ELCR Farm/Ranch Land Stewardship Education Program https://grants.dudleytdoughertyfoundation.org/proposals-2011/elcr-farm-ranch-land-stewardship-education-program https://grants.dudleytdoughertyfoundation.org/@@site-logo/sitelogo-75x75.png

ELCR Farm/Ranch Land Stewardship Education Program

Additional Information
Used for	Funds will be used to produce and disseminate curriculum materials that educate horsemen and horse farm and ranch owners, as well as the general public, of the need for low impact, sustainable methods and practices in the use and management of horse lands. These Best Management Practices (BMPs) will increase awareness and compliance with local, state and federal laws. Delivery will be focused on ELCR’s nationwide cadre of Conservation Partners to train them as advocates in their respective disciplines (see attachment for a complete list of Conservation Partners).
Benefits	Horses, humans, and the environment (in humid, semi-arid and arid regions) will benefit as water pollution, water scarcity, soil erosion and flooding are mitigated through implementation of BMPs, i.e., natural methods of reducing storm water runoff and pollution of downstream waters through the use of vegetation, infiltration basins, manure management, and reduction of impermeable surfaces, etc. Communities will benefit as horsemen’s awareness and compliance with local, state and federal laws is enhanced. Farm and ranch owners/managers who incorporate BMPs in their management practices will help to empower horsemen as good neighbors and community members, giving them more credibility as advocates for the lands they hold dear and protect beloved farms, ranches, hay fields and competition spaces for generations to come.
Proposal Description	ELCR is primarily concerned with the protection of and access to lands and facilities that allow horsemen and women to raise, board, ride, show, drive, race and feed the 9.5 million or so horses in the U.S. Horse land protection requires that horsemen and farm and ranch owners/managers are responsive to the needs of their neighbors, community and especially their environment. ECLR educates horsemen in understanding and implementing the environmentally sound practices that will help their cause. As part of an overall expansion of ELCR’s educational program , several ‘learning modules’ will be developed to teach horsemen and farm and ranch owners/managers how to steward the land they manage and how to abide by federal, state and municipal requirements to protect water, air and soil. Horsemen will be apprised (1) of the need and requirements to utilize BMPs on their land; (2) to understand the need in terms of the environment and natural systems; (3) how to access information on requirements; (4) where to get help performing these requirements; (5) how to manage land over the long term and under changing community and environmental/climatic conditions; and, (6) how community planning decisions that involve the requirement and implementation of BMPs will affect the way they manage their land and equine activities, and even the viability of these lands as future horse lands. BMPs reflect various typographic/climatic regions which supports ELCR’s approach of local implementation that emphasizes region-based collaborations for solutions that vary by location (climate, soil, regulations, solutions, etc.). The learning modules will encompass several formats, including written articles and published materials; conference calls and webinars with presentations by subject experts; seminars and workshops that will concentrate on one or more topics in-depth; and material that will be responsive to nationwide and regional issues alike. The BMPs that will be promoted by ELCR’s educational modules will include: • Storm Water Quality and Quantity: Infiltration and storm water treatment methodologies for humid, semi-arid and arid regions, including infiltration swales, infiltration basins, and rain gardens; manure management; low/no toxicity pasture management (fertilization, herbicidal treatment, insecticidal treatment, pasture rotation, etc.); stream, gulch and pond protection, stream crossing protection, stream and pond restoration and bank protection, etc.; reduction of impermeable surfaces with porous pavement materials; storm water conservation, collection and reuse; management of vegetative groundcover, etc., and laws that require protective/preventive action. • Manure Management: In all region types, confinement of manure and prevention of runoff from stored manure; composting; and manure recycled for energy production, etc.; and laws that require protective/preventive action. • Wildlife Friendly Fencing: The benefits to wildlife including solutions for safe passage in migratory corridors will be explained, along with suggestions of regional resources and types of products available. • Air Quality: In all region types, wind driven erosion prevention using vegetative groundcover management; pasture capacity recognition and rotation; sound pasture manure management and ground moisture management including irrigation, etc. The educational program will first be marketed to ELCR Conservation Partner organizations, to train leadership to educate their respective members. Organization leaders may utilize the educational learning modules in published or recorded format or member groups may attend an expanded series of live presentations, webinars, phone conferences, seminars and workshops. The aim is to educate these leaders as advocates of BMP knowledge and methods and to assist their community members in understanding and implementing these methods. In addition, ELCR will develop the knowledge and networks to create a system of resources and collaborators with like-minded organizations and government agencies, including but not limited to: Horse Councils; Land and Water Conservation organizations (e.g. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture - Natural Resources Conservation Service), Universities and Cooperative Extension Agencies, experts in low impact development, ecological restoration, pollution prevention, etc.; Environmental Protection Agencies; Departments of Fish and Wildlife; Divisions of Forestry; local municipal planning and engineering departments; State Divisions of Water; Army Corps of Engineers, etc. These organizations and government entities provide valuable information regarding BMP requirements, methods, local ordinances, training and learning opportunities, articles, publications, webinars and videos that can be helpful to horsemen. ELCR will provide links to these resources and indicate the information provided by each organization or entity. Doing this not only provides information and networking opportunities, but reduces redundancy in ELCR’s own educational curriculum learning modules. ELCR requests $10,000 to produce and disseminate educational curriculum learning modules for horse farm and ranch owners/managers BMPs. Funds are already in place to craft the curriculum. A grant from the Dougherty Foundation will support production of published materials, expenses related to the recruitment of volunteers and expert presenters, webinar management expenses, seminar and workshop materials (including mapping, printing, drawing materials, etc. for working group idea building meetings or ‘charettes’), and recording expenses.