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Missouri Association
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Missouri Association
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| March, 2001 | Volume 63 |
1. Minutes of the previous meeting approved as presented in the Probauger.
2. Treasurer's Report approved as presented. See FY 2,000 financial report attached.
3. Old Business: Committee reports given by finance, constitution, membership, education, ethics & certification and nominations.
Dr. James and Tom Dewitt reported another certification test was requested and will be offered in the Springfield area. No objections.
4. New Business:
Neil Babik announced to positions with Mark twain National Forest. A GS-1 1 forest soil scientist and a GS-911 1 forest hydrologist. Duty station negotiable between Rolla or another Forest Service station in south Missouri.
5. President Skaer announced the National Society of Soil Consulting Soil Scientists, Inc meeting Nov. 4-5, 2000. He circulated a copy of their newsletter "Soil Profiles".
6. President Skaer presented a letter from Percy Johnson, Missouri Department of Health, asking for a definition of "2 years of field experience". This letter was not addressed to MAPSS but soil scientists on the consulting list. Discussion by membership. It was moved by John Preston and seconded by Dennis Meinert that President Skaer will revise the copy presented at the meeting and send a copy of an earlier letter which stated MAPSS thinks the minimum requirements should require the minimum requirements for MAPSS certification.<
7. Election of Officers was held. The presidential gavel passed from Dave Skaer to Jerry Gott. Dennis Meinert was elected President-elect and Mike Chalfant was elected Member-at-Large.
8. A MAPSS auction was enjoyed by the group. The auctioneer was again "the Colonel" although not fully dressed (?) and only moustached for a short period of time. It netted $157.00. A hedge apple brought a dollar and a sword with a questionable background brought in $28. Two very nice fishing rods brought $70. Thank you participants.
Respectfully submitted, Bill Pauls Secretary/Treasurer
SAVINGS ACCOUNT Beginning Balance 10-1-99 $4,927.16 Income Dividends $95.33 Dues $250.00 Transfers Transfer from checking $3000.00 Transfer to 3 month CD $5100.00 Transfer to Checking $2000.00 Ending Balance 9-30-00 $1,172.49 CD ACCOUNT Transfer from Savings 5/30/00 $5100.00 Dividend at Maturity 8/29/00 $64.85 Ending Balance 9/30/00 $5164.85+5.53% 8/29/00 to 9/30/00 Maturity date 11/28/00 CHECKING ACCOUNT Beginning Balance 10/1/99 $2078.79 Income Dividends $48.14 Dues $465.00 Centennial Hats $50.00 Centennial Belt Buckles $35.26 (2 sold through MAPSS) Forest-Soils Conf. seed money $1964.45 Transfer from Savings $2000.00 Expenses Stamps $40.81 Centennial Hats $210.00 Centennial Belt Buckles $35.26 (2 purchased through MAPSS) Memorial to Ed Hughes $50.00 Show Me Coaches (FSC) $300.00 Transfer to Savings $3,000.00 Ending Balance 9/30/00 $3,005.57 Total Income $2,973.03 Total Expenses $636.07 Net Income $2,336.96 Not all Forest-Soils conference obligations paid or income derived as of 10/01/00 and a % of3 month Certificate of Deposit interest not calculated. Respectfully submitted, Bill Pauls, Treasurer
President: Jerry Gott Vice-President: Dennis Meinert
Sec./Treasurer: Bill Pauls Past Presidents: Mark Osborn
Members-at-large: Dick Renderson Robert Rouse
Mike Chalfant Dave Skaer
The Three Gorges Dam is the most massive project of it's kind. It will produce a lake of over 500 kilometers in length, submerging some 200,000 hectares of farmland, and requiring the relocation of at least a million people.
Our delegation spent four days in Beijing where we had brief meetings with officials of the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and with faculty at the National Agricultural University. These were broken up by some very fine diversions, including the Beijing Opera, which was as much an acrobatic event as it was musical. We also visited the Great Wall. the Summer Palace, Tiananmen Square, and the Forbidden City.
I did have some trepidation about walking in Tiananmen Square. The horrible events of just over ten years ago must haunt the place somehow, and I didn~ feel quite right wandering in there as a simple tourist. Yet it is also where the primary institutions of the Chinese state reside. It is the largest public square in the world, and it was crowded with people, all seemingly out for a Sunday stroll.
September 13 - Chongqing
Chongqing (pronounced Chong-Ching) is the smoggiest city I think I have ever seen.
