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Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals |
Quarterly Member Newsletter
Winter 2023 |
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In this issue - The President's Corner
- ANREP and NAAEE: Increasing network connections
- Videography in Extension Communications
- John Day Basin Landscape Resiliency Project
- Improving Safety and Equity in Western U.S. Forestry Practices
- Florida-Friendly Edible Landscaping EDIS Series: Resources to learn to grow fruits, vegetables, and herbs sustainably
Tomato Growing at Home - Editor's Comments
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| The President's Corner Greetings fellow ANREP members!
I’m honored to serve as your president for 2023 and am looking forward to working with other ANREP Board members and ANREP committees to advance our organization in the coming year.
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One of our biggest challenges as an organization is fully staffing our ANREP committees. ANREP committees are working committees that have a primary responsibility for implementing the new ANREP Strategic Plan: 2022 through 2026, as well as otherwise carrying on much of the work of our organization. Some of our committees have few, or no, current members.
I strongly urge you to seriously consider service on one of our committees and take a leadership role in developing and implementing initiatives to advance our Strategic Plan goals to further our organization and its mission. ANREP committee service is a great way to develop your national leadership skills and have a major influence on shaping ANREP as an organization for the future.
The ANREP committees especially in need of members that will play an important role in implementing our Strategic Plan include the Communications Committee (currently no members), Membership Committee, and the Professional and Leadership Development Committee. A complete list of all our committees can be found on the ANREP website.
The major strategic goals these committees will be working to implement include providing “. . .enhanced opportunities of collaboration among members by supporting web-based platforms . . .” (Strategic Goal 1), fostering “. . . peer-to-peer learning and professional development opportunities for members . . . through collaborations with other universities, agencies and organizations.” (Strategic Goal 2), “Increase the recognition of Cooperative Extension natural resource professionals within the natural resource sciences and the general public by marketing and outreach . . .” (Strategic Goal 3), and “Organize outreach and recruitment efforts to expand and diversify membership from all Land-Grant universities and allied organizations . . .” (Strategic Goal 4).
It is up to our ANREP committee volunteers working collaboratively with the Executive Committee to implement our Strategic Plan and move our organization forward.
Sign up here to join an ANREP committee. Just log in with your ANREP member credentials (your email is your username). Our organization needs your service! Thank you! Bill Warren ANREP President 2023 williamw@uidaho.edu William A. Warren, Ph.D. Associate Professor and Extension Educator Ecosystem Science and Land Stewardship University of Idaho College of Agricultural and Life Sciences |
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ANREP and NAAEE: Increasing network connections
In 2021, ANREP entered into a multi-year agreement with the North American Association of Environmental Education (NAAEE) through the ee360+ initiative. NAAEE leads ee360+ through a cooperative agreement with U.S. EPA and partner organizations, like ANREP, to increase environmental literacy for everyone, everywhere.
But why ANREP and environmental education? Many people view environmental education (EE) as an activity for those in K-12 education settings, but EE is for learners of all ages, from cradle to grey, early childhood learners to senior citizens. EE is a broad spectrum, focused on creating a more sustainable future and addressing today’s environmental issues through education. Whether working with landowners, community members, economic development organizations, or other natural resource partners; ANREP members can be key players and support EE efforts in their communities.
NAAEE has provided grant funding to help introduce ANREP members to tools and resources within the EE community that could be useful in their work. Part of this grant funding was used to provide registration and travel stipends to the 51st NAAEE conference held in Tucson, Arizona, October 8-12, 2022. Names of stipend awardees are listed below. In addition, ANREP was a virtual exhibitor, with a space to share information about ANREP on the conference app, used by more than 1,300 NAAEE conference attendees.
