Meeting Participants:
| R. Crickenberger | J. Hill |
| M. French | M. Horton |
| C. Depew | B. Harris |
| D. Foster | M. Ouart |
| R. Olmeda | J. O'Sullivan |
| R. Love | U. Toledo |
| N. Daniels | J. Dusky |
| R. Humberd | H. Brooks |
| R. Winston | S. Umberger |
| L. Rivers | A. Powell |
| C. Absher | S. Curl |
| B. Hubbard | N. Keys |
| C. Gardner |
Chairman Clint Depew opened the meeting at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, August 28 with a review of the agenda and a request for items that needed to be added to the agenda. He welcomed new members of the ANR Leaders' group and had everyone introduce themself. A pad was circulated to record those members present.
Clint Depew appointed Bill Harris, Michael Ouart, and Mike French to serve on the elections committee, which was responsible for nominating a secretary for the ANR committee and a representative to serve on the PLC representing the 1890's institutions.
The minutes from the last meeting were approved as presented.
Advisor's Comments
Dr. David Foster, Advisor, announced that Dr. Dan Smith, Clemson, was appointed by the Southern Region Extension Directors as the new Administrative Advisor for the ANR Committee. Dr. Smith had a conflict that prevented him from being at the meeting.
Dr. Foster made the following points as a part of his report:
- The forces that impinge on what we do in agricultural Extension are changing rapidly.
- We need to address the bipolarization of agriculture, small vs large, and the wide range of diversity in agricultural enterprises.
- We can't operate with the same mentality as in the past.
- The 1862 Southern region Directors will be hiring an Executive Director for programs at the regional level to help enhance staff development and evaluation. The term of the position will be for five years. The position announcement should be released around the first of the year. The person will be housed at one of the southern Land-Grant universities.
- An overview of PLC history was presented. The PLC does not approve or disapprove recommendations for the region, but is responsible for submitting them to the Southern Region Directors for action.
- Six years ago, the Southern Land-Grant executives decided to have mini-Land-Grant meetings in August. At the mini Land-Grant meeting held at Virginia Tech in August, 2000, the Extension Directors voted to have a late Fall directors' meeting so that action could be taken on recommendations submitted by PLC. The first fall meeting will be held in 2001.
Sustainable Agriculture Evaluation
John O'Sullivan gave a brief history of the SARE Professional Development Program (PDP). He indicated that he represents the 1890 institutions and that Roger Crickenberger represents the 1862 institutions in the administration of approximately $500,000 in SARE-PDP grant funds annually. Dr. Crickenberger said that the annual winter workshop will be held January 18-19, 2001 in Chattanooga, TN. The program for the meeting is being finalized. The national SARE meeting will be held in the southern region during the January-March timeframe in 2002.
Curtis Absher made a motion seconded by Ross Love that the ANR Program Leaders recognize North Carolina for their many contributions to the SARE-PDP. It was voted on and passed.
Sustainable Communities Workshop
Curtis Absher presented a review of the program agenda for the Sustainable Development: Building Quality Communities conference scheduled to be held from October 10-12 in Nashville, TN. He said that sustainable agriculture would fall under the heading of the sustainable economy portion of the program. Curtis indicated that he doesn't consider this conference to be the end all, but rather an opportunity for open discussion and dialog, and would hope that the meeting would be the beginning of a plan to "seed the clouds." It was agreed that the next step following the conference would be the development of an implementation committee through PLC.
Multi-State Programming
Mike French presented a set of regional guidelines for multi-state agreements in the South. Clint Depew used the guidelines for the development of an agreement for the Southern region ANR committees. After reviewing the agreement prepared by Clint Depew, it was agreed that all ANR leaders from the 1862's and Puerto Rico be listed as contacts. All Southern region directors should be listed as administrative advisors.
Mike French suggested that the regional guidelines that had been developed for multi-state agreements also be used for agreements between two or more states. After considerable discussion, it was agreed that a committee should be formed to bring forth some recommendations at the next meeting. Committee membership is:
Bill Harris, Chair
Charlie McPeake
Mac Horton
Roger Crickenberger
The committee is to look at multi-state collaboration opportunities and establish 5 to 10 program priorities that states could collaborate on.
Open Spaces Report and Joint Meeting with North Central ANR Program Leaders
The open spaces report from the National meeting held in San Antonio in the spring was distributed by Clint Depew.
