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Monday Mailing

Year 21 • Issue 15 15 December 2014 1.

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Rural Oregon Comes up Short in Federal Budget Bill Bill Would Exempt Some Counties From State Land-Use System Web Resources from Natural Hazards Center Oregon Looks at Easements to Protect Working Ag Lands “MyPlate for My Family: SNAP Nutrition Education” Replaces “Loving Your Family, Feeding Their Future” This is What Your City Would Look Like if all The World's Ice Sheets Melt Data for Designers: Six Amazing App How to Fingerprint a City In Search of Good Food' Doc Film Now on the Web – Free Wallowa Winter Wonderland NTHP Now Accepting Grant Applications for Feb. 3 Deadline

1. Rural Oregon Comes up Short in Federal Budget Bill One program that provides federal funds for rural Oregon counties was included in a massive budget bill expected to pass Congress by the end of the week, but another that provides far more to these counties was left out.

The Secure Rural Schools program, which provided $107 million to these financially struggling Oregon counties earlier this year, was omitted from the bill that would fund the government through the end of the fiscal year.

Quote of the Week: “Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.” ~Victor Hugo Oregon Fast Fact: The hazelnut is Oregon's official state nut. Oregon is the only state that has an official state nut.

Congress did provide funding for the payments-in-lieu-of-taxes program, which compensates counties where most of the land is owned by the federal government — which does not pay property taxes.

Oregon counties received $17 million through the program earlier this year.

To access the full story, click here.

2. Bill Would Exempt Some Counties From State Land-Use System SALEM — Oregon lawmakers will consider exempting counties with low populations and slow growth from the statewide land-use planning system in 2015.

The Senate Committee on Rural Communities and Economic Development voted Dec. 8 to introduce this proposal as a bill in the upcoming legislative session.

Under Legislative Concept 919, counties with fewer than 50,000 people in which the population hasn’t increased since the last national census would not have to comply with statewide goals and regulations in their land use plans.

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The bill’s goal is to make rural areas more attractive for business development and allow existing companies to expand, creating jobs.

The legislation would affect counties in Eastern Oregon that suffer from higher unemployment and lower incomes than the rest of the state, said Dave Hunnicutt, executive director of the Oregonians In Action property rights group.

To access the full story, click here.

3. Web Resources from Natural Hazards Center PrepareCenter.org When it comes to preparedness know-how, ‘tis better to give and receive. Luckily, there’s PrepareCenter.org, a Web site all about helping preparedness professionals across the globe collaborate, share knowledge, and find solutions to common issues. The site, created by the American Red Cross and the International Federation of the Red Crescent’s Global Disaster Preparedness Center, features Wikipedia-style content development, resources in 16 different languages, and a wide variety of tools and research.

Global Carbon Atlas It’s 8 p.m. Do you know where your global carbon footprint is? It’s easy to find out with the Global Carbon Atlas, a web resource that allows users to visualize the world’s carbon output in several ways: view emissions over time, by country or type, or by ranking. The up-to-date data can be presented and saved in various formats. Research resources and an educational outreach element make this site the perfect tool for finally getting a clear picture of the world’s emissions.

Social Media for Crisis Communications When it comes to communicating during a crisis, emergency agencies can’t afford not to use social media. This collection of information from HowTo.Gov will help crisis communicators better leverage their online communities, recover quickly from social media gaffes, and avoid the pitfalls that might cause them in the first place. Based on a November Webinar, users can choose to learn more through a video presentation, transcript, or slideshow.

Post-Disaster Reunification of Children: A Nationwide Approach Parents separated from the children in times of disaster will go to any length to be reunited, including ignoring orders to evacuate or shelter in place. But studies have shown parents familiar with caregiver emergency plans and reunification procedures are more likely to follow safety orders. This report aims to help government and community leaders focus on swift and reliable reunification so everyone stays safe. The document provides operational guidance, defines agency roles at many levels, and offers checklists and emergency planning templates.

Abrupt Impacts of Climate Change: Anticipating Surprises As we learn more about the changing climate, we’ve seen that the expected impacts of human-caused warming aren’t as distant as scientists had previously thought. And in some cases the opposite is true, that some things that were considered imminent threats may not occur this century. This brief report by the National Academies of Sciences looks at what we know about abrupt changes in the climate system, identifies needed research, and recommends creating an abrupt-change, early-warning system to make sure we aren’t caught off guard. It’s an interesting read, but if you need a little more drama, you can check out what happened when Mother Jones applied the report findings to Hollywood blockbusters.

