Looking north up the Passumpsic River Valley toward St. Johnsbury, VT.
Improving Federal Programs
The Northern Forest and other rural regions deserve a strong voice bringing their issues to the attention of congress and agency staff who shape policies that directly affect rural communities. The Center is proud to be part of that voice.
We work regularly with congressional offices and agencies to provide the information and stories they need to improve federal programs for rural places. And as part of the Rural Development Innovation Group and other coalitions, we have the strength of numbers to be heard.
Speaking Out
In December 2020, we urged the new Biden Administration to take four swift actions to improve rural policy:
- Engage in genuine conversations in rural places about the role of the federal government.
- Elevate rural to the level it deserves in the President’s cabinet.
- Invest in doing economic development differently in rural places.
- Focus on and communicate about rural-urban connections rather than the divide.
Improving Pandemic Relief
And in June 2020, the Center and Wallowa Resources sent a letter to Congress with 122 signatures urging our elected leaders to improve federal programs and policies to better serve rural and tribal communities in future federal COVID-19 response and recovery action.
The letter was addressed to leadership of both parties in the US Senate and the US House of Representatives. Signatories to the letter included 88 organizations and 34 individuals, originating in the South (41), Northeast (31), West (30), Midwest (17) and Indian country (2).
Northern Initiatives, a private nonprofit community development financial institution based in Marquette, Michigan, sent a similar letter with 105 signatures to the Trump Administration’s U.S. Office of Management and Budget.
The letters are products of the Rural Development Innovation Group (RDIG) — a collaborative of rural development practitioners working to advance rural community and economic development around the U.S. The Center co-founded and has helped lead the collaborative since 2015.
The recommendations are informed by priorities in the Northern Forest region and similar perspectives from rural practitioners here and across the country. The message is simple: More must be done, and in smarter ways, to ensure rural and tribal communities have the resources and flexibility they need both to respond to the immediate crisis and to build back better in the longer run recovery.
The Center is proud to have helped deliver this strong message to Congress and the Administration urging changes in federal programs and policies to benefit rural communities. Click the PDFs below to see each letter and its signatories.