There was extensive discussion on National ANR priorities and initiatives. Clint said that the North Central ANR Program Leaders would like to meet jointly with the Southern Region Program Leaders in March 2001 in Washington, D.C. Bill Harris made a motion seconded by Mac Horton that we meet with the North Central Region Program Leaders in Washington, D.C. next March. An e-mail note should be sent out soon to try to go ahead and establish a date that would work. The motion was voted on and passed.
Clint Depew called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m.. The CRD committee was invited to participate in a joint discussion on the Sustainable Communities meeting scheduled for October. The question was asked if the conference was a train the trainer meeting or a planning session. Curtis Absher said that it was neither and that he hoped it would be something in-between. He said that agriculture should be considered an economic development strategy. It was agreed that an initiative proposal for multi-state programming in sustainable communities should come out of the meeting.
Regional Forestry Report
Bill Hubbard, the southern region Extension Forester, presented his biannual report to the committee. Items covered in his report included a review of the MOU between the 13 1862 Land-Grant universities and the USDA Forest Service, Master Tree Farmer 2000 Program, Master Tree Farmer 2001 Program, Woodlands Correspondence Course, IFAFS proposal coordination, The Urban Forestry Institute, Interface South Website, Animal and municipal waste/silviculture opportunities, Urban Forestry Distance Technology Transfer Efforts, Southern Forestry GIS Conference, The Southern Forest Service Conference, Regional Conservation Education Strategic Plan Implementation, Southern Nursery Manager Database and Website Oversight, Natural Resource and Environmental Management Base Program Activities, and Forest-Based Economic Development Activities.
Southern Region Water Quality Conference
Bill Harris said that a Southern Region Water Quality Conference will most likely not be held in the spring of 2001, but that it was not a dead issue. The Water Quality Regional Grant was approved. The Southern ANR Program Leaders need to ask each of their Directors to request that their university minimize the overhead being taken out of the regional water quality grant funds. The 19% indirect should be divided among host institutions rather than having 19% taken out of each institutions share of the money.
CSREES Update
No one was present from CSREES to give a report from the Federal level. It was agreed that a formal invitation to CSREES should be sent for the PLC meeting in 2001.
401/406 Grants
Mike French reported that the recipients of the 401/406 grants had been unofficially notified. However, the go ahead to release the money had not been given. Mike served as a reviewer and indicated that for a proposal to receive a favorable review, it needed to have a strong Extension component.
Regional Pesticide Impact Assessment Program (PIAP)
Mike French reported that the PIAP had been a 3-d program for years and that each state received funding based on a formula. Upon its elimination as a 3-d program, the southern region submitted one proposal, with Florida providing the lead. The southern region was unofficially notified that the grant proposal for $1,354,655 was approved. Dr. Nesheim, from the University of Florida, will coordinate the program. The funds will be distributed through a competitive grants process. Mike said that for states receiving funds, it will be important that they be able to document results to continue to receive funding. Mike French will work with Joan Dusky to coordinate an overview of the competitive grants process. The ANR Leaders need a copy of the RFP and the grant proposal.
Master Naturalist
Michael Ouart reported that the Master Naturalist program received formal approval by the Southern Directors. They need an administrative advisor and it needs to be added to the list of standing committees in the southern region.
Vegetable Crop Guide
Roger Crickenberger reported that North Carolina was cooperating with neighboring states in the publication of a regional vegetable crop guide. He said that Florida had produced a guide that was paid for by a chemical company that placed advertisements in the guide. He wanted to get the reaction from the group as to whether their states would consider doing something similar with a commercial company. It was generally agreed that other states would not consider such an arrangement. Joan Dusky reported that Florida did not agree to have their guide published that way, and that it would not happen again.
It was agreed that a topic for the agenda for the spring meeting should include an item called commercial company involvement in publications, web sites, etc., as well as a discussion on copyright policy.
Cotton Ginning Position
Bill Harris requested that each ANR program leader work with their Director to send a letter to Dr. Charles Laughlin requesting the following:
That the cotton ginning position be broader than ginning mechanization, that it have components dealing with agronomic responsibilities, and that it be located at one of the ARS stations in the south rather than Washington, D.C.
Bill Harris agreed to draft a letter that could be used by the ANR program leaders and provide a sample position description.