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Check
out Good Morning Pagosa on
KWUF 1400AM with Bill Nobles from
8-8:30am each Tuesday morning and
his weekly column in the Pagosa
SUN!
Bill
Nobles has been Archuleta County
Extension Director in Pagosa Springs,
Colorado since May of 1989. Prior
to this he was a lecturer and coach
of the intercollegiate livestock
judging teams at Sam Houston State
University in Huntsville, Texas.
He
earned a B.S. in Animal Science
May 1981 from New Mexico State University
and then a M.S. in Agriculture from
California State University in November
1983. He also pursuded a Ph.D. in
Physiology of Reproduction at Texas
A&M.
Under
Bill's guidance the Extension Program
in Archuleta County has been exploding
along with the population. Archuleta
County has been and is one of the
fastest growing counties in the
U.S. The population base is near
12,000 residents and over the past
ten years the office has been averaging
over 15,000 contacts per year for
a single agent county. The community
support for the Cooperative Extension
has been exponential. The County
Commissioners have been equally
supportive both physically and budgetary.
The addition of an Administrative
Assistant and 4-H Coordinator have
been very beneficial in working
one-on-one with inquiries as a resource
center. Along with the county population
influx, the 4-H/Youth Program has
doubled in size over the last ten
years reaching 150 youth in the
traditional 4-H programs and over
half of the school population was
involved in extension youth activities.
The Personality IQ program is just
one of many 4-H/Youth programs developed
and implemented by Bill to educate
over 800 youth and 300 adults. This
has been accomplished by working
with school administrators to bring
in programs which have a positive
effect on the school system. In
the past, Extension programs such
as Character Counts! and Science
Series have been established in
the Pagosa Springs Junior High and
Elementary Schools where programming
still exists today. Challenge Course
Activities for youth in the Junior
High have been a major success over
the past four years. This is an
all day team building program where
adults and teachers are trained
to assist in implementing the challenge
program for seventh graders. This
has been shown to improve teacher
to student relationships and improve
cohesiveness in the classroom. Students
learn to work together and develop
a sense of respect and trust for
each other and for those around
them. Also, for over fourteen years,
the sixth grade Conservation Camp
has been in existence. This program
is an all day cooperative program
with the Division of Wildlife, US
Forest Service, NRCS, Colorado State
Forest Service and Soil Conservation
District.
Under
Bill's direction, many programs
have been established for 4-H/ Youth
through the Extension. The 4-H Wildlife
Habitat Program has produced two
state champion teams that have competed
at the National Wildlife Habitat
Contest. Develop of a 4-H Horse
and Shooting Sports Program that
has been grown tremendously. Archuleta
County youth have been very competitive
at the state level in this program.
With these programs implemented,
the Archuleta County Fair has seen
a ten fold increase in participation
and activities. The 4-H Livestock
Auction has gone from $20,000 in
the early 90's to approximately
$100,000 in gross sales this year.
Over
the past fifteen years, Bill has
had many professional accomplishments.
He has been involved in the Colorado
County Agents Association and the
Colorado Association of Extension
4-H Agents serving as past president
of both of these organizations.
He has also served on the 4-H State
Curriculum Development Committee,
4-H State Horse Committee, was a
Colorado State Fair Superintendent
and served as a 4-H State Senate
Advisor. He has been elected to
the largest Property Owners Association
in the southwest and served on the
Pagosa Springs Youth Task Force
for the Pagosa Springs School District
#51. He has received many awards
such as the NAE4-HA Distinguished
Service Award, Who's Who Among Academic
Professionals and the Teaching Award
of Merit from National Association
of Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture.
Ongoing
programs in agriculture have been
well established under Bill's leadership.
These programs are multi-county
and multi-state where all agents
in the southwest have worked together
to accomplish the following programs:
San Juan Basin Beef and Weed Symposium,
San Juan Basin Range Tour and Workshop,
Colorado State Tree Seedling Program,
Grasses and Weed Identification
Program and Master Gardener Program.
Consumer and Family Education Programs
are very important to a well-rounded
county. The Women's Financial Information
Program was a success in the mid
90's and the Back to Basics Program
in 1999 brought over 2,000 people
together to deal with bringing in
the new millennium. The Master Food
Preserver Program is a tri-county
program and greatly impacts each
county and leads to the training
new Master Food Preservers for the
future. Recently, Bill has been
involved with the County Drought,
Water & Fire and Defensible
Space County Task Force and has
been educating homeowners about
these topics. Over 5,000 homeowners
have received information packets
concerning these topics and educational
meetings have reached over 1,500
people in Southwestern Colorado.
Bill
has received numerous grants for
youth development and agricultural
programs. Just recently he has been
involved with Archuleta County and
private investors to build a 4-H
animal facility at the exiting fairgrounds.
In the past, he has collaborated
with educational groups to receive
the Colorado Trust Grant for after
school programming. This grant opened
the door for after school programming
in Pagosa Springs, which led to
non-traditional 4-H programming
in the Elementary school and just
recently in the Junior High. The
Elementary after school program
was conducted twice a week during
the school year and reached approximately
100 youth from ages five to eighteen.
Better than 40% of the youth where
Hispanic and all of these youth
took part in team building, character
trait development, communication
skills, self-esteem, diversity and
problem solving activities. Parents
and teachers quoted that this was
the best after school program they
had ever been involved in.
Bill
has also recently completed the
two-year Western Extension Leadership
Development Program which rejuvenated
the Southwestern Extension team,
received a $5,000 grant and educated
the four corners area about Pinion
IPS Beetle infestation and control.
He has given educational workshops
on Livestock Selection in other
states and counties. He has given
Personality IQ programs at 4-H State
Conferences, County governments,
Builders Associations, Future Business
Leaders of America, Black Hills
Rec. Lab and at numerous leadership
camps. Bill has been very involved
in his community and has helped
raise over $120,000 for scholarships
through musical activities and another
$180,000 for educational scholarships
through Rotary.
Overall,
Bill is well received in the community
and takes a major role in community
activities and functions. He is
always looking for the positive
point of view and is willing to
take a risk in program development.
He is a team player and enjoys working
with people. His wife Cindy and
two sons, Chris and Matt, are also
involved in 4-H programs. They are
very supportive and feel extension
does make a difference in Archuleta
County.
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