1. WHAT’S NEW IN TECHNICAL SOIL SERVICES (TSS) Michael Robotham, National Leader for TSS and Linda Scheffe, Acting NL for TSS 1

2. Overview of presentation  Reorganization and “Acting” positions in Soil Science Division  FY2013 TSS activities report  TSS handbook and course updates  Business plans and long-range plans  Other ongoing TSS opportunities  Plans for TSS national program in FY2014 and beyond 2

3. Who’s on first at SSD  Mike Golden, Deputy Chief for SSRA retired on January 3  Dave Smith, SSD Director, is now Acting Deputy Chief  Thomas Reinsch, NL for World Soil Resources, is now Acting SSD Director (you still with us ….) 3

4. Who’s on first at SSD (cont.)  Meanwhile at NSSC (and NHQ)  Michael Robotham became NL for Technical Soil Services (December, 2013)  Maxine Levin became NL for Interpretations (December, 2013)  Cam Loerch, NL for Standards and Acting NL for Research and Lab, retired January 3  So – Mike is now Acting NL for Research and Lab and Linda Scheffe is Acting NL for TSS (with Lenore Vasilas to follow) 4

5. FY2013 Technical Soil Services Activities (and Instances) Report

6. FY2013 Activities Report  Report summarize instances of TSS assistance provided as reported using the NASIS-based reporting system  Reporting was voluntary and will remain voluntary for FY2014  Activities report is very useful at the national level to document great work done in the field to support conservation 6

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9. Future reporting  New field, “hours”, will be available in NASIS 6.3 (out soon)  Hopefully will provide better metric  MS Excel-based reporting tool being pilot- tested (thanks to Kevin G. in MO)  Data can be entered in spreadsheet and periodically imported into NASIS  Plan to create working group to explore TSS reporting options – volunteers wanted 9

10. Technical Soil Services Handbook http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/porta l/nrcs/detail/national/soils/?cid=nrcs 142p2_053400

11. TSS Handbook Contents  General (Parts 600 to 608)  Introduction (Part 600)  Legislative Authority for Technical Soil Services (Part 601)  Historical Overview of Technical Soil Services (Part 602)  Concepts and Use of Technical Soil Services (Part 603)  Delivery of Technical Soil Services (Part 604)  Technical Policy and Program Services (Parts 609 to 615)  Managing Soils Data for Agency Programs and Customers (Part 609)  Conservation Practice Standards (Part 610)  Assistance to Other Units of Government (Part 611)

12. TSS Handbook Contents (2)  Planning Services (Parts 616 to 628)  Determinations of Highly Erodible Lands (HEL) (Part 616)  Water Table Determinations (Part 617)  Determinations and Delineations of Hydric Soils (Part 618)  Field Office Operations (Part 619)  Rangeland Management and Rangeland Health Assessments (Part 620)  Soils and Cultural Resources (Part 621)  The Role of the Resource Soil Scientist in Support of Soil Survey (Part 622)  Dynamic Soil Properties (Part 623)  Developing Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plans (Part 624)

13. TSS Handbook Contents (3)  Site-Specific Soil Investigations, Testing, Interpretation, and Evaluation (Parts 629 to 634)  Onsite Soil Investigations (Part 629)  Special Projects, Studies, and Inventories (Part 630)  Development of Use-Specific Local Interpretations (Part 631)  Expert Services for Judicial Requests (Parts 635 to 636)  Acting as an Expert Witness (Part 635)  Informational Services (Parts 637 to 640)  Providing Education and Training (Part 637)  Promoting Customer Awareness of Soils Information (Part 638)

14. TSS Handbook Updates  But – the handbook is increasingly out of date  Needs periodic updates  Internet links  Changes in policy (when known)  Needs a thorough review and updating of sections  Delivery of TSS after SSD re-organization  Determination and Delineation policy of Hydric Soils  Additional topics???  Volunteers?

15. Technical Soil Services Course To be offered late July or early August

16. Context  Evaluation team – national staff, SSSs, RSSs charged with:  Evaluate existing course, suggest changes and updates  Target audiences is SSSs and “want to be SSSs”  Will be a general, overview course  Technical issues covered in future courses  Distance learning approach  No one has any $$ 16

17. TSS Course Topics  General Roles of the State Soil Scientist  Responsibilities as Program Manager for TSS  Role of TSS in NRCS Programs  Education and Training  Relationship with MLRA and SSR offices  Will include case studies, examples and activities

18. Other Courses Related to TSS in FY14  Wetland Identification for Food Security Act Purposes - Phase 1: Basic Concepts, Web Based Course  Wetland Identification: National Food Security Act Purposes: Phase 2 Application, 6/23-6/27, St. Louis, MS and 9/8-9/12, Brookings, SD  Advanced Hydric Soils, June 2-6, Albuquerque, NM  Hydric Soils for Wetland Delineation, September 8-12, Beltsville, MD

