Secretary's Column: USDA Partners with Native Americans

From USDA:

Posted by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, on December 5, 2014 at 3:00 PM

Shortly after taking office, I joined other Cabinet officials on a visit to rural Southwest Alaska. We met with Alaska Native leaders and heard firsthand the difficulties facing Native Americans living in small communities in remote, rural areas. Since that time, this administration has worked each day to provide Native Americans with improved housing, better educational opportunities, clean water and sanitation, and the opportunity to create good jobs. Across government, and here at USDA, we’ve made progress.

This past week, I joined President Obama and members of the Cabinet at the sixth White House Tribal Nations Conference here in Washington, DC. In addition to serving as the Chair of the White House Rural Council, I am also a member of the White House Council on Native American Affairs, chaired by Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. Our priorities in Indian Country include promoting sustainable economic development; supporting greater access to and control over healthcare; improving the effectiveness and efficiency of tribal justice systems; expanding and improving educational opportunities for Native American youth; and protecting and supporting the sustainable management of Native lands, environments and natural resources.

The Obama Administration has been committed to increasing tribal self-governance and self-determination, making it possible for tribes to develop resources and improve infrastructure on their lands, and also create employment and business opportunities for Native American families, including veterans and youth.

As part of this effort, I recently announced $9.7 million in grants to 62 community-based and non-profit organizations, and educational institutions to conduct training, outreach and technical assistance for socially disadvantaged, veteran, and tribal farmers and ranchers. A dozen of those grants will support tribes. Additionally, we are providing loans and grants totaling $4.1 million to 1994 Land Grant Tribal Colleges through USDA Rural Development’s Community Facilities Programs. These programs provide funds to construct, enlarge or improve community facilities for healthcare, public safety and public services.

USDA will also support partnerships with three tribal colleges (Oglala Lakota College, Kyle, S.D.; Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, N.M.; United Tribes Technical College, Bismarck, N.D.) by providing grant writing assistance and other services to help traditionally underserved communities access federal resources. We are also providing a $5.4 million loan to upgrade broadband service for residents of New Mexico’s Mescalero Apache Reservation. This is the first telecommunications loan USDA has made under the Substantially Underserved Trust Area (SUTA) provision of the 2008 Farm Bill.

As we enter 2015, we will continue to work with tribes on a government-to-government basis, consulting and collaborating with them, and striving to ensure that they receive their fair share of support from USDA programs—support that not only provides jobs and educational opportunity, but also honors our promises and treaty responsibilities.

Everybody Talks About the Weather...

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Mike Crimmins, Cooperative Extension, Arizona, on April 23, 2014 at 2:00 PM

A member of the Geronimo Interagency Hotshot Crew, Department of the Interior (DOI) Indian Affairs (IA) Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) San Carlos Agency in Arizona; on assignment. The combined effects of droughts and insects may lead to a pulse of tree mortality that increases the potential for intense fires. USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.

The climate statistics for the first month of 2014 have been impressive. Extreme weather has lashed the United States from Alaska to Florida with record warmth, cold, dry and wet conditions all at the same time. The National Climatic Data Center reports that January of 2014 was the driest January on record for New Mexico, 2^nd driest for Arizona and 3^rd driest for California. January 2014 was also in the top ten of coldest Januaries on record for much of the upper Midwest.

Extreme drought conditions in the western U.S. are dramatically impacting water supplies critical to agriculture and elevating fire risk across our National Forests. Across the continent frequent cold waves have repeatedly threatened winter crops across the Southeast while frost depths reaching several feet will impact springtime planting across the Midwest. This kind of winter gets everyone talking about the weather.  It brings to mind the quote “Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it,” often attributed to Mark Twain (but apparently said by a friend).

What can we do about the weather? Not much directly, but we can plan and prepare for the worst and try our best to anticipate what is coming through forecasts. Our best climate science indicates that extreme weather is something we should get used to and learn how to work with. America’s agricultural systems and vast and precious natural resources are intimately tied to weather and climate and will need to further adapt to these extremes. This is where the newly created effort of organizing USDA resources and partners into Regional Climate Hubs plays a role, supporting farmers, ranchers and resource managers’ efforts to better manage risk in a changing climate.

