Program Impacts
Agricultural Programs
- Beginning Beekeeping Class - The Douglas County Extension Office and beekeeping volunteers hosted a 2- day in-person beginning beekeeping class. Forty-six persons attended the class with topics ranging from tools and equipment to pollinator plants and disease management.
- Douglas Extension Bee and Pollinator Program - A community needs assessment conducted by Lindsay Chichester, Douglas County Extension Educator, indicated a need for more information and outreach on bees and pollinators. This project began in January 2020, and has grown to management of seven hives at two locations, an educational teaching hive, an observational hive, numerous outreach events and 25 family memberships. Created the National Pollinator Month Program for Douglas County, including numerous educational outreach events. Additionally, a 4-H beekeeping club was established in 2022, with 17 youth enrolled.
- Eagles and Ag - A program to promote the benefits agriculture provides wildlife and the community,
- conservation and prosperity of ranching in western Nevada, and enhance participant knowledge in wildlife habitat and local agriculture. Partnered with Carson Valley Chamber of Commerce. 2021 marked the 20th year of this program with 180 participants.
- Cattleman's Update - Provides current research-based information about important management practices and issues that may affect the efficiency, productivity, profitability and sustainability of cattle production businesses. The 2022 update reached 87 livestock producers. The event was virtual, with veterinarian and cattle purchasing panels held online. Several locations hosted in-person sessions like was conducted in previous years. The participants feedback reflected a favorable response for the vet panel/animal health, slaughter/processing, and how convenient the online panels are.
- Rural Heritage and Quality of Life – The needs assessment indicated a strong need to preserve agriculture and the rich rural heritage in Douglas County. Lindsay serves as an agricultural liaison for the Carson Valley Visitor’s Authority, works on local programming with the Carson Valley Historical Society and the Dangberg Home Ranch.
- Agriculture Stress and Mental Health, and Resiliency - no doubt agriculture is a stressful profession. In Nevada, very little research has been conducted, and limited resources are available for persons in need. Brenda Freeman, Ph.D. and Lindsay Chichester have been working collaboratively on the Western Regional Agricultural Stress Assistance Program (WRASAP) with 13 states and 4 territories to collect baseline data, determine outreach and engagement opportunities, and establish a plan going forward for Nevadans. In 2022, the results of a producer survey were published (FS-22-01).
- Mobile Slaughter Trailer – In 2021, the Beginning Farmer Rancher (BFR) team worked with entrepreneurs trying to build slaughter/processing plants. The team made a presentation at the Intertribal Ag Council (IAC) membership meeting in December 2021, held an online webinar for a local slaughter and processing in the West and is attending meetings with Nevada Department of Agriculture (NDA) on a possible state meat inspection program. In 2022, this team has met with several entrepreneurs who plan to open meat harvest and processing facilities in Nevada.
Natural Resources
- The Living With Fire Program (LWF) teaches Nevadans how to live more safely in wildfire-prone areas. During this fiscal year, a total of four webinars were broadcast over Zoom that covered wildfire-related topics. During these webinars, LWF reached a total of 30 Douglas County residents. Webinar topics included Wildfire Smoke and Health, Home Hardening, Reseeding and Flood After Wildfire, and Prescribed Fire in Tahoe and Nevada. For the 2022 Nevada Wildfire Awareness Campaign, LWF spearheaded an evacuation presentation in the Topaz Ranch Estates (TRE) that reached a total of 60 TRE residents in person and 10 residents via Zoom. Planning and collaboration for this event included the following partners: Douglas County Extension, Douglas County, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, East Fork Fire Protection District, Bureau of Land Management and NV Energy. LWF has worked with one Douglas County educator from Aspire Academy to pilot a high school wildfire science curriculum that reached a total of 22 Douglas County high schoolers. A total of 885 publications were distributed to Douglas County residents in efforts to teach them how to reduce the wildfire threat.
Horticulture
- Heritage Park Garden Question & Answer sessions- Program runs from May – October of each year. UNR Extension Horticulture Outreach Coordinator, Jessica Gardner, has partnered with Main Street Gardnerville Heritage Park Garden volunteers to bring a 1-hour long educational program each week during the growing season about horticulture. This class is designed to provide a 30-minute educational talk followed by a 30-minute question & answer session. During the 2021-2022 fiscal year 167 participants attended and 279 fact sheets were provided, and 17 classes were offered.
- Food Waster Awareness Event - Earth Day 2022 – UNR Extension Horticulture Outreach partnered with Carson Valley Community Food Closet. We provided four different workshops during the day: vermicomposting, meal planning, food preservation and planting activity. An estimate of 15 community members participated and 15 fact sheets were provided.
- Pollinator Education –UNR Extension Horticulture Outreach Coordinator, Jessica Gardner participated in the Heritage Park Garden Spring forum. Jessica spoke on establishing pollinator gardens in landscapes. 56 community members were in attendance and 40 fact sheets were provided.
- UNR Extension Master Gardener Program – Extension Master Gardener Volunteers provide fact-based consumer horticulture education throughout the community in a variety of outlets.
- Seed Swap - Hosted the first Douglas County Seed Swap on January 29, 2022.
- 95 participants attended the seed swap, hundreds of seeds were shared and over 200 fact sheets were provided.
- Beginning Vegetable Gardening - March-April 2022 – was capped at 12 Douglas County residents. Participants learned how to start a vegetable garden, when to plant, how to maintain and when to harvest vegetable crops. Each participant received seeds, transplants, and other tools to help them be successful vegetable gardeners in the Carson Valley.
