Visit the National Youth Assembly website.

National Rural Youth Assembly
Call for Nominations

The National Rural Assembly will host a National Rural Youth Assembly on April 22-25, 2010, and seeks 50 young adults from rural communities across the country who will gather to discuss the issues they see as critical to their lives and communities.

The National Rural Assembly Steering Committee asks rural organizations and leaders to nominate young people who are interested in rural issues, invested in strengthening and making an impact in their local communities.

The Rural Youth Assembly will engage young people on the key policy areas of the Rural Assembly including the quality of education, stewardship of our natural resources, investment in our communities, and the health of rural people.  Youth will represent the diversity of rural America in geographies, race, cultures, genders, incomes and sexual orientations. 

Criteria for participation:

1. Participant must 18-25 years old and represent a rural community.
2. Be interested in rural issues and want to work with other young people to impact their community. We are looking for passionate leaders that care about their communities and that represent a range of rural experience across income, race, culture, gender, sexual orientation, geography, and educational background.
3. Maintain a positive working relationship with their nominating organization or mentor and be committed to returning home and continuing to serve their community.
4. Provide a letter of recommendation from a sponsoring organization or community leader such as a faculty member, program director, clergy member, or mentor.
5. Complete the application form with a 1-2 page essay (see application and essay questions below). The essay should be typed, with 12-point font. All application packets are due Friday, February 26th by 5 p.m. EDT.
6. Be committed to the integrity of our work over the three day event, willing to uphold the National Rural Youth Assembly values statement, and engage with the National Rural Assembly’s efforts.

Our resources and space are limited, so please make your participant selections carefully based on this criteria.

Download the application packet.

The Rural Policy and Research Institute (RUPRI) has prepared a snapshot of the 2010 federal budget proposal that covers topics of particular concern to members of the National Rural Assembly:
• Regional and Rural Economic Development
• Broadband Deployment
• Health Care
• Renewable Energy
• Infrastructure
• Conservation and Natural Resources
• Community Development

RUPRI’s summarization also includes an appendix which outlines proposed budget cuts for a wide range of rural programs.

RUPRI is a National Rural Assembly member and part of the Assembly’s Steering Committee. Read RUPRI’s snapshot of the President’s budget.

Also read the full text of the President’s budget.

Read also the Office of Management and Budget key issues fact sheet, Standing with Rural America.

The National Rural Assembly joined the Rural Voices for Conservation Coalition (RVCC) for their annual policy week in Washington, D.C.,April 26-30, 2009. The RVCC represents a coalition of conservation groups from mostly western states whose policy recommendations around stewardship of our nation’s natural resources coincide strongly with the Rural Assembly recommendations.
Groups arrived in D.C. with proposed priorities for the new Congress and Administration, highlighting priorities that address rural green job creation, climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, and opportunities offered by the use of woody biomass for thermal heat production.
A midweek reception, co-sponsored by the Rural Assembly, included a keynote address by Acting Deputy Under-secretary of the USDA Office of Rural Development, Cheryl Cook.
To learn more about the RVCC week in Washington, visit their website.
Read the RVCC issue papers.

The 2008 Farm Bill included an important new program to help communities
acquire and manage locally important forestlands as community forests. The Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program (CFOSCP), which the U.S. Forest Service will administer, provides for local governments, tribes and non-profit organizations to get federal matching grants for full fee purchase of forestlands. The Forest Service is currently in the process of writing rules for the CFOSCP, and hope these will be done in time for the program to be funded in the 2010 federal budget.

The Communities Committee is working with several other organizations on
policy efforts to support this program. As part of this effort the committee is looking for examples of communities and/or projects that would benefit from the CFOSCP. If you are involved in such a project please fill out a Community Project Profile, or if you know of someone working on a project please pass this along to them.

To learn more about the new program, click here

Fill out a Community Forest Project Profile

This morning’s NPR broadcast contained two stories of special interest to rural Americans.

First, Howard Berkes reports on the economic stimulus package, which contains $7.2 billion for building out high-speed internet access for rural and underserved communities.

The piece also quotes former FCC chief economist Michael Katz, who calls rural areas “environmentally hostile, energy inefficient, and weak in innovation.”

Dee Davis, president of the Center for Rural Strategies, responds to Katz’ comments, and Bill Bishop, co-editor of the Daily Yonder, describes high-speed Internet access as a basic right, similar to telephone service.

Text and audio of the story are available here.

To see the Daily Yonder’s analysis of rural broadband penetration, visit www.dailyyonder.com/broadband-connection-highs-and-lows-across-rural-america.

Second, this morning’s broadcast contained coverage of the nearly $3 billion stimulus measure going to Native American tribes. Native American leaders hope funds will help create much needed jobs and build basic infrastructure.

Text and audio of the story are available here.

Over the past few days, rural broadband has become a hot button issue in the debate over the spending portion of the economic stimulus package. The New York Times carried a front-page article in yesterday’s paper, entitled “Internet Money in Fiscal Plan: Wise or Waste?” The article takes issue with the $9 billion stimulus measure to expand broadband Internet service to rural and underserved areas, singling out the measure as a possible “cyberbridge to nowhere,” and refocusing the debate from issues of equity and access to warnings of wasteful government spending.