There is a secret weapon in this effort, one that is a uniquely American invention. This weapon is equipped with 100 years’ experience in supporting agriculture and natural resources management through climate extremes like the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s all the way up to the Midwest floods of the early 1990’s and recent west-wide drought of the past decade. The Smith-Lever Act, signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson 100 years ago this year, created the U.S. Cooperative Extension System, a distributed network of local level experts connected to each state’s land grant university that work to connect science and decision making. This translates to a local level expert in almost every county that anyone can to turn to for ‘useful, practical and research based information’.  Farmers, ranchers and resource managers will undoubtedly need new science and technology to adapt to a changing climate, but they will also simply need someone they trust of whom they can ask questions and learn about new opportunities…an ‘honest broker’ of cutting edge, research based information. Extension Agents and Specialists have served in this role for 100 years and as a key part of the USDA Regional Climate Hub effort are ready to help their clientele meet the emerging challenges of a changing climate.

I have spent the last decade in Arizona as an Extension Specialist working solely on climate issues and know the challenges that weather extremes from droughts to floods can pose to producers and resource managers. We will certainly still continue to talk about the weather on a regular basis, but our conversations in Extension and through the Hubs will also turn to what we can do about it as well.

Two Forest Service rangers walk through the snow covered paths at Lolo National Forest in Montana on November 22, 2007. Lolo National Forest is located in west central Montana and encompasses two million acres. USDA photo.

U.S. Forest Service: Responding and Adapting to Wildland Fire

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Tom Harbour, Director of Fire and Aviation Management, U.S. Forest Service, on April 10, 2014 at 1:00 PM

The U.S. Forest Service has burned more than 480 acres in the Flying J Project, an effort on the Kaibab National Forest in Arizona to protect the community of Tusayan. The project is outside the Grand Canyon National Park and represents a small part of a larger effort to use controlled burns on more than 4,500 acres of the forest. So far, nearly 1,900 acres have been treated. (U.S. Forest Service/Holly Krake)

The loss of property and firefighters during wildfires are a reminder of the challenges we face in reducing the risks associated with large, unpredictable wildfires. Climate change, drought, insect infestations, changing land-use patterns, and other factors have contributed to increases in the complexity and in the numbers of wildfires across the United States.

Over the past four decades, some states such as Arizona and Idaho have seen the number of large fires burning each year more than triple. In many other western states, including California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Wyoming, the number of large fires has doubled, according to a report by Climate Central. Average spring and summer temperatures across 11 Western states have increased by more than 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit, contributing to higher wildfire risks. In Arizona, spring temperatures have warmed faster than any other state in the U.S., rising nearly 1 degree per decade since 1970, which likely played a role in the increasing number of fires in the state.

The U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Department of Interior are responding in part to these real, visible trends by implementing the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy. The strategy was developed in conjunction with hundreds of stakeholders across all jurisdictions in response to the Federal Land Assistance, Management, and Enhancement Act (FLAME) passed by Congress in 2009.

The strategy identifies the greatest challenges and outlines available opportunities to create resilient landscapes, prevent the loss of lives and property, and respond to wildfires. Although we successfully suppress nearly 98 percent of unwanted wildfires, there is still much work to be done to mitigate the risks posed by the growing number and size of fires. The Cohesive Strategy provides federal, local, and state governments, tribes, and organizations with improved planning and implementation tools for wildland fire management and landscape restoration activities.

The strategy has three goals: to maintain and restore resilient landscapes; create fire-adapted communities; and effectively respond to wildfires. To reach these goals, the Forest Service has used prescribed, or planned, fire and other treatments to reduce hazardous vegetation. In fiscal year 2012, we completed more than 1.2 million acres of prescribed fires and more than 662,000 acres of mechanical treatments.

In addition, to reach the second goal of the Strategy, the California Wildfire Coordinating Group, in collaboration with the Forest Service and many other stakeholders, launched a statewide, interagency wildfire prevention campaign One Less Spark, One Less Wildfire. In response to a rapidly worsening 2013 wildfire season, the campaign based its actions on predicted changes in wildfire threat. Resources were pooled together and utilized to address these rising threats and inform communities throughout the year.

In this time of shrinking resources and rising numbers of wildfires, we will continue to work with our partners and stakeholders to address challenges and meet the goals of the Cohesive Strategy.

Microloan Helps Navajo Couple Continue Farming Tradition

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Tanya Brown, Writer/Editor, Farm Service Agency, on April 10, 2014 at 3:00 PM

Marilyn and Erik Simpson returned to the Navajo Reservation in Torreon, N.M., to help Marilyn’s aging parents and to grow their own farming operation that would benefit their family.

