2nd National Extension Nat Res Conference-Abstract 6

Jane Herbert, Michigan State University Extension, W. K. Kellogg Biological Station, Land and Water Program, 3700 E. Gull Lake Drive, Hickory Corners, MI 49060; 616-671-2412; herberj@msue.msu.edu

Water is Michigan's distinguishing natural resource. With more than 3,000 miles of Great Lakes shoreline, the state is surrounded by water and the landscape dominated by it. Glacial activity left Michigan with a wealth of rivers, lakes, and wetlands and with soils that vary in their ability to protect abundant groundwater supplies. Land use varies from intensive agriculture to intensive forestry to heavy urbanization, with strong development pressure increasing statewide. While communities struggle to balance these pressures with increasing water quality concerns, decision makers and stakeholders often lack a basic understanding of land use and watershed dynamics.

The Michigan Watershed Management Short Course is a new and unique Extension education program that equips participants with the basic knowledge, skills, resources, and confidence to address land use and water quality issues in their own communities. It is designed to be hosted by a local community, conservation district, or watershed council in partnership with a county Michigan State University Extension office and the Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) Land and Water Program. The program format is 20 hours over the course of 1 month, including 4 four-hour evening sessions culminating with a Saturday morning field experience that reinforces lecture concepts. A manual for host communities entitled, Bringing the Michigan Watershed Short Course to your Community, provides insight and direction on all aspects of program development and delivery.

A generic program agenda guides Short Course content while allowing for customization to meet the local needs, issues, and concerns of the host community. A planning team, led by the partners and comprised of citizens and resource professionals familiar with local water quality and land use issues, is assembled for this purpose. The planning team assists the partners in "filling in the blanks" by identifying local examples and speakers to illustrate the following concepts:

basic watershed science
relationships between land use and water quality
historical land use and demographic patterns as related to water resources
local access to useful watershed information and resources
watershed planning

The result is a locally relevant watershed education experience for community decision makers, stakeholders and other interested citizens.

This program has been offered in 3different Michigan communities since 1997, generating positive reviews each time. It is scheduled for a fourth community in 2000. Each group of participants is evaluated for knowledge gain and changes in confidence in addressing watershed issues and the agenda is continually refined in response to written participant feedback. The KBS Land and Water Program provides advisory assistance and evaluation services to host organizations and their local Extension partners.