I could learn how to apply it. And today was finally the day!

We have to make GIS maps for all the accepted EQIP applicants showing their location in relevance to endangered or threatened species. This included finding the property through a query then creating a one mile buffer of the location. Then you clip the buffer with the list of threatened species and voila! you have your map. The fun/difficult part turned out to be trying to find different colors and patterns to assign to various species. We seem to have a lot of species with the same habitat meaning there would be 3 species all overlapped according to the map. It was fun to play with the program again and I hope to continue improving my skills.

3-3-11

Today was a great adventure...literally. I came to the office and we left to head into the Santa Cruz mountains. I thought it would be a 30 minute drive, but instead it was an hour long drive through the beautiful forests and then onto a ridge road filled with potholes, cliff edges, and mud that flew up higher than the car when we drove through. The truck was bouncing like crazy but the view was amazing. The property was on the edge of a hill looking out to the boardwalk, the lighthouse, all of west cliff, then east cliff, and all the way around from Watsonville to Monterey. I guess if you are going to face treachorous roads, it better be worth it. The client was super nice and was great to chat through as we trekked her long driveway.

The client was asking us to do a road walk. Her "driveway" was off the ridge road and led to a couple of different properties. The problem was that the road was unpaved and it had been raining so it was basically mud. The problem was "cut throughs" making ruts in the road because the side of the road were higher so the road was the lowest point. There was also runoff from the driveways onto the main driveway. They had been putting gravel down, but it wasn't really working. There was a good thing already in place; there was a culvert at the low point, but not exactly where the lowest part is. The danger of a culvert at the lowest point is that the water will weaken the pipes and the driving over it will eventually crush it.

Rich recommended that they pave the portions where the road is the lowest point, but the best recommendation was to try to reduce the way water traveled on the road through grading the road better. The other thing we looked at was the effect of the 2008 fire that was in the Santa Cruz mountains. You could see how much had grown back and what was taking slower to repopulate. Also, there was a lot of the same type of plant, mostly a pine that needed fire for the seed bank to fertilize.

We then drove a different way out and I got to see another part of Santa Cruz I had never seen before. It was very tropical looking and secluded. There were some beautiful properties that these people had owned for generations. We also got to drive past a few of the properties I had been working on for the EQIP applications. Overall, an incredible day spent in the field.

3-1-11

Today I continued working on creating new applications for the people who didn't get funding. We switched everyone from EQIP to AWEP and sent out all of the paperwork. I spent a good portion of my time working on HEL determinations. These are High Erosion land determinations and I had attempted to work on them before and was defeated. This time, I had to do 3 fields for each application which there were 5 of them, and mail them out to the FSH and the clients and also make various copies for the office. I felt so proud that I actually figured out something I struggled with originally and this time I did it easily. Its great to know that I am learning things and able to apply them again!

2-28-11

Today was one of those busy days where when I look at what I accomplished, it doesn't really look like that much. Basically I completed the checklist for the Farm Bill folders. But what this entailed was printing out cultural descriptions, filling out missing parts of their application, and mailing out information that needs signatures. I also edited a recommendation for the property where there was the blowout of the sediment pond. While this may sound boring, it's a lot to get done in the short 3 hours I am at the office on Mondays. I think I can thrive in both locations, in the field and in the office. I know these people are relying on this grant money to make a change for the best on their land. It's so incredible that we are able to provide them with this money.

The other thing I did was help transfer the 7 people who didn't get funding to a different program that may have money available to fund some smaller projects. This isn't something you should normally do, and the deadline was one day past but Rich did it anyway. I think it was really great that he really just wants to help the people. He always says that its hard to measure how much good the NRCS has caused because he can only report the projects that go through a planning program. Rich has gone many times to help advise people and they didn't go through the planning process. Also, its hard to measure the effects down the watershed from anyone we help at the top of a watershed. Either way, I think the work the NRCS does is extremely valuable, no matter whether its reported to the head in DC or not.

