Monday Mailing - April 19, 2021

RARE Monday Mailing Year 27 | Issue 31 19 April 2021

1. Renewable Energy is Coming on Strong 2. Managing Wildfire Risk and New Development 3. How Four Rural Towns Are Building Vibrant Communities Through the Tools of Creative Placemaking 4. Don’t Go Back to Old Economic Development Ways 5. Western U.S. May Be Entering Worst Drought in Modern History (Michael Hoch, RARE Alum) 6. Tensions Rise in Water Battle Along Oregon-California Line 7. Oregon Nonprofit Provides Umatilla Indian Reservation with Healthy, Sustainable Food Options During Pandemic 8. Where Women Work and How Much They Earn in Oregon 9. Lloyd’s of London Could Once Again Pay for Oregon Wildfire Costs 10. RESOURCE: 2021 Oregon Tourism Engagement Session Series Report 11. RESOURCE: Building Alliances for Equitable Resilience

Quote of the Week: “I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.”

- Louisa May Alcott

1.

Oregon Fast Fact Oregon’s flag is the only state flag in the United States with a different design on each side. While the front features the escutcheon from the state seal in blue and gold, the reverse pictures a golden beaver.

Renewable Energy is Coming on Strong The Tyee Fifty years ago, a gasoline company’s TV ads showed an aging wooden windmill. As the wind died, it slowed to stillness. The ad asked: “But what do you do when the wind stops?” For the next several decades, fossil fuel providers and big utilities continued to denigrate renewable energy. Even the U.S. Energy Department deemed renewables “too rare, too diffuse, too distant, too uncertain and too ill-timed” to meaningfully contribute, as a top agency analyst put it in 2005.

Today we know that’s not true, especially in British Columbia, Washington and Oregon.

New research shows we could be collectively poised to pioneer a climate-friendly energy future for the globe — that renewable electricity can not only move Cascadia off of fossil fuels, but do so at an affordable price while creating some jobs along the way.

Read the full story.

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2. Managing Wildfire Risk and New Development SPUR California has experienced unprecedented wildfire damage in the last several years as climate change has increased temperatures and dried out land and vegetation. The seven largest wildfires in recorded California history have all taken place in the last four years. As a state, we need to develop tools to help us combat wildfire risk in order to save lives, homes and communities. At the same time, the state is experiencing a massive housing shortage, which is driving up the cost of housing and forcing people to move farther away from job centers in search of more affordable housing.

The connection between housing policy and climate change is clear. If urban areas fail to produce housing in walkable neighborhoods near transit and jobs, more and more people will drive, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and fueling hotter temperatures. In California, climate change has already led to historic heat waves and drought that parch vegetation, exacerbating the wildfires that burn down homes and pollute our air.

Read the full story.

3. How Four Rural Towns Are Building Vibrant Communities Through the Tools of Creative Placemaking The Daily Yonder In a small town in Minnesota, residents with children kept clamoring for a splash pad, but they were having trouble gaining traction for the idea with decision makers. So one day one of the fathers, an artist, pulled out his tools and began to gather supplies: PVC pipes, garden hoses, lawn chairs. He created a pop-up splash pad, complete with spraying fountains and adjacent seating for caregivers, and debuted it at a popular community park.

It was an instant hit. Families flocked to the fun. And while the splash pad issue did not get resolved, one citizen exercising his creativity and agency was able to open new possibilities in the community’s imagination.

This is just one example of what’s called “creative placemaking.” Projects like this, citizendriven and emerging from community needs, are becoming an important part of the artistic landscape in many rural places across the country.

“Though the movement towards creative placemaking is relatively new, the idea is not,” says Michele Anderson with Springboard for the Arts. “It is part of human history to shape the places we live to reflect our values.”

Read the full story.

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4. Don’t Go Back to Old Economic Development Ways Shelterforce The one-year mark of the COVID-19 pandemic prompted a collective moment of reflection on the many ways our lives have shifted over the past year. The bulk of these shifts—from the rise of social isolation to the loss of employment, economic security, and housing for far too many—range from dismal to devastating, and we will be recovering from their effects for years to come.

But amid these hardships, a surprising bright spot has emerged in local policy. Cities across the nation have implemented equity-focused reforms that would have once been considered pipe dreams. According to the National League of Cities, 91 of the nation’s 100 largest cities repurposed public spaces to benefit residents and small businesses; 78 started or expanded utility assistance programs; 45 enacted eviction moratoriums and rental assistance; and 20 closed their streets to cars to prioritize pedestrians. Numerous local officials also took actions to reduce their jail populations, a belated recognition of longneeded reforms to improve conditions for those touched by the criminal justice system.

Read the full story.

5. Western U.S. May Be Entering Worst Drought in Modern History CBS News Extreme drought across the Western U.S. has become as reliable as a summer afternoon thunderstorm in Florida. And news headlines about drought in the West can seem a bit like a broken record, with some scientists saying the region is on the precipice of permanent drought.

That's because in 2000, the Western U.S. entered the beginning of what scientists call a megadrought — the second worst in 1,200 years — triggered by a combination of a natural dry cycle and human-caused climate change.

In the past 20 years, the two worst stretches of drought came in 2003 and 2013 — but what is happening right now appears to be the beginning stages of something even more severe.

And as we head into the summer dry season, the stage is set for an escalation of extreme dry conditions, with widespread water restrictions expected and yet another dangerous fire season ahead.

