Write an Impact Statement for Your Extension Forestry Program Linda J. Brewer, Department of Horticulture

Impact Statements Justify the investment of public dollars. The consequences of what we do; Follows evaluation – data collection; Environmental, social, economic; Can be planned or unintended; positive or negative; Attribution vs. impact. November 28, 2018

Parts of an Impact Statement Part 1: Issue; Part 2: Goal or mission statement; Part 3: Outputs = What you did; Part 4: Outcomes =What changed; Part 5: Impact =Interpretation of outcomes. November 28, 2018

The Issue: First Sentence General fact – generally accepted. Example: Private family forest lands are a significant part of the landscape, particularly along the rural-urban interface. November 28, 2018

The Issue: Second Sentence Local fact - generally agreed upon about your state, region, or county. Example: There are nearly 150,000 private family forest land owners (with 10 or more acres) in Oregon and  about 10 million nationwide. November 28, 2018

The Issue: Third Sentence Focus of Concern for your program. Example: A significant portion of forest lands will change hands in the next twenty years. Unplanned transfers can result in forced property sales, land fragmentation, and conversion to other uses.  November 28, 2018

Program Mission or Goal Our mission is to inform a diverse audience of forest owners about the unique benefits and challenges of family owned forests; inspire families to take appropriate actions to maintain their lands; and provide resources to help landowners and their heirs to achieve their goals.  Write this first? Complete this sentence: Our mission was to . . . My goal in creating this program was to . . . November 28, 2018

Outputs: What You Did With the support of the Oregon Forest Resources Institute, Ties to the Land was established in 2005 to help Oregon family forest landowners transfer their vision as well as their properties from one generation to the next.  November 28, 2018

What You Did: Specific Outputs Developed a comprehensive curriculum.  It now includes a DVD-based facilitated workshop with a companion workbook and educator resources and impacts assessment tools. November 28, 2018

More Outcomes The project began as a grass roots effort by woodland owner volunteers and rapidly evolved to cover Oregon, and is now spreading across the country. More than 25 Ties to the Land workshops have been presented, reaching nearly 1000 participants throughout Oregon. Materials are being used already in nine other states. November 28, 2018

Statement of Impact 71% of respondents took at least one succession planning action.  80% believed participation made it more likely the property would stay in the family. We reported the results of this analysis in a manuscript submitted to the Journal of Forestry. November 28, 2018

Check Your Work Review the Top Tips Handout Glossary CRIS Database Handout Critically analyze what you put in the fields in the SOARS template, keeping in mind the definitions of output, outcome, and impact. November 28, 2018