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Monday Mailing

Year 23 • Issue 04 03 October 2016

8 1. Aging Farmers Will Turn Over Two-Thirds of Oregon’s Ag Land 2. Tribes Voice Opposition to LNG Pipeline 3. Recorded Webinar: Rural Trails as Economic Engines, Cultural Assets, and Community Anchors 4. USDA Announces Grant to Support Energy Efficiency and Business Growth in Rogue Valley 5. Lots to Lose: How Cities Around The World Are Eliminating Car Parks 6. A New ‘How-To’ For Tsunami-Safe Buildings: ‘We’re Trying to Save Lives’ 7. USDA Fact Sheet: Rural America at a Glance 8. Transportation Webinar: The Bridge and the City – Friday, October 7, 2016 9. Smart Energy: Symposium Sheds Light on Renewable Energy in Douglas County 10. 101 Small Ways You Can Improve Your City 11. Rural Community & Economic Development Funding Opportunities 1. Aging Farmers Will Turn Over Two-Thirds of Oregon’s Ag Land Development A new report estimates 64 percent of Oregon’s farmland, nearly 10.5 million acres, could change hands in the next 20 years.

Quote of the Week: "Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.

The important thing is to not stop questioning” –Albert Einstein Oregon Fast Fact: The federal government owns more than 50 percent of the land in Oregon.

Farmers 55 and older, the ubiquitous Baby Boomers, control that much of Oregon ag land, according to the report. As they leave the profession over the next two decades, they are likely to sell or transfer land to family members, neighbors or other current farmers and ranchers, or to business entities that are “primarily focused on investment, finance, property management, and development.”

“How that land changes hands, who acquires it, and what they do with the land will impact Oregon for generations,” the report concludes.

To access the full story, click here.

2. Tribes Voice Opposition to LNG Pipeline The Klamath Tribes has gone on the record opposing the Jordan Cove energy project and the Pacific Connector liquid gas pipeline, a portion of which is to run through Klamath County.

The tribal council voted to oppose the pipeline at its Sept. 14 meeting and drew up a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which is overseeing the licensing of the project.

FERC initially denied the Jordan Cove project application on March 11, but may set a rehearing of the application. No date for the hearing has been set, yet.

To access the full story, click here.

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3. Recorded Webinar: Rural Trails as Economic Engines, Cultural Assets, and Community Anchors Many rural communities and small towns are rediscovering their recreational and scenic assets and are looking for ways to leverage these assets to boost economic development and community pride.

This webinar will highlight great examples of rural trail projects that link people to place and reconnect the human and natural environments--providing access to nature and preserving sensitive ecosystems, while promoting local economic and cultural assets. This free 60-minute webinar is cosponsored by the Orton Family Foundation and the Citizens' Institute on Rural Design.

Speakers:  Amy Camp, Owner, Cycle Forward and Board Member, American Trails.  Leah Kemp, Assistant Director, Carl Small Town Center.  Zach Schmesser, Event Director, Bicycle Coalition of Maine.

To access this webinar, click here.

4. USDA Announces Grant to Support Energy Efficiency and Business Growth in Rogue Valley PORTLAND, Ore., September 28, 2016 – The nonprofit Northwest Sustainable Energy for Economic Development (Northwest SEED) will increase energy efficiency installations in the Rogue Valley, stimulate business growth, enable residents to reduce their energy costs, and support environmental stewardship with the help of a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development, announced State Director Vicki Walker today.

“By increasing awareness about energy efficiency options and providing business resources for local installers, Northwest SEED is helping to promote sustainability and economic development in rural southern Oregon,” said Walker. “This project will support local businesses and jobs, help residents save money on their energy bills, and protect the environment.”

Northwest SEED launched its Energize Rogue program this summer, in collaboration with the local environmental group Rogue Climate, to support small and emerging businesses in the Rogue Valley through educational workshops and an energy efficiency technology bulk purchase.

Energize Rogue will work with local businesses and citizens to run a ductless heat pump group purchase campaign. Ductless heat pumps provide a highly efficient way to heat and cool homes that results in energy cost savings, and they often come with significant rebates or tax incentives. The group purchase campaign will provide local residents with an opportunity to purchase a ductless heat pump system at a discounted rate. Participating residents will learn about financing options and incentives, cost savings associated with the technology, and benefits for the long-term health of the environment. A committee of local volunteers will select one or more local businesses to fulfill the group purchase contracts.

At the same time, Energize Rogue’s educational workshops will provide the training local businesses need to better utilize or expand into the energy efficiency market, helping retain and create jobs. The training sessions will walk business owners through unique strategies for marketing and selling energy efficiency technology and explain how to work with a group purchase.

Funding for this project is being provided through USDA’s Rural Business Development Grant (RBDG) Program and is contingent upon the recipient meeting the terms of the grant agreement.

Local residents and businesses interested in bringing clean energy to the Rogue Valley can learn more about the Energize Rogue program and view the schedule of upcoming workshops on the Page 2 of 5

Northwest SEED website: http://www.nwseed.org/projects/conservation-and-efficiency/energizerogue/. Energize Rogue will also develop two committees—a Public Outreach Committee and a Contractor Selection Committee—to assist with the group purchase campaign. Contact Jill Eikenhorst at jill@nwseed.org or (206) 457-5403 to learn more.

5. Lots to Lose: How Cities Around The World Are Eliminating Car Parks With space for roughly 20,000 cars, the parking lot that surrounds the West Edmonton Mall in Alberta, Canada, is recognized as the largest car park in the world.

Spread across vast expanses of asphalt and multi-storey concrete structures, these parking spots take up about half the mall’s 5.2m sq ft, on what was once the edge of the city of Edmonton. A few blocks away, a similar amount of space is taken up by a neighbourhood of nearly 500 homes.

Despite its huge scale, the West Edmonton Mall’s parking lot is not all that different from most car parks around the world. Requiring roughly 200 sq ft per car plus room to maneuvre, they tend to be big, flat and not fully occupied. Often their size eclipses the buildings they serve.

Even when they’re hidden in underground structures or built into skyscrapers, car parks are big and often empty: parking at homes tends to be vacant during the workday, parking at work vacant at night. A 2010 study of Tippecanoe County, Indiana found there was an average of 2.2 parking spaces for each registered car.

To access the full story, click here.

6. A New ‘How-To’ For Tsunami-Safe Buildings: ‘We’re Trying to Save Lives’ The current strategy for surviving a Cascadia Subduction Zone tsunami can be summed up in three words: Run like hell.

Scientists and emergency managers have estimated wave heights and arrival times and mapped out the shortest routes to high ground, but residents will be on their own in the chaotic aftermath of an offshore megaquake.

In some places, like Washington’s Long Beach Peninsula or Ocean Shores, even the fleetest runners could never make it to safety in time and few — if any — buildings are likely to survive the wall of water that will hit after the shaking stops.

That grim outlook inspired a group of leading engineers to create the nation’s first design standards for tsunami-safe structures. If incorporated into building codes as the engineers hope, the standards would require that new, critical facilities like hospitals, police stations and schools in vulnerable areas be strong enough to withstand the tsunami and tall enough that occupants won’t be swept away.

To access the full story, click here.

7. USDA Fact Sheet: Rural America at a Glance An important indicator of economic recovery is employment. After several years of stagnation, the pace of employment growth in rural areas increased in 2014. Employment gains were significantly higher over the past year compared to previous years in the recovery period, although rural employment remains below pre-recession levels. Rural areas continue to experience population loss, higher poverty rates, and lower educational attainment than urban areas.

To access the fact sheet, click here.

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8. Transportation Webinar: The Bridge and the City – Friday, October 7, 2016 Across countries and centuries, the session will explore a fundamental social and demographic change: the emergence of a planet of towns and cities. But it will look at this densification of human and economic relations through a specific lens, the increased connectivity triggered by strategic urban bridges. As places of encounters and exchanges, bridges have played a major role in the urbanization of our planet. With reference to twenty-four world cities, the presentation will explain how these monuments have influenced urban development over all continents.

