CALIFORNIA RANGELAND EDUCATION (CRED): MULTI-INSTITUTIONAL COLLABORATION FOR MISSION CRITICAL OCCUPATIONS

1. Identify strengths and weaknesses in existing rangeland curricula among Californiacolleges and universities.2. Create a comprehensive CRM study guide to be posted as a curated collection on"RangeDocs" (https://docs.rangelandsgateway.org/).3. Suggest integrative new courses for contemporary challenges in rangeland ecosystemstewardship, based on producer and agency feedback and including collaboration withdiverse groups including Hispanic and Indigenous communities that use and rely onrangelands.4. Develop a "learning outcomes diagnostic questionnaire" to assess participantcompetencies, leading to a "prescription" to spell out courses a student would need tocomplete in the program to prepare for either 0454 positions or CRM licensing, whilecrediting existing transcripts.5. Frame a pilot place-based learning cohort in partnership with a working ranch. Theobjective here will be to position learning outcomes in a meaningful, integrated context,in service to the goals of a collaborating landowner or manager. The overall impact ofthis project will be to increase the number and diversity of qualified range managementprofessionals. The broader impact will be the ecological and economic improvement ofthousands of acres of rangelands and the capacity to maintain the flow of ecosystemservices from them, namely providing food, habitat, water, climate change mitigation,career paths to underserved communities, and increasing the diversity of the workforce.