Monday Mailing
Year 22 • Issue 29 11 April 20169 1. Oregon Heritage Conference-May 4-6 in Salem 2. Recreation Brings More Money than Timber on Oregon's BLM Lands 3. Removal of 4 Dams to Reopen 420 Miles of Historic Salmon Habitat on Klamath River 4. Why is The U.S. Unwilling to Pay for Good Public Transportation? 5. New Web Resources From The Natural Hazards Center 6. Counties Turn To Little-Known Policy To Boost Say In Federal Land Management 7. How We Did It: Red Wagon Creamery 8. Let's Talk About Civic Crowdfunding and Government Responsibility 9. Death of OR-4 a Sobering Turn for Oregon’s Wolf Plan 10. Carl Braun on Communicating Like a Grown-Up 11. Like Some Dust Columbia River Gorge Communities Plan “Centennial Season of Celebration” for America’s First Scenic Highway 1. Oregon Heritage Conference-May 4-6 in Salem The Oregon Heritage Conference brings together people who love and work with Oregon's heritage. Designed to be interdisciplinary, the conference focuses on all sectors of heritage, such as historic preservation, museums, archives, libraries, and local and state government. By bringing everyone together in one place, we can begin to realize that our work in heritage is all interconnected, that we have similar problems, and, together, can create better solutions.
Quote of the Week: “Good, better, best. Never let it rest. ‘Til your good is better and your better best” ~St. Jerome City of Al Oregon Fast Fact: Throughout a year, on average, Timberline Lodge receives about 540 inches of snow. The average peak snowpack in a year is typically over 150 inches, with variation. Some years have had well over 240 inches packed, while others have had less than 100 inches of snowpack.
The Heritage Conference will offer workshops, tours, and breakout sessions that are equal parts innovation and practical advice. Other sessions include the handling historic district regulation, historic barn re-use and preserving historic landscapes. In addition, the nonprofit Restore Oregon has organized a preservation pub around preserving the diminishing number of pre-1865 buildings in Oregon. For more information about the Oregon Heritage Conference, click here. 2. Recreation Brings More Money than Timber on Oregon's BLM Lands COOS BAY — A new study commissioned by the Pew Charitable Trusts is touting the economic value of "quiet recreation" on Bureau of Land Management lands, a value that, according to the study, rivals that of other commercial revenues. Conducted by independent firm ECONorthwest, Quiet Recreation on BLM-Managed Lands: Economic Contribution 2014 is a first-of-its-kind study to focus on the economic value behind quiet recreation activities — or, more simply put, nonmotorized recreation. ECONorthwest senior economic analyst and lead researcher Kristin Lee said the study was significant not only in being the first to quantify the
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effects on the local economy, but also in the findings, which showed billions of dollars in economic output. “This study shows that in addition to providing nonmotorized recreational opportunities enjoyed by millions of people, these lands also provide local economic opportunities and contribute billions of dollars to the U.S. economy,” Lee said. To access the full story, click here. 3. Removal of 4 Dams to Reopen 420 Miles of Historic Salmon Habitat on Klamath River On Wednesday, standing before the mouth of the Klamath River on the Yurok Reservation in California, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced that the federal departments of the interior and commerce, along with the states of Oregon and California and the Karuk and Yurok tribes, have signed a new agreement with electric power company PacifiCorp to decommission and remove four hydropower dams along the Klamath River. The agreement creates a “path forward for the largest river restoration in the history of the United States,” along with “the largest dam removal project in the history of our nation,” Jewell said. The new pact will allow PacifiCorp to take three dams in California—Copco 1, Copco 2 and the Iron Gate Dam—and the John C. Boyle Dam in Oregon out of service by using the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s established licensing process for hydropower. PacifiCorp’s license to operate the dams expired in 2006. An earlier agreement to authorize their removal, created in 2010, required Congressional approval and expired at the end of 2015 after Congress adjourned without enacting it. To access the full story, click here. 4. Why is The U.S. Unwilling to Pay for Good Public