19. Other Courses Related to TSS in FY14  Soil Technology – Application of Soil Data Viewer and ArcGIS in Technical Soil Services, April 7-11, 2014 and April 28-May 2, 2014, distance learning  NASIS-Understanding Soil Interpretations, 3 sessions conducted this year. May offer again if demand is there.  Science of Interpretations: January 21-24, 2014 and January 27-30, 2014 distance learning; possible 3 rd session TBD

20. Business Plans and Long Range Plans

21. Business plans and long-range plans  Both are always a good idea  Business plan  This year’s activities (sometimes 2 years)  Helps with the “who will do what by when” issues  Will want to tie into State business plan and need to coordinate with SSR business plan  Long-range plan  Typically 5 years (could be longer, could be shorter)  Longer-term goals, objectives, targets ■ New products, longer-term activities, etc.

22. Business plans continued  Not currently required by SSD – but strongly recommended  Important communication tool between the SSS and the appropriate Soil Survey Regional Director(s)  Documents state-level TSS priorities  Activities that require assistance by SSR personnel need to be identified and documented collaboratively  Need to tailor plan to meet your local management needs and objectives

23. Other Ongoing TSS Opportunities From the National Perspective – I’m sure there is much more going on locally

24. TSS, Conservation Planning and CDSI  Ongoing involvement by national staff in CDSI- related activities  Recognition of importance of soils by CDSI staff  Many opportunities for soils involvement with future of CDSI at local, state and national level  Process has been poorly defined at times and communication could have been better  We (national TSS staff) will do our best to keep you informed as CDSI efforts continue and we learn more

25. Ongoing national activities  State-level soils geodatabase query development (as per NB-170-14-01)  Integrated RUSLE2/WEPS/WEPP technical assistance/database development  100% update of the national crop and soil management database.  Integrated Erosion Tool  Land Management Operations Database - integrated with soils and climate databases  Conservation-specific interpretations prototypes

26. Potential roles of SSS and staff  Support for state-level geodatabase for use in Toolkit and potentially CDSI  National “base” dataset (national query)  State-specific data/information  Continue soils-related support for R2, WEPS, Win-PST, other models  Assist with Basic Conservation Planning course and other training (e.g. CNMP, Nutrient mgmt.)  Keep track of new developments and opportunities (stay tuned ….)

27. Soil Health/Quality  Major national initiative!  Led by Science and Technology (S&T) at the national level  States have a coordinator (it might be you)  Soil scientists have a historical (and present) role to play and bring a lot to the table  You need to be proactive about getting involved if you aren’t already

28. Soil Health/Quality (national)  Soil Health Rapid Assessment Tool (SH- RAT) – being developed for CDSI and for conservation planning  Soil Quality Test Kit and Guide being updated  Soil Quality Buckets for educators  Soil Health 101 trainings – national cadre  Planning tools and databases, including RUSLE2 and WEPS, being constantly updated to better meet state soil quality assessment needs

29. Potential roles of SSS and staff  On-site soil health investigations  Involvement with soil health related training  Use of evaluation tools (SH-RAT, soil quality test kit  Identification of appropriate local soil health indicators  Development of local tech notes and other guidance documents

30. Dynamic Soil Properties  Next “big thing” in soils data  Soil properties that change within the human time scale  Very important implications for management but …  Hard to measure and document consistently

31. DSP (national)  3 year national DSP Plan developed  DSP teams: Leadership, Advisory, Technical  Include national, state and local staff  Revising soil change guide to make it more “user friendly”  Request for DSP project proposals (NB on the way)  Deadline is March 21, 2014 first round; will accept project proposals throughout year  Skye Wills at NSSC is the lead contact

32. Potential roles of SSS and staff  Prepare and submit a proposal for a DSP project in your state  Identify local situations where DSPs are of particular concern or importance  Stay informed about opportunities  We’ll do our best to keep everyone “in the loop” as things move forward  Great opportunity for coordinated projects between states/area and SSRs

33. Where do we go from here?

34. National Priorities in FY2014 (we need your help)  Complete revisions to handbook and course  Evaluate current reporting system – how can we do it better?  Develop “communication strategy” (sounds complicated but …)  How do we find out what is important to you?  How do we “get the word out” from national?  How do we better exchange information, ideas, tools, best practices etc.

35. The Bottom Line: We want to hear from you!  What are you working on?  What is being asked of you that you may not have time for?  What would you like to be working on?  What have we mentioned that we are working on that you would like more information on or provide input to?  What can we do to better serve your needs?  How can we communicate better in TSS and to/from NSSC in general?  Whatever else is on your mind where we might be able to help

36. Contact information (who you gonna call?) Linda Scheffe – Acting NL for TSS (until March) Linda.Scheffe@lin.usda.gov 402-437-5351 Lenore Vasilas – Acting NL for TSS after Linda Lenore.Vasilas@wdc.usda.gov 301-504-2188 Michael Robotham – NL for TSS (but detailed to Research and Lab) Michael.Robotham@lin.usda.gov 402-437-4098