Alabama Cooperative Extension System educators are always looking for new and unique ways to provide resources that help improve the lives of Alabama residents. When Janice Hall, the county Extension coordinator for Macon County, saw a need to educate senior citizens in her community on Medicare and Medicaid, she partnered with local groups to bring a new twist to senior-citizen education.
Through the Let’s Celebrate and Educate: Preparing for the Future program, Hall and the Macon County Extension office celebrates residents ages 55 and up with a traditional birthday party. In addition to the party festivities, Hall invites medical and legal experts to talk to the seniors about many of the topics that affect those living in their golden years. Thanks to Hall’s leadership, Macon County senior citizens now have an avenue to get out of the house, have some fun, and learn more about all of the resources that are available to them.
Celebrate & Educate
Alabama Extension Helps Seniors Prepare for the Future.
- Medicaid & Medicare information
- Free legal aid: wills, power of attorney, advance health directives
- Free health screening by AU & Tuskegee Colleges of Nursing
- Handy medical record notebooks
- Statewide resources for diabetes, financial literacy, identity theft, independent living, and more for seniors.
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Through a network of county offices, urban centers, diagnostic labs, and more, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System has a friendly face in all 67 counties, ready to serve you. You can think of a county office as your frontline access to the county and statewide resources that Alabama Extension offers. These resources include educational materials on a variety of topics, in-person programs and activities and even connections to other supporting institutions. No matter your issue or question, there is someone in a county Extension office that can help find the answer.
One of the best examples of this type of help can be found in Morgan County. When you walk through the doors of the Morgan County Extension office, you will meet the friendly face of Norma Gardner, the administrative support associate for the office. With her signature smile and warm personality, she is there to welcome you and help you find what you are looking for. For Gardner, she said her calling is service. She loves having the opportunity to help people in her community and welcome them to the office.
A Friendly Face in Every County
No matter where you go, whether it is a county office, research center, or any other Extension location, you will meet a friendly face, eager to help answer your questions.
- 67 county offices
- 3 satellite offices
- 9 urban centers
- 3 diagnostic labs
- 15 Extension centers
- 600+ employees
Extending Knowledge, Improving Lives
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The Alabama Cooperative Extension System is committed to creating healthy, profitable, and sustainable forests in Alabama. Adam Maggard, an Alabama Extension forestry specialist, is doing his part by making connections with forestland owners to better understand their goals and objectives and then providing education and resources to help them accomplish those goals.
From an early age, Maggard witnessed firsthand the impact Extension has on forestland owners in terms of education and assistance. Now, through his Extension programs, Maggard is making impacts of his own. Through the Forest Business Resources project, Alabama Extension looks to enhance the livelihoods of forestland owners by improving forest management, business practices, and increased opportunities for producing income. Thanks to Maggard’s work as the project’s leader, Forest Business Resources made a direct estimated impact of $4.3 million in 2022. This impact came in the form of improved forestland value, recovered loss, economic development, and financial decision-making based on information learned through the project.
Extension Promotes Forestland Health & Wealth
Forest Business Resources Program: Working Directly with Landowners
- Business management and planning
- Forest resources education
- Key topics: market trends, supplemental income opportunities, portable sawmilling, forest products, decision-making
Alabama Forestry Facts
- $28 billion economic output
- 71% of land forested
- Third in timberland among contiguous states; second in private timberland
- 93% privately owned, largely by families
In the News
- Alabama’s Forests: Clearing the Air
- 2023 Alabama Timber Market Update
- Alabama Extension’s Maggard Honored as National Extension Forester of the Year
The Alabama Cooperative Extension System is hard at work helping rejuvenate Alabama’s coastline. One of the professionals leading this charge is Andrea Tarnecki, an Alabama Extension assistant professor. Her and the team at the Auburn University Shellfish Laboratory on Dauphin Island are using science and research on shellfish habitats to rebuild oyster reefs that have been depleted in recent years.
Through her role as a researcher and Extension specialist, she works directly with those in Alabama’s oyster community to understand the areas of research the team needs to address. She then works to convey the findings and solutions back to the stakeholders. One of the lab’s current projects is returning oysters back to Little Dauphin Bay. This bay once harbored a healthy oyster population, but it has experienced significant decline over the years. Thanks to the leadership and work from Tarnecki, the lab is growing oysters in small clusters and returning oysters to Little Dauphin Bay to help restore the historic reefs.
Shoring Up Shellfish
Alabama Extension supports the Gulf Coast oyster industry.
Auburn University Shellfish Lab: Extension and Outreach Hub for Seafood Stakeholders
- Extension specialists
- Oyster aquaculture
- Oyster enhancement & restoration
- Seafood safety
Commercial Oyster Farming
- 10 farms
- 45 production acres
- Nearly 4.5 million single-market oysters sold
- $3.2 million market value
Wild Oyster Harvest
- 619 licensed commercial harvesters
- More than 44,000 sacks harvested
- $3 million+ dockside value
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