Transportation? Officials in Washington, D.C. said this week they may have to shut down portions of the Metro subway system for months because its piecemeal approach to maintenance is no longer sufficient. The disclosure follows a shutdown of the entire Metro system on March 16 for 24 hours. Threequarters of a million people use the system each weekday, so the inconvenience and cost were considerable. The reason: frayed electrical cables discovered in at least 26 locations that posed an immediate danger. Closing the Metro was probably the safest thing to do. Just two days previously, an electrical fire in a tunnel forced stoppages to busy commuter service. In September 2015 a train was stuck inside a tunnel, and passengers choked for over an hour as smoke from a fire was accidentally pumped into the train. One woman died. In the last six years 15 people have died in seven separate incidents. To access the full story, click here. 5. New Web Resources From The Natural Hazards Center Planning for Hazards: Land Use Solutions for Colorado Although nearly three years has past, the ongoing recovery from the 2013 Colorado floods point to the need incorporate disaster risk reduction and resilience into planning effort. This new guide and Page 2 of 7
accompanying Web site provide a road map to doing just that, with an eye toward Colorado risks. Visit the site to access the guide, find profiles of land-use tools that reduce loss and, and read interviews with communities of various sizes and capacities. Disaster Collaboratory Journal List If the Disaster Collaboratory wasn’t a useful enough (and as a place where disaster researchers can share ideas, experiences, and resources, it really is handy)—then this list of disaster-centric journals makes it all the more so. The list was compiled based on a number of factors such as credible scholarship, peer-review practices, and publisher credentials—and they’re all open access, because we know the best disaster research should be widely shared. USGS Induced Earthquakes Web Site The U.S. Geological Survey recently created a stir with the release of a new model that forecasts induced earthquakes. While that assessment was eye opening, it’s only part of a suite of information USGS has about induced seismicity. Check out this great source from the Earthquake Hazards Program and find observational studies, hazard estimation, and more on the myths and misconceptions surrounding manmade quakes. NASA’s Planetary Defense Because asteroids hurtling toward the earth exist outside Hollywood blockbusters, there’s NASA’s planetary defense. Check out the Web site and learn more about what types of hazards lurk in space, the systems in place to monitor them, and how they might be redirected. Bonus perk: you’ll probably be the only one of your friends to know that the Asteroid Grand Challenge isn’t a video game. Isle de Jean Charles Resettlement In just over 60 years, erosion and sea level rise have swallowed 98 percent of Isle de Jean Charles. This has posed a significant problem for the band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Indians that has called the island their home since the early 1800s. Recently, though, island residents have received funding to resettle. This Web site will let you take the journey with them as they implement their novel plan, as well as provide background and insight into what it takes to relocate an entire community.
Attributions of Extreme Weather in the Context of Climate Change
Weather experts have often been cautious about connecting climate change to individual weather events, but advances in the science of extreme weather attribution are changing that. This report from the National Academies Press looks at how this relatively new branch of inquiry is advancing, and the extent to which it can separate human-caused climate change from other factors in individual weather. Tsunami Awareness Fact Sheets You don’t have to make waves to keep your community aware of tsunami dangers, thanks to these handy fact sheets from the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program. The recently updated material is available in a two-page or trifold format and has space to add your logo and contact information. Download and distribute yours today. Public Health System Training in Disaster Recovery Public health workers can play a key in disaster recovery—even more so with this helpful training program developed by the National Center for Disaster Medicine and Public Health. The materials— handy for individuals or organizations—include presentations, worksheets, and resources for both trainers and trainees.