2-23-11

Two field days in a row! I couldn't ask for more. Today we met up with someone from Fish and Wildlife, 2 people from the Salinas NRCS, and 2 people from the RCD. We drove out to Watsonville to see a farm area I remember making the soil map for. There is a program for funding to turn your field into a wetland and put it into an easement. The property we went to see was already mostly inundated, as it is for 9 months out of the year. The reason we were all out to look at the field was to find the best way to create the wetland. Did we want islands and ponds or a series of streams to create riparian zones? The most benefitial design would be to create the most habitat for the most amount of species. It was really interesting to apply what I had learned from my restoration ecology class. I have always enjoyed learning about wetlands because they are such a complicated feature and always in danger of being destroyed, so it was great to see someone deciding to turn farmland to a wetland again.


The next property we looked at was a series of multiple farms and property owners with a flooded field. The difference between this one and the previous land we looked at was that this was much larger and deeper. It appeared much more as a lake than a flooded field and it was also a lot deeper than the other field. There was also a stream running through it when it isn't flooded that had steelhead salmon, making it a possible habitat for salmon. Its also drained every year with pumps so it is possible to remove all the water. This is most likely not a property that can be in the wetlands program because it is too deep to create uplands habitat.

2-22-11

I had a day filled with field appointments today. Normally I would consider this a good day since it involves being outside, talking to people, and seeing different lands and parts of Santa Cruz. The first client was even better than usual while the second was just plain frustrating.

The first stop of the day was a horse ranch. I had been waiting for a ranch trip ever since I began this job. I had grown up going to horse camps and always love being around them so I couldn't wait for the day that I could go to work and spend time with horses. Today we met with a client and a compost specialist that helped them with composting their manure. The main reason we were called out was for erosion help. There was a sandy arena at the bottom of a hill with a driveway that had runoff flowing into the arena and then all the sediment was flowing out of one of the corners into the creek every time it rained. Not only was this damaging the waterway, but they were having to spend a lot of money on buying new sand for the arena. There were two options: either attempt to divert water off the driveway before it reaches the arena, or section off the corner of the arena and put in a sediment basin with a drain. Rich said it was probably best to do both and use the sediment basin as an insurance. The other thing we discussed was the composting of manure. I know almost nothing about composting and had managed to avoid horse manure in the many years of riding. Despite all that, I listened intently about how they could better compost and then use the composted manure as bedding for the horses while standing around their manure dump watching the dog eat horse poo. Not what I would have imagined, and yet, I was completely ok with it. They had also been red flagged for having too steep of a paddock which is when I got to pet Grant, an overly hungry, nudgy, quarter horse. Then it was time to head to the next meeting.

The next meeting was not one of my favorites. We met up with the guy farming the land, who made myself and the older lady from the county climb a hillside of mud just to get on the property. This was a smaller farm next to a ginormous house. Unfortunately, the farm was on a steep slope and all the runoff was being directed to a sediment pond at the bottom of the hill. This farm had been red flagged by the county because the wall of the pond had blownout during the recent storm and flooded into the nearby street and then into the stream next to the roadway. The temporary fix? Pipes leading to the stream and sandbags to fill the hole. And the farmers just kept talking about solutions for right now, except that during the winter and rain, you cant do any large land moving permanent projects. They should have done cross slope planting to help reduce erosion and they should have had a cover crop in before the rainy season. Because they had attempted to plant radish in Sept, they cover crop wasnt put in until November and was not a fast growing grass. While I stood in the sun and listened to how they wanted to just pipe the water to one location, I thought about when Rich told me it was better to spread the water so it could sink in and not erode. I also was thinking of ways to reduce runoff that I had learned from my restoration ecology class. I had originally thought that either rip rap could be an option, but Rich told me that rip rap needs to have fairly clean water. Another thought I had was a vegetation buffer at the bottom of the farm so that it could take up any of the water instead of pushing it all into a pond. Rich told me this was a pretty good idea and something they should consider as a long term plan. I was pretty pleased that I had noticed a problem and thought of an appropriate solution.

