Back to: EMG - White Paper | Extension Master Gardener
The Extension Master Gardener program requires financial support through federal, state and counties to train manage and fund activities of these volunteers. Without federal support, the program is in danger of being terminated in many states. As budgeters choose between several public service programs including health care, education and other social services, funding for the Extension Master Gardener program is sometimes reduced or eliminated from state, university department, and county budgets. Federal funds would provide stability and national recognition for a program that has provided public value for many years.
In some cases it may be appropriate for EMG programs to pursue direct funding from federal agencies. A recent example of such funding involved the development of a Web-based national, Rapid Response Education Program (RREP). In fiscal year 2004, the USDA Forest Service provided a $400,000 grant to CSREES to develop and deliver the Phytophthora ramorum Educate to Detect (PRED) Program: On October 26, 2004, 731 participants at 115 sites in 40 states participated in a nation-wide training session (http://www.ncpmc.org/sod/ ) organized and sponsored by CSREES, FS and APHIS, NPDN, RIPMC. The training provided guidelines and information for and facilitated collaboration within the states among Extension Service Master Gardener coordinators, forestry departments, departments of agriculture, state universities and others aimed at fighting Phytophthora ramorum plant diseases. The primary objectives were to enable Master Gardeners to be frontline detectors and information providers.
