extension.usu.edu
Verl Bagley, agriculture and 4-H
38
youth agent, advocated for providing public drinking water systems to Thompsonville, a community with inconsistent water supplies. Grant money for water development projects in the community has exceeded $797,000, helping to fund the recent construction of a community water system to provide every family with safe and abundant drinking water each day. Bagley also has cooperated with private landowners and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to sign four safe harbor agreements to improve habitat on private property for the Utah Prairie Dog, a species up for re-nomination on the endangered species list.
Lisa Lewis, family and consumer sciences
agent, is currently building a comprehensive, community healthy living program. Since she started with Extension in 2008, she has been designing and implementing various components of the program that address exercise and nutrition. She introduced a 4-H soccer skills camp, which gathered close to 90 children. She also helped more than 80 children learn ways to take care of their bodies. Each child designs a healthy “4-H Bear” to take home during the new Build-a-HealthyBear Program. Other examples of Lewis’ healthy living initiative include a six-week physical fitness training for adults, walking groups in each town, nutrition and healthy cooking classes, emergency preparedness classes and a weekly column on healthy living.
James Barnhill, agriculture agent, has been instrumental in weed control in Weber County. Over the past 10 years, he has been able to control diffuse knapweed, purple loosestrife, yellow star thistle, Dalmation toadflax and leafy spurge infestations. Barnhill also revised the Small Pasture Management Guide and had 16,000 copies printed that are used in Utah and Wyoming. Naomi Weeks, family and consumer sciences and
4-H youth agent, plays a major role in the Utah Marriage Coalition. She has organized classes and activities to help create and support healthy family relationships in Weber County. Weeks has also been successful in supporting children who are in the Afterschool Programs by providing 4-H curriculum and support for 12 urban schools.
Teresa Hunsaker, family and consumer sciences
Tip: Have a soil nutrient analysis completed regularly and
apply the recommended fertilizers. Even though the price of fertilizers has doubled, so has the value of most crops and the fertilizer dollar will generally provide a greater return now than it did in the past.
— Verl Bagley
agent, is instrumental in providing family finance and food storage/preservation education to residents of Weber County and the state of Utah through regular appearances on local news channels. She has coordinated efforts with United Way, Community Action, Cottages of Hope and the Utah Division of Child and Family Services to reach many more people in family finance. Hunsaker has made significant headway in working with the Latino population by offering family finance and diabetes classes.
Donna Carter, 4-H youth agent, has overseen a major expansion of 4-H programs in Weber County. Some include a Teens Reaching Youth (TRY) leadership program, more than 20 new contests, a new volunteer recognition system, a new club awards program, a resurgence of 4-H Teen Council and County Ambassadors, a multi-staged geocaching project, a new livestock test program, the introduction of countywide service projects and new leader training programs. Carter continues to see an increase in the number of youth participants and adult volunteers in the 4-H program.
Jerry Goodspeed, horticulture agent and director of the Ogden Botanical Gardens, coordinates the urban forest program, volunteer recruitment through Master Gardeners, water conservation efforts and public education on most green issues. The Ogden Botanical Gardens have become a major attraction in Weber County and are visited by more than 100,000 people each year. Many community and private events are hosted there as well. The urban forestry program has saved several county communities thousands of dollars by improving the skills of county and city employees who work with the urban forests.
year of the agent
Wayne & PiuteCounties
WeberCounty
Donna Carter
39