Welcome to the Multi-State Extension Project - Western Extension Forestry. This project was initiated to coordinate Western Extension Forestry Educational Efforts. This website serves as a gateway to the websites of 10 western states. To access states' Extension sites follow the "Extension Foresters " link in the menu at left.

We welcome your comments and suggestions for improvements to this site.

THEME: Protect and Enhance the Nation's Natural Resource Base and Environment as it is related to privately owned forest ecosystems, especially those owned by the thousands of individuals and families in western United States.

ISSUE: Given the ecological diversity of the west and the diverse needs of family forest landowners, the Extension Foresters in this western US have formed a committee to coordinate extension education around three principle focus areas: Forest Health; Wildland and Defensible Fire Concerns; and the Urban Interface Issue.  The three focus areas are not mutually exclusive, so that projects implemented will cross these focus issue boundaries.

RESOLUTION: Land grant universities contributing to the extension committee have provided insights into family forestry educational methods through experience and sharing of this experience at a west wide coordination meeting and through an on-going collaborative web-based educational program.

While we are in the beginning of this first-ever collaboration, the efforts are just getting started.  Benefits of participation in this multi-state extension coordination effort include standardization of methodology, sharing of educational resources, development of new, state of the art methods that are standardized between participating educators, updated and shared landowner databases, and sharing of information prior to publication.

IMPACT: While on-the-ground impacts from our coordination committee are not yet measured, we feel that improved educational methodology and communications in the west will lead to improved land management practices that ultimately will result in reduced fire risk, improved ecological biodiversity, improved forest health, and a reduction of forest fragmentation, especially as land passes from generation to generation.  A secondary impact will be financial efficiency brought to each participating land-grant university, whereby avoiding duplication of extension forestry educational efforts.