I am pleased to report that the 13 of the 17 new faculty positions the College of Agriculture and Home Economics received have been filled. Fifteen of the 17 have an Cooperative Extension component. I am very excited about the kinds of issues our new faculty will be tackling. For example, our new food and farming specialist in Puyallup will focus on maintaining the viability of farms in western Washington and address such issues as farmland preservation near urban areas, organic food production, environmental regulations and marketing. A Cooperative Extension rangeland management specialist and two area Cooperative Extension faculty will lead a statewide educational effort in rangeland ecology, range management and watershed management.
Rangeland accounts for a fourth of the surface area of the state.
Two agricultural engineers will work on developing new animal waste systems and strategies for nutrient recycling and water quality protection. This is critical for our dairy industry. These are just a few examples. The second initiative deals with building better adults. The new funding will be used to strengthen our efforts to reach an additional 70,000 urban youth.