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Updated USDA Energy Map Website Makes Information Easy to Access USDA Energy Web includes interactive map, graphing analysis tools, and the USDA Energy Matrix.

These instruments allow you to view past USDA investments, navigate in a friendly environment USDA energy programs and compare and analyze biofuels and bioenergy data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

4. Oregon Looks at Easements to Protect Working Ag Lands Popular in other states, the use of easements to protect farm and forest lands in production could give Oregon a strong tool to complement its land use system and ultimately keep those working lands from disappearing. A panel of experts offered a view at this week’s State Board of Agriculture meeting of what is and what could be in Oregon with regard to easements.

“We see the potential here in Oregon, but what is happening right now is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Laura Masterson, organic grower and vice-chair of the Board of Agriculture. “Easements are a tool being used all over the country and have been very effective in other states for decades.”

Conservation easements are a voluntary, legal agreement between a landowner and a land trust or government agency which permanently limits the use of that land for conservation purposes. There is usually compensation for the landowner in exchange for conserving the land. The same concept applies in using easements for farm protection although, in this case, the public benefit is keeping land in farm use in perpetuity. Again, most holders of an easement are usually a land trust or government agency.

To access the full story, click here.

5. “MyPlate for My Family: SNAP Nutrition Education” Replaces “Loving Your Family, Feeding Their Future” SNAP-Ed Connection is excited to announce the release of MyPlate for My Family: SNAP Nutrition Education, an updated educational kit and replacement for the nutrition education curriculum Loving Your Family, Feeding Their Future.

MyPlate for My Family is a MyPlate resource offered especially for SNAP-Ed nutrition education and obesity prevention efforts based on recommendations from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. It is designed for parents and caregivers who are SNAP participants or people eligible for SNAP who play a key role in planning, purchasing and preparing food for their families. These materials can also be used in other settings with similar target audiences, such as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP); and National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs.

The Toolkit includes educator and participant resources to assist community providers, educators, and professionals in their efforts to improve eating and physical activity behaviors. Participant handouts are available in both English and Spanish.

The curriculum is currently available for digital download at the SNAP-Ed Connection. Print copies may become available in the future. To receive SNAP-Ed Connection news, including an announcement if print copies of MyPlate for My Family become available, please subscribe to the e-Bulletin.

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6. This is What Your City Would Look Like if all The World's Ice Sheets Melt Portland, Oregon, may not be a coastal city, but if all of the world's ice sheets melted, it would still end up mostly underwater. In a new series, Seattle cartographer and urban planner Jeffery Linn mapped out what Portland and several other cities would look like with maximum sea level rise.

Each map includes newly named islands and bays, like the "Chula del Mar" in San Diego. In L.A., the city of Downey has become "Drowney," and the airport is "Ex-LAX." The map also notates where landmarks like Disneyland and the Miracle Mile would end up in the newly formed bay.

The mapmaker was inspired by a similar map by a San Francisco blogger. "I'd always been fascinated by what the world would look like with a sea level rise," Linn says. "I was very impressed with his take on it. So I stole his concept."

The maps show a very long-term vision of the future but point to what's happening today. "These maps are an extreme scenario, and it would probably happen thousands of years in the future," Linn says. "I think that the real damage comes long before this extreme final point."

To access the full story, click here.

7. Data for Designers: Six Amazing App Communicating information—both the visual and verbal varieties—in an accurate, timely fashion comprises the heart of any construction project. There are myriad programs and apps on the market that offer to streamline design problems, decision making, and materials selection. Here are some new tech tools that we think really make a difference.

Autodesk A360 Collaboration for Revit Autodesk Overcoming the barriers of corporate firewalls and physical location, A360 Collaboration for Revit enables true centralized access to Revit models by team members in all disciplines from multiple firms or sites. It also replaces work-arounds for sharing models such as use of FTP sites, sharing software, or inefficient use of email with PDF attachments. As a cloud-based service, the software does not require costly or complex IT setup and maintenance.

