Small communities, rural states are learning about housing development through a program that targets vacant lots

Empty lots like the one above present an opportunity 

to bring affordable housing to areas

 in need. (The Quiet Atlas, Unsplash.com)

Vacant lots across America have been left to grow out of control, collect trash thrown from cars driving by, to be used by neighborhood kids for pickup baseball, or just sit empty with the occasional for sale sign as decoration. But Andrew McKeever reports in The Daily Yonder about an initiative that seeks to use vacant lots toward solving the housing shortage in rural communities.

Housing officials in several states are studying a tool known as “Gentle Infill.” It helps develop partnerships between local non-profits, construction companies and regulators to build small, affordable housing that fits into the character of a neighborhood and avoids the common “Nimby” — not in my backyard — response.

The largely rural state of Vermont, McKeever reports, and other states, are taking a cue from the city of South Bend, IN, which has adopted the approach for several years. Tim Corcoran, director of planning and community resources in South Bend, said the effort has experienced more than just a little success. He said the city worked with small-scale builders and developers, guiding them through zoning and other problems, and even helping create a set of architectural designs.

“If you’re really genuine about helping address the housing crisis in your town,” Corcoran told McKeever,  “then you really need to look at the approval process very closely.” He said bringing together regulators and breaking down silos is key.

Vermont has a goal of building 30,000 homes by 2030. While there are obstacles, The Yonder reports, there is “near-universal agreement that more affordable workforce-missing middle housing is needed.” The statewide approach mirrors the one in South Bend. Teams have been scouring the state for three years looking for available lots, and they have adopted a plan called “Homes for All.” It streamlines approval processes for small-scale builders and developers and intends to offer pre-permitted designs in a variety of forms.

Babies delivered at rural hospitals can receive specialized neonatal care through a unique telehealth program

A newborn baby's care team can get live, immediate help
from a neonatologist with TeleICN. (Dartmouth photo)

A pregnancy delivery in a rural hospital far away from specialized care poses significant risks for a baby born with complex needs. In Vermont and New Hampshire, Dartmouth Health created TeleICN, a unique telehealth program that connects rural medical providers to neonatologists who can help manage a baby's health during and after delivery, reports Christopher Cheney for Healthleaders.

As more rural hospitals have cut services to save money, many have shuttered their labor and delivery units. In the case of an emergency delivery, EMS will take a pregnant patient to the nearest emergency department, where a rural care team can "connect to the TeleICN program using an iPad or making a phone call," Cheney explains.

Tapping into TeleICN is similar to using FaceTime. The program allows a neonatologist to "talk with the local teams, look at the baby via video, and work with the mom and their family members to make decisions about the next steps in care for babies," Cheney reports. TeleICN can "connect local care teams to a neonatologist virtually on a 24/7 basis, and it serves 16 rural hospitals in New Hampshire and Vermont."

Katelyn Darling, a director at Dartmouth Health, shared the varying levels of care TeleICN often provides, saying, "Sometimes, they know a mom in labor is on the way to their hospital, and they want us to help them prep the care room. Sometimes, they want us in the background to support them. Sometimes, they want us on the frontline making decisions about care."

Because the TeleICN has been so successful, Dartmouth expanded its virtual obstetrics care with its new TeleMFM program. Cheney explains, "The focus is on high-risk obstetrics care and fetal-maternal medicine services, with the goal of reducing the need for patients to travel long distances. … Patients can go to a clinic associated with a rural hospital and get connected to a TeleMFM provider."

Jessica Clem, TeleICN's medical director, told Healthleaders, "What we are trying to do is provide equitable care in New Hampshire and Vermont, particularly for rural communities."

Rural Vermont schools face district mergers and closures as student populations dip and per-pupil costs climb

Third and fourth grade students at Peacham Elementary School, in Peacham, Vt. The school has 60 students and is tucked in a rural northeastern part of the state. (Photo by Oliver Parini, The Hechinger Report) 

Over the past 20 years, smaller schools in Vermont have grappled with shrinking student enrollment, rising per-pupil costs, and property tax hikes. As the country's most rural state, Vermont's educational challenges are being "closely watched by rural education advocates nationwide," reports Chris Berdik of The Hechinger Report. Vermont's educational struggles mirror that of many American rural school districts. 

Across Vermont, public schools have lost 20% of their student population. That kind of steep decline has an outsized impact on rural school budgets, which must juggle increasing per-pupil costs, rising health care costs for teacher benefits and spending limited by a smaller property tax base.

Vermont lawmakers have passed a series of district consolidations to cut costs and offer students more services. "In 2015, Act 46 triggered several years of mergers — first voluntary, then required — that eliminated dozens of districts and led many small schools to close," Berdik explains.

