Candidates for 2002 ISCA Election

President Elect

 

Pat Kelsey

Patrick Kelsey is the Senior Soil Scientist at Christopher B. Burke Engineering, Ltd in Rosemont, Illinois. He was formerly the Research Soil Scientist at the Morton Arboretum.  He has been a member of ISCA since 1987 and a Certified Classifier since 1988.  He served as Newsletter Editor from 1991-2001.  He served as President of ISCA in 1996 and represented ISCA in Conservation Congress IV (1998-2001). Pat and his wife LuAnne live in Montgomery, IL with their two children.

 

Mark Stelford

Mark recently completed his Ph.D. in Geology and Environmental Geosciences at Northern Illinois University in December 2001.  The title of his dissertation is Identification of Hydrologic Response Units (HRUs) in Low-Relief Soil Landscapes of Northern Illinois: a Process-Based Approach.  January marks the fourth year of employment at CNH Global, N.V.  He is responsible for the design, execution, analysis, and communication of agronomic experiments that compare CNH planting equipment (i.e., Case IH 1200 series planters) with the alternative systems offered by Deere and Company, Kinze Manufacturing, and Agco.  The agronomic experiments include several measurements of equipment/soil interactions.  In 2001, he co-authored a Site-Specific Management Guideline for the Potash and Phosphate Institute entitled Site-specific Soil Compaction Mapping Using a Digital Penetrometer.  He is currently working towards ARCPACS certification as a professional soil scientist, and is a candidate for the DeKalb County Board.  If elected, he would like to focus on the documentation of tools and methodologies that can be used to implement first-order soil surveys for precision agriculture applications.

 

Vice President

 

Dale Calsyn

Dale received his B.S. degree in Agronomy from the University of Illinois in 1975.  He began his career as a county soil scientist working on the Henry County Soil Survey in 1975.  He became a soil scientist with the Soil Conservation Service in 1977.  During the period from 1980 through 1990, he served as the project leader for the Cass County Soil Survey, the Mason County Soil Survey, and the Fulton County FSA HEL mapping project.  In 1990, he moved to NE Illinois to serve as the project leader for the McHenry County Soil Survey Update.  His position there has since evolved into being the team leader for the NE Illinois MLRA update office with the responsibility of overseeing the soil survey updates for 17 counties.  He has been a member of the Illinois Soil Classifiers since 1977.

 

Bruce Putman

Bruce is a Certified Soil Classifier who has been a consulting soil scientist in Woodstock, Illinois since 1988. He also served as a USDA Soil Scientist for 5 years in Western, Northern and Central Illinois. He earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

 

Treasurer

 

Chuck Frazee

Chuck has a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. He is a Charter member of ISCA and is Certified Professional Soil Classifier #10. He has mapped soils in six counties in Illinois. He is presently Treasurer of ISCA and has held this position for the past 9 years. 

 

William Teater

Bill is a 1979 graduate of the University of Illinois with a degree in Agronomy/Soils.  He has been a soil scientist with NRCS since 1980 and has worked in several central Illinois counties on regular and update soil surveys.  Presently he is a member of the Springfield MLRA Update Office, USDA-NRCS.  Bill has previous experience as a treasurer for a scouting group when he was in high school.  His wife Debbie keeps the checkbook balanced and laments the thousands of dollars he has lost investing in the stock market.  Please don't hold this against him, that was a couple of years ago and she doesn't let him trade unless she co-signs now. 

 

Editors Notes

Some of you may have received a bill from ASA requesting payment for Soil Survey Horizons.  Do not pay this as Soil Survey Horizons is paid for through your ISCA dues.

 

Please, vote for the candidate of your choice for this year's elections.  The candidates are listed on an enclosed ballot alphabetically.

 

Again within this issue, I have included the abstract from Dave Grimley on using Magnetic Susceptibility to Delineate Hydric Soils.  I have worked with Dave using this technique in the field and it looks very promising.  This should be a very interesting topic for our annual meeting. 

