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

2. 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.
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3. 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.
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4. 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.
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5. 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.
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6. 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. 
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7. 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 . . .
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8. 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. 
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9. 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.
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10. 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.
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11. 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.
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12. 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