THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, May 5, 1996                    TAG: 9605050041
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY JODY SNIDER, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Medium:   54 lines

FUNDS FOR GARDENING PROGRAM TO CEASE THE POPULAR COURSE WILL HAVE TO RELY ON VOLUNTEERS OR LOCAL FUNDING TO SURVIVE.

A program that has taught thousands of Virginians how to raise healthy lawns and plants while protecting the environment will be pruned from the state budget July 1.

The 39 state localities participating in the Master Gardener program must either pay coordinators, recruit volunteers or drop the popular program. A variety of reactions is expected in Hampton Roads.

The cut is part of a move to refocus the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service on traditional agriculture and 4-H training. Jerry Jones, Extension associate director for agriculture and natural resources programs, said the state will provide no funding for at least two years.

``All we're trying to do with the program is make it independent of tax dollars,'' he said.

Randy Jackson, an Extension agent for consumer horticulture in Virginia Beach, said,``What happens to the (local) group depends on the group. I'm hoping they'll either form a committee structure to keep the important programs running or that they'll incorporate. The other option is to disband.''

Jackson said the volunteers answer homeowners' questions about chemical and fertilizer, teach in schools, serve on city beautification projects and help with research projects in agriculture.

``The benefits of the program slap you in the face,'' Jackson said. Virginia Beach's 150 volunteers provided 10,000 hours of service last year.

Chesapeake will provide funding, so nothing will change, Jones said.

Extension Agent Robert Goerger said he expects Isle of Wight County's program to become volunteer-led.

Goerger, who estimated that he spent 15 percent of his time managing 30 volunteers, said, ``I don't think the program will shrink here if it becomes volunteer-led. We have some strong volunteers that could keep it going. . .

In Suffolk, the program's fate remains unknown, said Master Gardener Leiza McNeely. It will be discussed at the group's May 7 meeting.

It would cost $330,000 in salaries and benefits for eight coordinators to manage the program statewide, Jones said.

Each year, about 900 Virginians take the program's 60-hour course, covering such topics as botany, entomology and plant pathology, in return for 45 hours of volunteer work a year.

Last year, 3,000 master gardeners across the state volunteered about 30,000 hours, valued at $900,000, Jones said. by CNB