July 15, leaders from rural communities across the western United States deliver testimony to the US House of Representatives, Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands at an oversight hearing on “Locally Grown: Creating Rural Jobs with America’s Public Lands”

View a recorded video of the hearing.

View a list of witnesses and read the full text of their testimony.

Read an article from New West about the hearing.

Read an article from E&E Daily about the hearing.

Common testimony themes:

• A focus on “working landscapes.” The public and private lands where America derives food, fiber, recreation and services such as clean water can be conserved and restored while providing good jobs to their owners and managers.
• Collaboration and community-based organizations help resolve natural resource conflicts and are pivotal in spurring rural innovation and business development.
• The unique role that public land communities play as stewards of forests, rangelands, water and wildlife, and the need for targeted federal programs to support the place-based organizations that make this stewardship possible.
• The need to both improve existing and create new programs that build the capacity of local businesses and organizations to care for the land.
• The realization that not all job creation is equal: scarce government investment should focus on high quality jobs and businesses that can offer sustained local employment and provide the best social and ecological value, not just cheap labor.

Witnesses Include:

Melanie Parker, Executive Director, Northwest Connections, Swan Valley, MT: “Our community was not then, and is not now, interested in being the victim of this nation’s polarizing wars on natural resource management; we are looking at every juncture for opportunities to chart our own destiny as leaders in a movement to prove that landscapes like the Swan Valley can provide good work, locally delivered resources and environmental stewardship.” Download the full text (PDF) of Melanie's testimony.

Joyce Dearstyne, Executive Director, Framing Our Community, Elk City, ID: “Eleven years ago, the residents of Elk City formed Framing Our Community (FOC) to identify the community’s desired path away from being “suppliers” for a commodity-based economy to entrepreneurs creating products with a higher margin of profit and offering ecological services that diversify our economic base. Focusing on value-added product development and increasing access to wholesale and retail markets will eliminate the boom and bust cycles of the past.”  Download the full text (PDF) of Joyce’s testimony.

Kristin Troy, Executive Director, Lemhi Regional Land Trust, Salmon, ID:  “When we figure out how to keep enough water in the streams for fish but still allow the rancher enough to irrigate his hay while providing an option other than subdividing, we know we have succeeded in achieving this balance. We have retained not just a few jobs, but potentially several generations of jobs, and the vibrancy of our small towns.”  Download the full text (PDF)of Kristin’s testimony.

Dr. Cassandra Moseley, Director, Ecosystem Workforce Program, Institute for a Sustainable Environment, University of Oregon: “Place-based, regional, and even some national organizations have become essential in achieving conservation and rural development objectives. These are the entities that create neutral forums of diverse stakeholders for the agencies, provide technical assistance to support local community and business efforts, and foster innovation and hope that federal agencies cannot create on their own.”  Download the full text (PDF) of Cassandra’s testimony.

Jim Stone, rancher and Chairman, Blackfoot Challenge, Ovando, MT (Mr. Stone was unable to attend, but submitted testimony.): “Together, we have placed 110,000 acres under conservation easement, conserved 89,000 acres of corporate timber lands, shared lessons learned with thousands, treated forests for safety and health, coordinate the shared drought response, organized a multi-county weed program, and reduced human-grizzly bear conflicts. While we have conserved these important natural resources we have also been able to help retain 200 ranches that represent 40 percent of the working lands in the Blackfoot Watershed.”  Download the full text (PDF) of Jim’s testimony.