Farming the dark side of funding.

• Author: Ess, Charlie
• Position: Agricultural funding

Alaska Cooperative Extension and its programs must continue in light of Alaska's dwindling money crop.

Until recently, Alaska's agricultural program enjoyed bountiful funding. Federal money, coming into the state's ag program under the Smith Lever Act of 1914, has been quite stable at about $1 million per year. But things are gloomier on the state level, which is funded by the general fund and the Alaska Science and Technology Foundation.

At its financial apex in 1991, the ag program received more than $2.6 million from the state's general fund. According to financial reports from the school, the state's agricultural program has seen a 26 percent decrease in state funding over the past seven years. To put it in raw numbers, the program must try to operate with about $2 million less coming in from the state; the University of Alaska funding during the same seven years has been whittled by about $3 million, with the University of Alaska Fairbanks suffering similarly.

But the biggest cut (25 percent) to an individual program has been with the Alaska Cooperative Extension, which lost a million. Translated to diminishing services, this meant closing extension offices in McGrath and Cordova, as well as eliminating the Extension Community Development Program. Other offices are consolidating in efforts to keep the lights on: Anchorage and Palmer will join forces, as will Kodiak and Soldotna; Sitka and Juneau; and Delta Junction and Fairbanks.

In terms of personnel reductions, the ag agency has lost several program leader positions or is filling them with part-time faculty. There is a laundry list of services that are jeopardized by the funding cuts, according to the report.

In the past year, the Alaska Cooperative Extension put on 1,100 workshops that attracted...