Meeting Participants:
| A. Powell | A. Dunn | J. Hill |
| M. French | T. Scott | J. Umberger |
| J. Schaefer | R. Olmeda | B. Harris |
| W. Lambert | N. Keys | R. Humberd |
| C. Absher | N. Daniels | D. Kopp |
| C. Depew | C. McPeake | B. Hubbard |
| P. Coreil | L. Rivers | B. Beaulieu |
| G. Jennings | M. Ouart | D. Foster |
| J. O'Sullivan | R. Crickenberger |
Chairman John O'Sullivan opened the meeting at 1:00 p.m. on August 30 by reviewing the proposed agenda. He also welcomed new members of the ANR Leaders group and guests.
ANR Leaders in attendance:
Others in attendance:
Chairman O'Sullivan reviewed the charge for the meeting and took additions to the agenda.
Advisor's Comments
Dr. Foster discussed the deadline to address multi-state activity. He also discussed the IMPACT statements and the need to send in quality statements. He wondered if the regional projects shouldn't be encouraged to send in statements. He said he would send ANR Leaders some examples of good IMPACT statements. He reviewed the discussion among Southern Directors of a regional director.
Directors Meeting Report
Mike French discussed the Farm safety Virtual Center that was to be brought to the Directors. He said that the Directors sent it back to the ANR Leaders. They also wanted us to discuss Agri Medicine at some point.
Mike French also discussed the hypoxia issue. There was thought that we had a communication role, maybe more general environmental issues ought to be considered, might consider developing a committee.
He mentioned the directors concern over the Farm Bill and public policy. We might have input through the farm and commodity organizations, but there appeared to be no organized policy input on the part of the Land-Grants.
Bill Harris noted that the directors recommended the ANR committee make the proposed Master Gardener and Home Horticulture SERA-IEG an ANR Leaders committee. He also mentioned hypoxia and the possibility of having an ANR Leader's committee on Environmental Issues.
Multi-State Programming Guidelines
Chairman O'Sullivan reviewed a proposed set of guidelines for multi-state programming. Discussion of cost of documentation followed. Bill Harris thought it might prove useful to build a general format for the region to serve as an umbrella so each group didn't need to do own. Clint Depew noted that all effort is multi-state including that undertaken by county from multi-state programs. He indicated it should be reasonable to count all time spent on training and delivery of programs originating in multi-state programs. Dr. Foster agreed that programs delivered by county should count, but noted the need for an auditable trail. Possibly a time-effort study would be needed or other means to document. Ross Love discussed that while some umbrella agreements in the region would be useful, what about all the multi-state activities with states outside the region. Dr. Foster noted that some form of reporting like SERA-IEGs use might be useful for some regional programs.
Regional Forester
Bill Hubbard distributed a report. He also discussed the Southern Region Master Tree Farmer Program.
Master Gardener and Home Horticulture Proposal
Michael Ouart reviewed the background to the Master Gardener and Home Horticulture proposal brought to the last ANR Leaders meeting. He indicated that after talking with the Southern Experiment Station representative it was decided that a SERA-IEG may not be the most appropriate form. Rather it seemed that an ANR committee could be formed to accomplish the desired goals, at least at this time. Should a SERA-IEG be the right path in the future, the committee could so recommend. There is precedence for this. Bill Harris mentioned that Texas has started a Junior Master Gardener Program.
The CRD Leaders joined the meeting
Sustainable Development Proposal
Curtis Absher suggested a proposal be made to the Directors jointly with the CRD Leaders to hold a regional conference/workshop on Sustainable Development or similar title. The audience would be county and state based personnel. It would be directed at all program groups, include 1890 and 1862 institutions, and last about three days.
Chris Sieverdes, CRD, stated that it would include both skills building and substance building.
The CRD and ANR Leaders chairs formed a joint committee to work on this issue. The committee members are:
John O'Sullivan
Chris Sieverdes
Ed Jones
Bo Beaulieu
Bonnie Teater
Curtis Absher
As other leader committees are visited (FCS, 4-H, etc.), others would likely be added to this committee. Would ask for a couple of members be added from both FCS and 4-H. Also visit with David Crosby and David Holder as possible committee members.
There was further discussion of the proposed conference. A need for the conference to be substantive and broadly applicable was discussed. The need for a conceptual framework was noted. Approaches such as the dependent communities approach and the community development approach were reviewed. The need to show how agriculture, environment, business, families interact with the community and its desires and decisions was discussed. Some possible dates and locations were discussed. The committee would work with Bonnie Teeter on this. There would be more opportunity for discussion during the PLC concurrent session on emerging issues moderated by Curtis Absher tomorrow.
CRD Leaders left meeting
CREES/Washington Update
Dennis Kopp visited about the new administrator Chuck Laughlin. He also reviewed plans of work, forestry summit, animal waste management initiative, FY 2000 budget, office of pest management policy, hypoxia, directory of plant and animal systems, and Pesticide Applicator Training budget request. He suggested that the hypoxia issue was really broader than the southern region and probably a water quality issue. He wondered if it might not be useful to get the regional committee on water quality to take up this issue. He mentioned the upper Mississippi consortium housed at St. Mary's College. He also mentioned the national water quality coordinators meeting to be held October 24-26, 1999.
