Farm & Ranch

[AgriLife Today] Watershed courses June 13-14 will spotlight stakeholder engagement in Dallas

Published

8 years ago

May 27, 2016

NTFR

By: Paul Schattenberg

By: Paul Schattenberg, 210-859-5752, [email protected]

Contact: Nikki Dictson, 979-458-5915, [email protected]

DALLAS – The Texas Watershed Planning Program of the Texas Water Resources Institute and Texas A&M AgriLife Research are co-hosting a two-course series on watershed stakeholder engagement for water and natural resources professionals June 13-14 in Dallas.

“Getting in Step – Top 10 Outreach Tips that Won’t Break the Bank,” will be from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. June 13 at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center, 17360 Coit Road.

The second course, “Stakeholder Facilitation: Working with Stakeholders to Move the Process Forward,” will be from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. June 14 at the same location.

Registration for each course is $75 or $130 for both.

Nikki Dictson, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service program specialist and manager of the institute’s watershed program in College Station, said this two-course series begins with directions on how to develop an outreach campaign to engage stakeholders, followed by instruction on how to facilitate and keep stakeholders engaged throughout the process.

“These courses are for any natural resource or water professional who is working on outreach or with partners and stakeholders to facilitate a planning process,” she said.

Charlie MacPherson of Tetra Tech, an environmental engineering and consulting firm based in Pasadena, California, is the instructor for both courses. Dictson said MacPherson helped develop the Getting in Step outreach series and guidebooks for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“Stakeholder engagement is more than just holding a public hearing or seeking public comment on a new regulation,” MacPherson said. “Effective stakeholder engagement provides a method for identifying public concerns and values, developing consensus among affected parties, and producing efficient and effective solutions through an open, inclusive process.”

Dictson said the Getting in Step course will highlight practical tips and tools used to effectively engage and involve stakeholders throughout a watershed area.

She said the stakeholder facilitation course will address determining who needs to be involved, making meetings count, diffusing conflict, making decisions using a consensus-based approach and sustaining the stakeholder group.

“Outreach is a powerful tool to get stakeholders involved early in the watershed planning process, promoting behavior change and enhancing the implementation of your programs,” Dictson said.

Dictson said the watershed planning program is able to offer these courses thanks to funding through a Clean Water Act nonpoint grant provided by the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

For more information or to register for the courses, visit http://watershedplanning.tamu.edu/training/.

The institute is part of AgriLife Research, AgriLife Extension and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University.

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Farm & Ranch

Hazards of Backyard Poultry

Published

1 week ago

April 21, 2024

NTFR

By Barry Whitworth, DVM

Having backyard poultry is a popular agriculture enterprise. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, 0.8 percent of all households in the United States have chickens. People keep chickens for a variety of reasons with table eggs being one of the more common reasons.

Unfortunately, some of these poultry producers are not aware of the hazards that come with keeping poultry because many times they carry pathogens but appear healthy.
Chickens are carriers of several zoonotic diseases. These are diseases that can be passed from animals to humans. According to a recent survey in Pennsylvania, a majority of backyard poultry producers were aware of the dangers of avian influenza. However, this study also revealed that far fewer producers were aware of the risk of possible exposure to Salmonella and Campylobacter.

The lack of knowledge about the hazards of raising poultry likely contributes to the continued issues of Salmonella outbreaks associated with backyard poultry. In 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 1,072 illnesses of Salmonella linked to backyard poultry, and 272 of those patients required hospitalization. Oklahoma reported 43 individuals with the disease.

To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.