Monday Mailing
Year 26 • Issue 7 21 October 2019 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Climate Change Has Some Willamette Valley Farmers Adapting An Ancient Way To Grow Food (Eva Kahn) How to Beat Affordable Housing’s NIMBY Problem (Emily Bradley) Three Solar Projects Will Boost Clean Energy Effort (Michael Hoch) Trouble at the Inn As Bering Sea Ice Melts, Alaskans, Scientists And Seattle’s Fishing Fleet Witness Changes ‘On A Massive Scale’ Fort Rock A Volcanic Wonder, Site Of Ancient Civilization In Central Oregon Failing Forestry: Oregon’s Forestry Department Is On An Unsustainable Path (Tia Hatton) Diseases Are Spreading With Climate Change. Panic Doesn’t Have To. Medically Tailored Meals Need to Be Part of Healthcare WEBINAR - Using the IAP2 Spectrum for Online Engagement
1. Climate Change Has Some Willamette Valley Farmers Adapting An Ancient Way To Grow Food
Master gardener Darlene Gowen proudly stands next to a table full of tomatoes and potatoes she grew on her farm in Independence, Oregon.
Quote of the Week:
Rest when you're weary. Refresh and renew yourself, your body, your mind, your spirit. Then get back to work. - Ralph Marston
Oregon Fast Fact #3
The Columbia River Gorge is considered by many to be the best place in the world for windsurfing.
“I’m finding that I have earlier and better crops for those things that I can actually dry farm, and I’m experimenting with crops that I didn’t think I could dry farm, that are turning out to be better crops,” Gowen said. This past summer, Gowen successfully grew a wide variety of crops by using a sustainable technique called dry farming. Gowen said her dry-farmed vegetables have better flavor than irrigated crops. That’s a big reason she wants to start weaning her crops from irrigation and moving forward with dry farming. It’s not a new way of farming. It’s how farmers farmed before the rise of dams, irrigation pipes and central pivots. Dry farming relies on the moisture that’s stored in the soil from winter rainwater. It’s successful in regions with at least 20 inches of annual rainfall and a summertime climate with cool mornings and warm afternoons. To access the full story, click here.
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2. How to Beat Affordable Housing’s NIMBY Problem
Last December, Minneapolis approved a plan that allows duplexes and triplexes in every neighborhood by banning single-family zoning, an intrepid move that the city believes is a crucial part of addressing the housing crisis and confronting racial inequity. For housing advocates across the country who have spent years battling NIMBYs (Not in My Backyard residents) over even the smallest of zoning tweaks, passing the plan was an incredible feat. Though the growing disparity between rising housing costs and stagnant incomes has made the need for bold action increasingly clear, even modest efforts to expand access to housing are routinely obstructed in other cities. “The number one problem in affordable housing today is supply. There are plenty of new homes being constructed—but not homes that are affordable for cooks, nurses, barbers, and other working families,” says Jeffery R. Hayward, Fannie Mae’s executive vice president and head of Multifamily. But how did Minneapolis do it? Though the civic and political landscape of the city may be unique, many of the approaches and techniques used to achieve change there are replicable elsewhere. Perhaps the most important lesson, say experts and those with firsthand experience in Minneapolis, is that we should think big.
According to Heather Worthington, Minneapolis’s director of Long Range Planning, the city took an unconventional approach to developing its 10-year plan, of which the zoning change is a part. Some cities single out one particular issue—such as affordable housing, the environment, or economic development—and present a draft plan for residents to essentially rubber-stamp. Instead, Worthington’s office first facilitated a wide-ranging, years-long, in-depth conversation about what residents want their city to be and the values they want it to reflect. Over the course of two years, she says, her office held about 200 meetings with residents and made a special effort to reach out to the most consistently marginalized groups. That process generated support across disparate communities for the comprehensive plan that was ultimately proposed: Minneapolis 2040. “I think if you start having a conversation about shared values, you end up in a much better place,” says Worthington. “I wish we’d done more, and in the future, that will be how we do everything.” To access the full story, click here.
