Stewardship of Natural Resources
Appalachia landscape (Photo: Chad Stevens)

Stewardship of Natural Resources

Eighty percent of our country’s land is rural. It is a heritage and a trust. We all have a responsibility to protect the environment and develop and sustain our natural resources in ways that strengthen rural communities for the long haul. Good environmental practices and responsive public land management provide the opportunity to promote energy independence, grow healthy food in a sustainable manner, mitigate climate change, and develop stronger natural-resource-based economies.

The National Rural Assembly has identified six policy areas that must be addressed in order to reach these goals: sustainable rural development, global climate change, renewable energy, agricultural production, public lands management and restoration, and protection of private lands. Progress is being made on a national level in addressing these policy areas, but more is needed.

Sustainable Rural Development

Sustainable rural development promotes the use of local assets to create diversified economies, green jobs, value-added products, and recognition of the integration of rural and urban systems. It means looking to natural assets to power economic development and creating and supporting local infrastructure and businesses so dollars spent will circulate in the local economy bringing benefit to the community. This is particularly crucial in these uncertain economic times.

To support this type of development, we must create programs and incentives for integrated approaches to natural resource issues. This includes assistance to low-income and under-served communities, economic development policies that couple enterprise development with environmental stewardship, and integrated business models focusing on environmental services and products. Policies need to reform government delivery, funding, and decision-making to support a more holistic and integrated approach to environmental and natural resource issues, so social and economic objectives are also met.

Recommendations:

  • Advocate for full funding of technical assistance and grants within the land management agencies and Department of Energy to assist rural communities and enterprises in building their capacity to protect, restore, and steward public and private lands.
  • Ensure support for the development of community-scaled value-added products, processing facilities, and business models in rural communities.
  • Ensure that laws aimed at protecting those who work on public and private lands are fully enforced and that job training is available.
  • Create a standard definition of "green jobs."

Climate Change

The potential impacts of climate change on rural communities and landscapes may have significant consequences, including loss of life and livelihoods and degradation of natural resources and ecosystem services. Rural communities and landscapes have roles to play in preparing for and adapting to the impacts of climate change, and in reducing greenhouse gas emissions through mitigation measures. We must ensure that federal policies and investment aimed at addressing the growing interest in climate change integrate environmental and social equity objectives, provide access to existing and new technologies and markets for rural communities, consider the contributions of rural landscapes, and include rural communities in climate adaptation strategies.

Recommendations:

  • Ensure that public and private forest lands and grass lands are adequately integrated into climate change policy proposals.
  • Create opportunities for rural communities and businesses to create, comment on, and engage in discussions about pending climate change legislation.

Renewable Energy

There is broad recognition that we need to change our energy production and use to focus more on energy conservation and self-reliance, including electricity, thermal energy (heat), and liquid biofuels. Rural communities are uniquely placed to capture wind, solar, and biomass for the generation of energy. In addition to promoting renewable energy production, policies need to be based on a careful analysis of the environmental and social impact of these alternatives across their full lifecycle. We must also pay close attention to the impact of global climate change, diminishing energy supplies, and rising costs on Native American tribes, as they own and manage about 50 to 75 percent of all non-renewable energy resources (coal, oil, uranium, natural gas).

In the area of renewable energy, we must ensure the development of dispersed renewable energy production systems by developing technologies that are community-scaled and linked to environmental stewardship; increasing rural enterprise access to markets; supporting research that integrates energy production, fair market access, and environmental improvement; and supporting energy conservation and efficiency programs.

Recommendations:

  • Advocate for the passage of energy production tax credits for all renewable energy sources, including thermal energy and community-scaled energy applications that are scaled to small- and medium-sized enterprises.
  • Advocate for the inclusion of thermal energy as part of the federal Renewable Portfolio Standards.
  • Increase federal investment, through the Department of Energy and U.S. Forest Service Woody Biomass Grant program, for applied research in the development and use of biofuels (including biodiesel) from agricultural and wood residues that are community-scaled and explicitly address environmental concerns.
  • Create a "Rural Community Energy Independence Act," which will support the development of technologies, systems, and markets needed to advance renewable energy production and energy conservation in rural America.