ViraconGlass Viracon This app allows users to select from twenty-five different coatings on fifteen substrates, presenting transmitted and reflective glass color on a variety of building types. The models can then be viewed under different lighting conditions from both interior and exterior perspectives, and can be compared to one another.

To access the full list, click here.

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8. How to Fingerprint a City Thanks to Big Data, a new "Science of Cities" is emerging. Urban processes that until now could only be perceived subjectively can finally be quantified. Point in case: two French scientists have developed a mathematical formula to 'fingerprint' cities.

Take a good, close look at your fingertips. The pattern of grooves and ridges on your skin there [1] is yours alone. Equally unique is the warp and weft of urban road networks. No two cities' street grids are exactly alike. Some are famously distinct. The forensic urbanist in all of us can probably recognise a blind map of New York, London and a few other global metropolises.

Rémi Louf and Marc Barthelemy examined the street patterns of 131 cities around the world. Not to learn them by heart and impress their fellow scientists at the Institut de Physique Théorique near Paris – although that would be a neat parlor trick. They wanted to see if it would be possible to classify them into distinct types. The title of their paper, A Typology of Street Patterns, is a bit of a giveaway: the answer is Yes. To access the full story, click here 9. In Search of Good Food' Doc Film Now on the Web - Free We are excited to let you know that after screening the film across the country, the full-length documentary, In Search of Good Food, is now up on the web here -- you can access it by entering the password 'funtimes'. Watching the film is free, but we are still accepting donations to help cover the costs of making the film. We'd love for people to set up public screenings, for free or to benefit a local sustainable/just food-related project. If you do, please let us know so that we can keep track for our records! Please contact goodfoodscreenings@gmail.com or call 847-606-0744 if you would like to make a contribution or have set up a screening! Thanks and enjoy!

In Search Of Good Food (56 min) probes the "sustainable" food system in California, attempting to answer the question: does this food system actually exist? And if it doesn't, what is preventing it from becoming reality?

The documentary film features interviews with farmers, farmworkers, wildlife advocates, cultural biologists, historians, educators, grassroots groups, organic foods distributors, politicians, and many others who play a role in promoting a more sustainable food system in the state. By using street interviews with food consumers; the perspectives and stories of advocates; animations; and the dichotomy of the bucolic countryside and hectic city, *In Search of Good Food* presents both a compelling argument for the need for a better food system, and incisive criticism of the limited effectiveness of consumer-based solutions. This film will make you think beyond "voting with your fork", to the real challenges and opportunities that we face in creating a safe, just, and sustainable food system that provides for us all.

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10. Wallowa Winter Wonderland The Wallowa Mountains, contained within Oregon’s Eagle Cap Wilderness, include 18 peaks over 9,000 feet within 360,000 acres of wilderness in the remote northeastern corner of Oregon — the largest wilderness area in the state. Born and raised in Wallowa County, I’ve been hiking and exploring the Wallowa Mountains backcountry for 33 years. Even when I was away at college and living in other places pursuing work, I’d make it home several times a year to spend time in the wild country I love. Moving back here to raise my daughter and give her the same wonderful and wild opportunities I had growing up was one of the best choices I’ve ever made. Now, as she leaves to attend college herself, I see that she carries with her a deep love for all things wild and beautiful. I know that she too will return here, and to places like this, to rejuvenate her soul.

To access the full story, click here.

11. NTHP Now Accepting Grant Applications for Feb. 3 Deadline Are you working on a preservation project and need seed money to help kick-start your planning efforts? Is your organization undertaking a new educational effort aimed at engaging new audiences in preservation? If the answer to either question is yes, you may be eligible for funding from the National Trust Preservation Funds grant program. Applications for the February grant deadline are now available. Start your application today!

Grants from the National Trust Preservation Funds encourage preservation at the local level by providing seed money for planning and education projects. These grants help stimulate public discussion, enable local groups to gain the technical expertise needed for particular projects, introduce the public to preservation concepts and techniques, and encourage financial participation by the private and public sectors.Grants range from $2,500 to $5,000 and require a dollar-for-dollar match. Full eligibility requirements and grant guidelines, along with a link to our application, can be found at http://www.preservationnation.org/funding.

Applications are now being accepted for our February 3, 2015 deadline. Not ready to apply just yet?

Don’t worry. The program has three annual deadlines. If you have any questions please contact the grants office at grants@savingplaces.org or 202-588-6277.

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