Extension agent updates commissioners on 4-H results, Landowner Connect map and wildfire coordination

Emily Lockhart of the Extension Office updated the board on youth agricultural programs, outreach and emergency coordination.

Lockhart said Montezuma County 4-H youth placed at the state 4-H event (a livestock quiz bowl third place finish and a second-place livestock judging team, among other placings). She also noted that four 4-H youth traveled with a CSU exchange to Europe for an international agriculture tour during an extreme heat wave and that fair planning is under way. Lockhart said the livestock sale will allow buyers to visit with youth from 3 to 4 p.m.; there will be concessions but no dinner this year.

Lockhart described local outreach efforts, including attendance at a popular "3rd Thursday" event and plans to visit different farmers markets to reach new audiences; master gardeners and volunteers help staff those events. She said Extension hosted irrigation-audit training with a CSU extension irrigation specialist and acquired catch-can equipment for sprinkler-system audits.

Lockhart also described a nearly completed interactive "Landowner Connect" map to centralize local resource contacts (conservation districts, mitigation grants, local conservation district contacts) and said the map will be hosted on the Mancos Conservation District website. She described ongoing coordination with neighboring counties and the sheriff's office concerning stable locations for animals and volunteer deployment during the nearby wildfire; she stressed volunteers must be deployed through the sheriff following the chain of command.

Next steps: Extension staff will confirm fair logistics and publish details; Landowner Connect will be launched publicly when ready.