The Wildlife Habitat Education Program (WHEP) has been providing curriculum to 4-H students (age 8-19) since 1990. Over 10,000 students have participated at the national level, with many more active in state programs. While this national program focuses on habitat management for wildlife species, various range management techniques such as grazing, prescribed fire, invasive species control, and woody plant management are emphasized. Plant communities such as sagebrush, tallgrass prairie, shortgrass prairie, and montane forest are covered so that youth are exposed to a broad range of vegetation types and resource issues. This program has received national recognition as a 4-H Program of Distinction and the Conservation Education Award from The Wildlife Society. WHEP was recently opened to Future Farmers of America (FFA) to increase its impact. Data from evaluations reveals that the program has a high retention rate and that youth average 70 contact hours each year in the program. In addition to the youth directly impacted through 4-H and FFA, the curriculum is available online at whep.org.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.