The smell of burning coal is palpable. Built on steep hills, it is located where the Jialing
and Yangtze Rivers meet. These characteristics lend it an odd similarity to Pittsburgh before
the Clean Air Act. The most obvious difference is that the hills are considerably higher
and steeper, and I am told that the city, which claims a hefty piece of real estate,
reportedly has a population of 30 million people.
Located at the upper end what will be the new reservoir, this is the city which stands to profit immensely, and also face some new environmental challenges, if the Three Gorges Dam project is carried to completion. It will then be accessible to ocean going ships.
Chongqing has much more of a Third World appearance than Beijing. The streets are crowded with vendors and others carrying sacks of grain and other burdens on their backs or balanced on shoulder beams. The sidewalks are crowded with open-air shops, with corrugated roll-up fronts. The store fronts appear crowded and have a run-down look. Traffic crawls.
We are on a bus to a meeting at the Southwest Agricultural Institute, and our guide has been speaking of some of the historical significance of the city. It was here that Chiang Kai-Shek relocated the Chinese capitol after the Japanese invaded the north during the years that led to World War II.
Later that Day
The bus trip to the Southwest Agriculture Institute took about two hours. The faculty are all
very y~ng. Onr delegation had a stiff and formal introduction, followed by what turned into
a lively and freewheeling discussion over agronomic and environmental issues, both in general
and in relation to the dam. I was particularly interested in what types of soils information
was available to the area. In raising that question, I inadvertently put the hosts to a good
deal of trouble to find a rather old soils map of the province. It was drawn to a scale of
one to 3 million. Soil mapping in China has some catching up to do.
September 15 - On Board the Yangtze President Cruise Liner
The President is a five decker boat, with small but nice cabin accommodations, a nightclub,
bar, dining hall, souvenir shops, and other amenities that you might find in any hotel.
No pool. Besides our own delegation, there are several other tourist groups, from the U.S.
and also from France, Germany, and Indonesia. There are even a few Chinese tourists.
The Yangtze River is similar in width and in water color to the lower Missouri River. However, the landscape on either side is very mountainous, and mostly terraced and cultivated. We have passed a number of towns which show signs of ambitious development dreams gone slightly sour We were given a presentation this morning on the historical reasons for building the Three Gorges Dam. It was originally proposed by Sun Yat-Sen, a preceding revolutionary to Mao Zedong. In 1917, Sun observed that the site where construction is now taking place had the granite bedrock composition that would make such a construction possible. In the years that followed, plans for a dam were developed with the assistance of American engineers. However, economic depression and war brought it all to a halt.
In the years following the Second World War, the project was largely forgotten. Memories of bombing attacks, particularly in Chongqing, were still fresh in people's minds. Mao Zedong was pessimistic about the prospects for long-term peace for China with the rest of the world. And a structure of the size contemplated for the Three Gorges Dam would be a tempting target for an enemy.
However, when Deng Tsiao-Ping took over in 1979, China was opening up to the rest of the world. The idea that long lasting peace could be enjoyed appeared plausible. In 1984, the drafting of plans for the current project began. Construction began in 1993.
We are now approaching Feng Du, a city which will be partially submerged by the lake. It is commonly referred to as the City of Ghosts. That term may soon become even more applicable.
September 16 - On Board the Yangtze President Cruise Line
The City of Ghosts could almost be described as the City of Ghouls. While most of the town
is near the level of the Yangtze, and therefore doomed to submersion, the main attraction,
if you can call it that, is up on top of a hill that is destined to become an island in the
lake. Here sits an ornate temple that, like many other things, has been restored after
destruction during the Cultural Revolution.
The temple is accessible by a chairlift which glides over elegant and symmetrical landscaping. Approaching it, and within it are a series of fally colored and extremely grotesque statues depicting what a person may face after death if he or she has not lead a benign life. Legend has it that all who die must go to Feng Du and face these horrors if they do not pass a series of tests, which were playfully imposed on us by our guide. These involved such things as climbing a staircase while holding our breath, and passing on the right or left side of a column, depending on which gender you may wish to be in your next life. Evidently, the Chinese don't take this mythology too seriously, but as for the artwork, Dante comes to mind.
This morning, the boat passed through the Qutan and Wu Gorges. Their beauty and magnificence I will not try to capture in words. Much Chinese water color art is based on the views inside these gorges.
