Rural News
Making Economic Development Work In Rural Wisconsin
Wiscontext | Posted on August 29, 2018A major reason that economic development organizations carefully define rural areas is because priorities and potential initiatives in those communities can differ in some ways from their urban counterparts. Many rural areas, face challenges due to their smaller populations and locations that are often distant from services taken for granted in larger communities. "The big deals don't happen often," said Jim Bowman of Driftless Development, referencing major projects by large companies more common in urban and suburban areas. "So it's about what we have already and how to build on that. Our place-based aspects, land and environment are more important than in a city," he added.Bowman also noted, though, that the internet and social media have leveled the playing field between rural and urban economic development efforts, at least in some ways. Now, he said, organizations like Driftless Development can promote the positive aspects of their region to the same global audiences as those in more urban areas.
Near 2 million acres on fire in the United States
EurekAlert | Posted on August 25, 2018The West Coast of the United States is shrouded in smoke from the 110 large fires (this does not include smaller fires within each complex of fires) that have erupted across the region during this fire season. Over 1.9 million acres are or have been ablaze. Six new large fires were reported in Idaho, Nevada and Oregon over the weekend and eight large fires have been contained including the Ferguson Fire near Yosemite National Park in California.The weather concerns in the area include warmer than average temperatures that will continue in the west with diurnal winds and marginal overnight humidity recoveries. Isolated storms will be possible along and west of the Continental Divide in Montana and Wyoming. These storms could also bring more lightning strikes and more blazes to the area with increasingly dry conditions. A breezy easterly flow will blow across the western half of Montana and possibly northern Idaho that could possibly allow fires to spread farther. With the center of the high pressure area located mostly over southern California, the normal wind flow will be suppressed and the rain that might come to this area will be contained mainly in areas near the Mexican Border certainly not helping firefighting efforts. Further north, low pressure will bring cooler temperatures and possibly isolated storms to the Pacific Northwest.
Feral hogs invaded a NC preserve. These nature lovers started shooting back.
Charlotte News Observer | Posted on August 25, 2018When feral hogs invaded a 1,400-acre tract in southern Davie County, the owners, a Salisbury-based conservation group, came up with what it says is a unique solution: Sign up hunters to settle the score. Three Rivers Land Trust, formerly known as LandTrust for Central North Carolina, has battled hogs since acquiring the farmland between the Yadkin and South Yadkin rivers in 2012. Local people say the hogs were released there illegally a couple of years earlier. The Davie County hogs were ravishing local farmers’ corn and soybean crops, said Travis Morehead, the executive direct of Three Rivers.For years, the land trust has tried to control the hogs by luring them into corrals baited with shelled corn and by leasing hunting rights. Its conservation land manager, Cody Fulk, gets alerts on his cell phone when the hogs have taken the bait. Last year, when its hunting leases expired, the land trust tried a new approach that it says is unique among North Carolina conservation groups. It created a Sportsman Access Programthat lets hunters onto the property nine months of the year.Hunters pay $100 for four “draws” that allow them to hunt in the 200-acre block and week of their choice. About 100 hunters have signed up so far, but the program can accommodate up to 370.
Health Insurance Premiums Are Stabilizing
Pew Charitable Trust | Posted on August 22, 2018Despite Republican efforts to undermine the Affordable Care Act, insurance premiums will go up only slightly in most states where carriers have submitted proposed prices for next year. And insurance carriers are entering markets rather than fleeing them. The improvements stem from less political uncertainty over health policy, steeper than necessary increases this year, better understanding of the markets, improvements in care and a host of actions taken by individual states.Average proposed premiums for all levels of plans in California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Nevada, Ohio and Pennsylvania will increase less than 9 percent in 2019, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.By contrast, this year’s mid-priced plans increased an average of 37 percent nationally compared to 2017.In some states, 2019 premiums are projected to decrease.
A new analysis of New England's shrimp population doesn't bode well for the future of the long-shuttered fishery for the crustaceans
Columbian | Posted on August 22, 2018A new analysis of New England’s shrimp population doesn’t bode well for the future of the long-shuttered fishery for the crustaceans. The Maine-based shrimp fishery has been shut down since 2013 because of concerns such as warming ocean temperatures and poor survival of young. Scientists working with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission are assessing the shrimp stock, and so far it looks like little has changed. Results of the stock assessment “look fairly similar to what we’ve seen in previous years,” said Megan Ware, a fishery management plan coordinator with the Atlantic States. That means reopening the fishery any time soon could be a tough sell when regulators meet to discuss and vote on the subject this fall. The shrimp were a popular winter seafood item in New England and around the country before regulators shuttered the fishery. Fishermen sought them with trawler boats and traps in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, sometimes catching more than 10 million pounds in a single year.
