County faculty and staff: the new legislative budget does NOT contain the proposed County Extension and Ag
Center Decision Package . That budget provides
none of the $1.5 million which the UofA requested for Ag Extension and the Experiment Stations. The budget must receive a
majority of votes in the house and senate. Now is the time to voice your concern, before this draft budget becomes a reality
we all have to live with. Personal contact with your legislators and with legislative leadership could not be timelier.
Please express your concerns by mail, by phone or by email. If you have any clout, we need those phone calls, emails and
letters NOW. A copy of the decision package is available at the highlighted link above. My thanks to the Dean and
Mike Proctor for their ongoing efforts.
We are sad to announce that Dr. Lucy Bradley has accepted a position as specialist at North Carolina State University. She has
built an outstanding Master Gardener (MG) and Horticulture program in the Phoenix area and headed up the statewide workgroup on
MGs. We will miss her energy, creativity and impact and wish her every success. She will be leaving by the end of this
month. Jonneen Cook, her primary assistant, will provide transitional leadership until we can fill the faculty position.
Announcing two new publications: “ Watering Trees and Shrubs: Simple
Techniques for Efficient Landscape Watering ” by Rob Call and “ Healthy
Meetings!” by Sharon Hoelscher Day and Evelyn Whitmer.
Upcoming Events & Reminders:
The 15th Annual Desert Horticulture Conference will be held on May 19, 2006 at the Tucson Convention Center. The conference
presents information for green industry professionals in four tracks on arboriculture, timely topics, design, and maintenance.
Program and registration information can be found at http://ag.arizona.edu/deserthort/ .
The Arizona Pest Management Center Summit 2006 will take place on June 6 from 9:00-4:30 at the Maricopa Ag Center. The workshop
goal is to assemble UA CALS faculty members involved in pest management related research and outreach, along with key participants
from urban, agricultural and natural resource sectors, in a forum to identify research and education needs and priorities, and to
discuss the role of the Arizona Pest Management Center (APMC) and UA Extension in addressing these challenges. Registration
begins at 9:00am. For more information, contact Al Fournier (520-381-2240).