VOLUME 55 NO. 6 - JULY 1996USDANEWS VOLUME 55 NO. 6 - JULY 1996
by Carol Blake, Office of Communications
Although "Team USDA" wasn't a competitor in the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, USDA employees were involved with many aspects of the events--including behind-the-scenes preparations that participants and viewers may not have even realized.
APHIS veterinary medical officer Arnoldo Guetierrez (left) monitors the offloading of a "Summer Olympic equine athlete" upon its arrival at the Equine Complex in Atlanta's airport--on its way to a standard, pre-competition quarantine.
--Photo by Ann Czapiewski
USDA has been hosting the whitewater competitions on a national forest, displaying agricultural exhibits in a park in downtown Atlanta, inspecting horses arriving for equestrian competitions, checking the baggage of international guests for agricultural pests, and beautifying Olympic sites while protecting natural environments.
As reported in the January 1996 issue of the USDA News, Forest Service employees on the Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee prepared for the whitewater competitions of the 1996 Summer Olympics. The canoe and kayak slalom events were held on a 1,700-foot stretch of the Ocoee River, which runs through the Cherokee National Forest.
FS specialists teamed up with Tennessee Valley Authority officials and Tennessee state officials to rebuild the banks of the river which had been damaged by years of flooding, construct a building to overlook the site, and obtain a World War II-era "Bailey Bridge" donated by the U.S. Army--which saved $250,000.
Meanwhile, employees with the Natural Resources Conservation Service's Plant Materials Program have planted over 150,000 plants since October 1995 to beautify the city of Atlanta and Olympic "venue sites"--the locations of the events--and to study conservation efforts. NRCS used native plants to stabilize streambanks, restore wetlands, control erosion, and improve appearances near venue sites and at parks in the Atlanta area.
"Originally, our Program specifically tested crops, but it has evolved to study erosion control and areas difficult to cultivate," said Wendi Kroll, public affairs specialist with NRCS's urban conservation program in Marietta, Ga. "In addition to making venue sites more visually appealing, we're studying erosion, pollution, and water quality."
According to Valerie Pickard, an NRCS conservation agronomist, native plants in urban areas can improve water quality because they require less fertilizer, which can be absorbed into groundwater.
Pickard added that NRCS provided native vegetation that was planted at the Ocoee Whitewater venue in Tennessee between rock groupings and near the water's edge to prevent erosion caused by waves. They also planted native vegetation at the Atlanta Beach volleyball venue for erosion control and near the Wolf Creek skeet shooting venue in Atlanta, where vegetation was lacking, to stabilize barren slopes.
"Once the Olympic competitions are over," said Donald Surrency, an NRCS plant materials specialist, "our employees will continue to evaluate these native plants we're displaying for conservation use in urban areas."
Cooperative Extension Service employees at the University of Georgia were challenged to convert the University's football field into a world-class soccer field for the Olympic competition at that site.
"Since a soccer field is larger than a football field, the old turf was removed so it could be reshaped and extended," said Janet Rodekohr, an extension editor and marketing specialist with the Cooperative Extension Service at the University of Georgia in Athens.
"There were significant nematode problems--microscopic worm-like creatures in the soil that can feed on roots and rob plants of nutrients and eventually kill them--in the field and the hedges," said Ed Brown, Cooperative Extension Service plant pathologist at the University of Georgia.
Brown added that once the soccer competition ends, Extension Service employees must work quickly to restore the field to football specifications in time for the first U. of Ga. football game on August 31.
Glenn Burton, a research geneticist with the Agricultural Research Service's Coastal Plain Experiment Station in Tifton, Ga., developed Tifton 419, a grass being used in the soccer competitions at the University of Georgia's Stadium for the soccer games and at the Atlanta Olympic stadium.
"Tifton 419 is a dense, dark green grass that grows nearly carpet-like and resists tough wear," he said. "It is also drought tolerant and disease and insect resistant."
As reported in the February 1996 issue of the USDA News, one attraction for visitors to downtown Atlanta has been its Centennial Olympic Park. Cooperative Extension Service employees from the University of Georgia and Fort Valley State College prepared the "Showcase of Southern Agriculture," which shows agriculture's importance in feeding and clothing the world.
"Our crops were in various growth stages and transported to the Park in Atlanta," explained John Beasley, a peanut agronomist with the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service.
What happened at airports when international competitors and spectators arrived?
Inspectors with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's Plant Protection and Quarantine office and the agency's Beagle Brigade--dogs trained to detect prohibited agricultural items in passenger luggage or packages--inspected luggage of international travelers who arrived in the U.S.
Georgia CES senior agricultural specialist Wayne Crawford (right) examines apple trees with U. Of Ga. plant pathology professor Jerry Walker. The trees must be pest-free before being displayed in Centennial Olympic Park.
--Photo by Faith Peppers
"The Beagle Brigade normally operates at 16 U.S. international airports and selected U.S. mail facilities," said Steve Manwaring, an APHIS canine officer. "But additional dogs from Durham and Charlotte, N.C. and Puerto Rico were temporarily detailed to Atlanta to handle the record number of visitors."
To assist international visitors through the customs inspection process, APHIS employees developed a flyer which was sent to over 200 international distributors of Olympic tickets.
"The flyer, titled 'The Great Tastes of the USA,' encouraged visitors to enjoy the regional cuisine and to speed their way through customs inspections by not bringing any food, plants, or animals on their trip over, which can carry pests and diseases that can potentially damage American agriculture," said Joyce Mims, an APHIS program specialist. "The flyer notes visitors can be fined if they bring these items but fail to declare them."
APHIS inspectors were also responsible for the veterinary oversight of the horses that arrived in the U.S. for the Olympic equestrian events. APHIS's Import-Export Center ensures that animals leaving and entering the U.S. are healthy and free of communicable diseases. Of particular concern to APHIS inspectors was equine piroplasmosis (EP). This bloodborne disease is primarily spread by ticks, so many horses can become infected in a short period of time.
"Horses with EP were allowed to compete in the show jumping and dressage contests, which were held in tick-free areas," said Ed Arza, an APHIS veterinarian in Conyers, Ga. "However, horses with EP were not permitted to compete in the three-day combined training event, which puts horses over a course through the open countryside of Georgia, because the area is populated with ticks."
Rural Development employees teamed up with other federal employees in Athens, Ga., where the soccer, volleyball, and rhythmic gymnastic events took place, to donate a bench made out of Georgia granite placed across the street from the Athens Federal Building.
"We sold red, white, and blue T-shirts which read, 'Athens Federal Employees Welcome the World' and used the proceeds to purchase the bench," said Laura Meadows, Georgia State Director for Rural Development. "The bench serves as a lasting memorial to the Olympics and the strong Federal employee presence in Athens."
According to Meadows, Rural Development employees participated in a Federal employee blood drive in Athens in May to ensure that adequate blood supplies were available to Olympic visitors if needed.
So, while "Team USDA" wasn't canoeing down the Ocoee River or spiking at the volleyball competition at the Atlanta Beach, the efforts made by USDA employees have been evident throughout this summer's Olympic events and competitions.¤
Will Taylor, an NRCS resource
conservationist in Griffin, Ga., plants native vegetation near the Wolf Creek
skeet shooting venue in Atlanta to control erosion on barren slopes and beautify
the event site. It was all part of USDA's role in the Summer Olympics.
--Photo
by Wendi Kroll
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