USDANEWS                                                           VOLUME 58 NO.1 - JANUARY 1999

Fill It Up--Whoops! I Mean...
When Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service inspectors at the Port of Miami use a government vehicle to do their work, they don't say "Fill it up."

They say "Plug it in."

"Just like it says here: the power for this vehicle is electric," affirms APHIS's Ron Garbotz, standing in front of four of APHIS's electrically-powered Ford Ranger trucks as they are being recharged. --Photo by Orlando Zabala

That's because APHIS's Plant Protection and Quarantine office in the Port of Miami--which includes Miami's seaport and international airport--recently became the first agency within the federal government to take advantage of a new program that helps agencies lease or buy electric vehicles. According to Ron Garbotz, a motor vehicle specialist with APHIS in Miami who initiated APHIS's participation in this new program, the U.S. Department of Energy has been offering "a unique funding assistance opportunity" to help agencies either lease or purchase electric vehicles.

James Michael, an analyst in USDA's Office of Procurement and Property Management, said that the program began in 1997 under a provision of Executive Order 13031, titled "Federal Alternative Fueled Vehicle Leadership." "DOE began offering funding assistance to agencies to offset some of the incremental costs of acquiring electric vehicles to replace conventional gas vehicles," Michael explained.

"This funding help is needed right now," he emphasized, "because electric vehicles are still very expensive compared to conventional gasoline or other types of alternative fuel vehicles."

Garbotz learned about this opportunity from Pedro Millan, director of Miami Maritime Operations for APHIS. "I then decided," Garbotz explained, "that electric Ford Ranger trucks would work just as well as conventional gas-powered Ford Rangers to meet the needs of our Plant Protection and Quarantine inspectors here at the Port of Miami."

He did a cost analysis and then in March 1998 applied to DOE for funding assistance. According to Nolan Lemon, a public affairs specialist with APHIS in Miami, DOE approved APHIS's request in April 1998 and provided the agency with $103,572 as an incremental funding offset to help pay for a three-year lease of 14 electric vehicle Ford Ranger trucks.

Garbotz said that the electric Ford Rangers have a typical range of about 55 miles before recharging. "But the constant high use of air conditioning for travel around Miami," he noted, "means we recharge the 14 vehicles at about 38 to 40 miles."

"We've logged about 8,000 electrically-powered miles so far," said Gerard Russo, director of Miami Air Cargo Operations for APHIS. "And USDA has taken a leadership role in sharing, with our colleagues elsewhere within the federal government, information about our 'electric vehicle experience'."

--Sharon Hill Holcombe

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“Drylands”--With A British Accent
Not since the movie “Mr. Majestyk” was filmed in southeastern Colorado in 1973 had there been such a stir when a film crew visited that area last June. A five-person crew from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) spent over a week filming there for an educational series on conservation issues.

The result of their “on-location” efforts finally is scheduled to air on TV in Britain and Holland on February 8. Two points of significance: First, the only American setting for the five-part series was that particular location in Colorado. Second, employees of the Natural Resources Conservation Service were instrumental in selecting both the site and the locals who were featured in the series.

“Last March,” recounted Mary Miller, NRCS public affairs specialist in the area office in La Junta, Colo., “Nick Hacking, who was the BBC researcher on this project, called to see if I could assist them in finding farmers and ranchers who remembered the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, in addition to those who use conservation practices on their land today.”

“They were also very interested in how NRCS works with landowners to protect their natural resources.”

So Miller went to work with several NRCS offices in southeastern Colorado--especially since that area was one of the hardest hit regions in the Dust Bowl over 60 years ago--to locate producers who fit the type of individuals the BBC was interested in interviewing.

“Keep walking, keep walking--yes, stand right there,” advises the BBC’s Iwan Russell-Jones (second from left) to NRCS’s John Knapp (second from right) and local Colorado farmer J.D. Wright (right), as they get ready to be filmed by BBC cameraperson Rob McDougall (left). And blimey, was it hot! --Photo by Mary Miller

Then, three days before the film crew arrived, Hacking and BBC producer/director Iwan Russell-Jones showed up to “reconnoiter” the locations. “We had more locations and people than the BBC needed,” Miller explained. “So they selected individuals and sites that fit into their script.”

To provide information on how NRCS works with landowners, the BBC chose to interview John Knapp, NRCS area conservationist in La Junta. Knapp noted that the BBC didn’t want to know about NRCS programs, per se. “Iwan Russell-Jones,” he said, “wanted me to explain how we build relationships with individual producers--how we gain their respect and trust.”