2-16-11

Today was a single task day, but it was not the usual tedious paperwork. Rich had a farmer he was nominating as a small "socially disadvantaged" farmer basically meaning he had a small acreage and was diverse. The farmer only spoke spanish and had previously relied on his son as a translator. My job today was to create a powerpoint showing why this man was up for this award. Rich gave this project to me with all the information already prepared and a template for what the State wanted this powerpoint to look like. Pretty much it was already done. I sat down and began to look at the template and realized, it was kinda awful. I asked Rich if I could deviate and he said he thought it was terrible too and to go for it. Now, I've been doing powerpoints since we got computers at my elementary school in the 2nd grade. It was either that or Oregon Trail and I had a tendency of getting bit by a rattlesnake and dying so I was always making powerpoints. If you are going to give me free reign and all day as my time limit, I am going to have some fun. I spent half my time playing with the fonts and attempting to create better colors. In the end, Rich said he thought it looked great and he was amazed with how quickly I did it. I didn't want to tell him that most of the time I was trying to figure out whether I liked the Script font or the Kristen font. I also did a slight bit of research about noxious weeds for horses.

2-15-11

Today I finished off what I was working on yesterday and sent out the HEL forms to both the regulatory Federal Department and the clients. Anytime I have to use a technology other than the computer I'm always scared that I am going to break something. I went to fax these papers to the federal department and was terrified the whole time that I was going to accidentally send private information to a random person. As far as I know it eventually got where it was supposed to be.

Then Rich and I headed out to go to a meeting with the Santa Cruz farm bureau where they were discussing Pajaro Valley irrigation. It was a mix of a couple of big farm owners, Kelli from the RCD, and a couple of other people from the Bureau. The discussion was about better ways to improve irrigation in the Pajaro Valley. One of the things you have to worry about as a committee was to make sure you don't recommend only one practice because it appears to be monopolizing or forcing an agenda. They discussed better land practices for the soil such as letting it stay fallow or rotating crops to get more nutrients back into the soil. The NRCS offered to help with funding if they let it stay fallow or put in a cover crop. Another discussion was about creating a flashier website for the Pajaro Valley District to make it easier and less formal like other federal websites. This is when I got a lot of expecting looks from the people around the table. Hey if they need it, and Rich wants me to do it, I am always willing to help! The meeting was interesting because I got to meet some of the big names I had seen on the packaging of my produce in this area.

2-14-11

Oh valentines day...I had almost forgotten about it until I got to work and Rich asked why I wasn't wearing red. How do you tell the happily married boss that you despise this day? You don't, instead you let them tell you about their v-day plans. This took up some time, but it was nice to get to know Rich better. I've usually been one of those people who tries to keep extremely professional in job positions because I'm always concerned with getting too comfortable and saying something that makes me worry to list them as a reference. But I've learned that getting to know people is part of the networking and it makes the work environment much better.

Seeing as its midterm check in time for my internship, it was time to discuss my senior project. I am required to do a senior project as part of my graduation requirement. Rich had recently discussed some ideas about personalizing the Conservation Plan folder and making it more visually appealing. There was also an idea about creating a visual and easy friendly guide to various land problems and practices that could be installed. Another option would be helping the RCD with their livestock meeting. They were in need of a poster or information publication about the noxious weeds for horses. Ideally, this would be done in poster size and hung in barns to help ranchers know the weed as well as the symptoms their horses were showing. This would also have some advice on how to avoid bringing these weeds in such as importing your hay.

I also worked on some HEL forms or the erosion forms for some farms. The government doesn't want to give money to people if they are going to be farming on highly erosive land. I had tried to do HEL forms before but got confused and was unable to ask Rich to go through it again. This time I made sure I had it down. Basically, it involves finding where the farm is, what soils there are, whats their permability, slope, and slope length. After doing 3 of these, I think I finally have it down, though it requires a field visit to know the slope of the field.

