Northeast Pollinator Conservation Planning Short Course

Northeast Pollinator Conservation Planning Short Course

Summary

Pollinators are essential to our environment. The ecological service they provide is necessary for more than two-thirds of the world’s crop species. Despite this, the essential service of pollination is at risk. Habitat loss, as well as pesticide use, has contributed to recent pollinator declines.

Extensive research now demonstrates, however, that protecting or restoring natural habitat on farms is the best way to conserve native pollinators and, at the same time, provide resources that support local honey bees.

In response, the current Farm Bill offers specific support for the creation and protection of wildflower plantings and pollinator nest site sites through USDA conservation programs, such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP), the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), and others.

At the national level, the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has developed guidelines on how to provide pollinator habitat on working farms, but the knowledge to implement these habitat enhancements has not been cultivated at the field office level or among partner agencies and farm educators. This lack of knowledge represents a key constraint to the wider adoption of pollinator conservation.

To overcome that barrier, this project is making in-depth pollinator conservation training available to NRCS conservationists, Soil and Water Conservation District farm planners, Cooperative Extension personnel, state departments of agriculture and natural resources, crop consultants, non-governmental conservation organizations, and the growers of bee-pollinated crops.

This training consists of a full-day Short Course on basic pollinator biology, native bee identification, bee-friendly farm management practices, designing and implementing habitat enhancements, and how to use NRCS programs for pollinator conservation. The Short Course is being offered in all twelve Northeastern SARE states with collaboration by multiple partner organizations, including academic institutions, Cooperative Extension, the NRCS and others.

Objectives/Performance Targets

The Pollinator Conservation Planning Short Courses will enable 240 farm educators and conservation agency staff to directly support at least 484 farmers in adapting farm practices for pollinator conservation on 24,000 acres of land and to assist at least 60 of those farmers with enrollment in NRCS administered conservation programs.

Accomplishments/Milestones

During the reporting period, we conducted 4 Short Courses in 3 states, which were attended by more than 221 participants. The primary audiences at these events were staff from the NRCS, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and Extension, as well as a number of individual farmers, researchers, master gardeners, naturalists, and beekeepers.

Specific accomplishments include:

Maryland
On June 21, 2011, we conducted a Short Course at the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) National Plant Materials Center in Beltsville, Maryland. We targeted the NRCS staff in MD, DE, PA, and VA, as well as conservation partners at the Soil and Water Conservation Service, Cooperative Extension, local nonprofits, and farmers for this training.

Forty-four people attended the course, including farm educators from all target states as well as USDA Farm Conservationists, several specialty crop producers, National SARE Communications staff, and graduate students in various sustainable agriculture programs.

As part of this and other Short Course sessions, we conducted an in-depth field-based habitat assessment training. Other highlights of the tour included an in-field native wildflower and pollinator identification session and a tour of demonstration cover cropping systems that are integrating pollinator conservation practices.

Maryland (for Washington D.C. based agencies)
The following day, on June 22, 2011, we conducted a second full-day Short Course at the National NRCS Plant Materials Center in Beltsville specifically targeting federal agency staff and other policy makers.

The event, funded through leveraged non-SARE funds, was attended by 83 people, including program managers from all major USDA agencies (NRCS, FSA, ARS, USFS), and other non-USDA government agencies such as USFWS, EPA, and BLM. Various non-governmental sustainable agriculture interests were also represented at the event.

The role of Northeast and National SARE in supporting pollinator conservation efforts was highlighted at the event, including the national SARE handbook, Managing Alternative Pollinators, and previously funded NE SARE “On Farm Research and Partnership Project” ONE07-077.

New Jersey
On April 21, 2011, we conducted a Short Course at the Snyder Research and Extension Farm in Pittstown, New Jersey. More than 50 people attended the event. We partnered with Rutgers University and the New Jersey RC&D on this course.

The NJ Short Course included a field tour of the Snyder Research Farm Orchard where participants conducted an in-depth pollinator habitat assessment exercise. That exercise demonstrated significant lack of pollen and nectar resources on the farm outside of the crop bloom period and a landscape not conducive to the nesting requirements of common native bee species. Following the Short Course, the Snyder Research Farm management was inspired to develop a native shrub and wildflower hedgerow on the farm to provide that lacking habitat and to serve as a regional demonstration for area farms. We are continuing to work with the facility to design and plant that hedgerow and to conduct follow-up outreach to promote this effort. One of the follow-up events was a public field day in August 2011, which attracted more than 2,000 people to the farm. We set-up a booth with fact sheets and informational displays on pollinator conservation. A second field day in September attracted 45 farmers to tour the pollinator habitat project.