Revised Law Frees Police in Illinois to Rescue Suffering Cats and Dogs
Chicago Tonight | Posted on August 22, 2018A previously unaddressed provision of Illinois’ animal care law has caused police officers to hesitate before taking steps to rescue suffering dogs or cats, but a bill signed into law last week should change that, experts say. The bill, which took effect Aug. 7, revises the state’s Humane Care for Animals Act to clarify the right of law enforcement to take custody of abandoned or lost dogs or cats that appear to be suffering from exposure to extreme heat, cold or another life-threatening condition.Although the law’s previous version gave police that right, it also required officers to take the animal immediately to an emergency veterinarian and obtain a diagnosis justifying the officer’s decision to take custody.
Fierce and Unpredictable: How Wildfires Became Infernos
The New York Times | Posted on August 22, 2018In the wild, these fire whirls are unpredictable and dangerous. An exceptionally powerful whirl in late July during California’s unrelenting Carr Fire whipped winds up to 143 miles per hour, roaring and spinning for 90 minutes and scooping up ash, debris and flames. It uprooted trees, stripped the bark off them, and downed power lines. The whirl, sometimes nicknamed a “firenado,” was so large it was picked up on Doppler radar. At the Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory, Dr. Finney and other researchers are recreating and studying whirls, as well as the paths that out-of-control blazes cut through millions of acres of forests and grassland in the West. The scientists are racing to develop a deeper understanding of the combined effects of a warmer climate, massive tree die-offs that feed the wildfires, and developments encroaching into the wilderness.
New Tool For Farmland Seekers
Growing Produce | Posted on August 22, 2018Beginning farmers have a powerful new tool in their digital toolbox. The Finding Farmland Calculator, developed by the National Young Farmers Coalition (NYFC) and Fathom Information Design, brings together innovative design and practical resources to help farmers overcome two top obstacles to starting a farm — access to land and capital.A decision-making tool designed specifically for farmers seeking land, the Finding Farmland Calculator makes it easy for farmers to understand and compare farm financing options, determine what they can afford, and prepare to work with a loan officer. The calculator was created in consultation with young farmers and farm service providers, such as Farm Credit, to fill a specific need: giving farmers free and easy access to information that will help them find affordable farm financing and successfully pay it back.
What Documentation Should I Have for Hunters on My Property?
Texas Agriculture Law Blog | Posted on August 22, 2018Hunting Lease. All landowners should require a hunting lease be signed by anyone coming onto the property. Liability Waiver. I always recommend that hunters or other recreational guests on the property sign a waiver of liability.Texas Agritourism Act Waiver. The Texas Agritourism Act is a relatively new statute, passed in 2015, which provides that agritourism entities are not liable for injuries to persons engaged in a recreational or educational activity on the property, so long as a sign is posted or specific release language is signed.
Midwest's legislators adopt resolution calling for greater mental-health supports for people living in rural areas
CSG Midwest | Posted on August 16, 2018Myriad signs point to the need for better connecting farmers to services that help them deal with stress, depression and other mental health challenges. First, there is the history of the problem: In a study examining various industries between 1992 and 2010, The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health found that farm operators and workers had the highest suicide rate. Second, many rural U.S. communities struggle with shortages of mental health professionals: 65 percent don’t have a psychiatrist and 47 percent lack a psychologist, according to a 2018 study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Third, many of today’s agricultural producers are dealing with high levels of stress, due to factors such as low commodity prices and decreased farm incomes.“The volatility we have seen recently is unprecedented,” North Dakota Rep. Michael Brandenburg says. The burdens can prove overwhelming for some, he says, noting that one of his neighbors committed suicide when faced with the financial collapse of a farm operation.The 1980s are often cited as a time of failing agricultural businesses and related stresses, but today’s suicide rates for male farmers are 50 percent higher than they were during that tumultuous decade. “Now is the time to start addressing rural suicide and mental health issues,” Illinois Rep. Norine Hammond says.That is why she and other legislators pushed in July for passage of a resolution urging adoption of the federal FARMERS FIRST Act.