3. Three Solar Projects Will Boost Clean Energy Effort
“Solar’s Got Talent” is the name given by an Oregon clean energy co-op for a collaboration with three Talent institutions that obtained $149,656 in state grants to help construct solar arrays with battery backups. Electrical energy generated will replace from 55% to nearly 100% of current consumption at the locations. The projects will help the city toward a goal of 100% clean energy use by 2030. “Oregon Clean Power Cooperative has been the real driver here. They put the proposals together, they figured out the funding. I give them a lot of credit,” said Ted DeLong, general manager of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The festival’s production building on Talent Avenue will get one of the arrays, along with and Jackson County Fire District 5 on Highway 99 and the city’s downtown civic center. Page 2 of 6
Oregon Clean Power Cooperative will also sell bonds to finance the three projects, which have an estimated cost of $504,500, to Oregon investors and will handle the design and construction. They have used a similar model for about a dozen installations in the state, with another halfdozen coming online this year. “What we offer is a unique possibility, a unique way for people to invest in renewable energy in their community and get their money back,” said Dan Orzech, general manager of Oregon Clean Power Cooperative. The group has found that many local residents are willing to invest in their local projects. Previous projects have given a four-percent rate of return and investment is limited to Oregonians. To access the full story, click here.
4. Trouble at the Inn
It was a Victorian mansion in every sense of the word, from the delicate china to the velvety cushions to the vintage black-and-white photos of women in chokers and men with manicured mustaches. It was like stepping into a long-forgotten era of hospitality, and soon it might be gone. A “For Sale” sign hangs in front of the Lion and the Rose Victorian Guest House in Northeast Portland.
The inn’s precarious state may seem confusing at first glance. There can be no denying the fact that Oregon is in the middle of a tourism boom. According to state tourism agency Travel Oregon, tourism spending has increased nearly 5% every year since 2011. In 2018 tourism was a $12 billion industry in Oregon. Although occupancy is slightly down this year from last, that probably has more to do with the increase in the number of hotels. Indeed, there are more hotels in Oregon than there have ever been, and more guest lodgings under construction every day. From the 33-story Ritz Carlton set to be built in downtown Portland to lodges and guest homes bubbling up in Bend and a luxury RV park coming to Coos Bay, one would be forgiven in thinking Oregon’s time-honored bed-and-breakfast tradition would be swept up in the rising tide. To access the full story, click here.
5. As Bering Sea Ice Melts, Alaskans, Scientists And Seattle’s Fishing Fleet Witness Changes ‘On A Massive Scale’
SAVOONGA, Alaska – Derek Akeya hopes for calm waters and a lucrative catch when fishing from a skiff in the Bering Sea that surrounds his island village. But on this windy late summer day, waves toss about the boat as Akeya stands in the bow, straining to pull up a line of herring-baited hooks from the rocky bottom.
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Instead of bringing aboard halibut – worth more than $5 a pound back on shore – this string of gear yields four large but far less valuable Pacific cod, voracious bottom feeders whose numbers in recent years have exploded in these northern reaches. “There’s a lot more of them now, and it’s more than a little bit irritating,” Akeya says. The cod have surged here from the south amid climatic changes unfolding with stunning speed. For two years, the Bering Sea has been largely without winter ice, a development scientists modeling the warming impacts of greenhouse-gas pollution from fossil fuels once forecast would not occur until 2050. This ice provided a giant platform for growing algae at the base of the food chain, and has been a significant contributor to the remarkable productivity of a body of water, stretching from Alaska to northeast Russia, that sustains some of the biggest fisheries on the planet. To access the full story, click here. 6. Fort Rock A Volcanic Wonder, Site Of Ancient Civilization In Central Oregon Tourists won't find much in the way of ancient history here in Oregon. There are no old temples or Neolithic dwellings; our oldest structures date back only to the 1850s. But we do have Fort Rock – a temple of sorts, crafted by nature – and the ancient human artifacts found inside. The rock formation in the high desert of central Oregon is named for its imposing size – almost 200 feet high and nearly 4,500 feet in diameter – and while its creation is far more interesting than the erection of a fort, the moniker does seem to fit. Fort Rock is a naturally occurring tuff ring, a kind of volcanic crater that forms when hot magma comes into contact with cold groundwater, creating violent explosions. Around 100,000 years ago, when magma bubbled up from the ground in central Oregon, the area was covered by a giant lake, now referred to as Fort Rock Lake. The little volcanic eruption met the muddy bottom of the lake and exploded, raining down blobs of lava, mud and ash that formed the ring. The lake eventually dried up and volcanic activity ceased, but Fort Rock soon became a beacon for early Native Americans traveling throughout the area. In 1938, a University of Oregon archeologist discovered ancient artifacts inside a cave near Fort Rock (called Fort Rock Cave). The artifacts included several pairs of sandals woven from sagebrush bark. Researchers have since determined that the sandals are between 9,200 and 10,500 years old, providing some of the earliest evidence for human occupation in North America. To access the full story, click here. Page 4 of 6
7. Failing Forestry: Oregon’s Forestry Department Is On An Unsustainable Path
Oregon’s state forests are supposed to be managed to deliver a balance of benefits, from sustainable timber harvests to habitat for fish and wildlife, from clean air and drinking water to well-managed recreation spaces. But the Oregon Department of Forestry is failing on almost every front. The reasons are numerous, but stem from structural issues exacerbated during the last decade by ineffective management at the agency, ineffectual oversight by its seven-member board and inaction by the governor and legislators.