Committee adjourned for the day
Chairman O'Sullivan called the meeting back to order at 1:00 p.m. on August 31, 1999.
Report of the Nominating Committee
The nominating committee composed of Ray Humberd, Mike French, and Roger Crickenberger presented the following slate for nomination:
Clint Depew - Chair
Ross Love - Vice Chair
Steve Umberger - Secretary
Bill Harris - PLC Representative
Michael Ouart - SRDC Website Representative
Chairman O'Sullivan then asked if there were other nominations. Nominations were closed and the slate was elected unanimously.
Southern Region Extension Committees
Ray Humberd brought a request from the Ag Engineering and Southern Region Plan Exchange Committee to change from a triennial meeting to a biennial meeting. Bill Harris seconded the motion. Following discussion, the motion passed.
Bill Lambert will remain as the advisor to the Southern Region IPM Coordinators Committee.
There was some discussion as to whether we should continue to have the Horticulture Workshop Committee. Love as the advisor was having trouble identifying a chair. Some thought we had eliminated this committee at the previous meeting. Not everyone thought so and the minutes did not so reflect.
The Leaders agreed to recommend Charles McPeake be made advisor to the Forestry Workshop Committee and remove Bill Harris.
The Leaders agreed to remove Bill Lambert and Mike French as advisors to the Regional Water Quality Conference and recommend Bill Harris to be made advisor.
These recommendations will be taken to the Directors for approval.
Farm Safety Virtual Center
Bill Harris said that the Directors had received several requests for regional centers. They tabled this proposal. The Information Technology Group is looking at the proposal and budget alternatives.
Clint Depew thought there wasn't enough detail in the proposal and the Directors' meeting agenda was very full. They did say something about possibly including farm health in the proposal. Bill Harris moved to table for a year. Ray Humberd seconded. Motion passed.
National ANR Leaders Meeting
Bill Harris announced that the National ANR Leaders Meeting would be held in San Antonio, Texas on March 27-29, 2000. The Southern ANR Leaders decided to have a short meeting prior to the National Meeting. This meeting is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on March 26, 2000.
Multi-State Program Agreement
A long discussion of means and methods to provide efficiencies to help committees and others document multi-sate programming efforts. A website, content of forms, etc. were discussed. It was suggested that a generic format be developed that could be used by each ANR Committee. There was talk of having one umbrella agreement for all S.R. ANR Committees. Roger Crickenberger said to do so would require drafting such an agreement, developing a reporting template and a website to post data. Clint Depew and Mike French agreed to draft an umbrella agreement.
New Region 4 EPA Liaison
Bill Lambert introduced Lisa McKinley, the new EPA Liaison in region 4.
Southern Rural Development Center Report
Bo Beaulieu discussed the rural workforce in the south publication and efforts at SRDC. He said they had state-by-state data on workforce. He also mentioned the upcoming Rural Development Issues in the South series. This is a multi-part series and two parts are now available. The next issue of "Southern Perspectives" will be on water quality.
Master Gardener and Home Horticulture Committee Proposal
Michael Ouart expanded his previous discussion of the desire to make this an ANR Committee. This had been the sentiment of the Leaders at the last meeting and it fit with his discussions with the Experiment Station directors. There was considerable discussion. Michael Ouart made a motion that was seconded by Bill Harris. The motion was to recommend to the Directors through the PLC that a committee to the ANR Leaders be established. The committee would be Master Gardener and Home Horticulture. The committee would have an initial term of three years. It was suggested they have their first meeting in conjunction with the SAAS meetings. The committee at a minimum would serve to exchange ideas and curriculum. It is also likely to develop regional programs and curriculum and provide training experiences. The motion passed and a motion followed and passed to recommend Ross Love serve as the administrative advisor. ANR Leaders were asked to encourage their state leaders to take part.
The ANR Leaders joined the 4-H Leaders
Master Naturalist Volunteer Program
Specialists from Mississippi presented a short program describing the pilot Master Naturalist Program. This is a habitat-based volunteer program that has proven successful in Mississippi. Chevron Corp has in part sponsored this pilot project and a representative of the company thought it might be possible to help fund a broader curriculum development for a regional project. A taskforce was proposed that could develop the core curriculum (about 60% of total) and the rest of the curriculum could be left up to states to reflect their local needs. Some discussion ensued. John O'Sullivan made a motion to have a committee further develop the possibilities. This was seconded and passed by the joint leaders (ANR and 4-H).
Meeting was adjourned for the day
Chairman O'Sullivan reconvened the meeting at 8:00 a.m. on September 1, 1999.
There was a discussion and sharing of state programs.
A discussion of farm policy followed.
ANR Leaders joined the FCS Leaders
The FCS Leaders and ANR Leaders discussed 1) multi-state programming, 2) Sustainable Community Development, and 3) farm crisis in the south. Discussion followed. FCS appointees to serve on the Sustainable Community Development taskforce were sought.
ANR Leaders went back to their own meeting
More discussion on ag policy followed. Bill Harris suggested he might be able to get some presentations arranged. Ray Humberd suggested that the Farm Management, Policy and Marketing committees might look into.
State comments continued.
Chairman O'Sullivan adjourned the meeting.