2012

Recently, in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, USDA Rural Development hosted a “Partners in Building Community Forum” in which the primary focus was to generate ideas that would promote job growth in Wisconsin. Over the past three years, USDA Rural Development has helped to create or save more than 1450 jobs in Southwestern Wisconsin alone.

The forum explored regional efforts and partnerships, in conjunction with USDA Rural Development’s assistance, that have contributed to economic development, job creation/sustainability, and the expansion of necessary community services, on a regional level, in Southwestern Wisconsin.

Last Saturday, First Lady Michelle Obama announced the Communities on the Move Video challenge and invited faith-based, community, and other non-profit organizations to create inspiring videos about their efforts to reverse the trend of childhood obesity. The challenge will recognize community efforts that promote healthy lifestyles for kids by encouraging nutritious eating through USDA’s MyPlate icon, increasing physical activity, and/or ensuring access to healthy, affordable foods.

“America’s faith communities play a crucial role in guiding and strengthening not only our spiritual health, but our emotional and physical health as well,” said First Lady Michelle Obama. “Over the past two years, I’ve been inspired by all of the faith leaders and congregations who have taken action to get active and eat healthier, and so we’re launching our Let’s Move! video contest to highlight some of the best examples.  I know there’s so much incredible work being done – and I can’t wait to hear some of these stories first-hand at the White House.”

Not many people can say that they took six months off from work to hike from one country to another. U.S. Forest Service civil engineer Alex Asai did.

A Forest Service research team has received a $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Environmental Security Technology Certification Program to begin research using sophisticated topographic models to identify areas within dry forests that have the most potential for ecological restoration.

Did you know that USDA helps in bringing Valentine’s Day cheer every year? With the help of Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection, USDA’s Animal and Plant health Inspection Service (APHIS) safely imports millions of cut flowers into the US free from harmful plant pests and diseases from Jan 1 to Feb 14^th in preparation for the Valentine’s Season.

USDA Rural Development Housing Administrator Tammye Trevino and Rural Development Louisiana State Director Clarence Hawkins kick-started the new year by holding a White House Business Council Stakeholder’s meeting in Luling, Louisiana, located in St. Charles Parish near New Orleans.  The focus of the stakeholder’s meeting was rural housing.  The focus fit perfectly in line with Administrator Trevino’s primary reason for visiting Louisiana.

Administrator Trevino, along with Bryan Hooper, Deputy Administrator of USDA’s Multi-Family Housing Division each served as presenters on the Council for Affordable and Rural Housing (CARH) 2012 mid-year meeting in New Orleans.  CARH is a national nonprofit trade organization focusing on issues affecting rural housing.  The theme for this year’s meeting was “Transforming Rural Housing: Innovative Tools and Dynamic Initiatives for Tomorrow.”

On January 9, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack put forth USDA’s “Blueprint for Stronger Service” which focuses on streamlining operations and cutting costs throughout the Department.

The “Blueprint for Stronger Service” calls for USDA to close 259 domestic offices, facilities and laboratories, as well as taking business-related actions such as consolidating cell phone plans across the Department, standardizing civil rights training and purchase of cybersecurity products, and centralizing activities related to civil rights, human resources, procurement and property management.

For the seventh year in a row, thinkers and leaders from the U.S. Forest Service will team up with partners across the country to discuss sustainable operations affecting the agency.

The 7th Annual Forest Service Sustainable Operations Summit will take place in Sacramento Feb. 14 – 16. Hosted by the Forest Service’s Pacific Southwest region (California, Hawaii and the Pacific Islands) and the agency’s Pacific Southwest Research Station, the summit will be attended virtually by 90 percent of the participants from around the country.

Partnering with a local Alaskan native community, the U.S. Forest Service has for the first time published a dual language booklet in English and a native Alaskan language, Yup’ik, to help educate the greater community in Southwestern Alaska on invasive species.

Titled “Protecting Southwestern Alaska from Invasive Species – A Guide in the English and Yup’ik languages,” the Forest Service’s Alaska Region and the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies aim to explain invasive species concerns unique to Southwestern Alaska, which is home to a large community of the indigenous Yup’ik people. The title of the booklet translated into Yup’ik is, “Kellutellra Alaskam Ungalaqlirnera Eniaritulinun Itrallerkaaneng - Maaryartekaq Kassat Yup’iit-llu Qaneryaraigtun.”

It was a sunny and warm day in Frisco, Texas, on January 13. You would never know that it was the dead of winter. It was a perfect day to drive from Dallas to the suburbs well north of the city, to attend the GRITS Regional Summit on Childhood Obesity. Yes, that’s GRITS. No, not the go-to southern breakfast food, but Girls Raised In The South, hosted by Sisterbration, a nonprofit dedicated to prevention education for women and girls living in the South.

Sisterbration partnered with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office on Women’s Health and the Dallas Area Coalition to Prevent Childhood Obesity for an excellent day of awareness and education against childhood obesity. Shannon Jones, our section chief of policy for Southwest Region Special Nutrition Programs, gave a presentation on food insecurity, and detailed some of USDA’s programs that create a safety net against hunger.