Introduction - Outreach to agricultural producers

[Tom Wehri <tom-wehri@ca.nacdnet.org>]

I'm Executive Director of the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts.  We are a non-profit who works with farmers and ranchers in Caifornia.  The 103 RCDs in the state are local board of volunteers appointed to special districts who work using a voluntary non-regulatory approach to conservation work.  We do much work using the watershed approach.

  As a panelist it is to note that outreach to the indivual farmer or ranchers by EPA is viewed primarily as a regulatory approach therefore most participants are very guarded in information provided.  To do outreach it is necessary to develop a trust factor which include confidentiality to effectively address the resource issues.

  The present outreach approaches generally do not reach the producer who operate the land.  A better method is needed.