The Professional Soil Scientists Association of Texas was established to foster the profession of soil science and to further the increase and dissemination of information concerning all phases of soil science in order to contribute to the general human welfare (from the Constitution Preamble). I firmly believe in these goals and am proud of our record of past achievement. It is an honor to be of service to PSSAT to foster these goals. As you may know, I began the year as Vice-President and looked forward to issuing membership cards to new members and performing the other duties of the office. However, our incoming president, Dr. Richard Drees , has had unexpected health complications and he felt it best to resign (see letter above). Article VII, section 3a of the Bylaws stipulates that the Vice-President shall perform all duties of the president in cases of disability. I am honored to serve as President of the Association and will do my best to perform the duties of the office. I pray for Richard’s speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him at all future PSSAT activities.

As President, I will work closely with the other members of the PSSAT Executive Council: Vice-President Alan Stahnke, President-Elect Eddie Bearden, and Treasurer Kelly Atterbury. We have already appointed committees, as listed in this newsletter. Please contact any members of the Council if you have any questions about your committee duties. Let me know if you were not appointed but wish to serve on a committee. We need to know if you are interested. PSSAT’s work is done through the committees. I encourage all committees to work diligently to foster the goals of PSSAT and look forward to another successful year.

Kelly Attebury , USDA-NRCS, Soil Survey

122 members currently on membership roll, including 6 new members

17 members paid dues following Annual Meeting in February 2004 ($270.00)

28 members still remain unpaid ($420.00)

Ted M. Zobeck, PhD, USDA-ARS

We hope that by now you have been made aware of an exciting new way to explain the importance of soils to millions of people, the Smithsonian Soils Exhibit. The purpose of this exhibit closely follows the purposes and goals of PSSAT and we are an important part of this project.

Well, what is it? A group of soil scientists from around the country as well as here in Texas is working with the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) to develop a national Smithsonian Soils Exhibit. Our goal is for six to nine million people each year to better understand four key messages:
· Soils sustain life and are rich in biodiversity
· Soils store, recycle and renew energy and organic material
· Soils provide food, fiber, fuel and pharmaceuticals to humanity
· Soil scientists work to understand and conserve this critical natural resource

This education would be done through a multi-year museum exhibit at the Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. It could later be loaned out to other museums across the country, including those in our state. The exhibit would include a soil monolith from each state including Houston Black Clay, as well as interactive computer games, exhibits and information on soils (perhaps even a soil petting zoo!). Preliminary project information can be viewed at http://www.soils.org/smithsonian/mission.html.

We are working now to support the Houston Black Clay state soil monolith exhibit. Our overall goal is $10,000 to have a plaque placed on this permanent exhibit. PSSAT has already donated $1,000 toward this goal. According to SSSA headquarters records, as of April, Texas giving was third in the country, behind Missouri and California . We are asking you to personally, generously support this important public outreach project. Any donation to support this very worthy cause is welcome and encouraged. If we can reach our goal (and knowing the great generosity of Texans, we know we will) each person, business or organization that contributes $1000 or more will have their name printed on the plaque.

Your help is crucial to initiating this unique way to explain soils and soil science to millions of people from a science-based, trusted source, the Smithsonian. We are looking for educational outreach materials that may include soil educational kits to be sent to librarians and K–12 teachers and web educational activities, career information, and resource lists that will be available on the Smithsonian Institution and SSSA Web sites indefinitely. Please contact one of the committee members with your donations of these things. You can also donate the green stuff on-line at http://www.a-s-f.org/ by clicking on "Donate Online" and mentioning the Smithsonian Soils Exhibit Texas Monolith in the comments section. Gifts are fully tax deductible and can be made over three years. Thank you in advance.

The State of Texas Smithsonian Exhibit Committee includes Ted Zobeck , Committee State Liaison; Richard Drees , Research Scientist, Texas A & M University (TAMU); Sam Feagley, Professor and State Soil Environmental Specialist, TAMU; John Jacob, Environmental Quality Specialist, TAMU; Clay Robinson, Associate Professor, West Texas A & M University; David Weindorf, Assistant Professor, Tarleton State University; David Zuberer, Professor, TAMU.

 

In June 2002, I attended a phenomenal training on Proper Functioning Condition of Riparian Areas conducted by the National Riparian Service Team. Proper functioning condition (PFC) refers to a qualitative method for assessing the condition of riparian-wetland areas – it is a qualitative assessment based on quantitative science. The PFC assessment is a "consistent approach for considering hydrology, vegetation, and erosion/deposition (soils) attributes and processes to assess the condition of riparian-wetland areas".

Interest in riparian areas caused the Agency heads of BLM and USFS (in March 1996) to sign a letter of agreement to "aggressively implement a cooperative management strategy to accelerate the restoration and improved management of riparian-wetland areas in the western United States . NRCS is a principal partner in this initiative. The National Riparian Service Team (and an extended coordination network) was then created to focus efforts on this approach to cooperative riparian restoration.

The web site for the National Riparian Service Team is http://www.or.blm.gov/nrst/. The site provides several training materials, including PFC publications and Powerpoint presentations on Riparian Soils and Riparian-Wetland Areas. In addition, reference materials include the publication "Soil Bioengineering – An Alternative for Roadside Management". I had the good fortune to meet the author (Lisa Lewis, soil scientist) at NRCS training last year, and she also mentioned an upcoming publication on riparian soils. Riparian-Wetland Soils was published in September 2003 and is currently available through the National Riparian Service Team web site. Lisa and the entire team are strong resources and contacts for restoration and soils work in riparian areas.

(Portion of text modified from web site and "A User Guide to Assessing Proper Functioning Condition and the Supporting Science for Lotic Areas", TR 1737-15, 1998)

PROFESSIONAL SOIL SCIENTISTS ASSOCIATION OF TEXAS

ANNOUNCEMENT OF 2005 SCHOLARSHIP

OBJECTIVE

ELIGIBILITY

AMOUNT

APPLICATION

Application forms and more detailed information concerning the scholarship may be obtainedon the PSSAT web site (http://www.pssat.org/Scholarship.htm) or by contacting:

PSSAT members have been invited to attend the Annual Meeting for the Professional Soil Science Association of Oklahoma (PSSAO) on October 8-9, 2004 . The conference and lodging will be at the Noble Conference Center on the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation Campus in Ardmore , OK . Room availability is limited, and reservations for the BBQ dinner must be made no later than September 10^th. Meeting information will be posted to the PSSAO web site, http://pssao.okstate.edu/.