As the boat approaches each gorge, the river narrows and the current quickens. A sentry house on the bank has a prominent arrow pointing down, indicating that ships of over 500 tons may proceed downstream. Ships going upstream from the lower end of the gorge will have to wait when they see this signal.
The farm terraces that dominate the slopes on each side of the river give way to bare rock, mainly fractured and highly tilted limestone. The peaks on each side may be one or two thousand feet above the river, it's a little hard to estimate. There are occasional signs on the slopes displaying the numbers 135 and 175. These are elevations above sea level, in meters. When the dam is completed, the surface of the lake is expected to move between these levels.
While these markers are relatively low on the faces of the cliffs, they are nevertheless above many things, all scheduled to drown. Among them is a path cut into the side of the cliff some two thousand years ago. This was done for military reasons, but also was used for pulling boats upstream. There also are ancient bridges across narrow tributaries and hand dug coal mines. And there are houses where people live and till the occasional patch of terraced ground.
This afternoon, we took a diversion up a tributary in sampans, otherwise known as peapod boats. They were maybe fifty feet long, and were fitted to carry about twenty tourists each. A crew of six members of a local indigenous group strained their backs with long and very thin oars to move us upstream. This is where the ancient Ba culture suspended their coffins on cliffs above the stream. How and why is not really known, We were only able to spot one of them.
The water in the tributary is usually crystal clear (very unlike the Yangtze) but recent rains had clouded the water Near our destination, the current quickened to rapids, and the crew got out to pull the boats up on foot. We all felt a little guilty just sitting in the boats, but that's how the tourist to native relationship works out here.
The ubiquitous vendors had set up shop on a rocky stream bank, and I bought a green stone bowl and some river rock for my aquarium. The trip back was a glide, and we were treated to river folk songs by the crew.
September 17 - At the Dam Site
A brand new city, across from the old fishing village of Sandouping, has appeared on the
left bank just below the dam construction site. As with all proper cities, it must have a
few skyscrapers. The Three Gorges Dam Reception Center, which put us up for the night, is
actually a twenty something storied hotel. One of the old timers in our group wryly noted
what a contrast this is to the accommodations that would have been available for visitors
to the Hoover Dam when it was being built. New Sandouping has a very sterile appearance to
it. Access to it is restricted, although our delegation was ushered in without a hitch.
From the Reception Center, we boarded a bus to the construction area. We were accompanied by Mr. Li, who, as I understand it, is the chief engineer for the dam. Small in stature, he seems to be smiling most of the time. He was kind enough to spend most of the day with us.
We passed vast piles of granite rubble and then came upon where the locks are under construction. We were looking at a pair of two virtually identical canyons without curves. They will be two sets of five consecutive locks that will have the capacity to raise and lower vessels of up to 12,000 tons by 113 meters. Each of the locks is 280 meters long and 34 meters wide.
The dam will be 1,600 meters long. The concrete that is now being poured will ultimately include about half a million cubic meters of granite that has been blasted from nearby. The granite outcrop is geologically dissimilar to the rest of the Three Gorges area, which is dominated by limestone.
Looking down from a massive concrete platform over the north bank, the granite wall directly beneath us is all studded with two inch thick rods of rebar jutting by about a meter from where they are planted, and turned by a right angle part way out. This is the scale of hardware that, if all calculations are correct, will serve to keep the dam anchored. That and the sheer weight of the structure. From where we stand, the dam will soon be growing outward.
I look across the river through a forest of multicolored cranes, some over ten stories high. The trucks and earthmoving equipment that are scattered along the cranes' feet appear as so many mice. The most prevalent cargo of the cranes is concrete, ready to pour. All this gear sits on what was, until just a few years ago, the bottom of the river. The area is now sheltered from the river by the two cofferdams, consisting of granite rubble and concrete that were poured into the river to cut off flow from the construction zone. On the south end of it, the river still flows freely through a fast and narrow channel.
I watched one of the cranes pouring a load of concrete into a prepared section where a crew spread it. Even with all this massive equipment, the process appeared very slow. The dam now has a few columnar sections structurally complete, but most of the central part is still low in the profile of what is planned.
A Visit with the Engineer
Mr. Li met with us to discuss the project and take questions. Early on, he stressed
that environmental impacts and issues are being given very high consideration.
Between 1986 and 1988, a committee of 412 specialists in engineering, geology, water quality, agriculture, and related fields debated the merits of the proposed dam. Their findings were submitted to the People's Congress in a final report which recommended proceeding with the project The conclusion of the report was that environmental damage would not be serious enough to justify stopping the project. It was not quite a unanimous finding. A group of nine committee members filed a minority report in opposition to the dam.
