Purpose.  To distribute “The History of Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Interviews with U.S. Department of Agriculture Pioneers.”

Expiration Date.  September 30, 2009

Background.  The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has just published The History of Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting:  Interviews with U.S. Department of Agriculture Pioneers.  Historical Notes Number 8.  Edited by Douglas Helms, Steven E. Phillips, and Paul F. Reich, 306 pages.

Explanation.  Since 1935, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has coordinated the cooperative effort in snow surveying and water supply forecasting in the Western States, known for many years as the Federal-State Cooperative Snow Surveys.  Water users in the West rely on this data.  In 1939, the Soil Conservation Service, predecessor to the NRCS, assumed responsibility for the cooperative snow survey from the Bureau of Agricultural Engineering.

The seven oral history interviews and three articles in this volume recount significant historical developments in this program since its establishment through the full implementation of the automated SNOTEL system.

Attached is a copy of “The History of Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Interviews with U.S. Department of Agriculture Pioneers.”

To request a hardbound copy, call 1-888-LANDCARE, or write to: