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Monday Mailing

Year 21 • Issue 05 06 October 2014 1.

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Art of The Rural Timberrrr….

Megaquake Preparedness Will Cost Oregon billions Lakeview Biofuel Plant Proposal Raises Air Quality Concerns Household Food Security in The United States in 2013 - Report DSIRE – Database of State Incentives for Renewable and Efficiency How To Conquer Public Speaking Fear: By Morton C. Orman, M.D WEBINAR: Rewriting the Rural Narrative, Thursday, October 9, 2014, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm Eastern 9. Standing Desks Are Coming To Schools, To Cure Obesity And Increase Attention Spans 10. Mapped: How the ‘Creative Class’ is Dividing U.S. Cities 11. Smart Growth America to Deliver Free Community and Economic Development Workshops 1. Art of The Rural As a digital platform, Art of the Rural elevates the rural arts field by facilitating rural-urban dialogue and cross-sector exchange. On the ground, we cultivate an organic manifestation of the digital mapping process by engaging the field in conversation, encouraging partnerships, while also activating participation in rural cultural policy and programming.

For more information, click here.

Quote of the Week: “Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there.” ~John Ray Oregon Fast Fact #8: The world's oldest shoes, 9,000-year-old sandals made of sagebrush and bark, were found at Fort Rock Cave in central Oregon in 1938.

2. Timberrrr….

The important thing in this Oregonian article is what’s left unsaid.

So here’s what is said: lumber production in Oregon last year surged to a 14-year high, fueled by the US homebuilding boom. For timber workers, that meant a little bit of good news: "The industry produced a rare, if tiny, employment gain statewide." Likewise, the previously torrid pace of mill closures slowed. But despite the high volumes of timber being harvested, there are still 20,000 fewer timber industry jobs today than there were in 1990. And even in last year’s boom, the industry used new technology, moreso than new employees, to meet demand for more two-by-fours. Worse, Oregon’s timber industry faces global competition from hundreds of timber companies in dozens of nations, and global price competition will continue to put the squeeze on Oregon’s timber producers.

So what’s left unsaid? Just this: the importance of the timber industry to the state’s employment picture has been steadily waning. And given current trends, that fact is not likely to change anytime soon.

To access the full story, click here.

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3. Megaquake Preparedness Will Cost Oregon billions A task force is recommending Oregon spend at least $100 million each year for decades preparing for a possible earthquake and tsunami similar to the one that struck Japan in 2011.

"The scope of the disaster that the Pacific Northwest faces is daunting," said Scott Ashford, chairman of the Governor's Task Force on Resilience Plan Implementation. "We won't be able to accomplish everything we need to do in one or two years, but hopefully we won't have to. What's important is to get started, and the time for that is now."

State geologists estimate there is a 30 percent chance of a major Cascadia subduction zone earthquake and tsunami happening within the next 50 years. Oregon seriously lags behind Washington and California in preparing infrastructure and emergency response for such an event.

To access the full story, click here.

4. Lakeview Biofuel Plant Proposal Raises Air Quality Concerns A project proposed in Lakeview, Oregon, would turn woody biomass from logging into biofuels for Southwest Airlines, the U.S. Navy and Marines.

The biofuel would have fewer greenhouse gas emissions than traditional jet fuel and diesel, but some worry the project might add to existing air quality problems in southern Oregon.

Red Rock Biofuels of Fort Collins, Colorado, received a $4.1 million design and engineering grant from the U.S. Department of Defense earlier to help develop the project.

On Friday, the department announced new contracts with the company to supply fuel to the U.S. Navy and Marines. This week, Southwest Airlines announced plans to buy 3 million gallons of the company's low-carbon jet fuel.

To access the full story, click here.

5. Household Food Security in The United States in 2013 - Report The USDA has published a guide that presents statistics on food security, food expenditures, and use of food and nutrition assistance programs. Food insecurity was more common in large cities and rural areas than in suburban areas and exurban areas around large cities.

To access the report, click here.

6. DSIRE – Database of State Incentives for Renewable and Efficiency DSIRE is the most comprehensive source of information on incentives and policies that support renewables and energy efficiency in the United States. Established in 1995, DSIRE is currently operated by the N.C. Solar Center at N.C. State University, with support from the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, Inc. DSIRE is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.

For more information, click here.

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7. How To Conquer Public Speaking Fear: By Morton C. Orman, M.D. Public speaking is a common source of stress for everyone. Many of us would like to avoid this problem entirely, but this is hard to do. Whether we work alone or with large numbers of people, eventually we will need to speak in public to get certain tasks accomplished. And if we want to be leaders or achieve anything meaningful in our lives, we will often need to speak to groups, large and small, to be successful.

The truth about public speaking, however, is IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE STRESSFUL! If you correctly understand the hidden causes of public speaking stress, and if you keep just a few key principles in mind, speaking in public will soon become an invigorating and satisfying experience To access the full article, click here.

8. WEBINAR: Rewriting the Rural Narrative, Thursday, October 9, 2014, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm Eastern Brain drain—the loss of 18-29 year olds—dominates the conversation about rural population change.

Yet at the same time, a lesser known migration is occurring. A majority of rural counties are, in fact, experiencing “brain gains” as newcomers age 30-49 move in. Most communities aren’t tuned in to positive migration and miss out on the opportunities that come with newcomers. Ben Winchester, Research Fellow for the University of Minnesota Extension, Center for Community Vitality, has studied the trend and has great ideas for making the most of positive migration patterns.

Join our next CommunityMatters® and Citizen’s Institute on Rural Design™ webinar to hear Ben’s research on rural migration trends and the impacts they have on social and economic opportunity.

Learn how communities are responding to these trends and what can be done in your town To register for this webinar, click here.

9. Standing Desks Are Coming To Schools, To Cure Obesity And Increase Attention Spans First they infiltrated our offices, and now they're coming for our kids.

Increasing numbers of adults are throwing away their office chairs in favor of standing desks, believing that staying on their feet during working hours will improve their health. Should we be encouraging kids to do the same?

Yes, according to a study from three schools in Texas. It shows that when kids are given the opportunity to stand during classroom time, they burn more calories and seem to have greater attention span.

To access the full story, click here.

10. Mapped: How the ‘Creative Class’ is Dividing U.S. Cities The housing options of the disadvantaged are invariably defined by what's left over. If the wealthy want to live on the waterfront, the poor are driven inland. If high-paid professionals want to live close to the subway — picture the popular orange-line corridor in Arlington — then low-paid cashiers are pushed farther from transit. If upper-class college graduates want to live downtown, as is increasingly the case in many big cities, the poor are priced out to the periphery.

These patterns are particularly clear in a new analysis from Richard Florida, the urban theorist who coined the "creative class" a decade ago to describe the knowledge workers who he argues will drive urban economies. Florida and fellow researchers at the University of Toronto's Martin Prosperity Page 3 of 4

Institute looked at where workers of different kinds live in 12 big U.S. metros using 2010 census data. Their results point to a different picture of socioeconomic segregation in American cities — one divided more explicitly by the nature and type of work we do, rather than how much money we make doing it — than we're used to discussing.

To access the full story, click here.

11. Smart Growth America to Deliver Free Community and Economic Development Workshops Smart Growth America makes a limited number of technical assistance workshops available to interested communities for zero cost. This competitive award gives communities a chance to understand the technical aspects of smart growth development through a one- or two-day workshop.

Applications are now being accepted for the 2015 workshop series. Communities can apply for one of 12 workshop types as part of the free program, including planning for economic and fiscal health; regional planning for small communities; parking audits; land use code audits; walkability workshops; and others. Any unit or subdivision of local government, tribe, or regional government is eligible to apply for these free workshops. Communities may apply for more than one workshop, but must submit separate applications for each. Applications are due by October 23 at 5:00 p.m. ET. For more information and to apply, click here.

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