January 2012

Rain poured through the roof of the old Black Canyon, Arizona, fire station, making the floor slippery and rusting the tin that covered the roof. Nonetheless, the one ambulance and fire truck that would fit into the aging metal shed still faired better than the other five vehicles parked outside. Those vehicles were not only pelted by rain and hail, but Arizona’s scorching sun baked them during much of the year—rotting the tires, fading the paint, and drying out the parts and equipment. Parking the vehicles outside also meant that the theft risk was greater, which increased insurance rates.

Recently USDA Rural Development Administrator for Business and Cooperative Programs Judith Canales joined Small Business Administration (SBA) officials in Syracuse, New York, to discuss opportunities to promote rural small business investment and job creation.  The rural investment roundtable event was held at Dairylea Cooperative, Inc.

As part of the Startup America Initiative, SBA recently announced the creation of a $1 billion Impact Investment Fund through its Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) Program.  The Impact Fund will invest in distressed areas as well as in emerging sectors such as clean energy. SBA provides up to a 2 to1 match to private capital raised by this fund, partnering with private investors to target “impact” investments.

In late August, a black bear was brutally shot and killed on the Sierra National Forest in northern California, leaving behind two orphaned bear cubs.

Eric Moore had a vision to grow a garden outside his office window. Moore, an employee of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in Idaho, works at the USDA Service Center in Gooding.

District of Columbia State Forester Monica Lear recently hosted U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell and Forest Service staff in a tour of the District for the National Association of State Foresters (NASF).  The tour highlighted diverse urban and community forestry projects and partnerships in the city.

At the 2011 NASF Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Chief Tidwell spoke of the significance of the nation’s 100 million acres of urban forests where 80 percent of Americans live, work and play under their canopy. Urban trees make up an important part of the framework of green canopy in metropolitan areas connected with national, public and private lands and they are important to the health of the environment we share.

Tall and majestic, yellow-cedar is a culturally and economically valuable tree that has been dying off on more than a half-million acres for the past 100 years in southeast Alaska and nearby British Columbia.  In fact, yellow-cedar decline is now viewed as one of the best documented examples of the effect of climate change on a forest tree species.

Despite this die-off, however, a recent U.S. Forest Service report on the condition of the great coastal forests of southeast and south-central Alaska show that live trees in the region store 1.3 billion tons of biomass and carbon.

The Northwest Region of the Forest Service has named Joel Starr of Philomath, Ore., as their volunteer of the year.  The honor is bestowed upon those individuals who contribute outstanding service to public lands. Starr has worked on a variety of volunteer projects for the Willamette, Deschutes, Siuslaw and Mt. Hood national forests. His contributions to public lands in western Oregon span over 10 years.

Over the past three years, USDA has taken important steps to help meet President Obama’s goal of building a secure energy future for our nation. We’ve helped back the science, research and planning to expand production of biofuels and other bio-based products. We’ve supported farmers and entrepreneurs working to produce renewable energy or become more energy efficient.

We want Americans to learn about our good work and also to see how their community can get involved in an expanding renewable energy and bio-based economy that is creating jobs and driving economic growth across rural America.

As Under Secretary for USDA Rural Development, it is my responsibility to oversee the administration of many of the renewable energy programs included in the 2008 Farm Bill.  For example, today we are announcing the availability of funds for the popular “Rural Energy for America” program (REAP).

Disaster struck northern New Mexico on June 12, 2011, as the human-caused “Track Fire” exploded north of Raton, in Colfax County. Within 72 hours, 27,790 acres were scorched in New Mexico and Colorado. Luckily, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) was able to begin the restoration of the Lake Maloya watershed area almost immediately through its Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Program.