Mr. Li stressed the benefit of substituting hydro-electric power for the dirty coal from which power is presently produced around most of the country. According to Li, the hydro-electric power from the dam will reduce atmospheric emissions of carbon dioxide by 100 million tons per year and of sulfur dioxide by 200 million tons per year. Also, coal power in China currently costs about 50 cents per kilowatt hour. We are told that the cost of a hydroelectric kilowatt hour will be 2.4 cents.
All cities, towns, and villages that will be inundated are to be searched for removal of potential toxic waste sources such as batteries and other domestic and industrial products. How thorough this will be is hard to say. Also, all towns that must relocate will be provided funding with mandates to build new wastewater treatment plants. Whether such facilities will have the capacity to keep water pollution under acceptable limits after the river's current is cut needs to be determined.
It was acknowledged that localized water pollution problems would continue in some areas of the reservoir. But it was also argued that the reservoir would not be stagnant. The movement of water through the turbines and spillways of the dam will cause continuous movement of water throughout the reservoir.
It is expected that the average water temperature in the lake will rise by 2 or 3 degrees C. As it is, aquatic life in the Yangtze is perennially challenged by the high silt load of the river which makes the water dark brown and turbid. Not many species thrive in this environment. One that does is the Chinese Sturgeon, an ancient fish which grows up to 4 meters long and can weigh up to half a ton. It is now listed as endangered. Mr. Li reports that there are artificial propagation programs now under way to support the species. Will they survive the warmer water? Not known.
Notes on the Country
I did not meet anyone there who was outright opposed to the dam, although a few
faculty that we had met at the Southwest Agriculture Institute indicated some
reservations. It is possible that we were deliberately diverted with our crowded
itinerary from encountering any active opposition to the project. Or it may be that
we didn't look in the right places.
Some might suggest that opposition has been squelched by the regime. That's possible. However, in my admittedly brief stay. I found that the country does not prominently display the trappings of dictatorship. Most of the police I saw were unarmed. No roadblocks. Not much in the way of paranoia. Outside of Tiananmen Square, I saw very few signs that were singing the praises of the regime.
And people seem to be cheerful. The ones that I talked with, or tried to talk with, were very gracious. I don't think I had any difficult or awkward moments with anyone.
I saw few if any people that you would call overweight. China has known famine, even in recent times. The modern diet in the country is quite healthy, with a lot of vegetables and fiber, as well as pork, eel, chicken, and a few other interesting meats from land and sea. There is concern that, with the introduction of McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken (I didn't see any other fast food chains that I recognized, but these two are everywhere), dietary habits may stumble down to our level.
Environment does seem to be a strong buzzword in China. While it may be just so much rhetoric, it may also be partly inspired by memories of the devastation to the land that resulted from Chairman Mao's call for a "Great Leap Forward" in the late 1950's. This was a frantic effort to outperform western countries in industrial production. It caused an acceleration of air and water pollution, massive clearcutting, soil erosion, and other environmental ills which were plain for all to see and endure.
On a back street in Chongqing, way up on a hill, there is a museum dedicated to General Joseph StilIwell. As the commander of allied troops helping China to fight the Japanese during World War II, he is fondly remembered by the older generation. The museum is in a modest building but has an extensive collection of press clippings and other artifacts of "Vinegar Joe" and his place in Chinese history. No one disturbed this museum during the Cultural Revolution.
The Chinese term for America is MeyGuo. Translated literally, it means "Beautiful Country". This may have derived from "America the Beautiful". While our relationship with China has gone through much turbulence, some of it recent, there is nevertheless a strain of positive feeling toward Americans that has historical roots from the time of World War II, and also from earlier events. This is an asset that has no dollar figure, but from which we all stand to gain if it's value is respected.
Controversial as the dam is, it's construction and completion appear, at this point, to be inevitable. As is the case with all types of change, there will be winners and losers. For the latter, the government is making, I think, an honest effort to compensate, although, much that will be lost will be irreplaceable. For instance, farmers that are being misplaced are being given advice in the production of cash crops such as citrus, which, it is hoped, will offer an improvement to their standard of living. However, many of them are losing homes which have been in their fami!ies for hundreds of years.
In the end, the project may be another manifestation of the "Great Leap Forward". One can only hope that it will be more successful, and less destructive, then the previous such event.