 

I wish to express my gratitude to out going President Karla Hanson for her assistance with the Newsletter over the past year.  Karla has put a lot of effort into making sure members submitted articles to me on time.

 

You may vote prior to the annual meeting by mailing ballot to Bob Tegeler, 124 Joan Drive, Divernon, IL 62530.  Please, mark "ballot" on the outside of the envelope.   Mailed ballots must be received by March 22^nd, 2002.

 

 Honor Drummer as the Newest Illinois State Symbol

With Special Event License Plates

 

 

Honor Drummer as Illinois’ State Soil by purchasing a Special Event License Plate.  Special event license plates are a unique promotional device made available to civic groups and others by the Office of the Secretary of State.  To qualify, the event should be open to the public and be an activity that promotes the interest of Illinois citizens.  We thought we would use the 2002 Summer/Fall Meeting as our special event.

 

Upon approval by the Secretary of State, ISCA will design and have manufactured license plates that may be displayed on qualified vehicles for 60 days prior to the last day of the event.

 

Special event plates can be ordered in quantities of a 50-pair minimum.  The basic cost is $10.00; however, the number of colors used in the design will determine the final cost.  (Three colors for example are $27.96). 

 

ISCA must submit a letter requesting authorization to issue Special Event Plates with a brief description of the event and the beginning and ending dates of the event.  The letter must be sent six months prior to the event.   This would be an excellent way to publicize Drummer as the Illinois State Soil and ISCA.

 

Please let us know what you think.  Submit your thoughts with your ISCA Ballot.  Thank You.

 

 

________Yes, I would purchase Special Events Plates.

 

________Yes, I would purchase the plates and serve on the Special Event Plate Committee.

 

________No, I would not purchase the plates.

 

Using MS to delineate hydric soils in Illinois:

Evidence for dissolution of magnetic particles

David Grimley and Nancy Arruda, Illinois State Geological Survey, 615 E. Peabody Dr., Champaign, IL 61820, (dgrimley@uiuc.edu, arruda@uiuc.edu)

 

Hydric soil identification has become increasingly important for wetland conservation and restoration.  Field indicators, used for this purpose, can be somewhat subjective or difficult to identify in some soil types.  Magnetite is destroyed under anaerobic conditions and neoformed ultra-fine ferrimagnetic minerals are preferentially preserved under aerobic conditions Thus, magnetic susceptibility (MS) is higher in well-drained areas than in hydric areas.  MS may therefore be a more objective method for identifying hydric soils than those currently used.  We examined several sites with different parent materials in central, western, and southern Illinois.  At each site, MS readings were taken every 30 feet on transects or grids across transitional hydric boundaries of consistent parent material.  MS readings were calibrated with traditional field indicators to obtain a critical MS value for identifying hydric soils.  Early data suggests that this value is 30 x10^–5 SI, in sites with loessal parent material, and 20 x10^–5 SI at a site southern Illinois with alluvial parent material.  Sandy soils in Illinois may have a critical value as high as 40 x10^–5 SI.

In laboratory tests, frequency dependent MS ranged from 0 to 10 %.  Further analyses on grain size fractions of soils show the contribution of clay and fine silt (<8m) to MS ranges from 25 – 70 %.  In preliminary examination by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fly ash (spherical industrial particulates) were found to comprise 7 to 30% of the > 8m strongly magnetic particles.  Samples with lower MS readings contain less magnetite and show more dissolution of fly ash and natural magnetite when viewed under SEM.  The alteration of fly ash implies that significant magnetite alteration can occur in less than 150 years.

  MS values include proportions of their signal from neoformed magnetite and silt-sized detrital magnetite with a secondary contribution from industrial fly ash.  Both the formation and dissolution of

these magnetic particles affect MS under hydric and non-hydric soil conditions.

