Cooperative Extension Programming in

Humboldt County and Nevada:

An Overview for the President and Stakeholders

Brad SchultzExtension EducatorHumboldt County

EE Position Description Teaching and Administration (70%)

Conduct Needs Assessment Develop and Implement Programs focused upon local needs and

issues Report impacts Oversight for 4-H program Office and budget management

Scholarly Activity (25%) Develop scholarly products that support teaching program Resource acquisition to support programs

Service (5%) Develop professional networks Local, regional, and national committees Department, College and University Committees

Needs Assessments Humboldt County (2001)

Maintain access to Federally Administered Rangelands for Traditional Uses

Grazing ManagementNoxious and Invasive WeedsReseeding with introduced vs native speciesYouth Education for Natural Resources and AgricultureProgram Delivery – How

• One-on-one contact• Small group sessions• Field tours, demonstration and research plots• Extension publications • Magazines or trade journals

Needs Assessments

Vegetation Management and Disturbance -2005 Reduce risk catastrophic fire Vegetation resilience Reseeding with natives vs introduced species Role of fire and other disturbances in managing

vegetation

Needs Assessments

Nevada Noxious Weeds -2009/10 Weed control with herbicides, alternative

methods and integrated approaches Weed Identification Preventing weed invasion and establishment Primary focus

• Perennial pepperweed, • Russian knapweed, • Hoary cress • Medusahead

Rangeland Resources ProgramNV sage-grouse planning

Chaired north-central NV planning group Sagebrush Management

State and Transition Models Fuels and Fire Risk

Grazing Management Nevada Range Management School

• Nevada, Idaho and Morocco Input to BLM and USFS NEPA documents Post-fire grazing – when and how Fall grazing of cheatgrass

Rangeland Resources Program

Annual Forage Loss Assessments for FSA Electronic information dissemination

Western Rangelands Partnership E-Xtension Rangelands Community of Practice Great Basin Science Delivery Project

Nevada Youth Range Camp Pine Forest Wilderness Working Group

Noxious Weed Management State-wide identification handbook Research and demonstration plots

Perennial pepperweed Russian knapweed Leafy spurge Cheatgrass

Analyzed Statewide NA down to county level and proved the results to each county

NDOA Pesticide Applicator Training Weed Management Component

Collaborations with the PVWCD, Gerlach CWMA and Humboldt Watershed CWMA

Paradise Valley Medusahead Project Joint Project Between UNCE, PVWCD, USFS and BLM

Guest lectures @ UNR, Invasive Plants Class

Youth Education Natural Resources and Agriculture

Nevada Youth Range CampHumboldt County Ecology Day

4th grade students, 8 modulesAg in the Classroom

3rd grade students

Winnemucca Futures Project

UNR Small Business Development CenterScenario Planning Approach to Community

DevelopmentRepresent the Ag and Natural Resource

Component (i.e., Natural Capital) Seat on the HDA and regular interaction with the

Humboldt Small Business Development Center

4-H Program

Large animal Small animal Horse Dog Lego robotics (STEM) Cooking Sewing Community Club Arts and Crafts

Sharon Barton, County Funded Program Assistant

QuiltingPhotographyDairy GoatsAmbassadorsLivestock judging Junior Master

GardenersClover BudsShooting Sports

Other Program SupportConnie Beck – County Funded Administrative

Assistant Horticulture

• Master Gardener• Grow Your Own• Pest and disease issues

Radon Just in Time Parenting Video Meeting Schedules

• Area and often Extension Wide Manages’ Brad

Project Magic -Candace• Led by Marilyn Smith, Elko

Program Impacts Developed the procedure used to complete Risk

Assessments for 18 Sage Grouse population management units Instigated development of the Montana Mountains Fuels

Management Project Authored a paper used by a Committee of Sagebrush

Ecology Scientists to brief USFWS about the quality of science used to list sage-grouse as threatened or endangered

71% of Range Management School attendees incorporated information into their job or operation

Program Impacts

RMS training in Morocco resulted in a new grazing system, replacing decades of season-long use (Natasha Marwah, USFS)

Improved content, quality and collaboration during development of Winnemucca BLM RMP, Montana Mountains Fuels Management Project and Thomas Canyon Fire Rehabilitation (Jeff Johnson, BLM)

Pine Forest Working Group (Jim Jeffress, Trout Unlimited)

Removed over 1,000 acres from potential wilderness designation Retained a road between two WA’s instead of closing and

consolidating into one WA Language in Bill Draft to use mechanized equipment to mange and

control noxious weeds

Program ImpactsForage Loss Assessments

Payment Year Grazing Year Area Covered Amount ($)2012 2011 State-wide < 100,000

2011 2010 State-wide < 100,000

2010 2009 State-wide < 100,000

2009 2008 State-wide 670,318

2009 2008 Humboldt County 339,247

2008 2007 State-side 1,933,701

2008 2007 Humboldt CountyLander County

1,010,470325,083

“Without Mr. Schultz’s assessments, Nevada would be unable to meet the requirements (two independent assessments) of the Non-Insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP program). Mr. Schultz has been a great assistance because he provides prompt, clear, concise, well documented and easy to understand assessments (Katie Nuffer FSA).”

Program ImpactsWeed Control Expenditures in PV

2001-02

2002-03

2003-04

2004-05

2005-06

2006-07

2007-08

2008-09

2009-10

2010-110

2000

0

4000

0

6000

0

8000

0

1000

00

1200

00

1400

00

Fis

cal

year

Expenditures ($)

Program ImpactsCertified Pesticide Applicators

Four years before development of my weed management program (1998-01)

First four years after developmnet of my weed management program (2002-05)

Last four years of my weed management program (2009-12)

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Individuals becoming certified applicators

Program ImpactsSustained Funding for large scale weed control

efforts at Chimney Dam Reservoir, Bullhead Ranch, and Paradise Valley

Products Developed for Establishment of an EDRR program Weed identification handbook Weeds to watch posters Empirical data about the effectiveness of early vs

late control Data about seed viability and longevity

Scholarly Activities Refereed Journal Articles: 4 Refereed Extension Publications: 71 Refereed NV Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletins: 1 Refereed WAFWA Papers: 1 Refereed e-Xtension Publications 12 Conference Proceedings Papers: 10 Weed Research Progress Reports: 2 Trade Journal Articles: 15 Topical Reports: 28 Extension Informational Publications: 2 Conference Presentations: 74

With Published Abstracts 63 Invited 20

Funding > $1 million in grants, assistance agreements and donations $200,000 funding enhancements from CC for weed control

State Funds for UNCE

Faculty Reduction 2009-2014

38 FTE’s

Implications: Effects of Budget Cuts

Major cuts in UNCE staffing All geographical areas All program areas mandated by Nevada state law

Reduce UNCE’s partnership capacity Less grant acquisition Less value to Nevada’s rural and urban communities

More time obtaining and managing money Less time focused on local needs and issues

Residents will have less access to community-based faculty

Proposed RealignmentMove Cooperative Extension into CABNR

CABNR, AES and CE all under one deanCommittee of UNCE and CABNR administrators

and one faculty member from each unit Meeting weekly for 8 weeks

No written plan with details in changes for Extension’s mission, geographic and topical areas of focus, primary audiences, shortcomings or other operational functions Strengths or weaknesses and potential effects are

unknown, without adequate details to analyze Can’t provide an honest assessment or opinion at

this time.

Brad’s Considerations for Restructuring

Will it maintain Cooperative Extension’s focus of addressing local needs and issues?

Does it increase and/or improve access to all of the knowledge resources of the University?

Will it improve collaboration and communication between campus and UNCE

Questions