Another exciting opportunity for ANREP members began in January 2023. The ANREP DEI committee is offering a special topics course for all ANREP members; Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Outreach and Environmental Education. This course was developed through a partnership between the Center for Diversity and the Environment, EcoInclusive, Environmental Educators of North Carolina, Kansas Association for Conservation and Environmental Education, Kentucky Association for Environmental Education, and Justice Outside. This asynchronous course, with professionally facilitated virtual discussions to dig deeper, serves as an introduction to spark interest in further learning around justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. It is designed to provide a strong foundation in the language, concepts, and principles of equity work in our professional and personal lives. This course has been provided to educators across the Southeast for over a year and is incredibly well-received. The full cost of this course is $150, but 20 ANREP members were able to register for $25 with support from the ee360+ grant, and will wrap up the course in March.
More exciting opportunities and information about ANREP and NAAEE ee360+ work will be coming in the months ahead. Until then, if you have any questions, please reach out to the project manager, Renee Strnad, NC State University Extension Forestry, renee_strnad@ncsu.edu. NAAEE Virtual Conference Registration Stipend Awardees: Erin Garrett, University of Illinois Extension Shannon Carnevale, UF/IFAS Extension Polk County Kayla Thomas, NC State University Lara Milligan, UF/IFAS Extension NAAEE In-Person Conference Travel Stipend Awardees: Bindu Bhakta, Michigan State University Extension Rita Clemons, UC ANR Cooperative Extension Sarah Havens, University of Missouri Extension Spencer Eusden, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension |
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"Without the scholarship I wouldn’t have had the chance to visit breathtaking Saguaro National Park or attend the panel discussion where my cousin’s high school daughter discussed the climate action work she is doing along with her classmates in Tucson. Hearing from the next generation of climate activists was pretty special.”
Bindu Bhakta, Natural Resources Educator, Michigan State University Extension (also in the photo) |
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| “As a multi-county director for extension in Southern California, this conference was both beneficial with networking and ideas for program development for our communities.”
Rita Clemons, UC ANR Cooperative Extension (Rita provided the photo of one of the sessions she attended)
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“I appreciated the opportunity to virtually join the NAAEE conference. This was my first time attending the conference and it was a great introduction into NAAEE. I learned some new tips and tricks for outdoor education that I plan to use in my Extension work, which often takes me outside with different audiences.” Erin Garrett, University of Illinois Extension “The diversity of perspectives from various environmental educators was fantastic and I look forward to going back through the digital/virtual presentations more in the coming months.” Shannon Carnevale, UF/IFAS Extension Polk County Renee L Strnad
NC State University - Extension Forestry NC Project Learning Tree Coordinator
NC Certified Environmental Educator Email: renee_strnad@ncsu.edu |
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| Videography in Extension Communications Videos are an important communication tool in today’s digital world. However, learning to use them effectively requires patience, a growth mindset, and a willingness to alter programming based on what you learn.
As an Outreach Specialist and Natural Resources Educator with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, I use videos often in my Extension programming. I work with two demonstration farm networks conducting outreach around soil health and water quality to reduce non-point source pollution in the Great Lakes Basin. I create videos that help farmers share stories about their soil health practices, with the goal of encouraging other farmers to implement soil health and conservation agricultural practices, too.
I’ve created ~40 videos for Upper Fox-Wolf Demonstration Farm Network (view videos here) and the Between the Lakes Demonstration Farm Network (view videos here). Along the way, I’ve tried a lot of things. Some worked out, others required me to adapt depending on what I discovered. If you are interested in using videography for your programming, please peruse my “2022 Lessons Learned” factsheet. Hopefully it can offer you some guidance for your own videography. I hope it may also inspire you to approach your programming goals with a growth mindset, remembering that we all learn along the way and that’s something to embrace.
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If you’d like to discuss videography further, please don’t hesitate to reach out. My email is maranda.miller@wisc.edu. Maranda Miller
Outreach Specialist and Natural Resources Educator University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension Email: maranda.miller@wisc.edu |
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John Day Basin Landscape Resiliency Project
Forest conditions within Northeast Oregon are overstocked, homogeneous, and dominated by shade-tolerant tree species resulting in a heightened risk of disease, insect outbreak, and catastrophic wildfire. When disturbances occur, there is potential for significant impacts on unique resources and vital infrastructure across private lands.
