Re: ExtensionCutToTheQuick--Again

**"* D* <m*@gmail.com>**

I'm interested in being kept in the loop on this topic, Cheryl.
Please include me in the distribution if you take the conversation off GWL.
Thanks, Martha Stoodley
http://muskogeephoenixonline.com/blogs/MollyDay/

On Thu, Dec 18, 2008 at 9:43 PM, Vermont Gardener <vermontgardener@yahoo.com
> wrote:

> Hi All:
>   I know this was a topic some years ago, but in Vermont, Virginia and
> likely other states, university cooperative extensions are again facing
> severe cuts, as state's slash budgets.
>   University of Vermont Extension is slated for a $653,000 cut in its
> FY2009 budget (which will drain its reserves) then a $540,000 cut in FY2010.
> So by the end of January we will know which jobs and programs will dissolve
> next July. The two-year total is equal to its annual operating budget and
> the equivalent of a 24 percent reduction.
>   Among its many resources that benefit gardeners (and garden writers) in
> addition to a strong Master Gardener program are: renowned perennial expert
> Leonard Perry, multi-state organic apple growing research, hardy grape and
> wine-grape growing trials, a youth horticulture program, 4-H, a grain
> growing revival that includes varieties developed by the famed botanist
> Cyrus Pringle...plus many agricultural, forestry, community development,
> nutrition and environmental programs and specialists.
>   Meanwhile, even UVM Extension doesn't yet seem to realize that many of
> the other line-item state budget cuts will affect Extension's other grant
> programs in specialized areas.
>   As I track this story unfolding in the new year, I'd like to include
> comparisons to other states.
>   The only thing I've found so far is a 2 December article saying that the
> Virginia governor cut two positions and $2.3M from its cooperative extension
> so far with more cuts coming. We always hear that other states are worse off
> than we are, but I'd like specifics.
>   Ironically it is in hard times that Extension's trusted services such as
> teaching gardening, budgeting, farm viability planning, canning and freezing
> become most popular.
>   If writers in other states will be following this tale (I know some
> garden writers have also been Extension specialists and many are Master
> Gardeners), we can compare notes here on the listserv.
>   If this is not a thread you want to pursue, please contact me offline if
> you have similar news of your state and would like to hear the outcome of
> our cuts.
> Wishing you frugality in the new year,
> Cheryl Dorschner
> vermontgardener@yahoo.com
>
>
>
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