Extension Programming On Best Management Practices for Ammonia Reduction.

Ammonia is not a regulated pollutant at this time; however, nitrogen deposition in Rocky Mountain National Park has been documented to be increasing, and this increase is partially attributed to agricultural ammonia emissions (60%).  Therefore, Colorado State University has initiated an extension program to address this emerging environmental issue.  We have begun a series of field demonstrations of ammonia Best Management Practices (BMPs) in order to evaluate their efficacy, practicality, and cost in real-world settings.  These demonstrations encourage BMP adoption while also forming the basis for the development of educational materials.  We have developed a website (www.ammoniaBMP.info) for dissemination of information about ammonia BMPs.  The website includes factsheets on specific BMPs, photos illustrating BMP implementation, and estimates of BMP implementation costs.  We have developed a video for producer education about this issue and have also presented a webcast through eXtension.  In addition, a producer survey quantified BMP adoption rates and elucidated constraints to further adoption.  The survey results are being used to target our BMP education programming to improve the efficacy of our efforts.  Colorado State University participates in the Rocky Mountain National Park Ag Team and is closely connected to a wide variety of stakeholders related to this issue, from the National Park Service and the Environmental Defense Fund to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the Colorado Livestock Association and Farm Bureau.  These stakeholder connections are critical to the success of our extension program.  However, in this politically sensitivity environment, we remain committed to maintaining our scientific foundation in all of our extension programming.  Since ammonia is transmitted to Rocky Mountain National Park from neighboring states as well as from Colorado, we are beginning to extend our efforts into those states, as well.