The agency’s state forest division budget is almost entirely dependent on timber sales, a volatile revenue stream that it can’t control and is subject to market swings, political agendas and legal challenges. The division gets no money from taxpayers, but is asked to provide services that cost millions of dollars annually and generate little or no revenue. Meanwhile, two-thirds of the timber sales it does generate go directly to 15 counties and the taxing districts where the logging takes place. To access the full story, click here.
8. Diseases Are Spreading With Climate Change. Panic Doesn’t Have To.
When the first locally acquired case of Valley fever was diagnosed in Washington in 2010, health officials were stunned. The disease had only appeared in the state in patients who had recently traveled to the warm and dry corners of the Southwest, said Heather Hill, a communicable disease expert for the Benton-Franklin Health District in south-central Washington. But since that time, the disease has been found east of the Cascade Mountains, where an active agricultural industry, and hot, dry summers provide conditions for the disease to thrive. “It’s probably salted all across eastern Washington,” Hill said.
Now, new research suggests that Valley fever will continue to spread as the climate changes. This growth is a reflection of a greater trend across the nation as mosquito-borne West Nile virus and tick-borne Lyme disease also expand their range. As more Western communities come into contact with new diseases, public health officials are grappling with how to report risks without generating unnecessary fear. Recent history has shown that poor communication only aggravates the problem, leading to public panic and a loss of trust in the government’s ability to handle outbreaks. Today, people like Hill are striving to learn from past mistakes and develop better communication strategies as climate change fuels the spread of diseases. Valley fever, or coccidioidomycosis, is caused by the soil-dwelling fungus Coccidioides. It’s most common in hot, dry places like California’s San Joaquin Valley and Arizona. When activities like construction or plowing disturb the soil, the fungus can become airborne, releasing invisible spores that can lodge inside the lungs of humans and other animals. Over half of those infected will catch a mild illness that mimics the flu. But in rare cases — less than 1% — the infection spreads from the lungs to the rest of the body, with consequences that can be deadly. To access the full story, click here. Page 5 of 6
9. Medically Tailored Meals Need to Be Part of Healthcare
Community Servings is a non-profit organization based in Boston, Massachusetts that delivers made-from-scratch meals to critically ill and poor patients and their families. “Most of these people are very isolated and often forgotten,” David Waters, CEO of Community Servings tells Food Tank. Patients tend to lack the energy to shop and cook for themselves, leading them to skip meals or eat highly processed foods. According to Waters, home-delivered, medically tailored meals (MTMs) can help patients meet the dietary requirements and prevent their disease from deteriorating further. The organization began by feeding 30 people living with HIV/AIDS in two neighborhoods in Boston in the 1980s. “Food became the only medicine or the only intervention. To care for people was to give them calories, while their body was fighting off the infection,” says Waters to Food Tank. Waters was a manager at a four-star restaurant in Boston when he joined Community Servings as a volunteer. And it did not take him long to “really fall in love with” feeding people in need. In 2004, Community Servings expanded their services both to include more communities in Massachusetts and they are now covering other types of diseases. Today, Community Servings’ chefs, registered dietitians, and volunteers prepare about 2,500 meals a day and 650,000 meals a year for patients living in 21 communities across the state. To access the full story, click here.
10. WEBINAR - Using the IAP2 Spectrum for Online Engagement
(Tuesday, October 29, 2019 12pm PDT)
Join Bang the Table, City of Longmont and The Participation Company as we explore the IAP2 Spectrum and how it is being used in the online space for role clarity and to delineate engagement types; setting clear expectations for staff, council, and community. We will: - learn the origin of the IAP2 spectrum and what makes it so special - examine how organizations are using it for policy and in boots on the groundwork - look at how the use of the spectrum is evolving into best practice online - explore the City of Longmont, Colorado engagement strategy - identify what Engage Longmont has accomplished in its first six months - see other examples of the IAP2 spectrum and methods at work in the online space
To register for the webinar, click here.
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