September 2012
Assistance for Rural Living in Wyoming
Ideas for delivering conservation assistance and improving outreach
to small-acreage landowners with limited time and resources
Compiled by Megan McPhaden, NRCS Student Intern
The number of suburban landowners continues to increase in Wyoming as people move out of
the city, move into Wonderful Wyoming, retire, or want to start a small agricultural production.
When subdivided parcels are managed with our natural resources in mind, both landowners
and natural resources can benefit. This handout is intended for Conservation Districts and
others who work to prevent soil erosion, keep water clean and plentiful, create and preserve
open spaces, and reduce the impacts of floods in rural and suburban areas. What happens in
these areas has an impact on Wyoming’s land and agriculture at large.
Although overgrazing by horses is often the most visible natural resource issue on smallacreages, it may not necessarily be the issue of greatest concern. Most small acreage
landowners do not have grazing animals, according to a 2006 survey conducted by Rachel
Mealor, now of UW Extension. This survey revealed that the most important issues to
landowners were weeds, water quality, landscaping, and wildlife.
The following ideas may help Districts and others provide or improve needed assistance with
limited time and resources, now and in the future.
Learn About Small-Acreage Landowners in Your County
 Search for statistics on the number and size of small family farms in your county: the
Wyoming National Agricultural Statistics Service (WY NASS) has statistics from 2007
(2010 data will be available in 2014) on “Small family farms,” divided into
residential/lifestyle, limited resource, retirement, and farm occupation/higher sales and
farm occupation/lower sales. Go to Wyoming NASS2007 Quick Statsand search
“small acreage”
 Obtain information from your County Assessor on the number and size of small acreage
properties, owners’ names and mailing addresses, and the legal description of
properties in each county. You county assessor may provide you a mailing list for
outreach based on your query (you can decide if you want to know about all properties
between 5 and 100 acres, for example). The cost for the query and information may be
free, and this information can take as little as one day to receive.
Develop an Outreach Plan
 Use your own plan or follow this template: “Creating A Public Outreach Plan” by the
Iowa Department of Natural Resources is a template to help organizations identify
project goals, determine the appropriate audiences, use research to develop a plan,
carry out that plan, and then measure and evaluate success, with a focus on watershed
outreach. The appendixes provide additional resources, such as tips on working with the
media, writing newsletters, public speaking, holding public workshops, meetings, and
field tours:
www.iowadnr.gov/portals/idnr/uploads/water/watershed/files/ieguidepart2.pdf
Provide Direct Outreach to Landowners Through…
 Horse associations: 4H, therapeutic riding associations, Backcountry Horsemen, Western
competitive events, polo clubs, dressage
 Feed and Hardware stores: Ask your local feed and hardware stores if you can advertise
workshops or resources. Many counties are putting up magazine stands for the
“Barnyards and Backyards” resource book in these stores. Grocery stores may be an
excellent place for advertising as well.
o You could develop partnerships and host workshops at these locations. If the
hardware/feed store hosts workshops, it may increase their sales that day. In
addition, some hardware/feed stores may be willing to sell materials for
projects, such as fencing, at-cost. This has worked for some conservation districts
in WY.
 Postcards/mailings (There is a Barnyards & Backyards postcard)
o “Every Door Direct Mail” (EDDM) is a cheaper and easier way to send out
mailings on rural routes through the Post Office. This is about ½ the price of a
bulk mailing, and postcards must be a non-traditional size (like pizza coupons)
 Newspaper inserts (Laramie County CD does this 4x a year for 1/5 the cost of mailings)
 Radio and Local TY
 Wyoming-wide Small acreage landowner email list serve: Operated by Barnyards &
Backyards, this list serve is open to any landowner to ask questions and share ideas.
 County-wide email list serve or website: Develop to share and disseminate information
 A mentor network: Compile a contact list of voluntary landowners who have been to
workshops and are willing to help or mentor other landowners
 Workshops: Apply for grants through the small acreage program with Extension
o Equine/horse owner outreach: Workshops could sandwich pasture management
with a horse topic (bring in a vet to talk about horse health, farrier, horse
masseuse…) to attract more horse owners.
o Providing childcare with educational games and activities will likely encourage a
higher turnout
Connect with Real Estate Offices and Homeowners Associations
Realtors are often the first people to interact with potential small-acreage landowners in
Wyoming, and many small-acreage landowners belong to homeowners associations.
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Offer a natural resource course for realtors: Realtors are required to take continuing
education courses, so in 2008 UW Extension Educator Sandra Frost developed a 6-hour
training for realtors entitled, “Short Course: Wyoming Climate, Soil, and Plants.” This 6credit elective course is accredited by the Wyoming Real Estate Commission, and is
offered through UW Extension Educators. Multiple Educators offer this course during
the winter, when realtors are not as busy. Late summer/early fall is the time to contact
Sandra if you are interested, so she has time to contact local realtor boards.
Develop your own course for realtors: Contact Sandra to receive information on “How
to get courses approved by the Wyoming Real Estate Commission.”