2-9-11

The due date for the Farm Bills is quickly approaching, and it appears that a lot of our folders are missing a lot of forms. Perfect project for an intern; go through 20 folders with a checklist to see whats missing. Unfortunately, there were a lot of things missing and a lot of those were forms I wasn't familiar with. Then it was time to search the computer for the forms and fill them out as best as I could. The main thing I was looking for were the practices recommended in their plans and the specifications for each one. While this sounds simple, it was quite time consuming. There were at least 5-10 practices for each folder and about 20 folders. This means a lot of searching, printing, hole punching and organizing. One would think that I would go through this task simply and easily. However, this is me we are talking about so there was bound to be a disaster around the corner. About 2 folders from the end, the printer ran out of paper. No big deal, I knew where the paper was and I refilled it, hit resume printing to hear the printer make a weird noise and then start beeping. Rich had left early and so it was just me and a couple of the RCD employees in the office. After 5 minutes of attempting to solve the problem myself, I gave in and asked one of the other employees to give me a hand. After trying to follow the directions of paper jam removal we found there was no paper jammed! But the printer still wouldn't work. I finally realized there was no hope and went home early feeling frustrated that I couldn't finish my task.

2-8-11

After such a fun field trip yesterday, I assumed there would be some office work today. We did some updates from the client visit yesterday. This included mailing information about erosion control and doing research about Broom removal tools. Once I got that all collected and mailed out it was on to a couple of soil maps. I'm really getting good at making soil maps, not that its that hard. But it's kinda fun when Rich gives me a map of somewhere and asks me to make a soil map. Trying to figure out the address feels like I am being a detective.

Then onto the tedious part of the job. I had to go through all the Farm Bill applications and find Direct Deposit Forms that were out of date. Then make a list of those for Rich to get new forms for. Unfortunately, this is how I finished my day. The benefit is that I am becoming really familiar with the organization of the folders and the clients.

2-7-11

Today we had a field visit in the Santa Cruz mountains. Rich picked me up as well as Angie, the new soils conservationist working with the NRCS. She is a masters student at Cal Poly so she isn't going to be full time till April. As we continued our drive into the mountains, Rich talked about the invasive acacia lining the road and how it had originally come from Africa. It was perfect that he talked about how despite it being invasive, many people wanted to plant it for its appearance, because we were about to go to a property dealing with invasives. We also passed over a couple of creeks and I got to see the RCDs creek signage.

Once we got to the property, I realized what a beautiful place I live in. We zigzagged up their driveway and saw what 95 acres in the Santa Cruz mountains look like. We passed a paddock with goats and sheep, as well as a couple of sheep dogs before we got to the house. The client was interested in doing the EQIP to get funding for switching to organic and the removal of invasive species from her property. We went outside to look around the key parts of her property.

The first field we looked at was overrun with Broom plant. Broom spreads quickly and is a dangerous plant to have in fire areas. Being in the Santa Cruz mountains, fire was a large concern. It was also on a slope so complete removal during the rainy winter wasn't the best option. Right now, to prevent the spread of fires, the best thing was to remove the broom under the trees. Eventually she was hoping to use it as a grazing area and use hedgerows as fences and start rotation grazing.

Another area we were looking at was a possible field for grazing, but it was missing a top soil. There was also a slope with good erosion control but they were using Coyote Brush which is highly flamable. This was a problem because it was up against the barn. There was also an erosion problem down one of the driveways, creating ravines. She could also apply for the forest management plan because there was a large amount of forestland that was occasionally used for lumber.

This was my first big client visit and it was not only a beautiful property but it provided a wide array of land problems for me to learn from. Most of this job is problem solving, so it was really good experience for me to observe the problems and try to find solutions. Its perfect for applying what I have learned in the classroom to the real world.

