- (Condition Change) Increased preparedness and resilience to extreme weather and climate change
- Author: Kimberly C Ingram
Social Media Summary
Protecting California's forests and building climate-resilient communities and ecosystems requires forest landowners, managers, and natural resource professionals to actively engage in stewardship. UC ANR's Forest Stewardship Education Initiative provides practical forest management information and hands-on skills to small forest landowners throughout California's forested communities. Since 2020, 100 landowners who attended a 9-week Forest Stewardship Workshop series, have had an initial site visit with a Registered Professional Forester or engaged other natural resource professionals to walk their land, discuss their objectives, and identify activities that will help them reach their goals to improve forest management. Together, these landowners manage over 10,000 acres in California.
The Issue
The operational environment for managing forestland in California is challenging, especially for the ~75,000 forest landowners owning 10 or more acres. Current infrastructure and resources tend to more positively support large or industrial forest landowners. Survey data of Forest Stewardship participants identify cost, time, and lack of a qualified workforce as the biggest barriers to implementing forest management activities. Providing forest landowners with the tools they need to develop a management plan, engage a resource professional, and apply for cost-share funding, will help eliminate barriers to implementing their management goals, and address threats to California's forests, such as increasing wildfires and droughts due to climate change.
How UC Delivers
Since 2020, 485 participants have completed 24 Forest Stewardship Workshops across the state. The workshops are offered through a hybrid learning style involving online learning assignments, nine weeks of evening zoom meetings, and one in-person field day to view various silvicultural methods and build hands-on forestry skills including inventory, mapping, and plant identification. Additionally, we focus participants on drafting sections of the California Cooperative Forest Management Plan (CCFMP), which can make them eligible for state and federal cost-share programs. Just over half of registered participants (53%) had received information or advice about managing their land in the five years before taking the workshop. Weekly workshop sessions are led by local resource professionals and UC experts. Connecting landowners with these professionals and their neighboring landowners, empowers them to act.
After completing the workshop, landowners are eligible for a free initial site visit, paid for by the program, with a Registered Professional Forester (RPF), Certified Range Manager (CRM), or California Certified Burn Boss. By covering the initial site visit cost (an $800 value), we remove a barrier and incentivize landowners to continue moving towards active forest management. Goals of the site visit include:
- having landowners engage a natural resource professional on their land and walk the property;
- discussing landowner's management goals and objectives;
- providing preliminary advice around those stated goals and objectives; and
- engaging in conversations that could lead to a working relationship, including the development and implementation of a formal management plan and application for cost-share funding.
“Those forestry workshops have been huge for me. You know I didn't know what I didn't know, and to be able to get an understanding about the issues I should be thinking about, some of the topics that are current and how to approach managing this forest, it's a big responsibility.”
“I really appreciate the knowledge, time, and approachability of all of the experts that participated in the presentations. Thank you for bringing this group together and offering this resource.”
The Impact
Since 2020, 100 participants managing over 10,000 forested acres have had site visits through the program or engaged directly with their local Resource Conservation Districts or Natural Resource Conservation Service office. In interviews with forty of these participants, we learned that 45% are in the process of developing or have completed development of a management plan, 38% have established an on-going working relationship with their resource professional, and 21 applied for and received funding through a cost-share or grant program. Participants also reported increasing collaborations with their local Prescribed Burn Associations, Fire Safe Councils, and neighbors.
Across the range of management activities that forest landowners can take, attitudes and perceptions increased positively (pre-workshop to post-workshop) for prescribed fire (42% to 66%), fuels reduction (65% to 98%), tree thinning (40% to 88%), and timber harvest (15% to 41%).
Pre-post workshop survey data from 2020 to 2023 also shows a change in attitudes around the importance of developing a management plan (29% pre-workshop vs. 92% post-workshop); and communicating or consulting with CAL FIRE (7% pre-workshop vs. 64% post-workshop) or other natural resource agencies (30% pre-workshop vs. 82% post-workshop).
Empowering forest landowners through an increase in knowledge and skills, connecting them to natural resource professionals in their communities and providing incentives to become more active stewards of their forests, leads to improvements in forest management, increased forest resilience, and an overall improvement in climate-resilient communities and ecosystems.