This post is part of a Microloan Success feature series on the USDA blog. Check back every Tuesday and Thursday as we showcase stories and news from USDA’s Farm Service Agency.

Marilyn Simpson grew up on the Navajo Reservation in Torreon, N.M., where she learned all about farming from her parents who raised sheep and cows.

The youngest of eight children, Marilyn left the reservation, and her parents, to go to college in Arizona. That’s also where she met her husband Erik. After graduating, she and Erik moved back to Torreon to help Marilyn’s parents.

“We saw that my parents were getting older and they needed help with the animals,” said Marilyn, whose parents only speak Navajo. “We eventually took over their operation.”

For 14 years the couple managed her parents’ operation. Now, Marilyn, age 35 and Erik, 39, decided they wanted to start out on their own while still caring for her parents and living on the reservation.

The couple had heard about USDA’s Microloan program. The program allows beginning, small and mid-sized farmers to access up to $35,000 in loans using a simplified application process with up to seven years to repay.

Marilyn and Erik came up with a plan on how much they wanted to borrow and how they planned to back the loan before contacting a Farm Service Agency (FSA) loan officer. After deciding that the Microloan was the best option, they contacted the Torrance County FSA.

Farm Loan Manager Allen Mackrain mailed a microloan application and then drove 2½ hours one way to their home on the reservation to meet with the couple, help answer questions, see the operation and close the loan.

“The Microloan is a great help because a lot of conventional lenders aren’t able to make these loans on the tribal trust lands,” said Mackrain. “A lot of tribal members have grazing and/or farming permits but no way to purchase animals or equipment to utilize the land. This gives them an opportunity to do that.”

The loan allowed the couple to purchase 25 bred cows and rent a bull. That helped expand their herd to 42 cows. They now also have five yearling heifers.

“We wanted something of our own but we also wanted to stay on the reservation and close to our culture,” said Marilyn. The couple has three children, ages 13, 10 and 7, who are learning the Navajo language from their grandparents. “We have a lot of fun and the kids are learning a lot about the animals and their culture. It’s good for them.”

To date, USDA has issued more than 4,900 microloans totaling $97 million. USDA is focused on increasing opportunities for farmers and ranchers and has made several modifications to farm loan programs, including making Microloans to beginning farmers and veterans exempt from direct loan term limits.

Visit the FSA website to learn more about our farm loan programs.

Santo Domingo Pueblo Tackles Drought with NRCS Help

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Mark Smith, NRCS New Mexico, on September 3, 2013 at 12:00 PM

A healthy alfalfa field in the Santo Domingo Pueblo as a result of improved soil health and a new irrigation system.

Just off the Rio Grande River, between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, N.M., sits Santo Domingo Pueblo, a community surrounded by fields of alfalfa, oats and Sudan grass for horses and cattle, and small gardens filled with corn and green chili peppers.

But this green idyll is in danger of drying out. Over the past few years, New Mexico has been struggling through one of the worst droughts in recorded history. Little rain and a dwindling river have threatened many of the Pueblo’s fields and gardens.

After partnering with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation, Pueblo residents have found a way to grow more using less water and keeping their fields and gardens healthy.

Pueblo residents worked with NRCS to save water by improving soil health through conservation practices such as rotating crops and planting cover crops. Healthy soil retains more moisture, allowing for less water to be applied during irrigation.

They also installed an efficient underground water irrigation system to replace some of the aging earthen irrigation ditches to 50 fields that stretched across more than 200 acres.

Residents of the Santo Domingo Pueblo in New Mexico worked with NRCS to run an efficient underground irrigation pipeline.

The new watering system and conservation practices have made all the difference. The once-parched fields of the Pueblo are flourishing—a notable feat even in non-drought years. And now fields that used to take two days to irrigate can be watered in just 4 hours.

In late June, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited the Pueblo to see its successes first hand. Vilsack said he hopes that other communities and tribes will look to Santo Domingo Pueblo’s improvements as a possible solution for drought-affected agricultural operations across the west.

The tribe received financial assistance from NRCS through USDA’s StrikeForce for Rural Growth and Opportunity initiative. The national initiative addresses high-priority funding and technical assistance needs in rural communities in 16 states, including New Mexico, with a special emphasis on historically underserved communities and producers in counties with persistent poverty.

Because of their water and time savings, Pueblo residents are now looking to continue upgrading the remaining earthen irrigation systems in order to be able to feed the entire community with locally grown foods.