2nd National Extension Nat Res Conference-Abstract 24

Tamara Trail, Texas Agricultural Extension Service, 7887 N. Hwy 87, San Angelo, TX, 76901, 915.653.4576, ttrail@tamu.edu; and Larry Hysmith, Texas Agricultural Extension Service, 102 Nagle Hall, College Station, TX, 77843-2258, lhysmith@tamu.edu

For over 80 years the Texas 4-H Program has consistently demonstrated its success in developing enduring life skills in youth (such as critical thinking, self-discipline and responsibility). Programs and projects which immerse young people in our natural world have always been an important part of 4-H?s portfolio of youth education and development opportunities. However, Extension recognizes that the demographics of Texas are rapidly changing and it must change in response. The state has shifted from a mostly agrarian culture to one that is mostly urbanized and, therefore, generally out of touch with our land and water resources. It is rapidly moving towards an Anglo minority as the Hispanic, Asian, and Black populations increase at a dramatic pace. Texas now has a population of nearly 19 million people of which 4 million are school-age children. Many of these are at-risk youth. Therefore, if 4-H is to serve effectively the diverse needs of Texas youth, it must incorporate and fund innovative approaches to increase the size and service capabilities of both its volunteer force and the technical support staff which enables and empowers these volunteers to serve the needs of young Texans.

One such approach has been a cooperative effort between the Texas Agricultural Extension Service and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). The Extension Wildlife and Fisheries Program, with support from the Texas 4-H Program, joined forces with the Educational Branch of TPWD developing the Conservation Education Program focusing on hunting and aquatic education initiatives. TPWD, although providing high quality natural resource programming, recognized the need for a more thorough networking capability to deliver programs to the local, grassroots level. Also recognized was the capability of Extension to provide this networking already in place with County Extension Agents, statewide program specialists, and most importantly, the large pool of volunteers on the local levels.

Since its inception in 1995, the cooperative Conservation Education Program has been fine tuned to follow an education continuum that takes youth from awareness all the way to long term mentoring. Many programs utilized are also presented in a quality vs. quantity continuum that engages justification for smaller numbers trained based on the intensive level of the training and requirements for ?give back? from each trainee. Ages and stages of youth are also major considerations in development, marketing and implementation of educational opportunities within this program. Many educational successes or failures hinge on this concept of matching the opportunity with the demographics of the audience targeted.

The Conservation Education Program is a success and continues to upgrade its efforts in developing, marketing, and implementing natural resource education to remain a successful and integral part of the Texas Agricultural Extension Service, Texas 4-H Program, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.