In July, the Vermont legislature passed Act 73, which mandates "a minimum of 4,000 students per district, a threshold now met by only 1 of the state’s 119 districts," Berdick writes. The extreme educational changes Act 73 would require "ignited intense pushback from people fearing the loss of local control over education, even from a majority of the task force created to map options for bigger districts."

Supporters for consolidation "maintain that the crises of declining enrollment, falling test scores and tight education budgets demand a bold response," Berdik reports. Opponents want "any mergers and closings to be voluntary and done with a clear-eyed accounting of what’s to be gained and lost."

Vermont lawmakers will decide this month whether to proceed with Act 73 or dial back the proces to leave time and space to retool their plans.

Quick hits: The American baked potato; rural deputies get EMS training; 6 states ban lab-grown meat sales; building homes in small town Vermont

American-grown potatoes are still affordable and 
delicious. (Idaho Potato Commission photo)

In a time when going to the grocery store can be both expensive and discouraging, it's good for Americans to reignite their love for the humble, versatile and still affordable baked potato. "The baked potato has always been big and great," writes Eric Kim of The New York Times. "These days, a long Idaho tuber, split down the middle like a hot dog bun to reveal fluffy white starch, a pat of butter nestled into the left side, is still big and — more important — great, with its perfect creamy-crunchy-fresh combo of sour cream, chives, cheese and bacon." Find recipes here. 

A rural sheriff in Montana is working to help the region's emergency responders by using "some of his department’s budget to restart a first responder medical training and certification program for deputies to be able to supplement emergency medical providers and help provide care when they are first to the scene of an incident," reports Blair Miller of the Helena Independent Record. Often, when accidents occur in rural Montana, law enforcement arrives well before medical emergency teams. In his announcement, Sheriff Tom Grim said he believes that if deputies could provide medical assistance to victims before an ambulance arrives, their additional training could save lives. 

Six states have passed laws banning cultivated meat.
(Graphic by Adam Dixon, Offrange)

Where's the meat? According to several states, only animals are meat. "Livestock powerhouse Nebraska became the sixth state to preemptively ban the sale of cultivated meat," reports Jaclyn De Candio for Offrange. Nebraska joined the "beef with cultivated meat" by joining states that already ban the sale of lab-grown meat, including Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Montana and Indiana. "Florida was the first to pass such a law, and in several cases, companies like UPSIDE Foods already filed lawsuits challenging these restrictions on constitutional and commerce grounds. . . . While laboratory meat products are indeed made from real cattle cells, they give pause to many."

Power grids across the country need upgrades, and areas of the Midwest will get them. "The Department of Energy closed a $1.6 billion loan guarantee for transmission upgrades in the middle of the country — a move that comes as the Trump administration slashes funding for other grid improvements, including a separate transmission megaproject in the Midwest," reports Alexander C. Kaufman of Canary Media. The financing will enable a subsidiary of American Electric Power to "overhaul around 5,000 miles of power lines across Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, and West Virginia."

A bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken may be a game-day crowd-pleaser, but the chain has been struggling against competitors that offer on-the-go chicken. "Consumers eat 26% of their fast-food orders in their cars," reports Heather Haddon of The Wall Street Journal. To recapture its market share, the company is revamping its menu to compete with newcomers like Chick-fil-A and Canes. "KFC this month brought back its Original Honey BBQ sandwich, introduced in the late 1990s, at a discounted $3.99 price. The announcement swiped at Chick-fil-A while championing its own sandwich: 'bigger than Chick-fil-A’s AND available on Sundays.'"

Jonah Richard’s first development project was once home to a post office. It now consists of eight apartments and a coffee shop. (Photo by David Littlefield, Vermont Public Media)

Despite the daunting challenges of building affordable housing in New England, a homegrown Vermonter found a way to get it done. "Not so long ago, Jonah Richard spent his days working for a white-collar consulting firm in New York City. Now, he fills his time bopping between construction sites in the corner of Vermont where he grew up," reports Carly Berlin of vtdigger. "His philosophy of trying to squeeze more housing into any possible nook and cranny in a building, and in a town – guides all of the projects that Richard takes on through his small construction company and development business. . . . State officials want to clone Jonah Richard."

Irked by cars and crowds, rural New Englanders try different coping strategies to manage 'leaf-peepers'

Idyllic autumn scenery draws thousands of tourists 
to New England each fall. (Adobe Stock photo)

As fall blows into rural New England, it brings trees decked out in glorious fall shades and plenty of tourists. Residents and local governments in some of the most popular "leaf-peeping" places have had enough. "Locals are pushing for road closures and parking restrictions," reports Jared Mitovich of The Wall Street Journal. Some local stores have started hawking wares that poke fun at tourists.