2-2-11

Today was an interesting day because it wasn't the typical work we do at the NRCS. Rich picked me up for a drive into the Ben Lomond area for a Cal Fire meeting. Rich had done some work in this area after the big fire in 2008. This meeting had people from the Fire department, PG&E, the RCD, and residents. It was to discuss the Ponderosa Pine in that area and how to handle some of the trees dying after the fire. They were also having a problem with the pine beetle showing up because the area was under stress. The trees showing the highest population of the beetle were the ones still standing but dead, as well as those which had already fallen. The ones that had fallen were also increasing the fuel load which could lead to another fire. There was also a root fungus appearing in the area. Cal Fire's goal was to remove the trees with the beetle to help stop their spread, to remove any excess fuel load, and to help stop the root fungus with a pesticide. They also wanted to create better trails in the park to help with the management.

The residents there were people who had properties bordering the park and were wondering what would be done to remove the damaged trees on their property. The park had to deal with permits from CEQA because they were public land. The residents were unable to get funding to remove the trees on their property in the same way the park would. Thats where the RCD and NRCS could help. The NRCS had a forest plan that they might be able to help fund with federal money. The RCD has grants that might allow them to help but only more than 100 feet from the property. What I learned the most from this meeting is that when a natural disaster occurs, theres a lot of groups involved. Another point that Rich pointed out was how the environmental policy puts up a lot of tape to get things done. While I have always been focused in policy, being the type of person who strongly believes in rule following, it was interesting for me to see the negative side of policy.

2-1-11

Today was one of the business comes first days. Usually, half my time is filled with a discussion with Rich either about life or a specific aspect of the NRCS. Not today. Today was filled with printing, copying, and mailing. It was an accumulation of all the field work that had been done, paperwork being finished and now it was time to send it all out. I was running back and forth from our office to the RCD office down the walkway (our copier is broken). So today was about the little victories. I learned how to copy double sided and I sent a fax. Not huge steps towards a career but a sign that I am finally getting the hang of everything.

While that doesn't sound like much, it took up most of the day. I also attempted to fill out paperwork that was talking about the erodibility of land since the USDA wont let you plant annuals in erodible lands unless the NRCS creates a plan. Unfortunately there were charts and math equations involved and after only one run through, I still didn't have the full understanding of it. Maybe after about 50 more times of explaining it, I will understand. Anyway, I am excited for tomorrow because we are going to go see another property!

1-31-11

Today was the first day I got to go into the field, YAY! I have been so excited to go and see what the folders I had been working on looked like in real life. After outlining someones land, writing about their soil types, writing about their land issues, you begin to actually want to see it in person. So today we went to see one of the smaller acreages that the NRCS will see. It was someones residence and it was about .75 acres. The problem was that it was on a slope the runoff was going into a creek. We walked around the property and assessed the various places where erosion was occuring. I tried to take notice of everything and try to find where the problem was coming from before Rich said it to see if I could get it right. I occasionally did, but I definitely think his 33 years of experience probably knows way more that I could ever see and notice.

It was also very cool to see someone interested in protecting their land and having a stewardship with the land not because they had to, but because they wanted to. This wasn't someone who was living off their ranch and had livestock getting affected by their poor land management. It wasn't causing any damage to their home, but rather someone who wanted to make sure they were doing the best possible thing for their land.

I also learned a lot today about the practices that should be implemented on sloping land. Basically the best thing to do is to spread any runoff so it can go into subsurface system instead of creating huge amounts of runoff. Having riparian plants that enjoy the wet soil are recommended. Also, consider having more downspouts for your gutters so the water isn't only flowing from one downspout. You can also put in subsurface preforated piping to help the water spread. Lastly, if you are in an area where there could be fires, and you have a deck, your best option is to put down gravel underneath to help stop erosion.

1-26-11

Today was a bit of a unique day. It was less about the land and resources today and much more about what it is like to be part of the federal government. Every five years, Washington DC sends someone out to review the diversity of the districts. I could tell that Rich wasn't really concerned that he would be in any sort of trouble, especially since he was the regional leader for the Civil Review group in this area. But it was also a review, so there were definitely some tension going around. Today I mostly sat back and observed the insanity but it gave a different view of what it means to work for the government.

