Rural Matters Conservation Matters

?What is rural

The federal government " " defines rural as counties

with less than50,000 residents

Or any area that is not defined " " as urban

Others say proximity to an airport defines “rural”

: . .Source www headwatersinstitute org

Me tro : Has a major airport

Conne cte d: 1 hour drive to the nearest major airport

:Is o la te d 1 More than hour drive to the nearest major airport

…The dictionary says rural is

• Relating to or characteristic of the country or people who live

in the country• ; Relating to farming agricultural

:Note 1% . . Less than of US population claims farming as ( 2% )occupation and only actually live on farms

…Did you know

80% Rural America comprises of the’ nation s landscape

96% of land in federal ownership is the responsibility of the Forest Service

and Bureau of Land Management

12.6% The national poverty rate is In rural America

t he 14.5% poverty rate is

189 200 of the poorest counties are rural

1.5 In the same period million rural workers lost their jobs

’ 16% That s ’ of the nation s workforce

9.3 Nationwide million workers were displaced between1997 2003and

One in three public schools

in the country are located in rural areas

74.7% of poor rural children receive

-free or reduced price lunches

: , , Source Unite d State s Department of Agriculture Economic Re s e arch Se rvice Economic Information Bulle tin 1 , 2 0 0 5Numbe r March

18.5% of rural people under the age of65 ’ don t have health insurance

: Source : Health Care in Rural America ASeries of Features from the Center for Rural Affa irs Newsletter, , 2004. Center for Rural Affairs

68 percent come from families where - there is at least one full time worker

30 percent are children

- Almost two thirds come from families 37,000of four who live on less than $

4 Over the last decades Oregon and Washington have seen a

53% decline in forest productsemployment

Employment, forest products industries Oregon & Washington, 1965-2007

0.020.040.060.080.0

100.0120.0140.0160.0180.0

1965

1968

197

1

197

4

1977

1980

198

3

198

6

198

9

199

2

199

5

1998

2001

2004

2007

Year

Th

ou

san

ds

of

peo

ple

50 75% Tribes own and manage to

- of all non renewable energy resources

( , , , )coal oil uranium and natural gas

25.3% of Native Americans are ---living in poverty

’ 537,000 that s people

2008 The Election

17% Nationwide of the voters were rural

2008 Presidential Election Results in ( ) - All Rural Non metropolitan Counties

Sources: CBSA Status: OMB and U.S. Census BureauCounty election results: New York Times

Obama (454 counties)McCain (1,570 counties)

?Is rural America turning purple

?What about the rural landscape

23% (1.24 ) million acres have burned … in California alone so far

5,270,693 acres 2008burned in

. . US fires release about290 million metric tons

of carbon dioxide a year

: . . " 2 : " Source Christine Wiedinmyer and Jason C Neff Estimates of CO from fires in the United States Implications for carbon management Carbon ; Balance and Management Personal communica tion and math skills of Lynn Jungwirth

.. 5 equal to million cars driving for one year

55% of all wildfire suppression expenditures occurred in Forest

5 6Service Regions and

17% Only of fire hazard reduction activity occurred

in these two regions

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

PacificNorthwest

Region

PacificSouthwest

Region

NorthernRegion

Intermountain Region

SouthwestRegion

RockyMountainRegion

SouthernRegion

EasternRegion

Suppression Spending

Acres Treated

Percentages of USFS Annual Average Fire Suppression Spending (1995-2004) to Acres Treated for Fire Hazard Reduction (2003-2007)

Americans pay more 138 than $ billion per year to

deal with the problem

2006 In5.3 million acres of

tree mortality was due to insects anddisease

Recreational anglers 592 spent $ million within

50 miles of their Forest Service fishing holes

, , Pacific salmon steelhead - and sea run cutthroat

stocks are at risk ofextinction

50 90 Between to million acres of Forest Service Land need

hazardous fuels treatment

2007 In the Forest Service completed3 million acres

of hazardous fuels reduction work needed

• 10,000 Produce mega watts of power• 49,000 Which would create jobs

: Source WGAand personal communication and math from Lynn Jungwirth

If we thinned and reduced fuels on

6.6 :million acres annually we could

…By the way wood waste takes up

20% of rural landfills

467 There is $ million back log in recreation site and facility needs on

Forest Service lands

192 $ million is generated in annual federal income tax revenues from, , hunting fishing and wildlife viewing

’ That s around three acres per minute

, Every day America loses more than

4,000 acres of open space to

development

2007, In the federal government 1.4 9.3 spent $ billion as

million acres burned

’ 1 5 0 0 That s $ an acre

1998 In the federal government spent307 $ million on wildfire suppression and

1.3 million acres burned

’ 3 0 0 That s $ an acre

Source: National Interagency Fire Center

8 There is an $ billion back log in road restoration and maintenance

needs on Forest Service lands

The Forest Service spent over1.6 $ billion on fire

…suppression this year

Congress still has not passed a wildfire cost containment bill

?What can we do

H a v e a s t r a t e g y

Be Prepared

Se nd a cle ar me s s ageBelieve in solutions

Collaborate

?Is there any hope

Rural Voices

for

Conservatio

n