Agriculture

Consumers are becoming more aware of what they eat and are making choices accordingly. There is a growing demand for "local," sustainably produced foods. We must ensure regional food security, while supporting food that is sustainably produced and consumed in the same region – rather than products produced globally at the lowest price possible. Past public policies and investments have helped create global, industrial food systems that have broken the connections between family farms, sustainably produced non-commodity crops, and local and regional food security. We must focus on developing integrated systems of sustainable production and distribution that will enable food producers, distributors, and consumers to support community-scaled sustainable agriculture.

Recommendations:

  • Support retention and development of family farms by lowering the cap on subsidy payments in traditional commodity programs.
  • Develop federal procurement guidelines to increase purchase and sourcing of local and regional agricultural products.
  • Support on-farm energy production equipment and energy efficiency improvements, especially those that encourage state rebate programs.
  • Establish food and grain reserves to assure food security in times of crop failure and high prices, and less volatility in farm commodity markets.
  • Advocate for the enactment of the Farm Flex program, which would reform the "base acres" system to allow fruits and vegetables to be grown on base acres without penalties, while maintaining eligibility for future direct payment subsidies.
  • Increase funding for the Community Food Projects Program.
  • Develop and support federal grant programs to spur farmers’ markets and other farmer-to-consumer marketing innovations.
  • Promote investments in research and extension to support beginning farmers, new and ethnic markets, sustainable agriculture, and on-farm energy production and conservation.

Public Lands

There is a need for clear direction and commitment to approaches that will result in comprehensive, integrated restoration, and long-term maintenance of our nation’s public lands and community vitality. There is a need for new legislation that will provide the authority and direction to land management agencies to build a comprehensive and consistent program of work around restoration and sustainable management that is structured to benefit, and meaningfully involve, rural public land communities.

We must improve public land management and restoration through collaborative, place-based programs; a focus on restoration and ecological integrity, not just out-puts; improved social and economic conditions in rural public land communities; incentives for developing markets for traditional underutilized or low-value materials; small and local businesses contract awards; and collaboration with diverse stakeholders.

Recommendations:

  • Ensure that Congress appropriates funding to support full implementation of the Forest Landscape Restoration Act, which was passed as part of the Omnibus Public Lands bill in 2009.
  • Develop and advocate for new legislation to support sustainable forest management.
  • Develop and advocate for new legislation to authorize and fund the land management agencies to provide technical and financial assistance to rural communities and businesses.
  • Advocate for the reauthorization of stewardship contracting and related policies to ensure rural communities, businesses, and workers have access to safe, durable, and family-wage jobs.

Private Lands

Privately owned forests, ranches, and other agricultural lands are vital components of maintaining a healthy, biologically rich working landscape that can support rural economies and provide wildlife habitat, clean water, recreational opportunities, and other valuable ecosystem services. Conversion of working landscapes has detrimental consequences for rural communities and urban areas that depend on ecosystem services and the products they produce. Federal policies and investments need to be constructed to ensure that our nation’s private lands are protected and can continue to play a vital role providing the numerous ecosystem services and products we all depend on.

We can protect private lands through full fee and easement acquisition; support of good stewardship and best practices; incentives for private landowners to maintain open space and working farms, ranches, and forests; and investment in community ownership and management of working lands.

Recommendations:

  • Advocate for full funding of technical assistance and private landowner education programs such as the Forest Stewardship Program of State and Private Forestry in the USDA Forest Service State, and the Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program of the Natural Resource Conservation Service.
  • Support existing and newly proposed programs such as Forest Legacy and the Community Forests and Open Space Conservation Program.
  • Create tax credits to encourage Timberland Investment Management Organizations (TIMOs) to sell their land to communities.
  • Fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund to support conservation of private (and public) lands.
  • Fund and implement stewardship, incentive, and economic development programs in the Farm Bill.