wisconsin

Last night, I stopped by the Colbert Report to talk about the critical role the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plays in promoting healthy eating.  I am familiar with Stephen’s unfortunate bear phobia, so Smokey Bear  was asked to stay back at headquarters. The topics of hunger and nutrition, however, are no laughing matter, so I was excited to have the opportunity to discuss these important issues with Stephen and his viewers.  

The Yorgey family was tired of moving from place to place and watching their money constantly going towards rent payments. They wanted to be able to have a permanent place of their own for their growing family to live. But, the idea of that actually coming true seemed like a distant dream. Thanks to a new USDA Rural Development and Southeast Wisconsin Housing Corporation (SEWHC) partnership program, their dream has now become a reality.

When summertime begins to transition to autumn in northern Wisconsin, towards the end of August and early September, Native Americans wait with anticipation for the Wild Rice Moon, the sign it is harvest time for the grain of such cultural importance to local tribes.

Every summer since I was four years old, I’ve been returning to a small glacial lake in Northern Wisconsin where my family had summer cottages. As a child, I’d spend all day swimming in the lake that was darkened by the tannins secreted by the surrounding hemlock trees. The lake was often so cold that my lips turned purple, but not enough to break a determined child’s spirit.

Most people do not realize that more than half the water in the United States comes from watersheds managed on forests. Used in homes, on ranches, in industry and for energy production, water resources in forests provide important services to people, as well as habitat for a wide variety of aquatic life. Our rapidly changing climate, however, is challenging our watersheds with both wet and dry extremes - more severe droughts, more frequent and larger floods, more soil moisture stress and lower stream flows during the dry season, less of a snowpack reservoir, and other effects. In a unique pilot project, 11 national forests around the country are assessing the vulnerability of their water resources and watersheds to such changes.

Helene’s Hilltop Orchard, LLC, a family destination and small business in Merrill, Wis., was recently selected as a recipient of a U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Renewable Energy for America Program Grant. A $19,750 grant will be used to help lower the energy costs of running their rural business.

USDA Agriculture Secretary Vilsack kicked off the third in a series of five workshops on competition in agriculture today. Speaking to a packed house of more then 500 small and large dairy farmers, FFA members and members of the public at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Vilsack highlighted the struggles of those living in rural America and the need to explore the appropriate role for antitrust and regulatory enforcement in the dairy industry.

By Kelly Edwards, USDA Rural Development, Wisconsin

The Village of Gays Mills lies in a valley among the steeply chiseled bluffs of the region known as the Driftless Area of Southwest Wisconsin, along the banks of the Kickapoo River. The people are known for growing apples and holding the Annual Apple Festival.

The small village of 625, nearly flooded off the map twice in the past few years.

Nearly 80 people gathered at Chippewa Valley Technical College in Eau Claire, Wis. to participate in the Forum for the Future . . . Pathways to Wisconsin Job Creation event.

The job forum, co-hosted by USDA Rural Development, Chippewa Valley Technical College and USDA Farm Service Agency, primarily focused on generating ideas and creating a blueprint to help initiate job growth in Wisconsin.

The Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest new Supervisor's Office in Rhinelander, Wisc., was re-engineered with "green" features. The use of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding helped complete its restoration.  Here students from the USDA Forest Service’s Blackwell Job Corps Center help with the restoration on this 3 year project.