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USU Extension details nutrition, youth and Mesonet plans for San Juan County
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Summary
Utah State University Extension staff told the San Juan County Commission about nutrition education, youth-development programs and plans to host Mesonet-compatible weather stations across the county, citing participant counts, recent grants and a loss of SNAP-Ed federal funding.
Utah State University Extension staff described a suite of programs aimed at tackling food insecurity and expanding youth opportunities across San Juan County, and outlined plans to install Mesonet-compatible weather stations to improve local environmental monitoring.
USU Extension educator Bridal told commissioners the county's population is roughly 14,600'14,800 and faces higher rates of food insecurity and poverty than statewide averages. "Since 2023 ... we've provided direct education to 2,174 participants," Bridal said, and he estimated the office's total reach at about 4,000 residents since he took the post. He said those gaps drive the office's flagship nutrition program, Create Better Health, which previously received SNAP-Ed funding but lost that federal support in July 2025 because of budget cuts.
Why it matters: Commissioners and staff said the county's sparse grocery access and higher poverty rates make local nutrition education and preservation skills valuable community services. Extension programming reaches Head Start, K-12 and elder populations and supports workforce and agricultural ties across municipal and tribal areas.
Bridal outlined program results and scope: Create Better Health provides direct nutrition education to students and adults; a youth tobacco-prevention add-on reached 176 students through 11 sessions last year; and food-preservation workshops (canning) attracted participants from Monticello, Blanding, Monument Valley and neighboring communities. He cited recent grants used to sustain programming, including a $40,000 Utah health-improvement grant, roughly $18,000 from a UCOR award in partnership with Grand County, and a $20,000 youth-tobacco-prevention award for the current year.
Bridal also described plans to expand experiential youth programming through 4-H, take more students to USU's main campus for pathways-to-higher-education work, and pilot a veteran trail-ride therapy program under USU's Ride Utah initiative.
On monitoring and environmental partnerships, an Extension presenter described a Mesonet-compatible weather-station rollout across the county and tribal communities. "They are only releasing about eight weather stations to help increase monitoring impact of all the Upper Colorado River states," the presenter said, and explained that the USU Climate Center would take on annual O&M and data ingestion into the Mesonet/NOAA system. Sites under discussion include Navajo Mountain, Mile Post 23, Gouldings in Monument Valley, Mexican Water, Red Mesa and locations near Montezuma Creek.
Commissioners and staff suggested practical supports for the Extension team: applying for NRF special-project funds, recruiting translation or native-language support for outreach, leaning on local elders to preserve traditional preservation techniques, and exploring air-quality monitoring partnerships for dust and oil-field emissions concerns. Several commissioners praised the Extension staff's community engagement and asked county administrators to raise staffing needs with university leadership during the scheduled USU visit.
The presentation closed with an invitation: USU President Mortensen and interim extension leadership planned to visit the region later in the week for an open house and meetings with county leaders. Commissioners thanked the Extension team and asked staff to follow up on funding and staffing requests.
Next steps: Extension staff will continue outreach and follow up on grant and partnership opportunities; county staff said they would raise staffing and resource requests with USU administrators during the upcoming visit.