Sandra Frost: UW Extension Educator
Northwest Area
655 E. 5th St.
Powell, WY 82435
(307) 754-8836
Sfrost1@uwyo.edu
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Get in touch with the presidents of homeowners associations: Inquire locally to see if
homeowners associations would be willing to host a workshop or participate in training.
Additional Ideas for Assistance
 Host Hoop House Workshops: Jeff Edwards conducts 32-foot hoop house workshops,
generally on public land, to show landowners how to build their own. Jeff does not
charge hosts for the workshop itself. However, he needs a local partner to find a public
space for the demonstration, organize meals, snacks, and drinks, recruit participants,
and pay for his mileage and hotel/meals while he is away from the office (in Torrington).
He can complete the structure in a long day with 4-12 people, and there is a 25 person
cap on workshops. The website provides manuals for building hoop houses
independently. Jeff begins leading workshops in May, and is booked up usually by
October of the previous year. Contact him soon if you are interested!
Jeff Edwards, Wyoming Hoop House Info Network
www.wyomingextension.org/whhin/
(307) 532-2436
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Grow a venue for outreach and education through community gardens: Districts could
partner with local schools, churches, or cities/towns for property to build a garden.
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Incentivize exemplary stewardship: Nominate a Small Acreage Landowner of the Year
award from the Wyoming Association of Conservation Districts (WACD). One landowner
may receive the award per year, and anyone can nominate a landowner. Contact Bobbi
Frank, Executive Director of the WACD at waocd@tribcsp.com, (307) 632-5716.
o Provide an award for your specific county: Local awards may increase interest
(Laramie County CD has a Small Acreage Landowner annual award).
o Develop a certification or label: Landowners who are producers could use this for
marketing, and the certification could be based on BMPs for whatever your
interests are (water quality, soil erosion prevention, wildlife habitat, etc).
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Explore existing educational resources, such as the Small Acreage Landowner teaching
materials- Living on the Land Stewardship of Small Acreages Teaching Modules by
Montana State University: http://animalrangeextension.montana.edu/lol/home.htm
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Suggest rotational grazing on small acreages: If a landowner has too many horses for
their own acreage, they could ask neighbors to graze their adjacent fields as well. This
worked for Jim Cochran of Laramie County CD, who said his neighbors were willing
because they enjoyed seeing horses on their property every now and then. He fed his
horses a handful of grain a day, so the birds helped clean up the manure. Landowners
could offer to pay neighbors for grazing if they are not otherwise interested.
Reach Out to Potential Partners
Partnering on outreach/education and on providing technical assistance to landowners can
greatly reduce strains on your organization, reduce overlap between organizations and
agencies, and build stronger programs and services.
 Wyoming USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
o Apply for a Conservation Innovation Grant to assist your organization with smallacreage outreach and issues
 State Forestry
 Weed and Pest
 Conservation Districts
 University of Wyoming Extension Service
 Future Farmers of America
 Wyoming Fish and Game
 National Forest Service (depending on location)
 BLM
 Tribes
 Counties/ County Planning Departments
 Cities
 Schools
 Churches
 Libraries
 Pheasants Forever
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Trout Unlimited
Homeowners Associations
Realtors: Wyoming Association of Realtors and Local Board Offices
Homeowners Associations
Chambers of Commerce
Fire Departments
Audubon Society
Master Gardeners: Master Gardeners are required to do service hours—perhaps Master
Gardeners could help provide direct technical assistance to small acreage landowner
requests. You might want to coordinate extra training for areas that are not covered in
the Master Gardener curriculum, such as rangeland management.
Share and Promote Local Resources
 Wyoming Rural Living Resources—A Practical Guide: The folks that bring you Barnyards &
Backyards magazine are happy to announce that a new free publication is available. The
Wyoming Rural Living Resources guide contains practical, useful information on a wide range of
rural living subjects. You can pick up a copy at your local University of Wyoming Extension,
conservation district, weed & pest or Wyoming State Forestry Division office. You can also view
it on the website barnyardsandbackyards.com at
http://www.uwyo.edu/barnbackyard/_files/documents/magazine/2012guide/index.html
o Add your own county or district-specific insert: Include phone numbers for local
offices that can address water quality, weeds, grazing concerns, etc. This sheet
could be added as an insert into the Barnyards and Backyards resource book.
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Barnyards & Backyards online and print articles, along with the Small Acreage Outreach
Team, coordinated by Jennifer Thompson from UW Extension, provide comprehensive
resources for small-acreage landowners in Wyoming. The website and publications
include information on: pasture management, landscaping, animal health, streams,
irrigation, and water quality, wildlife habitat, enterprise management, trees and shrubs,
fire preparedness, and more. Visit the website or contact Jennifer for more information:
Jennifer Thompson: Small Acreage Outreach Coordinator
University of Wyoming Extension, USDA Service Center
5015 Stone Road
Laramie, Wyoming 82070
(307) 745-3698
jsjones@uwyo.edu
www.barnyardsandbackyards.com
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Small Acreage Team: Join the Small Acreage Team! This group of people from across
the state share ideas and updates through an email list serve, and through a few
meetings a year.
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USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Ave, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call
(800) 795-3272 (voice), or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).