We had organized all the civil review information, including pamphlets for Black, Asian, Latino, Native American, and other what the government calls "socially disadvantaged people". Being someone with a diverse background and having been raised in an extremely diverse area, I am no stranger to the tensions talking about race causes. I find the term socially disadvantaged for diversity ridiculous. Apparently before it was that, it was historically underserved, and before that just called minority. It's interesting to see the change over the years as people normally not owning large farms or ranches take over and attempt to make definitions apply. I also really enjoy watching people attempt to be "politically correct". I felt bad for Rich as I watched him try to be extremely professional when talking about the diversity in clients and in staff while talking to the reviewer, which happened to be a black female. I think because I grew up in such diversity, I don't think I would have cared if the reviewer was white, black, asian, latino, purple, blue or an alien, I would still speak the way I felt comfortable. Which might possibly be something I should learn to change if I need to be professional in a job someday.

1-25-11

Today one of the clients came in to discuss her application for the Farm Bill. This is to receive money from the government to help do better practices on their farms. She had a vineyard with a small acreage and was looking to find better irrigation practices. It was really neat to finally meet one of the people whos folder I had been looking at. Then I learned the process each of the plans have to go through to be ranked. They are ranked on the benefits of the practice they are doing as well as how big their land is. This is just one small part of the giant folders I have been working on in their applications for the Farm Bill. I also created three more soil maps for new clients. I am definitely getting really good at outlining properties.

I really learned today the intricacies of this job and how it really embodies their mantra of helping the people help the land. It is incredible that for free you can come to the NRCS and either get help planning better land management and/or get help implementing these projects. Everything is kept private so they can come without the fear of any government regulation. It really is great that this is something people can access to, whether you are concerned with your backyard or your 53 acres.

1-24-11

I've done two internships before this one; one was with the Sustainable Business Institute and the other was with the Student Environmental Center. In each of these, there have been times where they didn't live up to what I wanted, or it didn't feel like it was pointing me in the direction I wanted to go. Today was one of those days. There wasn't really much for me to do so Rich had me read a bunch of publications the NRCS and the Resource Conservation District had written. It was truly amazing how widespread they really are. They had things about how to protect your home from runoff, fire, how to protect from invasive plants, private road maintenance. The best part was that each of these writings were simple manuals for someone to follow with absolutely no background in environmental studies.

As thrilling as these were, I was doing an internship for the experience and the learning through doing process. Since they were under a deadline and I don't have enough experience to help with what they needed, I went home early. I was slightly disappointed, mostly because I felt like I had wasted the day, but in reality I had learned a lot. I need to be educated about what both the NRCS and the RCD does since I am representing them. It is also better to have a wide variety of knowledge, because I never know if I am going to be working on these projects at some point!

1-19-11

Today began from where I left off earlier. I had one more application to create a soil map for, but had been unable to find an address in the application. Thankfully, google was able to find me a location so I wasn't scanning a map over and over again. After that was completed, I helped go through receipts for a project that was currently happening. The client was getting funding to do brush control (remove vegetation) to maintain his pastures as well as range planting (planting pasture seeds). My job was to go through the receipts and add up the cost to see if he would exceed his funding and where the money was going to. Not exactly the most exciting day, but it was just another aspect of the job. I felt like an accountant and was very greatful that I don't have to do that everyday.

We then had some time to discuss what exactly do these projects look like. With the guy clearing brush and planting pasture grasses, he was mostly removing the understory of the forest that was incroaching on the pasture area. This helped with the fire control of that area. Its extremely important to manage your pasture well or it no longer is useful as rangeland and grazing. Many ranchers allow their livestock to have a large rangeland and during the winter this results in compaction, erosion, runoff, all of which don't allow for the grass to grow back for them to graze. I also asked about what do ranchers do with the brush they cleared. Rich said that they could either spread it to create habitat or chip it, or possibly send it to greenwaste. We also discussed the lengths of grass each livestock prefer and the benefit of fencing to help allow for pasture migration.