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EERI Taiwan Earthquake Clearinghouse The Earthquake Engineering Research Institute has created a helpful clearinghouse of information related to the February 6 earthquake in Taiwan. Visit the site to find reports from EERI’s reconnaissance team, information on specific building damage, maps and photos, and other resources. Canadian Climate Opinion Maps If you want to know what Canada thinks about climate change, there’s a map for that. This project from the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication visualizes Canadian opinions on issues such as human contribution to earth warming, cap and traded systems, and support for increasing taxes on carbon-based fuels. Available in English and French. Affordability of National Flood Insurance Program Premiums This two-part report by the National Academies of Sciences examines recent changes to National Flood Insurance Program premiums which, although implemented to make the program more fiscally sound, ended up making flood insurance unaffordable for many homeowners. Together, the reports provide an overview of the program and offer alternatives for evaluating when premium increases make pricing unaffordable. East Coast Lab: Life at the Boundary Life at the boundary of two tectonic plates is all about natural hazards—earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, and coastal erosion—and so is East Coast Lab. This project, led by a collection of New Zealand’s national and regional agencies and universities, offers opportunities to participate in citizen research, monitor hazards in real time, and discover more about the hazards off the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island. Student Tools for Emergency Planning (STEP) The Federal Emergency Management Agency has stepped up its game for the STEP program with a recently revamped curriculum. Teachers will find updated resources, lessons, and handouts for the program, which aims to teach kids in fourth and fifth grades the basics of emergency planning, preparedness, and communication. Temblor Many people in the United States are at risk from damaging earthquakes, and many know it. Still, it’s one thing to realize the risk and another entirely to understand it. Temblor is a beta-version webbased app that can help. Enter an address and building details, and learn the risk for experiencing quakes, what a serious quake would cost, and how much cheaper and safer retrofitting would make you. The National Center for Climate and Security Warriors and Weather Compilation Alone, The Economist’s video, Warriors and Weather: Climate Change and National Security in America is a useful, ten-minute look into how the U.S. Department of Defense is approaching climate issues. But the National Center for Climate and Security takes that reporting a step further, pairing it with a list of suggested readings that range from statements by the administration to government reports and testimony. NCDMPH Access and Functional Needs Video Series It’s important to consider people with special access and functional needs during disaster, and communities that have worked to address these issues have a lot to share. Now, the National Center for Disaster Medicine and Public Health is collecting their stories in a series of videos that explores how such challenges can be met. Take a look at the first in the series, which discusses the relationship Page 4 of 7
between Oklahoma’s State Emergency Preparedness and the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. 6. Counties Turn To Little-Known Policy To Boost Say In Federal Land Management Counties across Oregon are turning toward a little-known federal policy as a means to have more say in how federal lands in their backyards are managed. These counties are using “coordination,” an obscure provision in two federal environmental policy laws that require agencies to coordinate with local governments in land use planning. Baker County Chair Bill Harvey describes coordination as putting local and federal governments on “equal footing.” “When you come to a planning table, you both have the same authority level,” Harvey said, noting that the eventual plan should align county and federal priorities. “You come up with a plan, and the plan is supposed to be consistent between the two ideas.” Harvey spearheaded an effort to revise Baker County’s existing natural resource plan and invoke the process of coordination last fall. The revised plan emphasizes logging, grazing and mining as resource priorities. Baker, like many eastern Oregon counties, is made up of more than 50 percent federal lands. To access the full story, click here. 7. How We Did It: Red Wagon Creamery When Emily and Stuart Phillips were looking to start a business in their hometown of Eugene, Oregon, ice cream was a natural choice. Emily, a former chef, had grown up making ice cream with her family in North Carolina, selling it door to door in a little red wagon. Stuart, a gregarious man who describes himself as a “recovering attorney and army officer,” was all in. They bought a used Häagen-Dazs push cart and six Cuisinarts, and started making all natural, locally sourced ice cream out of their home. Red Wagon Creamery sold its first scoop in April 2011. By 2013, the Phillipses had opened a brick and mortar shop downtown where a staff of more than a dozen scoops out flavors like Hail To The Bee, made with Pacific Northwest clover honey, and Oregon Mint Chip. The next step was to expand into the lucrative wholesale business. While Red Wagon Creamery was taking off in Eugene, the momentum for a new state law that would enable securities crowdfunding within Oregon was building across the state. In 2014, Amy Pearl, the head of Hatch Oregon and the driving force behind the new law, was barnstorming the state to educate communities about the proposed Oregon Intrastate Offering Exemption rules—or the Community Public Offering (CPO) as it is informally known. To access the full story, click here. 8. Let's Talk About Civic Crowdfunding and Government Responsibility At ioby, we focus on serving communities that have been starved of resources for decades, and we see firsthand the value of neighbors deciding what's best for their own neighborhoods and taking action. By pooling their own resources, no matter how modest, to make a visible, positive change, residents can create a shared sense of ownership that can fundamentally alter how they see the place they live, and their own power to improve it. Page 5 of 7
