Annual/Termination Reports:

[05/16/2007] [04/30/2008]

Report Information

Participants

Melvin George - University of California at Davis;
Robbie LeValley - Colorado State University;
Kristie Maczko - Colorado State University;
Jerry Volesky - University of Nebraska;
Linda Hardesty - Washington State University;
Sam Smallidge - New Mexico State University;
Roy Roath - Colorado State Unviersity;
Charles Hart - Texas A&M University;
Jeff Mosley - Montana State University;
John Eisenberg - National Cattlemens Beef Association;
John Buckhouse - Oregon State University;
Sherm Swanson - University of Nevada at Reno;
Roger Banner - Utah State University;

John Winder (Administrative Advisor) - Washington State University;

Brief Summary of Minutes

The Western Development Committee #9 met for the first time in Salt Lake City, Utah on May 3, 2007. The purpose of the meeting was to develop a proposal for submission to RCIC for approval of a new coordinating committee focused on rangeland and watershed management.

Attendees represented ten land grant institutions (NM, TX, NE, UT, CO, MT, CA, WA, OR, NV) along with one allied organization (National Cattlemens Beef Association). Dr. John Buckhouse, Oregon State University served as acting chair and facilitated the meeting. Sub-committees worked to develop goals, objectives, and an educational plan.

The committee developed the following goals to frame the outcomes expected from the efforts of the proposed coordinating committee:

1) to organize range extension educators into a more cohesive group;
2) to identify highly successful programs and expand them in scope and location;
3) enhance extension educational capacity by exchanging curricula and expertise via traditional and electronic methods;
4) improve rangeland and watershed stewardship; and
5) increase awareness of the importance of rangelands among youth and urban audiences.

Specific deliverables planned by the committee include the following:

" Conduct a needs assessment within each state to identify existing and emerging issues.
" Prioritize identified needs and publish results for stakeholders throughout the region.
" Create an annotated biography of current range extension programs in the West.
" Identify innovative extension programs and highlight in Rangelands.
" Actively share and collaborate across the region and beyond.
" Host a regional Range Management School in Montana to facilitate sharing and learning among range professionals.
" Host a symposium at the Society for Range Management annual meeting about emerging issues and successful extension programs.
" Develop email lists and web-based delivery mechanisms to support rapid communications among practitioners in the West.
" Maintain close contact with allied organizations.

John Buckhouse agreed to continue as the chair of the committee and to oversee submission of the proposal to NIMSS.

Accomplishments

This was the first organizational meeting of WDC-9. Accomplishments include development of a draft proposal for submission for consideration of a coordinating committee.

Publications

New project, no publications to date.

Impact Statements

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Report Information

Participants

John Buckhouse - Oregon State University (Chair)
Sherman Swanson - University of Nevada at Reno
Roy Roath - Colorado State University
Melvin George - University of California
John Winder - Washington State University (Administrative Advisor)

Brief Summary of Minutes

The 2008 meeting was held on the campus of the University of Nevada at Reno. The focus of the meeting was to finalize the proposal for submission to RCIC for consideration during the July 2008 meeting in Fairbanks, AK. Attendees at the meeting actually constituted a writing team. They were empowered by the full committee to complete the proposal.

John Buckhouse called the meeting to order at 1:00 PM on April 21, 2008. Dr. Buckhouse charged the group. The group evaluated the previous proposal (submitted to RCIC in summer of 2007) and reviewed the comments made by reviewers. It was determined that a revised proposal would focus much more on watershed health issues and specifically on how change in watershed health could be documented.

Expected outcomes were identified that included 1) documentation of impacts of watershed management programs across the west; 2) enhancing the understanding of the connection between management and measureable improvement in watershed health; and 3) improved management and health of western watersheds.

Additionally, potential committee members were identified throughout the West. John Buckhouse will contact these individuals to ensure that they are aware of the committee and invite them to participate. Current membership listed in NIMSS (Appendix E for WERA_TEMP2241)includes 11 extension specialists and scientists at 8 different institutions.

The draft proposal was completed and will be submitted to NIMSS before May 15.

Accomplishments

Accomplishments to date focus on development of a viable committee and proposal. In 2007, the committee submitted a proposal to RCIC for review. The RCIC extended 'development committee' status for one year and recommended that the committee continue to work on the proposal with more focus on watershed issues. Therefore, the main products of the committee in 2008 were 1) development of a revised proposal and 2) recruitment of new committee members to focus more attention on watershed issues.

Publications

Impact Statements

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