News

4:00PM EST

Attendance
Pam Hardy – 1000 Friends of Oregon
Sam Haffner – 1000 Friends of Oregon
Gabe Schneider – Metropolitan Planning Council
Don Loock – Piedmont Environmental Council
Alia Anderson – Reconnecting America
Jacky Grimshaw – Center for Neighborhood Technology
Deanna Smith – Idaho Smart Growth
Alison Van Gorp – Cascade Land Conservancy
Larry Orman – GreenInfo Network
Dan Stonington – Cascade Land Conservancy
Kevin Mills – Rails to Trails
Kelly Carneal – 1000 Friends of MD
Adam Synder – Conservation Alabama Foundation
Dru Schmidt-Perkins – 1000 Friends of MD
Geoff Anderson, Elisa Ortiz, Kate Rube, Rayla Bellis – SGA

Federal Policy Updates (Kate Rube)
For questions about transportation legislation (not covered in the update), contact Kate.

• Federal budget and funding for sustainable communities program: President’s budget released early Feb. including several sustainable communities-related programs in HUD, DOT, and EPA.
  • $150 million to HUD in this year’s budget to continue to support sustainable communities office. EPA Smart Growth Office requested $10.9 million for sustainable communities work (we would like to see this higher), at DOT there are two new programs related to sustainable communities-$200 million competitive grant program with FHWA to help agencies move toward a more performance/outcome-based approach to planning. Also in DOT $20 million to fund the office of sustainable communities.
  • SGA is working to make sure that the funding for these programs is maintained or increased through the congressional appropriations process
  • Action Items: 1) We are putting together a sign on letter to send to the relevant legislatures and will be sending it out to the coalition shortly. 2) If coalition members are making any senate office calls, we’d love for them to take a moment to flag these issues. 3) SGA is also putting together talking points, case studies, etc. for how this can work in rural areas—if you want to be involved let Kate know.
• Climate Bill: Senators Kerry, Graham, and Lieberman are putting together a climate package over the next couple months. Currently none of the money in the bill is going to clean transportation or smart growth. Also, some language we were able to get into previous bills about incorporating transportation in climate plans is not included. SGA will send out some talking points and materials on this.
• Bills introduced recently: 1) House version of the livable communities act, 2) Active transportation act, 3) Bill on active transportation introduced in the senate
• Q: The $10.9 million for livable communities is small for the EPA Smart Growth Office compared to its overall budget, but there are so many other offices at EPA that deal in some way with sustainable communities. Are any of these other offices contributing?
  A: The smart growth office is taking the lead. There are other offices that deal specifically with brownfields, but they are less involved in this partnership.
• Q: More clarification on Sustainable Communities Act?
  A: It created a partnership between DOT, EPA, and HUD and leaves room for others to join. It will also establish two competitive grant programs. In the House it has really strong support, we think it has a pretty good chance of passing this year. We are especially interested in doing the rural livability work.

SGA Coalition Meeting (Elisa Ortiz)

• Annual coalition meeting is on April 28th, 29th. The coalition meeting will start on the 28th at 1pm, followed that evening by a happy hour. On the 29th there will be a lobby day covering all the topics Kate brought up. The SGA board meeting will be the afternoon of the 29th.
• Topics people want to hear about:
  • Dru: Rather than a policy piece, could be have a capacity-building piece—for example, how can we best get money out of the DOT/EPA/HUD partnership?
  • Alia: The rural issue seems to come up increasingly in all our federal policy work—could we have a further discussion on this and how it can be included in the sustainable communities work and other federal policy work.
• Priorities for the coalition 2010:
  • Geoff: In general SGA doesn’t get a lot of feedback on coalition priorities, so we want to remind people that they can nominate priorities for the coming year.
  • Dru: Maybe the question should be re-asked as, ‘what are you working on right now, and what help do you need at the federal or state level?’
  • Pam: On the fact that a lot of people see land-use planning as primarily for urban environments, if people have ideas on how to create strong rural economies 1000 Friends of OR could use some help/feedback on that.
  • Action Item: If people think of other ideas for priorities for next year, they will send a follow-up email to Elisa
  • SGA will send around details about the location for the meeting once we have them. But please register now, Elisa will send around an email about this.

Rural and Agriculture Issues (Dru Schmidt-Perkins + Kelly Carneal)

• Dru: Many of us have been working on agriculture issues but feeling alone. We have now pledged to get together and share ideas. We are hoping to use this call to figure out how to move the conversation on this forward. We also want to take the opportunity to find out more about what people are doing on this.
• Note from Kate: anything individuals can say on joint resources with this would be helpful. For example, SGA is putting together short case studies on what livability means in rural areas and small towns. We are also putting together some talking points.
• Deanna: Idaho Smart Growth has been involved in a statewide coalition for 2.5 years—includes conservationists, ranchers, etc. They introduced a bill through the senate this year—a broad framework for a statewide policy and program to create a state fund to help conserve working lands in Idaho. They have been expanding this coalition’s focus to include land use tools. She’s particularly interested in policy tools and what success people are having with them around the country.
• Pam: In OR they have a tax deferral for anyone who is using land for agricultural purposes. One of the things they are looking at is the effect of wind farms and solar farms on rural land. The impact on small communities is enormous, and they’re trying to figure how to build policies around this.
• Dru: In MD, they are looking at how to keep farmers farming so they’re less likely to feel like they have to sell to development. Kelly has been slowly building trust with the agricultural community, which has been a real challenge. They are doing round tables in various counties to bring together relevant parties that aren’t currently communicating. They are also planning a farm fest this fall to bring in suburban folks and raise money.
  • Q: In MD, is the caucus that’s come together under any official gathering (state legislative bill, etc.) or was it just 1000 Friends bringing together the right group?
    A: No, 1000 Friends has been initiating it. Besides the state tax being a big issue, the right people just aren’t talking to each other or coordinating.
• Pam: Thinks that’s a great idea and will start trying to coordinate the relevant parties who aren’t communicating in OR.
• Kelly: Agro-tourism and farmers markets are both becoming really popular in MD. Farm tours have been really successful (getting urban and suburban people out to the farms to see and taste the products).
• Dru: The typical growing farm in MD is actually less than 10 acres. Some of these are sprawl developments masquerading as farms for tax purposes, but most are real farms. Many of these farmers are doing this as their second occupations—this can be both good and bad. 1000 Friends is looking into how to help people take their farms into a second generation.
• Kelly: There are a handful of states that have started “Farmlink” programs, which facilitate older farmers selling land to younger people who are eager to try farming rather than developers.
• Geoff: Does rural=farming? Farming is what this conversation has been about. Is that what we want to focus on?
• Pam: For us it tends to be farmers and ranchers. One thing we’re dealing with is people who live near gateways to things like national parks, and how you deal with that.
• Dru: There are multiple issues that are intertwined but aren’t the same things
• Follow Up: Deanna will compile a list of topics that came up today and will propose some future conversation options. She will send them out to the group. Kelly and Dru will help.

Note: instead of the regular April call, the coalition meeting will serve as the discussion point for the group.

For detailed information on FY2011 budget appropriations, click here.

To download talking points for calls to senators regarding the climate and energy bill, click here.