A question that we sometimes hear about civic crowdfunding, by ioby and other platforms, is whether it lets government off the hook for investing in things like basic infrastructure and services. Does a group of neighbors coming together to pay for a public good send a message to decision makers that they can allocate funds elsewhere? Doesn't this model just encourage shrinking public budgets and government negligence? Is civic crowdfunding evil? Here are five replies to some of the common concerns about civic crowdfunding and government responsibility: 1. People who think crowdfunding is a threat to government investment in infrastructure and basic services haven't looked closely at what's actually being funded, and by whom. Generally speaking, these are not bridge and highway projects. (The average ioby project budget is just over $4,000, and the average monetary donation is less than $75, with donations of $5 and $10 very common.) They are community gardens on vacant land, murals painted by schoolchildren on formerly dreary corners, and temporary transformations of busy intersections into walkable, bikeable places to show the great possibility of friendlier streets. To access the full story, click here. 9. Death of OR-4 a Sobering Turn for Oregon’s Wolf Plan They called him OR-4, and by some accounts he was Oregon’s biggest and baddest wolf, 97 pounds of cunning in his prime and the longtime alpha male of Wallowa County’s influential Imnaha Pack. But OR-4 was nearly 10, old for a wolf in the wild. And his mate limped with a bad back leg. Accompanied by two yearlings, they apparently separated from the rest of the Imnaha Pack or were forced out. In March, they attacked and devoured or injured calves and sheep five times in private pastures. So on March 31, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife staff boarded a helicopter, rose up and shot all four. The decisive action by ODFW may have marked a somber turning point in the state’s work to restore wolves to the landscape. It comes on the heels of the ODFW Commission’s decision in November 2015 to take gray wolves off the state endangered species list, and just as the commission is beginning a review of the Oregon Wolf Plan, the document that governs wolf conservation and management. Oregon Wild, the Portland-based conservation group with long involvement in the state’s wolf issue, said shooting wolves should be an “absolute last resort.” To register for this event, click here. 10. Carl Braun on Communicating Like a Grown-Up “Man is a gregarious animal. We work in herds, in teams. The bear can do exactly as he pleases, for he works alone. We do not work alone. We depend throughout our lives on the goodwill of other men. If a man does not learn to bend, to be friendly and considerate, and to respect his brother’s ego—in things both big and little—he’ll find himself disliked and locked up in his own unhappiness.” — C.F. Braun
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Carl Franklin (C.F.) Braun graduated from Stanford with an engineering degree in 1907 and within two years had opened his own engineering firm. Braun’s company would go on to manufacture and engineer products ranging from water filters to petroleum processing plants; large, complicated projects involving manpower and precision. He eventually employed 6,000 people and built over 250 petrochemical plants, well respected as the leader in his field for many years. Braun had a unique corporate policy: If you were going to issue a directive, you had to tell the person Who, What, When, Where, and most importantly, Why someone was to do it. So strong was his belief in using why, it was said that Braun could fire you on the spot if he found you not issuing reasons. Many years later, Charlie Munger would come to sing Braun’s praises for this approach to Reason-Respecting Tendency. To access the full story, click here. 11. Columbia River Gorge Communities Plan “Centennial Season of Celebration” for America’s First Scenic Highway America’s first scenic highway, the Historic Columbia River Highway, turns 100 in 2016. In celebration, 'a surprise around every corner' is being promised by Oregon and Washington communities throughout the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, with events and exhibits planned for the public. Exhibits are now underway at both ends of the Historic Highway, including the “King of Roads” exhibit at Troutdale Historic Society, featuring photographs and stories of the people who made the building of the highway possible and “Sam Hill and the Columbia River Highway” at Maryhill Museum of Art, an exhibition of black and white prints showing both construction photos of the highway and early scenic views of the Columbia River Gorge, among many other programs planned at of the former home of the Historic Highway’s visionary, Samuel Hill, now Maryhill Museum of Art. For more information on the 30+ events that planned for the “Centennial Season of Celebration”, click here.
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