- Author: Yu Meng
- Author: Dorina M Espinoza
- Author: Marisa Neelon
In response to CA SB1383, the 4-H Food Waste Busters Project provides an opportunity for youth to engage in reducing household food waste and help combat climate change.
The Issue
Household food waste is a major problem in the U.S. and the average U.S. household wastes 31.9% of the food it buys, with an estimated value of $240 billion. Food scraps, yard trimmings, and other organic waste make up half of what Californians add to the landfills. Greenhouse gases released by decomposing food and yard waste contribute to climate change. To respond to this issue, California is implementing statewide organic waste recycling and surplus food recovery. California's short-lived climate pollutant reduction strategy (SB1383) aims to reduce organic waste disposal 75% by 2025. This goal requires every Californian to take action. Household food waste is a complex and multifaceted issue and is affected by food-related practices (planning, shopping, storing, cooking, eating, and managing leftovers). Consumers' misunderstanding of food date labels is associated with more frequent food discards and effective educational communication is needed for consumers to understand their meaning. Educating consumers about strategies to reduce household food waste will support their compliance with SB 1383.
How UC Delivers
Extension can play a part in addressing household food waste reduction efforts. There is a call for giving children and young people a 'voice' and a 'hand' in redressing climate change. We chose to tackle this problem through the 4-H youth development program. The 4-H program is grounded in the belief that youth learn best by doing hands-on learning in a positive environment and are encouraged to take on proactive leadership roles. Increasing youth awareness and knowledge about the issue can engage them in food waste reduction and potentially influence a larger community. Youth in 4-H can highlight the issue through club projects, community service, public speaking opportunities, and civic engagement.
The 4-H Food Waste Busters Project's aim was to increase knowledge and understanding of the issue of food waste and its importance in the ecosystem. Through 4-H experiences, youth develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to live a sustainable lifestyle. This project helps youth better understand how making small changes can make a difference in their home, club, and community. As a result, youth can describe what food waste means; explain the benefit of reducing food waste; conduct a food waste audit at home; and encourage household members to adopt strategies to reduce food waste.
UC ANR Advisors adapted a food waste school curriculum developed by the World Wildlife Fund into age-appropriate, inquiry-based online lesson plans that fit the 4-H project format. Since many students were still engaged in online learning as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic this created an opportunity to focus on household-level food waste. The 4-H lesson plans provided time for team building, group agreement development, activity exploration, a capstone project, and reflection. The Advisors piloted the lesson plans with fourteen youth members through 9 weekly one-hour zoom project meetings. At the end of the pilot project, Advisors conducted a focus group with the youth to confirm that our project aims were fulfilled and to provide an opportunity for them to give feedback on the lesson plans.
The Impact
The 4-H youth were able to articulate their favorable response to the project. Youth learned about food waste's impact on the environment and strategies to reduce household waste. They shared the changes they or their family made because they participated in the project. “We realized how much food we wasted and we're trying to waste less; we are trying to have one meal of leftovers every week; we stopped cooking so much food so we don't have so many leftovers that would go to waste; we buy less food unless we really need it.” One youth shared: “This project made me realize how much food we're wasting, how much I could do about that and how much impact we're having on the world.” At the end of the project, youth completed capstone projects (poem, slide show, fact sheets) to share and educate their peers and family about food waste reduction strategies. Based on the successful pilot, we developed an online training for California 4-H project leaders. Fourteen volunteers completed project training and 78% reported that they are definitely more confident in leading this project.
Components of the 4-H Food Waste Buster's project were intentionally created to help youth identify their household level of food waste and to develop strategies to reduce overall food waste including using left-over foods. The lessons also reinforced the importance of composting food instead of throwing it away. These experiences then contributed to conversations and learning about how household level behaviors can impact local, state, national and global levels of food waste and the environmental impacts of greenhouse gases that are produced in landfills.
The 4-H Project material was shared through the volunteer training and is in the process of ANR peer review. Once published on the ANR 4-H project sheet website, volunteers and educators from California and all land-grant universities in the U.S. will have free access to our lesson plans to deliver similar projects through their Cooperative Extension 4-H programs.
