Second National Extension Natural Resources Conference
Excellence Through Partnerships

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From Concurrent Session III: Thursday, May 18 (9:30 - 10:00 am)
ROOM B: Establishing Partnerships II

Abstract #57: Natural Resources Education: Building Programs That Cross Agency Lines and Academic Disciplines
Robin Shepard, Department of Life Sciences Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 216 Ag Hall, 1450 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706; 608.262.0020; rlshepar@facstaff.wisc.edu


Mutual respect and strong relationships are fueling a conservation partnership movement from the federal and state to the local level in Wisconsin. Restructuring environmental protection programs at the state and federal levels has fostered a unique multi-agency approach to providing citizen education and support for local involvement in natural resource programs and policy. In Wisconsin 1 result has been to establish network of natural resource educators, who are assigned to each of the state?s 22 major river basin lines.

In 1998 University of Wisconsin-Extension, along with state and federal agencies and public and private sector partner entities, formed a collaborative approach to sharing financial and program resources. From this multi-agency partnership a network of 15 Natural Resource Educators and $300,000 per year in support for local-based educational programs emerged. Specifically, Wisconsin?s river basin-based approach to natural resource education includes:
  • The development, support, and nurturing of citizen-led decision making through local basin-wide committees (i.e., partner teams).
  • The development of basin-specific natural resource education strategies to address the resource priorities identified by local citizen committees (i.e., partner teams).
  • Educational outreach programs in collaboration with basin partner teams, other Cooperative Extension faculty and staff, local conservation staff (i.e., natural resources conservation service and soil and water conservation districts), private organizations and citizens.
  • Assisting other agencies and private sector entities in improving their own capabilities to deal with natural resource concerns.




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