This debate also has implications for a rural broadband amendment scheduled to reach the Congressional floor this week. Sentator Harkin and Senator Brown’s rural Broadband Amendment, offers to transfer half of the $9 billion that would go to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) under the stimulus plan to the Rural Utilities Service at the Department of Agriculture (USDA). They argue this change is needed to ensure that rural residents are not left behind as critical broadband services are expanded.

At the 2008 gathering of the National Rural Assembly, participants identified broadband access as a top policy priority and included it in its formal policy agenda for the new administration. The National Rural Assembly recognizes broadband access as a crucial infrastructural necessity which will enable rural communities to participate fully in the nation’s democracy, economy, culture, and society.

As Congress moves to pass an economic stimulus package that is inching toward one trillion dollars, rural broadband spending is now singled out as an example of “the worst kind of mistakes that lawmakers could make.” The National Rural Assembly encourages you to learn more about this important policy issue and become engaged in the debate over rural broadband access.

Below are resources to get involved in this important policy debate.

Wally Bowen’s op-ed in the Daily Yonder

Broadband component of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

Harkin-Brown Broadband Amendment

New York Times article, “Internet Money in Fiscal Plan: Wise or Waste?”

Rural battleground moved toward Obama during October

(Read the full story on the Rural Strategies’ website.)

A poll of rural voters in battleground states shows that this critical group of voters moved toward Democrat Barack Obama during a three-week period in October.

Democrat analyst and pollster Anna Greenberg of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research said that the poll shows erosion in Republican support among rural voters and that this is a good sign for Obama.

“Barack Obama is running very competitively among this group of rural voters, and along with his general advantage in metropolitan areas, this will be enough to put him over the top” she said. “We’ve been saying that the Democratic candidate has to lessen the Republican advantage among rural voters, and Obama has done even better than that. He’s pulled the race to a tie among these voters.”

Republican strategist and poll consultant Bill Greener agreed that to win the race McCain must perform better among rural voters than was the case during the three week period covered by the study. However, Greener said there are already indications McCain is making up ground with rural voters.

“During the three weeks of the study, economic issues greatly impacted support for Sen. McCain among rural voters,” Greener said. “But I do not think you can use this data to state where things stand today. The good news is recent, snap-shot data from other polls indicates to me that Sen. McCain is indeed recouping support among rural voters. To win, Sen. McCain must maintain strong support from rural voters. That is simple arithmetic.”

George W. Bush won among rural voters in battleground states by 15 points in 2004, and that margin was critical in his victory in key states such as Ohio.

Read more about the poll in the media:
National Public Radio
Denver Post
Reuters

McCain leads by 10 in rural battleground

(Read the full story on the Rural Strategies’ website.)

Republican John McCain leads Democrat Barack Obama by 10 points among rural voters in battleground states, according to a poll released Sept. 22, 2008, by the Center for Rural Strategies on behalf of the National Rural Assembly.

Among likely voters in rural parts of 13 swing states, 51 percent favored McCain while 41 percent supported Obama.

Those numbers are virtually unchanged since the last Rural Strategies/National Rural Assembly poll in May. But other measurements in the poll indicate that McCain’s popularity is rising with rural voters. The poll also shows Sarah Palin was a popular running-mate pick among rural voters.

“Every trend line indicates that John McCain is headed toward the level of support among rural voters that will be required for a victory in November,” said Bill Greener, a Republican strategist and advsier for the poll. “On every issue and personal measure, Sen. McCain showed considerable positive movement — the economy, handling of taxes, being on your side, bringing about the right kind of change and sharing values — all demonstrate that Sen. McCain is headed in the right direction.”

Democratic pollster Anna Greenberg of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, which conducted the poll on behalf of Rural Strategies, pointed out that McCain’s overall improvement did not translate into more voters preferring him in the November election.

Read more about the poll in the media:
National Public Radio
Denver Post
Daily Yonder

TO: National Rural Assembly Delegates
FROM: Rural Assembly Steering Committee
RE: Call to Action! A Rural Advocacy Packet

Dear Delegate:

The Rural Assembly Steering Committee thanks you for your commitment to the National Rural Assembly!

With the Presidential election fast approaching, the Rural Assembly is taking steps to put the rural policy messages and recommendations gathered at the Assembly into the hands of campaign teams, media, and elected officials. To jump-start this process, we’re asking you to help us disseminate this information.

Attached to this memo is a “Rural Advocacy Packet” which we hope will enable you to easily transfer the messages and recommendations from the Assembly to your networks, constituencies, and legislators. Included in this packet:

1. A two page document of clear policy opportunities borne out of the four Policy Opportunity Snapshots and recommendations from Assembly delegates

2. A list of messages to put to your candidates, presidential campaigns, and elected officials

3. A template of a Letter to the Editor which promotes the values and messages expressed in the Rural Compact

4. A copy of the Rural Compact itself

These are preliminary steps in a much larger campaign, and your commitment to the Policy Committee will be utilized more fully soon. Please be on the lookout for the 2008 Rural Assembly Final Report as well as the official Federal Rural Policy Agenda to be presented before the new administration in 2009!

Thank you for your efforts,
The National Rural Assembly Steering Committee

Interested in being part of the planning process for the 2009 National Rural Assembly? E-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for information on how to get involved.