Tips to Reduce Food Waste
- Author: Dana Yount
- Contributor: Emily Lovell
- Contributor: Caddie Bergren
- Contributor: Nicki Anderson
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UC ANR Climate Smart Agriculture Educator team assisted growers to win CDFA grants that reduced greenhouse gases equivalent to removing roughly 7,000 cars off the road, supporting UC ANR's public value of building climate-resilient communities and ecosystems.
The Issue
Increasingly extreme and erratic weather patterns caused by climate change threaten crop yields and farm profits across the state. Growers must continue to adapt to climate stressors, such as increased temperatures and occurrences of drought, and can aid in reducing climate change through their farming practices.
How UC Delivers
A collaborative partnership between the Strategic Growth Council, California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), and University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) teamed up to support 10 Climate Smart Agriculture Community Education Specialists (CSA CES) throughout the state to provide technical assistance and outreach to promote Climate-Smart Agriculture Incentive Programs. These programs include:
- The Healthy Soils Program, which incentivizes the implementation of climate-smart agriculture practices such as cover cropping, composting, crop rotation, and mulching which reduce erosion and greenhouse gases
- The State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP), which encourages farmers to install more efficient irrigation systems that decrease water consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; and
- The Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP), which awards funds to livestock producers who decrease their methane emissions by changing the way they manage manure.
Since establishing this partnership in 2019, the UC ANR Climate Smart Agriculture Educator team has provided hands-on assistance to over 200 farmers and ranchers through the complex application process. Collaborating with other CDFA technical providers to host workshops, field days, and events has expanded reach to a greater number of growers, over 120 of whom were able to receive funding after receiving technical assistance. UC CSA CES efforts don't stop at the outreach or application phase; educators work year-round to ensure successful implementation of climate-smart projects.
After the award process, educators assist awardees in completing grant invoicing and contract reporting requirements and connect them with vendors, industry experts, and service providers. UC CSA CES also engage in a variety of additional support activities. For example, to help establish successful cover crop adoption, one educator created a cover crop decision-making tool. A different educator started a small compost spreader rental program to assist small growers in spreading compost. Another facilitates full project management through translation services to a cooperative of Cantonese-speaking awardees.
The Impact
Through assisting awardees in the adoption of practices such as cover cropping, installing solar panels, and installing dairy manure solid separator systems, the 10 UC CSA CES have collectively supported growers in reducing 33,000 MT/CO2 per year, as measured by California Air and Resources Board (CARB) Green House Gas Emission reduction calculator (SWEEP GHG Calculator on CDFA's website), and the HSP Comet planner tool. That's equivalent to removing 7,000 cars from the road per year.
Table A provides an overview of how much GHG has reduced in counties where the UC Climate Smart Agriculture Educator team has helped farmers implement climate-smart practices. Totals for all projects are much higher.
|
UCCE-County Location |
Total CO2 equivalent in MT/year |
|
Sonoma, Mendocino, and Lake County |
314.2 |
|
Merced, Madera, Stanislaus |
5263.31 |
|
Glenn, Butte, Colusa, Tehama County |
4545.785 |
|
Yolo, Solano, Sacramento, San Joaquin, El Dorado, Sonoma, Colusa, Sutter |
11716.4 |
|
Santa Clara County |
58.85 |
|
Fresno County |
1353.924 |
|
Kern & Tulare Counties |
7060.283 |
|
Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura County |
630.5 |
|
San Diego and Riverside Counties |
300.18 |
|
Imperial County and Riverside County |
3689.1 |
Glenn County grower, Shannon Douglass says, “When producers have the support from the UCCE office that they already know and trust, they are more willing to implement new practices. The application process is intimidating, but with the help from UC, soil healthy practices are becoming much more widely adopted.”
Research shows that Healthy Soils Program practices such as compost application increases the amount of organic matter in soil, amongst numerous other benefits such as increasing the water and nutrient retention capacity of soils, providing a reservoir of nutrients for plants, improving aeration, improving water infiltration, reducing soil erosion, and supporting the abundance and diversity of soil organisms, which can improve plant health. Compost application is just one fundable practice farmers can implement to help reduce greenhouse gases on their operation.
Thanks to this unique partnership with CDFA, UC ANR is able to provide hands-on support to farmers statewide so that they can improve the health of their soils, reduce livestock methane emissions, and improve water use efficiency. In this way, the Climate-Smart Agriculture program contributes to UC ANR's public value of building climate-resilient communities and ecosystems.