- Dangberg Historic Home Ranch – Gertrude’s Garden and other flower bed areas were designed, planted, and maintained by UNR Extension Master Gardeners throughout the year.
- Heritage Park Gardens – UNR Extension Master Gardeners continue to help maintain the general operations of the community garden and are always looking on how to improve the garden for the Douglas County community.
- UNR Extension Master Gardener program had two community members go through the Master Gardener volunteer training during 2021-2022.
- Please visit the Douglas County Master Gardener website at https://extension.unr.edu/program.aspx?ID=267
- Please visit the Douglas County Master Gardener newsletter for the most up to date information. https://extension.unr.edu/publication.aspx?PubID=4949
- Horticulture outreach via walk-in, email, or phone calls – Logged total: – 609 people and 869 fact sheets were provided.
Children, Youth and Families
- 4-H – A youth-based organization serving ages 5-19 that utilizes the research-based curriculum and resources provided by Extension for programming that is experiential and youth-driven, facilitated by community volunteers, and supervised by the 4-H Youth Development Coordinator and Extension staff. 4-H is welcoming all youth of Douglas County and in some cases, beyond. It is steeped in providing education and support in areas of agriculture, animals, and sustainability, but is also responsive to change by providing opportunities in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) education, public speaking, leadership, career development, heathy living and more.
- Youth for the Quality Care of Animals (YQCA) - a national multi-species quality assurance program for youth ages 8-21 with a focus on three pillars: food safety, animal well-being, and character development. YQCA certification can be done online and in-person. In Nevada, Lindsay Chichester is the state contact, and serves as Vice President of the National YQCA Board.
4-H
Douglas County 4-H: 12 Projects, 118 youth members, 19 adult volunteers in 2021-2022
- 4-Paws Dog Project had 2 volunteers and 6 members
- Baking Project had 1 leader and 11 members
- Bees Project had 1 leader and 17 members
- Beef Project had 1 leader and 4 members
- CV Shepherds Sheep Project had 1 leader and 7 members
- Shooting Sports offered 6 disciplines with 10 leaders and 76 members
- Equestrian Project had 1 leader and 18 members
- Goat Project had 1 leader and 3 members
- Poultry Peeps Project had 1 leader and 16 members
- Rabbit Club had 1 leader and 9 members
- Sewing Project had 1 leader and 8 members
- Swine had 1 leader and 2 members
Douglas County 4-H hired a Youth Development Coordinator, Patrick Flynn, in February and continues to partner with the community on a number of different levels.
- We partnered with Kiwanis of the Carson Valley for our annual record book judging contest. Kiwanis of the Carson Valley also donated $500 to provide monetary awards to the top record books for each of the age categories.
- We partnered with Tractor Supply Company for our annual “Paper Clover Days” to fundraise for 4-H and provide education to the community on what 4-H has to offer.
- We partnered with the Douglas County Community and Senior Center to offer Baking programs for 4-H members.
- We partnered with the Carson Valley Community Food Closet to offer a Canning demonstration open to all current 4-H members.
- We partnered with the Douglas County Public Library to offer 7 weeks of Robotics programming open to the public ages 9-15.
- We partnered with the Douglas County Parks and Recreation center to offer the public 6 weeks of Juggling workshops, all ages welcome, at both Minden and Lampe Parks.
- We partnered with Carson Valley Shepherds and Douglas County Parks and Recreation to host Battle Born Livestock Jackpot Show at the Douglas County Fairgrounds with more than 500 in attendance.
- We partnered with 4-Paws Dog Project and Douglas County Parks and Recreation to offer a Canine Good Citizenship training and evaluation to the public at the Douglas County Fairgrounds.
Community Development
- Leadership Douglas County -A community leadership program designed to develop informed, involved, and knowledgeable community members for Douglas County. Lindsay is on the steering committee.
- Economic Vitality - Supporting the needs of small businesses through trainings and resources to succeed in Douglas County.
- Facilitation - Provide unbiased facilitation for local entities who need help with strategic planning, Board retreats, or Town Hall meetings.
Radon
Radon Education - A program to educate citizens about radon health risk which offers literature, educational programs and radon test kits. In Douglas County, a total of 5,206 homes have been tested, which is 21% of all homes in Douglas County (n=24,570). At this time, 40% of homes in Douglas County have the potential to test over the 4 pCi/I, the recommended "safe" value as identified by the EPA. The average radon level in homes tested is 5.02 pCi/I, and the highest value recorded in 117.9 pCi/1.
Of the homes needing mitigation (after confirmation testing), 571 have undergone mitigation, resulting in a 29.4% mitigation percentage. Also, there are a total of 1060 reported real estate tests that have been conducted as part of a transaction and 130 Radon- Resistant New Construction (RRNC) homes in Douglas County since the program's inception.
Douglas County has provided the Nevada Radon Poster Contest with six first place winners since its inception in 2010. The Nevada contest has also garnered two national first place winners, in 2016 and 2018, and a national second place winner in 2019.
Douglas County 2021-2022 Fiscal Year Expenses by County
State $211,328
Federal $58,684
County $73,122
Grants $66,824
Gifts $ 230
Other $ 6,758
Total $416,946
Douglas County 2021-2022 Fiscal Year Funds Summary
Opening Balance $450,344
Revenue $311,760
Expenses $176,462
Ending Balance $585,642
