The Stream Guide: A case study of how to teach complex environmental topics to agency personnel and land managers

Abstract

Overall, the Guide provides scaffolding for Extension personnel who need to communicate complex scientific information to a lay audience who does not have the specific academic expertise. An output such as the Guide requires participation from each audience “type” (e.g., land manager, agency personnel) to inform how it should be structured. Stylistic components should be used like bold text, annotated high-resolution photography, and a demonstration of how the information is relevant (e.g., feature stories of producers). The unique partnership that developed and disseminated the Guide resulted in more individuals across agencies being reached than if the Guide had been a sole Extension publication available online, due to 1) having buy in from multiple agencies to encourage attendance at the workshop and 2) the integration of experiential learning.

With growing demands on agency personnel's time, it is imperative information and tools such as the Guide are put directly in front of people, with a demonstration of how to use the tool. Further, the 2022 SD Range Management Workshop resulted in several positive, multiplicative impacts since outreach began summer 2022. To date (December 2023) there have been three other riparian restoration-focused workshops hosted by partners, and several riparian restoration projects initiated by USFS and SD GFP, with comments provided by personnel attending the 2022 workshop who spurred internal conversations and ignited projects. Ultimately, leveraging existing Extension programs to disseminate and put the output into practice is essential for engagement and a change in knowledge, which provides a foundation for changes in behavior and condition. Future multipartner efforts should consider adding Step 7: evaluation of long-term outcomes to the framework (Fig. 1), which we described above to further demonstrate and capture long-term impacts.

Citation

Ehlert, K.A., Faulkner, M., Brown, L., Busse, C., Blann, K. and Lenhart, C., 2024. The Stream Guide: A case study of how to teach complex environmental topics to agency personnel and land managers. Rangelands, 46(2), pp.42-47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rala.2023.12.001