A New Years Resolution
By Dave Skaer
With hesitation, consternation, and emulation; please pray for more participation; in a custom of people and destination; to bring about re-unification. The importance of our observation; should focus on consistence of our notion; what good is the motion; if we don't stick to a steady position. Should we pay a new tuition, due to a whim of intuition; for as or lives move towards completion; will our efforts bring fruition? Can we count this information; and know it'll happen without complication; sunrise, death, soil correlation; so reliable just like emotion. I hope you don't find confusion; from a few words of revolution; just take it as an invitation; for a brighter evolution.
The listed group participated in a wide spectrum of activities exhibiting
soils professionalism. They have all qualified to remain MAPSS Certified
and deserve congratulations. Anyone interested in information or wanting
to become a MAPSS Certified Soil Classifier can contact any Board member.
My term as MAPSS President had chal]enging and humorous times. The comradery at each
meeting brings a feeling that there's a large group of existing members who are missing
a real opportunity. I hope the future holds good fortune for all of us invo]yed in the
expanding comprehension and sharing of the soil story. With that said I will leave you
with a thanks and the following two articles.
Dave Skaer
Top 10 Soil Survey Absurdities plus 50 Rejects
1. To hell with the procedure, my way's better. 2. Need something in a hurry, don't call the state office. 3. Have a question? Call Lincoln, PhD's can generalize anything. 4. We're not lost, this jnst isn't where I thought we were. 5. Just watch how fast I can change your lines. 6. If you clean that windshield you might see what you're mapping. 7. I don't need to see the big picture; the correlator takes care of that. 8. Always have the OSD in hand when describing a profile. 9. Don't screw up mapping next to a road. 10. As a rule soil scientists will pick up most anything. 11. Who ever had the backhoe last broke it. 12. In soils anything you say or do wilt be held against you. 13. Soils on all landforrns have moved, everything is colluvium or eroded, 14. Ifit doesn't fit the OSD, expand the range. 15. The person you piss off today will be your supervisor soon. 16. I don't need to go to the field & map, the map concepts are perfect. 17. All soils are clay unless they're gray. 18. By the time you reach the state office most field training doesn't apply. 19. Soil Survey is confusion in progress. 20. Your supervisors always reward hard work. 21. '1D" slopes in mountainous areas are flat. 22. There's no such thing as 'silt coats' in a silty "F" horizon. 23. I poked a hole there, it must be Shibboleth. 24. There's a new taxonomy book out, so they've changed the rules again. 25. Look through the stereoscope & cheek out the curves on that landscape. 26. I was in the pit & described the profile, so get in there & see what I saw. 27. It must be right; this is the best soil survey they ever had. 28. Everything across the county line is 'old mapping; so change it. 29. The horizons in that profile resemble a rainbow. 30. You should have had that for me last week. 31. That computer does a much better job of mapping without ground truth. 32. It's that time of year for a mushroom survey 33. That "General Soil Map" is almost general enough. 34. My project leader hasn't been to the field in years. 35. That cover photo really defines the county. 36. We have more data than can possibly be needed. 37. Do you have to bother me with soils; I want to talk about hunting. 38. No matter how many times you check the manuscript, it's still full of mistakes. 39. It's a given that the AC and State Conservationist will put soil survey needs first. 40. Whenever the priority is on mapping, a special project will come up. 41. Try to fit the standard and get two years training before you transfer. 4Z. NEVER leave the truck with your foot penetrating radar on the blink, 43. Hunting season is open year round on all species with soil hand tools. 44. What a surprise, you agree with how that's mapped. 45. Soils rarely cross county lines & never cross state lines. 46. We're finished with the county, now let's map it right. 47. I've never met a soil scientist who told the dirt truth. 48. In soil survey the best work always takes place in a bar. 49. Come 2002, they're going to train monkeys to make soil maps. 50. Every spring I'm stuck in the mud on this job. 51. Face it, silt happens. 52. How many holes do you have to poke on rough rocky ground? 53. How did we ever get this far with engineers & soil conservationists? 54. A better term for our office is pit or cave. 55. When it's time for a transfer, youll always end up where you want. 56. Now that I've mapped a few years I realize how little they taught me in college. 57. NASIS = Never A Simple Intelligent Solution. 58. You can do 100 things right, but your supervisor remembers the screw-up. 59. S=(HG)w Soil = (Humus x Geology)weathered 60. Don't worry, the "State Office" will fix it.