To minimize potential wildfire impacts, a coalition of partners came together to work toward improved fire resilience across high-risk forested and rangeland areas within the John Day Basin. The Coalition implemented strategic projects in areas that aligned with priorities across all land ownerships. OSU Forestry & Natural Resources Extension contributed to this work by advancing a rapid inventory and ground-based assessment protocol and data collection tool that enabled a better understanding of the current (private) land conditions. The assessment tool was developed on ESRI's ArcGIS framework and is fully functioning and shareable across agencies and organizations. Out of the 224,000 private land acres, more than 74,000 acres have been evaluated using this protocol. This has led to many diverse conversations between partners and landowners.
Reaching landowners, to discuss specific information based on the current condition of their land and potential opportunities to reduce their risk, is an essential effort for Extension and our partners who support the management of private lands. To effectively do this at scale, partners have come together to contact landowners who may have not traditionally been engaged in past efforts. These discussions are helping us learn more about their specific needs and barriers to accomplishing good conservation on the ground. Bringing new and innovative ideas to the conversation is accomplished by the diversity of engaged partners and landowners. The solutions to these complex landscape issues are challenging, and finding common strategic goals upon which to focus will help this watershed become more resilient.
By creating a fully customizable tool that allows for adjustments based on the differences among landscapes, the Coalition was able to apply for additional funds to conduct the assessment in new areas. Additionally, this tool creates a pathway for the partnership to quantify acreages and recommended treatment methods when applying for federal and state implementation dollars. This project will improve the strategic approach to implement treatments across the region.
The process of revisiting landowners with our findings, developing priority areas for treatment, and formulating specific recommendations to help advance projects is currently in full swing. Results of the analysis of the landscape and the treatment priority are nearing the final stages. We are developing a landowner packet that will help inform program participants and enable them to engage with the appropriate avenue to treat their land. |
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Discussing resource assessment and management objectives with private landowners. Credit: John Rizza This project was based on the process and work started by the Klamath Lake Forest Health Partnership several years prior, as published in Leavell et. al, 2018. Reference materials:
Leavell, Daniel, Amy Markus, Craig Bienz, Kellie Carlsen, Emily Jane Davis, Michael Douglas, David F. Ferguson, Lee Fledderjohann, Kasey Johnson, Ned Livingston, Jason Pettigrew, Gene Rogers, Marci Schreder, Dan Shoun, and Leigh Ann Vradenburg. 2018. Planning and Implementing Cross-boundary, Landscape-scale Restoration and Wildfire Risk Reduction Projects. A Guide to Achieving the Goals of the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy. PNW 707. https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/pnw707
John Rizza Regional Fire Specialist, Northeast Oregon
Forestry & Natural Resources Extension Fire Program Oregon State University Extension Service
Email: john.rizza@oregonstate.edu |
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Improving Safety and Equity in Western U.S. Forestry Practices
In the western U.S., efforts to restore forest health and reduce wildfire risk often require labor intensive work, such as cutting and piling small trees and brush by hand. Although these efforts have created new economic opportunities in the region, this work is often performed by a Latino/a/x workforce, including guest workers, who can face unsafe and inequitable working conditions. Due to the nature of this work, most of these issues are underreported and out of public sight.
A large portion of this work happens in southern Oregon, where a group of researchers and practitioners from Oregon State University, the University of Oregon, Utah State University, and Lomakatsi Restoration Project is collaborating to shed light on this industry, the factors that drive these conditions, and what could be done differently. With support from a four-year grant from USDA AFRI, we are conducting research about forest workers, businesses, and rural communities; and developing educational programming to raise awareness and provide new tools. Some initial resources that we’d like to share with the Extension community are:
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| Photos: Lomakatsi Restoration Project |
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Florida-Friendly Edible Landscaping EDIS Series: Resources to learn to grow fruits, vegetables, and herbs sustainably
Food crops can demand substantial amounts of water, fertilizer, and care. Using Florida-Friendly Landscaping (FFL) practices can reduce the inputs and still allow you to harvest food abundantly. There are many different terms for edible landscaping: foodscaping, food forest, permaculture, square-foot gardening, and urban agriculture. However, the Florida-Friendly Landscaping (FFL) principles represent best management practices that can be applied to all types of edible landscapes. This series is for Floridians interested in expanding their own edible landscapes, with information about creating a backyard garden that delivers fresh food in an affordable, sustainable way. A team of University of Florida specialists and extension agents has just published a series of Edible Landscaping publications.