Seminar Speaker: Daniel Biau, Ph.D., International Consultant and Author Event Date: Friday, October 7, 2016 - 12:00pm to 1:30pm Where: Room 204 of the Distance Learning Center Wing of the Urban Center at PSU Daniel Biau, international consultant, civil engineer and author of The Bridge and the City: A Universal Love Story, will share insights on urbanization and bridges.

Follow this link on the day of the seminar to stream it live.

For more information about this webinar, click here.

9. Smart Energy: Symposium Sheds Light on Renewable Energy in Douglas County Smart Energy means savings through energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy.

Here in Douglas County, we have the opportunity to embrace both. Energy efficiency means energy savings and money in your pocket, keeping dollars at home and creating jobs for our friends and neighbors. And now, there are opportunities to learn more about energy efficiency, like heating and air conditioning, insulation and weatherization to seal air leaks, as well as home-grown energy production. Local, experienced contractors are available to provide affordable smart energy resources and services.

Clean energy is not a new idea. The last several decades have demonstrated a growing movement to harness clean, renewable energy while increasing efficiency and cost savings at home. Clean energy is not only a healthier alternative to fossil fuels but supports independent energy production here at home while providing jobs and economic benefits to local communities.

The development and applications of smart energy are in the early stages and ready to take off around the Northwest with many communities eager for their chance to grow. As a result, organizations are pairing up to connect rural Oregon communities with the knowledge and resources available to harness their own energy economies. Douglas County Smart Energy, a group that includes all the local utilities, has been working for two years to bring energy efficiency and renewable energy to the forefront of our local economy.

To access the full story, click here.

10. 101 Small Ways You Can Improve Your City Sometimes the smallest things we can do for our neighborhoods can have the biggest impact. At Curbed, we know the power of a vegetable garden planted in a vacant lot or a library installed on a sidewalk. For Micro Week, we want to share 101 urban interventions and ideas that show how even the tiniest changes can make our cities better places.

To access the full list, click here.

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11. Rural Community & Economic Development Funding Opportunities Native Agriculture and Food Systems College Scholarships - The First Nations Development Institute (First Nations) is accepting applications for its First Nations Native Agriculture and Food Systems Scholarship Program, which aims to encourage more Native American college students to enter the agricultural sector in Native communities. First Nations will award 10 scholarships of $1,000 each to Native American college students majoring in agriculture and related fields.

Application Deadline: October 5, 2016, by 4:00 p.m. PST Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities - The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) is requesting letters of interest for a new round of Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities technical assistance. The EPA will select 25 communities to receive targeted assistance to help overcome barriers to smarter, more environmentally and economically sustainable growth. This assistance will help communities, local governments, and tribal governments improve their capacity to implement smart growth and other approaches that protect the environment, improve public health, and expand economic opportunity. Application Deadline: October 12, 2016, by 2:00 pm PST. Accountable Health Communities: Track 1 – Awareness - The Track 1 – Awareness funding opportunity provided by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services includes funding for screening of community-dwelling beneficiaries to identify certain unmet health-related social needs and referral of community-dwelling beneficiaries to increase awareness of community services.

Application Deadline: November 3, 2016.

Service Area Competition Funding for Health Center Program - The Bureau of Primary Health Care is making available funding to provide comprehensive primary healthcare services to an underserved area or population. Areas served with a project period start date of May 1, 2017, are eligible. Application Deadline: November 7, 2016.

Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellows - This is a fellowship program designed to develop the capacity of mid-career health professionals and behavioral and social scientists with an interest in health to participate in health policy processes at the federal level. Application Deadline: November 15, 2016.

Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) - The Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Department of Homeland Security are offering grants to fire departments and EMS organizations for equipment, training, personnel wellness programs, capital funding, and collaboration efforts. Application Deadline: November 18, 2016.

Rural Health Network Development Grant Program (RHND) - The Federal Office of Rural Health Policy is making available grants for healthcare networks in rural areas to assist with increasing access to and improving the quality of healthcare services. Application Deadline: November 28, 2016.

Farm to School Grant Program - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is making available grants to plan, establish, or sustain a Farm to School program that improves access to local foods in schools. Application Deadline: December 8, 2016.

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