Rhode Island
On July 6, 2011, we conducted a Short Course in collaboration with the RI NRCS, Cooperative Extension, and local conservation districts at the University of Rhode Island’s East Farm in Kingston, RI. Forty people attended the course, including participants from other states.

As a follow-up, we will conduct additional Short Courses directly adjacent to Rhode Island in Massachusetts and Connecticut during 2012 (the additional MA events will be conducted using newly leveraged funds).

• Mace Vaughan, Xerces Pollinator Conservation Director, leads a group in pollinator habitat assessment at the Rhode Island Short Course.
• Eric Mader leads the Short Course training for Federal agencies at the National NRCS Plant Materials Center. June 2011.
• Maryland Short Course participants practice basic bee identification in the field. June 2011.
• Pollinator cover crop field trial prepared as a demonstration site for the Maryland Short Course. June 2011.
• Demonstration habitat for pollinator conservation at the National NRCS Plant Materials Center. Prepared for the Maryland Short Course. June 2011.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

To date, more than 215 people participated in the Short Course in 2010 and more than 221 people participated in 2011 (our overall performance target was 240, so we have greatly exceeded that goal already), and we have documented at least 19 new farmer enrollments in NRCS-funded pollinator conservation projects that have been initiated by Short Course participants.

In addition, we continue to raise awareness among farm educators about pollinators in a way that is directly affecting their work. Specifically, based upon post event questionnaires, 99% of Extension educators and NRCS staff participants said that the Short Course changed how they would advise farmers on management practices to support pollinators, and 98% of participants said they planned to incorporate pollinator conservation into their own outreach efforts.

While the Short Course specifically targets farm educators and farm agency staff, a number of farmers attended each event. Among them, 94% said that attending the Short Course changed how they would support pollinators on their farms, with 88% of farmers reporting that they plan on creating more farm habitat for native bees. Twenty-five percent of those participating farmers reported that they plan on providing new pollinator habitat specifically through USDA administered conservation programs. A number of other farmers (not reflected in the 25% NRCS enrollment value) reported already having contracts with the NRCS for pollinator habitat and were attending the Short Course for specific guidance on how to carry out those plans.

Finally, specific feedback from Short Course participants is consistently and overwhelming positive. Examples of specific comments included:

“An overwhelming overview on pollinators…this was an informative training that I would recommend to anyone!”
-NRCS Conservation Planner, Maryland

“The workshop exceeded my expectations. Excellent info was presented in a very accessible way that kept my interest throughout. It was a plus that it was so well organized and carried out.”
-Agricultural Agency Staff, New Jersey

“My expectations were definitely fulfilled. All presenters were informative and well prepared. Thank you for a great workshop!”
-Extension Educator, New Jersey

“The review of bee biology [in this Short Course] was good information not seen elsewhere, and not easy to find in books available to laymen.”
– Farmer, Maryland

“Wonderful Presenters – Eric and Mace are awesome! Very Engaging.”
– USDA Biologist, Washington D.C.

“My Expectations? To have a greater understanding of pollinators, their importance/relationship to crop production – yes my expectations were met. I especially appreciate the enthusiasm of the presenters.”
-Agricultural Agency Support Staff, Rhode Island

No major challenges have arisen during the reporting period. One factor that we have now addressed is our organizational capacity. Each Short Course that we conduct inevitably results in a flood of additional workshop requests, as well as follow-up inquiries for farm-specific technical support. We believe that this response reflects the quality of the training that we offer. To help meet these many requests for specific project support, we reduced our target number of Short Courses from five to four in 2011. This allowed us to ensure that all Short Courses remained adequately staffed and continued to provide a quality experience for participants. To address capacity limitations, we also created a new staff position in 2011. This staff person (Mrs. Jolie Goldenetz-Dollar, Ph.D.) is now based in New Jersey, and she is working specifically to support pollinator conservation within the Northeast SARE region. With Jolie’s regional emphasis, we are now able to increase our target number of Short Courses in 2012 to five—reaching all Northeast SARE states, as well as providing greater post-training support for Short Course participants.

The second unanticipated challenge we have faced is a larger than expected interest in Short Course enrollment. This overwhelmingly positive response to our work has been the most validating endorsement of pollinator conservation possible. In our proposal, we budgeted for a maximum of 30 participants at each event (based upon previous experience outside the Northeast region). The actual number of registrants has far exceeded that anticipated target at every event, but we have been able to accommodate many more participants with funds leveraged from additional sources.

Collaborators: