OSU Land Steward Program Professional Development Project

View the project final report

Commodities

Practices

• Animal Production: grazing management, rangeland/pasture management
• Crop Production: forestry, forest/woodlot management, water management
• Education and Training: extension, farmer to farmer, mentoring, on-farm/ranch research, technical assistance
• Natural Resources/Environment: afforestation, biodiversity, habitat enhancement, riparian buffers, riverbank protection, soil stabilization, wildlife
• Pest Management: integrated pest management, prevention
• Soil Management: soil quality/health
• Sustainable Communities: community development, quality of life, social capital

The objectives of this project are to create tools and professional development trainings to
expand the locally successful Oregon State University Southern Oregon Research and Extension
Center Land Steward program to reach new audiences via Extension agents and educators,
NRCS staff, Soils and Water Conservation District personnel, and other agricultural professionals
who provide educational and technical assistance to farmers, ranchers, and forest owners
throughout Oregon, and into Idaho, Washington and California. The Land Steward program is
effective at increasing knowledge, motivation and changing behavior. Within six months of
completing the program more than 80% of participants have implemented at least one best
management practice, and over time participants have adopted hundreds of best management
practices ranging from irrigation improvements, to fire hazard abatement, to noxious weed
eradication, to riparian restoration, resulting in impacts on thousands of acres of land. The
Land Steward program serves as a launching pad for further education and technical assistance
from local agencies such as Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD) and the Natural
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) with 97% reporting improved ability to access such
educational and technical resources. Equally important, the program develops a sense of
community among participants and Land Stewards serve as ambassadors to other land owners.
Specifically, this project will 1) refine and publish a curriculum for the eleven module LS
training; 2) publish a series of management guidelines for distribution among land owners; 3)
create a hybrid version of the LS training; 4) provide three, two-day professional development
workshops to train ~45 agricultural and natural resource professionals to use the curriculum,
hybrid program, and management documents; 5) present at three state and national
conferences to introduce these tools to an additional ~54 professionals.

The objectives of this project are to create tools and professional development
trainings to allow the locally successful Oregon State University (OSU) Southern Oregon
Research and Extension Center (SOREC) Land Steward (LS) program to reach expanded
audiences via Extension agents and educators, NRCS staff, Soils and Water Conservation District
personnel, and other agricultural professionals who provide educational and technical
assistance to farmers, ranchers, and forest owners throughout Oregon, and into Idaho,
Washington and California. Specifically, the project will 1) refine and publish a curriculum for
the eleven module LS training; 2) publish a series of topic based management guidelines for
instructors to distribute to land owners 3) create a hybrid version of the LS training; 4) provide
three, two-day professional development workshops to train ~45 agricultural and natural
resource professionals to use the curriculum, hybrid program, and management documents; 5)
present at three state and national conferences to introduce these tools to an additional ~54
professionals.