 

MINUTES

ISCA COUNCIL MEETING

OCTOBER 18, 2001

NRCS OFFICE, NORMAL, IL

 

Present:

Karla Hanson, President

Lester Bushue, President-Elect

Ken Anderson, Past-President

Bill Teater, Vice-President

Charles Frazee, Treasurer

Bob Tegeler, Secretary

Jim Hornickel, Secretary-Treasurer Certification Board

 

The Council Meeting was called to order by President Karla Hanson at 10:00 AM.

Secretary's Report - Bob Tegeler.  The minutes were approved as written.  Bob discussed two price quotes he had received for ISCA stationary.  He will obtain more exact price information from the Capitol Blueprint Company.  If their original quote is correct, 500 sheets of stationary and 500 envelopes, with the ISCA logo, will be ordered.  Bob will inform Karla Hanson if the original quote has changed.

Treasurer's Report - Charles Frazee.  The treasurer's report showed a balance of $9302.12, as of October 17, 2001.  Charles reviewed various expenses in the treasurer's report.  The Treasurer's report was approved as written.

Certification Board -  Jim Hornickel, Secretary/Treasurer.  No new activities to date.  Jim reported that there are currently 44 Certified ISCA members.  Three of these members will need to re-certify by the end of this year.  No new applications have been received to date.

Standing Committee reports

Constitution, By-Laws and Legislative - No report.

Ethics, Certification and Membership - No report.  No new applications are pending.

Finance - Bill Teater.  No new activities

Newsletter -Karla Hanson reported that the next newsletter will be sent during the first week of December.  The deadline for articles is November 23.  This newsletter will contain articles regarding the ILICA show, the Central States Forest-Soils Workshop, the ISCA Summer Meeting, and the 2001 Soil Survey Planning Conference.  Jim Hornickel will submit information concerning the 2001 Soil Survey Planning Conference, he will try to obtain a copy of the minutes from the conference. A newsletter will also be issued in February 2002, and contain the ballot for the upcoming election of officers.

Nominations - Ken Anderson.  Two members have agreed to run for Vice President.  Ken is still searching for nominees for President.

Public Relations and Education Committee/Special Appointee to State Advisory Commission on Private Sewage Disposal - No report.

Program - Karla Hanson discussed possible dates for the Annual Meeting.  The next Annual Meeting will be held on March 23, 2002.  A location for the meeting is yet to be determined.  David Grimley, Geologist with the Illinois State Geological Survey, was mentioned as a possible speaker.  A thank you note was sent to Melody Arnold for speaking at the Summer Meeting.

Ad Hoc Committees

Historic - Karla Hanson read a report from Roger Windhorn, Chairperson of the Historic Committee.  His committee is continuing to review and file the information they have received.  They are in the process of categorizing some of the information.  There are some gaps in information regarding names of past office holders.  The committee is in need of photographs, they can be sent to Roger Windhorn or Earl Voss.  The committee is in the process of labeling folders that contain information, this could result in a small expense for ISCA. 

 

State Soil - Bob Tegeler reported on information he had received from Bob McLeese concerning state soil activities.  He displayed a wooden monolith tray containing a Drummer profile.  At this time 6 monoliths have been made, more monoliths will be made in the near future.  They will be used at schools, etc.  A bill of $1527.00 was sent to Charles Frazee, for the cost of 20,000 state soil bookmarks.  At this time, approximately 5800 bookmarks have been distributed for events such as the ILICA Show and the Central States Forest-Soils Workshop.  According to Bob McLeese, any reimbursement from Illinois NRCS to ISCA for the bookmarks is dependent on the FY 2002 budget.  Bob McLeese received a request from a County SWCD Office for 5000 bookmarks.  He suggested that ISCA consider selling the bookmarks to the SWCD Office.  The Executive Council decided to sell the bookmarks to the SWCD office at a rate that will cover the cost of postage, and the cost of the bookmarks.  Karla Hanson will inform McLeese of this decision.  Bob Tegeler also discussed information from McLeese concerning temporary vehicle license plates promoting Drummer as the state soil.  These are plates that can be purchased and put on a vehicle for three months.  An application needs to be submitted to the office of the Illinois Secretary of State.  The application needs to relate to a specific event or events, such as the ISCA Annual Meeting, the Soil Survey Centennial, and/or the state soil designation.  The plate could contain items such as the ISCA Logo and information relating to Drummer as the state soil.  No design has been determined thus far.  The Executive Council decided to put a note concerning the plates in the next ISCA Newsletter, to determine if there is enough interest by ISCA Members to pursue the license plate application.  The note in the newsletter would also seek volunteers to serve on a committee.  If the decision is made to order license plates, the committee would determine a design for the plates.  Bob McLeese volunteered to serve, but not chair the committee, if one is formed.  Karla Hanson will contact McLeese to update him on the decision of the Executive Council. The council decided that there would not be enough time to have the plates ready by the Annual Meeting; the Fall Meeting might work out better if ISCA decides to order the plates. The cost of the plates would depend on the design of the plates and the number ordered.

