Two members of the Natural Resources Conservation Service presented to Mr. Lauffer’s Aquatics-Forestry-Wildlife class. Mark Myers and Rob Weaver, both soil conservationists for NRCS, spoke to the class on the importance of soil conservation.

They used a power point designed to stress areas of importance in soil science. Topic included soil erosion, soil structure and texture, use of the websoil survey, conservation planning, stream bank fencing, and nutrient management.

Bryan Peter, Paul McFarland and RJ Davis literally get their hands dirty as they determine  soil texture with NRCS soil conservationist Rob Weaver.  This  a hands-on lab on determining soil texture using tactile senses and forming a ribbon of soil to determine the percentages of clay, silt and sand in a sample.

 

Seth Yoder, Nathan Good, Paul MacFarland and Bryan Peter study a soil profile monolith and identify    the various soil horizons and the characteristics of each.

Lastly the NRCS representatives showed some slides of best management practices they had helped local landowners put into place. They talked about what made their jobs rewarding.  High on the list of positives were that you get to work in different locations and situations, that each day is different, that you help people solve problems and make a difference for the environment.

Three teams of Garden Spot students wil be competing in the Lancaster County Envirothon on May 3. One of the five stations in which they will be tested involves soil. The others are aquatics, forestry, wildlife and this year’s current issue non-point source pollution.