Read the full story.

6. Tensions Rise in Water Battle Along Oregon-California Line Associated Press News One of the worst droughts in memory in a massive agricultural region straddling the California-Oregon border could mean steep cuts to irrigation water for hundreds of farmers this summer to sustain endangered fish species critical to local tribes.

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The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which oversees water allocations in the federally owned Klamath Project, is expected to announce this week how the season’s water will be divvied up after delaying the decision a month.

For the first time in 20 years, it’s possible that the 1,400 irrigators who have farmed for generations on 225,000 acres (91,000 hectares) of reclaimed farmland will get no water at all — or so little that farming wouldn’t be worth it. Several tribes in Oregon and California are equally desperate for water to sustain threatened and endangered species of fish central to their heritage.

A network of six wildlife refuges that make up the largest wetland complex west of the Mississippi River also depend on the project’s water, but will likely go dry this year.

Read the full story.

7. Oregon Nonprofit Provides Umatilla Indian Reservation with Healthy, Sustainable Food Options During Pandemic East Oregonian On a frigid February morning, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation held its twice-monthly food distribution. With sheets of snow blanketing the ground from a recent snowstorm, members of the reservation worked hand-in-hand with distribution drivers from The Wave Foundation, a Portland nonprofit sustainability coalition that helps provide communities like the reservation with healthy and sustainable food options during the pandemic.

Motown and rock ‘n’ roll oldies emanated from a StreetHopper Bluetooth speaker with an 8-inch woofer. Wave distribution workers, community members and high schoolers from the reservation clad in jackets, gloves, hats and scarves danced through various jobs, trying to stay warm amid brisk winds.

Kathleen Elliott, the workforce development/BOLSTER Program coordinator for the Tribes, said she danced partly out of necessity.

“It was cold, I needed to stay warm,” she said.

But her expressive movements weren’t simply the outcome of chilly weather, but rather a joyful experience, one which brings the community together.

“The Wave has been a godsend to us,” she said.

Read the full story.

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8. Where Women Work and How Much They Earn in Oregon Southern Oregon Business Journal More than 930,000 jobs in Oregon businesses or state and local governments were held by women in 2019. Women represent 49 percent of employment in Oregon, but the share of jobs held by women varies considerably by industry. We now know that the latest period of economic expansion peaked in 2019, on an annual basis, so these figures represent the Oregon economy at peak, prior to the onset of the pandemic recession in early 2020.

Women’s average earnings were $3,846 per month in 2019, an inflation-adjusted growth rate of 2.4% from 2018. This continues a trend of growth in women’s average wages that has exceeded the growth of total average wages throughout the United States. Earnings for women, just like employment, vary by industry.

Read the full story.

9. Lloyd’s of London Could Once Again Pay for Oregon Wildfire Costs Capital Press With the prospect of a catastrophic 2021 fire season looming, Oregon will rely again on its one-of-a-kind $25 million wildfire risk policy with the world's oldest continually active insurance marketplace.

Lloyd's of London, which traces its roots to a 17th century coffeehouse near the Tower of London, has insured the Oregon Department of Forestry against wildfire losses since 1973.

No other state has wildfire insurance.

"It's a catastrophic firefighting expense policy," said ODF spokesman Jim Gersbach.

Oregon's trees are among Lloyd's one-of-a-kind insurance policies that have included 1940s actress Betty Grable's legs, comedian Jimmy Durante's outsized nose, rock star Bruce Springsteen's voice, Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards' hands, and crooner Tom Jones' chest hair.

The plan will pay up to $25 million of wildfire costs in Oregon. Under the policy, Oregon covers the first $50 million in fire costs, then Lloyd's pays the next $25 million.

Read the full story.

10. RESOURCE – 2021 Oregon Tourism Engagement Session Series Report Travel Oregon Travel Oregon, in partnership with Oregon’s regional destination management organizations (RDMOs), hosted six virtual Oregon Tourism Engagement Sessions across the state in spring of 2021. The tourism industry, including business owners, land managers, volunteers, nonprofits, policymakers and more were invited to attend. Stakeholder input RARE AmeriCorps Program Monday Mailing | Page 5 of 6

was used to help shape the future of tourism in Oregon through Travel Oregon’s statewide strategic plan, as well as the RDMOs’ regional plans. Session attendees had the chance to meet their RDMO representatives and Travel Oregon employees, learn about and provide input on their region’s 2021-23 plans and the statewide Strategic Rebuild Plan. All sessions were interactive; attendees got to partake in live polls and small breakout group discussions. The following pages are the results of the polls, poll “Other” chat responses and group discussions.

View the presentation.

11. RESOURCE – Building Alliances for Equitable Resilience FEMA’s Resilient Nation Partnership Network The Resilient Nation Partnership Network (RNPN) is a unique network of organizations and individuals united to help communities take action and become more resilient. Our mission is to inform, educate, and motivate communities to protect themselves from the loss of life, property, and prosperity as a result of natural hazards.

The Resilient Nation Partnership Network is pleased to share Building Alliances for Equitable Resilience. This resource is the result of collaboration by 26 partners in the fields of equity and resilience. Through it, we seek to inspire the whole community to make equitable and resilient practices part of their day-to-day activities. Readers will find guidance, perspectives, personal stories, resources and more. While it is a first step in a long journey, we hope this leads to increased awareness, commitments, and action to make equitable resilience possible for all.

Access the report.

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