April 21, 2008
SUBJECT: ECS – Plant Materials Committee Muck Plantings
Purpose: To notify NRCS Indiana employees about the Indiana Plant Materials Committee efforts to gather technical information for planting recommendations on muck soils.
Expiration Date: September 30, 2008
NRCS provides planting recommendations for muck soils according to Standards in the Field Office Technical Guide (FOTG). These plantings are often negatively affected by Reed Canary grass colonization, which results in less than satisfactory plantings and land use. As a result, the Indiana Plant Materials Committee will be leading an effort to gather data from past plantings on muck soils to determine what has been successful and what has not.
The
end result of this effort will be better technical information in the NRCS
Indiana Field Office Technical Guide (FOTG) standards, which will result in
better conservation on the land through our programs.
The State Office has identified all of NRCS Indiana’s vegetative plantings that have occurred on muck soils in each county from 2005 through 2007 (attached).
The Plant Materials Committee is requesting your input, on a voluntary basis, to identify sites that would be worthwhile to evaluate in your county. The Committee is interested in any plantings (trees, grasses except Reed Canary grass seedings, sedges, forbs, etc.) performed on muck soils. They are interested in identifying plantings that were both successful as well as those that were unsuccessful.
To participate, please review the attached list and also identify other plantings in your county that are on muck soils, and provide the following data for as many sites as you feel are worthwhile to your Area’s Plant Materials Committee representative by May 9, 2008:
1. Soil Type (or GPS waypoints or other site
specific location so soils can be determined).
2. Date the planting occurred.
3. Species and rates planted.
4. Maintenance of the site, including
approximate frequency and dates of mowing, herbicide applications, prescribed
burning, etc.
5. Whether the planting met the objectives (i.e.
– was the planting a success?).
6. Planting Location.
A list of Plant Materials Committee members for your area is available at http://www.in.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/PlantMaterials/plant_materials.html.
In addition to the voluntary opportunity, you may be contacted by a Plant Materials Committee member to gather specific data in your county from the attached list.
The Indiana State Technical Committee members have also been requested to submit data from their groups’ projects. These data will be combined with ours to determine the best scientific recommendations for successful plantings on muck soils.
I appreciate your assistance in this important technical effort.
Please direct all questions related to this bulletin to Ken Collins, State Forester/Plant Materials Committee Chair, at (317) 290-3200, ext. 356, or to Shannon Zezula, State Resource Conservationist, at ext. 388.
/s/
JANE E. HARDISTY
State Conservationist
DIST: NE Area District Conservationists
NW Area District Conservationists
NRCS
NRCS
NRCS