The BBC filmed Knapp arriving at a farmer’s home and then walking out in the field with him in order to, as Knapp described it, “emphasize that NRCS builds those relationships by spending time with individuals out on their land.”

Knapp also discussed the phenomena of climate and erosion and the factors relating to them. “I also described the 'rain shadow’,” he recounted, “which means that within 50 miles we have the highest precipitation in the state--at Pikes Peak--and the lowest precipitation to the east of the Rocky Mountains, on the plains of Colorado.”

“On those plains, we’re in the shadow of the mountains.”

So, in turn, the BBC asked Knapp to describe how NRCS works with producers to overcome the problems of wind erosion.

Temperatures each day of filming were at or above 100 degrees. “We were concerned that the crew not get dehydrated, as they weren’t accustomed to our heat and altitude,” said Ledine Hull, NRCS computer specialist in La Junta who also helped during the shoot. “They became big fans of Gatorade.”

The crew also filmed the Koshare Indian Dancers from La Junta, as well as American Indian writings and pictures in Picketwire Canyon, to describe the area’s history prior to the homesteading which began in the 1860s. Steve Currey, [then] a range management specialist for the Forest Service in Springfield, Colo., and Mark Mitchell, FS archaeologist in La Junta, escorted the camera crew into Picketwire Canyon, since access is through the U.S. Army’s Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site.

The film shot in southeastern Colorado--as noted earlier, the only location in the U.S. for this series--is one segment--on “drylands”--of a five-part series on conservation issues aimed at 10- to 11-year-olds. Other segments include “wetlands,” filmed in England; “cities,” filmed in Germany; “fishing,” filmed in Holland; and “forests,” filmed in Poland. Miller emphasized that she is looking for a way to get the whole series aired in this country.

Since the BBC left, Miller and Hull kept in touch with the crew. “They called with questions on name spellings and on terms used by interviewees,” said Miller.

“And,” added Hull, “we sent them tapes of country-western songs that became their favorites while they were here.”

--Ron Hall

* * * * *

No More Computer Printouts? Really?!
“As recently as two years ago,” recounted Norm Reid, acting associate deputy administrator in the Office of Community Development, “if we were asked a question such as 'how much money have our RD agencies spent on rural development projects in central Louisiana in the previous 24 months?’ it might have taken us weeks to gather and analyze data--and then we couldn’t really promise an accuracy of more than about 80 percent.”

“But now,” he affirmed, “that question can be answered in minutes, with an accuracy factor of as high as 98 percent.”

And just what is this so-called cavalry that is coming to the rescue, here?

It’s a new data-base monitoring system that is hooked up to USDA's InTRAnet on the World Wide Web. It became operational in March 1998.

Victor Vasquez, deputy administrator in the Office of Community Development, explained that his Office administers the Rural Development mission area’s “EZ/EC initiative,” which stands for “Empowerment Zone or Enterprise Community.”

“EZ/EC is an initiative designed to revitalize distressed communities in both rural and urban locations,” he said. “Its purpose is to create self-sustaining, long-term economic development in those areas.”

“Our focus,” he pointed out, “is on the rural component of that initiative.”

The June 1996 issue of the USDA News carried a story on EZ/EC.

However, Reid observed, managing and monitoring this initiative was “supremely challenging” in the absence of some tools which would allow USDA’s managers to easily and quickly tap into appropriate databases to obtain accurate and timely EZ/EC-related information.

“We needed a better system that was also user-friendly for our program specialists as well as our computer programmers, we didn’t want to create an entirely new system altogether, and we needed to keep the cost to a minimum,” he advised.

So in September 1997, Kathleen Jackson, a Rural Development information resource management specialist, began working with Mike Grisby, a private sector contractor, to develop a better system. Six months later they had developed such a system, at a cost of about $40,000. It is accessible on USDA’s InTRAnet.

“The key,” she explained, “was building a system that USDA staff could access with a standard Web browser."

"That way, it took no special software or training to put it to use."

"We just published the address," she noted, "and it spread like wildfire!"

“And now,” added Reid, “our RD managers and program specialists across the country can better manage our EZ/EC investments in rural America.”

“Plus,” he quipped, “no more sifting through piles of computer printouts for answers.” 

--Ron Hall

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