Mike French
Nelson Daniels
Joan Dusky
Louie Rivers, Jr.
Marion Simon
Charlie Stallings
Ed Smith
Paul Mask
Jimmy Henning
Ed Jones
Anthony Reed
John Ward
John Orr
Tim Cross
Ross Love
DeLynn Hay (Nebraska)
Nelson Daniels called the conference call to order.Joan Dusky discussed the National Meeting plans and led an update of the agriculture e-Extension. The discussion indicated that the BMP's for Master Gardener programs are in place. Ed Jones, Ross Love, Joan Dusky and John Ward led the discussions concerning EPA and PSEP. Ross indicated that the Region 4 EPA liaison position is filled, Fred Moore to start after graduation. The discussion included EPA support and funding, federal and/or state funding for EPA. PSEP - Farm Bureau and EPA have entered the pesticide training initiative, the group recommended that EPA and Farm Bureau continue the task.Tim Cross led the discussion of the White Paper, Joan Dusky and Jimmy Henning agreed to receive comments and assist with the final draft. The lengthy discussion included: a) the potential for specialists input/service in the e-Extension curriculum, b) Ron Brown's presentation at the Directors' meeting, c) the discussion at the ECOP Leadership Advisory Council which included how e-Extension curriculum crosses program lines, different program areas, how it concerns ECOP, how ECOP will continue discussions and pass the information through to CSREES, d) CSREES and National Program Leaders concerns, and e) the April joint meeting in Washington, D.C.Louie Rivers and Ross Love discussed the upcoming PLC/PLN meeting and their conference call. They indicated that other program areas of the Southern Region wanted to be included in the White Paper or to review it. DeLynn Hay indicated that we need to discuss the White Paper and above initiatives with our counterparts. Tim Cross and most of the participants discussed CSREES, the differences in National Program Leaders, the potential for their support (or aversion) of the e-Extension project and Specialists' input/service, whether or not a National Program Leader is available in each area and how specialists can fill the gap where National Program Leaders do not exist. The consensus of the participants agreed on the need for specific subject matter support and more leadership from CSREES, but recognized that CSREES is more of a source of financial resources than subject matter. Tim reminded the group that we focused on Agriculture and Natural Resources, not 4-H, FCS, or other program areas. All participants agreed that it makes sense for the White Paper to be ANR and not from PLN. John Orr said the paper is on-target - that ECOP recognizes that National Program Leaders are limited in the ANR subject matter fields due to the diversity of topics. Tim will have a revised copy by the July 11 Summer Meeting, Joan will discuss the paper with Mike Tate.
Nelson Daniels - Discussed potential speakers for the PLN meeting: Jeff Zhender to tell about SARE web-based training, Jim Horne from SARE, speaker from NASS.