Technical Criteria (Key to Wastewater Loading Rates) - No report.

Old Business

ISCA Web page -  Bill Teater mentioned that the state soil information on the web page should be updated.   The possibility of scanning the state soil bookmarks was discussed.  If the bookmark does not scan well, a picture of Drummer could be put on the web page, along with information about Drummer.

Central States Forest-Soils Workshop - Karla Hanson discussed comments made by some who attended the workshop.  Bob Tegeler submitted registration fees and other workshop information to Charles Frazee. 

ILICA Show - The soil display received favorable comments. 

2001 Soil Survey Planning Conference -  Jim Hornickel represented ISCA at the conference and presented the ISCA report.

New Business

Membership lapse - Karla Hanson discussed a letter she received from Tom Hanzely.  His membership was discontinued because he had not paid his 2001 dues.  Tom had moved and could not be contacted.  He expressed a desire to continue his ISCA membership.  The Executive Council decided that if he submitted the 2001 dues fee of $25.00, he could remain a member of ISCA.  Bob Tegeler will inform Tom of this decision.

Secretary and Treasurer terms of office - A discussion ensued concerning the need to stagger the terms of office of the Secretary and Treasurer.  Karla Hanson will contact Jeff Deniger, Chairperson of the Constitution, By-Laws, and Legislative Committee concerning this matter.  The committee will need to determine if an amendment is needed to the constitution, to have the Secretary and Treasurer elected in different years instead of at the same time.

IDNR Letter - Karla Hanson discussed a letter she had received from the Illinois Conservation Congress.  The letter was a request for a donation $100.00 for the disaster relief fund.  For a $100.00 donation ISCA would receive 100 American Flag pins.  It was decided not to make the donation. 

The next ISCA Council Meeting will be held on January 11, 2002, at 10:00 AM, at the Bloomington, Illinois NRCS Field Office.

 

The meeting adjourned at 11:30 AM.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Robert Tegeler, Secretary

ISCA Spring Meeting

March 23, 2002 RSVP no later than February 15, 2002 (if you haven’t already)

 

Who: ISCA members, family, friends

What: Annual Spring Meeting and Luncheon-buffet style

When: March 23, 2002; business meeting – 11:00am; luncheon at Noon

Where: University of Illinois; Illini Student Union; Colonial Room

Why:  Fellowship with colleagues; Enjoy a delicious lunch; Hear an informative presentation by David Grimley, ISGS; take a tour of the new UI ACES Library

How Much: Luncheon costs $15.25/person and includes rib eye of beef or stuffed pork chop, twice baked potato casserole, southern green beans, bib lettuce salad, sourdough rolls, Dutch apple pie, coffee, tea, or milk.

Parking: Metered parking available at about $.75/hour; Public parking in lot NW of Green and Wright at about $1.50/hour. (figure on 3 hours total)

Contact: Chris Cochran at: chris.cochran@il.usda.gov or 217-581-7873