This all led to a possible senior project (a requirement for my internship) in which I could make a diagram to use at workshops to teach better land practices. There is one upcoming in February that is for horse owners and how they can keep their pasture in better shape by using better land management. My possible senior project could be to create a diagram showing how water reacts with different soils. Whether it runs off due to compaction from horses or if it goes into the soil due to vegetation growing. I'm not exactly the most handy person around, but I think I can definitely come up with something. Then I can go to the workshop and see something I made being used to teach others. It would also be nice to have my senior project done so early in my internship.

I feel like today, while not the most productive day, was really good because I learned a lot about what the NRCS does. I think its really important to inform people and give them an incentive to do things more environmentally friendly. I also might get to go into the field on Monday and help survey a clients land. I better remember to wear comfy shoes!

First Day! 1-18-11

So today was my official first day for my internship. I met some of the staff and then it was immediately time to throw me into my work. I began the day by going through clients applications for a conservation project. They were applying for funding from the federal government to start better land management practices on their land. My job was to go through their paperwork and fill any blank spaces I could. It was amazing to see how much work was saved in their applications. They had all correspondence, maps of their land, price estimates, everything imaginable to make sure they got the funding.

My next task for the day was to make soil maps for the applications that didn't have any. The site I used was actually created by the USDA-NRCS and is absolutely free! Its amazing the things it lets you see too! Based on how well they surveyed the land (they do better when its large acreage and range land) you can get a map of your land showing the various types of soils found there. There are also other tabs that let you know where the best locations for your land practices are as well as how erodible your soil is. I have only just begun, but I plan on exploring the program a lot more in the future. Check it out! http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov.

It seems like it wasn't much, but before I knew it, it was already over. I think I made a good choice for a 2 quarter internship. Not only will I be getting work experience, networking for a possible job in the future, but I actually enjoy the work I'm doing. So far it seems like exactly what I had wanted to do after graduation. I get to combine fieldwork and office work without research, and it manages to have both my interest in policy and my interest in monitoring. I'm really glad I was able to find this internship after all.

Initial Meeting 1-11-11

So I'm beginning my senior internship to graduate from environmental studies at UCSC. Since I had done blogging before and really enjoyed it, I figured why not try a blog as my journal requirement for my internship. I am currently working with the US Department of Agriculture under the Natural Resources Conservation Services division. I was originally taking an ENVS seminar in an intermediate GIS course but ended up dropping it and therefore I was in a state of panic searching for an internship opportunity. Fortunately, the Envs internship advisor Chris Krohn helped out by providing me with USDA-NRCS.

I first met Rich Casale, my agency sponsor, on the day all of my paperwork was due. He had wanted to make sure this would be a good fit, but I already knew it would be. We spent the first part of our meeting discussing the benefits of working with the Federal Government and how the benefits and job security outweigh the paycheck associated with other jobs. I fortunately had already been encouraged by my mother to search for jobs with the federal department after graduation, so I pretty much agreed with everything Rich said. We also discussed the benefits of the USDA and how there were locations across the US that I could possibly find a job after graduation. I was excited to hear they even had locations in Hawaii, the main place I was looking at for relocation after graduation.

Then we got into the important stuff. We discussed my interest in environmental studies, which has been vast indeed. Because I originally began as a policy focus, I am getting my legal studies minor and took a couple policy classes. After New Zealand, I was much more focused on resource management and monitoring and so I've been trying to gear towards that direction now. This internship sounded perfect because it works with both of those. We help private land owners to do natural resource reports of their land. This requires helping them know what resources they have, how to best manage them, what permits are needed. This means there is going to be some office work making maps, working with GIS, doing write ups, as well as some field work. I am definitely excited to do both.

My first assignment is to try out the web soil survey provided by NRCS. Its a mapping program that allows anyone to put in an address and find out what type of soil is available on your land. This program can do anything from acres upon acres to someones tiny backyard. Knowing your soil type can help farmers know what crops would be more successful, or let someone know how erodible your backyard is. I am excited that there is such a sophisticated mapping program available to anyone. I look forward to getting really comfortable with the program.