Featured Earth Team Volunteer
Josh Hornesky

Earth Team volunteer becomes a Soil Conservationist

Sometimes folks think of volunteering as just going through the motions of doing some mindless task that someone else does not want to do. They feel the tasks they are doing will not help anyone, let alone themselves. I would tend to disagree with this statement ever since the first day I became a Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Earth Team volunteer. It started in September of 2004. I had just completed an amazing time as a summer intern in the NRCS Herkimer County, New York field office, and was eager to learn more about what the activities of the agency were.

During the fall of 2004 while enrolled in college and when class was not in session, I started volunteering at the NRCS State Office in Syracuse. While there I helped folks in doing an array of different tasks. I remember first starting out helping the Cartographic Technicians. I assisted them in the preparation and editing of mylar sheets that were used to recompile soil surveys from the ratioed film positives to the rectified ortho-imagery. This process included checking for clean soil map unit lines, complete soil polygons and correct soil symbols. The mylar sheets were then sent to the digitizing unit in Madison, Wisconsin for digitizing which created a digital product.

While in Syracuse I also learned about the accountability of NRCS to the public. In assisting the agency in being accountable I reviewed and ensured information contained in what were called “conservation system guide sheets” were correct to help the agency better report to the public for instance how many tons of soil were saved for a particular year. These sheets also aided farmers and Conservationists in ensuring that the conservation practices installed on a farm were effective at solving natural resource related problems as well as being economically cost effective. One of the greatest things that I really liked about my experience in Syracuse was being able to work with so many different folks ranging from Program Specialists, to Agronomists, to Conservationists. Anytime I had a question or needed something they were all right there willing to drop everything and give me a hand.

My time is Syracuse was such a great learning experience that I decided whenever school was not in session, and I went back to my hometown on breaks that I would go back to the Herkimer field office to help out and continue learning from the staff. While in Herkimer I learned and assisted with a wide variety of tasks. I recall helping the field office with highly erodible land and wetland determinations as well as running RUSLE2 on crop fields. In Herkimer one of the biggest things I learned was how NRCS cannot do all the work alone. I learned what it was to be a part of a team, and how important our Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) partners are. In Herkimer County whenever the SWCD or NRCS needed a hand the other was there to help them in whatever way they could. Whether it was assisting with a survey, or helping the district at conservation field days, it was really where I learned how NRCS and SWCD are a team, and how much they rely on each other in so many different ways.

Over the course of my volunteering experience in Herkimer I had the opportunity to observe some conservation projects go from start to finish. I recall one time helping with surveying a Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) site for restoring a degraded wetland. Then next time I went back construction of that WRP site was underway. It is so interesting how NRCS employees can be working on restoring a wetlands site one day, and the next day they are designing and installing a structure to reduce soil erosion. I do not know of to many other organizations that have such an extensive spectrum of duties and responsibilities.

Along with learning a number of different things as a volunteer, the thing that most brought me back again and again to NRCS were the employees. The people of NRCS are some of the most dedicated and hardworking individuals I have ever met. They are truly passionate about conservation and are extremely willing to share their knowledge, skills, and experiences with me. I never really honestly felt like a volunteer throughout the time when I was an Earth Team volunteer. Everyone treated me with respect, as though I were a fellow employee. With confidence I can say I really believe everyone was there to help people help the land. They believed in protecting soils, having clean water, having healthy plant and animal communities, and ensuring that our farms are here for today and protected for tomorrow.

The dedication of NRCS employees to teach me the ropes about what they do and how they do it was truly priceless. The enthusiasm they displayed towards me about what they do is what made me committed to being a volunteer and coming back to learn from them as much as I could over and over again. This has lead me to pursuing a full time position with NRCS. Today, because of the positive experiences I have had as an Earth Team volunteer I am now able to work for the NRCS full time as a Soil Conservationist in the Ithaca, New York field office.

• NRCS New York Earth Team information

• National NRCS Earth Team Web page
  

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