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Dragonfruit is an interesting crop to grow in Florida. Credit: Tia Silvasy, UF/IFAS
Follow the links below to learn more about planting the right plant in the right place, building your soil to provide more sustainable fertility to your edible crops, and using integrated pest management for a more ecological approach to pest control. |
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You can find all of the FFL Edible Landscaping publications and learn more about the authors at this link, https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/collections/ffl-edible-landscaping, and discover related topics on the University of Florida EDIS website. Tina McIntyre, Seminole County and
Tiare Silvasy, Hillsborough County Tina McIntyre, M.S., CEP, FCHP
Florida Friendly Landscaping Extension Agent
Leisure Services Department | University of Florida/IFAS Extension Seminole County
Email: K.McIntyre@ufl.edu |
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Tomato Growing at Home
Tomato growing in Florida can be a tricky endeavor. It starts out well as you watch the deep green and fragrant leaves unfurl, climbing with fuzzy fervor seeking the sun, only to walk out the next morning with your coffee to discover the chewed remains of a stem.
Maybe you are new to Florida and have dreams of ripe tomato sandwiches fresh from your garden in mid-July? Or perhaps, you long for the drizzled balsamic heaven of an heirloom variety unblemished by spots.
We are in the height of the tomato-growing season for home gardeners, with ideal planting times starting in late August and going through February in Central and Southwest Florida. The fun of tomato growing can begin at the seed catalog or in the local nursery, as you peruse the myriad varieties available.
No matter where you live, think about your space and how you plan to use your tomatoes, when selecting varieties for your garden. Will you need a trellis? Do you want cherries for salad or beefsteaks for sandwiches? How about a prolific producer for the preparation of your own tomato sauces and salsas? Pay special attention to varieties bred for resistance to certain pests, like the root knot nematode. Once selected, the planting and growing can commence. Successful tomato growing is a combination of the right amount of sunlight (5-6 hours per day), healthy soil, a good watering regimen (tomatoes can be thirsty plants!) and a keen eye for scouting out pests and disease.
Thanks to our humid overnight temperatures and mild winters, Florida tends to be friendly to fungal diseases and insect pests. Common critters to watch out for include aphids, mealybugs, and the dreaded tomato hornworm. Less common, but equally irksome tomato wilt diseases can strike quickly and damage an entire plant. Learning to identify these problems early can provide you with the edge to get ahead using integrated pest management techniques. Whether in a bucket, raised bed, ceramic pot or old shoe (maybe a bit too small) we have created a new resource to help home gardeners with all of your tomato growing needs.
This new series of fact sheets will walk you through tomato growing at home. Site Preparation Timing Propagation/Planting Tomato Care Solutions for Common Pests and Diseases Alyssa Vinson Horticulture Agent & Master Gardener Coordinator UF/IFAS Extension Manatee County Email: alyvinson@ufl.edu |
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Editor's Comments
Hello fellow ANREP members! I hope 2023 is a fantastic year for you. I look forward to reading the articles that you send me.
Speaking of articles: any member may submit an article. Please submit articles that are 600 words or less, in .doc or .docx format. Use my email address listed below. Photos are greatly appreciated. Do not imbed them in the article. Rather, have a place holder (eg: fig.1), then attach the photo separately. Please include a caption and proper credit. I retain the right to edit the article. This is usually very minor, such as typos or word omissions. The submission deadlines are usually: May 1, Aug. 1, Nov. 1 and Feb. 1. The "usually" is due to a change to this year's May deadline. I will be visiting my kids and grandkids at that time, so the May articles are due by May 12. The newsletter will not be sent out until at least May 26. Sincerely, Diana Rashash NC Cooperative Extension, retired drashash@gmail.com |
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