EVERETT — Lynette Bikos credits her career as a professor to the life skills she learned as a kid in 4-H.
The Mill Creek mother, who teaches psychology at Seattle Pacific University, owes it all to the public speaking she did at Missouri state fairs. Now, to help a new generation succeed, she leads her daughter’s 4-H home economics club, the Lucky Clovers.
Clubs like the Clovers could be in jeopardy, however.
Needing to make budget cuts, Washington State University is looking to slash 49 percent to 75 percent of the funding for WSU Extension programs, such as 4-H and master gardeners, Snohomish County Extension Director Curt Moulton said.
“If cuts like this really had to be made, they could decimate WSU Extension as we know it,” Moulton said.
That’s what parents and 4-H leaders such as Bikos are afraid of, and many have started writing letters to the county’s state legislative delegation.
More than 10,000 Snohomish County young people participate in 4-H programs, which include clubs, after-school educational events and summer camps, Moulton said. The county extension office, with a $2.3 million budget, depends on the help of about 1,200 volunteers, many of whom are involved in 4-H.
“My children would be absolutely devastated to lose 4-H,” Bikos said. “They live and die by the (Evergreen State) fair, and the projects that lead up to the fair are what 4-H is all about.”
Anna Groeneveld, a 4-H dairy leader who lives on her family’s farm near Monroe, agrees.
While her own children are still too young to participate, Groeneveld helps kids from Snohomish learn more about agriculture.
“WSU Extension does so much for our farmers, and 4-H benefits so many children,” Groeneveld said. “I would hate to see the state lose touch with the big picture here.”
No one is sure what the proposed cuts might really mean or what the timetable is, but Moulton expects that many extension offices would close or consolidate with those in other counties. Volunteer programs would be difficult to manage and most of the agricultural services offered would go online, he said.
That’s just not good business, said Kim Wilson of Arlington. Wilson, who participated in 4-H, grew up at her parents’ Snohomish goat farm.
“Washington is one of this country’s top states in agricultural exporting,” Wilson said. “I would hate to see cuts to programs that benefit farmers. It’s like shooting yourself in the foot.”
Bea Randall, a master gardener who lives in Arlington, is concerned that popular county extension programs such as Growing Groceries, Country Living Expo and Rain Gardens will fail with the proposed budget cuts.
“The hundreds of master gardener volunteers in this county really do help,” Randall said. “Serious vegetable gardening is a lost art and one that, in these economic times, we need to continue to share.”
State Rep. Kirk Pearson, R-Monroe, who sits on the house agriculture committee, said he shares the concerns of Snohomish County people who depend on WSU Extension programs.
“It’s the toughest budget year I’ve ever seen in Olympia,” Pearson said. “I had breakfast with some 4-H kids from my district a couple weeks ago. They’re outstanding kids, and I hope impacts to 4-H would be minimal.”
Bikos said the proposed cuts to extension programs go against the core mission of land-grant universities, such as WSU, which were established to provide agricultural and other information to young people, farmers and homemakers who could not travel to Pullman.
“Today, the university is still obligated to benefit the youth of the state by disseminating research knowledge through programs like 4-H,” Bikos said. “I’m still in disbelief that we could lose that.”
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427, gfiege@heraldnet.com.
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