1999 FINAL Report SECTION II FINAL Report A. Objectives 2. Develop in-depth follow-up training in specific resource areas, to meet needs identified by program participants. 3. Evaluate the program in terms of adoption of management concepts and resource sustainability following implementation of the WIRE process by selected cooperators. B. Abstract SARE funds were made available to the WIRE project in 1995. However, regional WIRE activities actually began the previous year. These included: teams from Utah, Montana, and Idaho extension attending a Wyoming producer course; discussions of WIRE courses for each state; and discussions for methods to fund a regional WIRE effort. A multi-state coordinating committee was formed to provide leadership to this project for the region. SARE funds help to develop team-training and offer the program across the four western states. Since inception, a total of 76 courses have been offered collectively by WIRE Teams in Idaho (9), Montana (37), Wyoming (21) and Utah (9). This includes courses offered across the four states, Saskatchewan Canada and Queensland Australia, a satellite broadcast to North America, and most recently an offering via the World Wide Web. In total, the number of individuals reached by in-depth WIRE educational programs total just over 1,000. Evaluations of all WIRE courses offered to date show that participants award WIRE courses a 3.22 from a possible 4 points. Montana WIRE courses have been certified as satisfying FSA borrower training requirements, as are Wyoming and Idaho courses. In addition, an online version of the WIRE course has been recently developed and offered via the eCollege.com (World Wide Web) course delivery system. This makes the integrated management concepts of WIRE available to a much larger audience, as well as allowing for FSA borrowers another source for certified training. | |
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