PARENT SESSION
Poster Session #11: Education: Post-graduate and Outreach.
Monday, August 5. Presentation from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM. Exhibit Hall B & C, TCC

The Southwest Rangeland Invasive Plants Initiative.

Sommers, William^*,1, Brunson, Mark², Fernandez-Gimenez, Maria^*,1, Gleason, Jeanne³, Haynes, Nicole², Hershdorfer, Mary¹, Howery, Larry¹, Lee, Richard³, ¹ University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ² Utah State University, Logan, UT³ New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM

ABSTRACT- The Southwest Rangeland Invasive Plants Initiative is a multi-disciplinary research and extension project that will promote and evaluate low-cost and community based approaches to the management of invasive plants in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. Research is being designed to answer economic and social questions important to the development of collaborative stewardship for weed management. Research results will be used to develop and expand extension programs that are specifically tailored to constituencies, policy contexts and invasive plant threats. General conclusions and methodologies will be applicable throughout the United States wherever plant invasions have yet to reach epidemic proportions. Three research components will support education/outreach activities: (1) an economic analysis of the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of a community-based approach; (2) a social-psychological analysis of citizens knowledge, attitudes and willingness to participate in invasive plant management; and (3) a socio-cultural analysis of community-based groups that are involved in invasive plant management, including the role of existing collaborative stewardship efforts. The research findings will: (1) inform efforts to expand and improve Cooperative Extension activities concerning invasive plants, emphasizing programs to build public awareness using a wide range of methods including state-of-the-art information technologies; (2) recruit, organize and train community groups in early-intervention strategies for plant invasions; and (3) strengthen coordination among agencies having responsibilities for addressing invasive species problems.

KEY WORDS: invasive species, southwest, extension