April 2010

Cross-Posted from the White House Blog.

Rural areas are home to about 50 million Americans and are an essential part of the overall economy.  As the President embarks on the next stops on the White House to Main Street Tour in Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri, the CEA today released a report that surveys the current state of rural America and describes the Obama Administration’s policies for strengthening the rural economy.  The map below shows the distribution of rural counties across the county.

Molly Lambert, Vermont State Director for USDA Rural Development, was joined by Jenny Nelson from U.S. Senator Bernie Sander’s Office, State Officials, and Lyndon Town Officials for an Earth Day tree planting celebration and to announce the award of a USDA Rural Development Water and Environmental Program grant to upgrade the local wastewater treatment plant.

Written by E.J. Stapler, Rural Development Public Information Coordinator, Georgia

For more than two years the Yerington Paiute Tribe has been unable to drink the water from its taps due to arsenic and uranium contamination.  Furthermore, the tribe and its lessee, Rite of Passage training academy, were under pressure from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for being out of compliance with the Clean Water Act, and substantial fines were looming.

By Harold Alford, Public Information Coordinator, Kansas

Last week as we celebrated the anniversary of Earth Day, we remembered that it is critical that we protect our environment for future generations. In each of the past 40 years, communities and individuals throughout our Nation have taken one day out of the year, Earth Day, to celebrate and initiate actions that preserve our planet.

In 1999, Yreka High School in Yreka, California received funds from a Forest Service Grant (Partners in Flight Program) to enhance their agriculture and natural resource program and provide wildlife habitat on school grounds. These funds were used to build a songbird garden, purchase fencing, materials for an irrigation system, and a greenhouse structure. The students and instructors constructed the fence, irrigation system and the greenhouse.

  Written by Amy Mund,  Public Information Coordinator USDA Rural Development-Colorado

Morning fog gave way to sunny skies yesterday in Hillsborough, New Jersey, on Earth Day as representatives from Duke Farms and NRCS met with families of Duke Farms employees, local leaders and members of the press to highlight the conservation work being done at the farm.

By Katherine Belcher, USDA Rural Development Public Information Coordinator

Written by Sam Cuenca, District Wildlife Biologist, Region 5 Naturewatch Coordinator, Scott Salmon River Ranger District