Despite the tourism revenue "leaf-lookers" generate for some areas, the influx of hundreds of additional people in a single season can overwhelm smaller towns. "They’ve complained about TikTokers trespassing onto countryside farms. . .near-fist fights over trailhead parking — not to mention unsafe traffic blockages on narrow roads," Mitovich writes.

The sheer number of fall tourists to Vermont -- a state with less than 650,000 residents -- explains some of the stress. Vermonters welcome roughly 2.5 million visitors "who come for the idyllic autumnal vistas," Mitovich reports. "A growing number of residents say influencer culture is fueling bad behavior."

Some small businesses have turned to humor to cope by "selling collectible figures titled 'Influencer Trespassing on Private Road': a woman with a long braid under a wide-brimmed hat, smartphone in hand, in front of a leafy landscape," Mitovich adds. Another figurine includes a row of tiny vehicles causing a traffic jam.

The tiny town of Pomfret, Vt., opted to close itself off rather than adapt to the onslaught of tourists. "For the third straight fall season. . . signage will turn away drivers trying to get a glimpse." A Pomfret sugarhouse owner, Michael Doten, supports the blockade, even though it means he sells less maple syrup. He told Mitovich, "People were throwing trash and they were trespassing."

Beyond small towns trying to manage carloads of tourists, popular hiking trails such as Franconia Notch State Park in New Hampshire get swamped, too. This fall, Franconia park managers "introduced one-way hiking patterns, doubled the number of port-a-potties and increased staffing," Mitovich reports. 

Flora & Fauna: Considering Waygu cattle; bot swims like a fish; maple syrup debates

Mallie Shuster checks on his Wagyu cow-calf herd.
(Eleven Oaks Farm photo via Lancaster Farming)

Want a better steak or burger? Cattleman Mallie Shuster recommends filling your wallet with cash and choosing a restaurant with Waygu beef. "Shuster remembers how he got the idea to raise Wagyu cattle. He was out to dinner with friends and ordered a cut from this Japanese breed known for producing highly marbled, uniquely flavored beef," reports Dave Lefever for Lancaster Farming. "But it wasn't the flavor that got his attention." It was the price tag. Read how Shuster convinced his father to raise Waygu cattle to add to their company's bottom line.

The cinnamon in morning oatmeal, rolls and any number of baked treats is not true cinnamon. Instead, most cinnamon on U.S. grocery store shelves comes from a cheaper source -- the cassia tree. "Ceylon cinnamon is often called 'true' cinnamon and is native to Sri Lanka. Today, some 80% of Ceylon cinnamon is produced on the island," reports Olivia Peluso of Ambrook Research. "Cassia [cinnamon] is a ground, reddish-brown powder with a strong, spicy-sweet flavor. . . . While the Food and Drug Administration acknowledges them as distinct substances, it doesn't require they be packaged as such."

This clownfish bot looks and swims like a fish as it
collects water research. (Aquaai photo via CNN)

The world's water sources face so many stresses from climate change, multiple pollutants and urbanization that they can't rebalance their ecosystems. Water research offers a path to explore how humans can help these precious resources recover. The technology company Aquaai has developed a fishlike drone to "collect data from underwater environments," reports Amy Gunia of CNN. "Powered by batteries, they are designed to look and swim like fish, with a body and tail that swish from side-to-side as they cruise through the water. With their orange, white, and black neoprene skin, they resemble the clownfish star Nemo."

While Quebec dominates the global maple syrup market, determining which region makes the best-tasting syrup is a stickier dispute with Vermont. "Vermont is about 9,600 square miles and boasts more than six million sugar maple and red maple trees on tap. Quebec is a 595,000-square-mile province. . . hosts a maple syrup cartel. Its 50 million syrup-producing maple trees yield around 72% of the world's supply," reports Vipal Monga of The Wall Street Journal. "Without much argument, Quebec is known as the Saudi Arabia of maple syrup. Vermonter Pat Leclaire isn't particularly impressed. . ." 

As summer farmer's markets and local gardens start to produce luscious fruits and vegetables, consumers can rejoice in all the options but then wonder which ones are the best. Laureate professor in nutrition and dietetics Clare Collins shares in The Conversation her top four plant-based foods to eat.

Tomatoes and pumpkins are packed with nutrition.
(Adobe Stock photo)

Tomatoes: "A review of six trials asked people to consume tomato products equivalent to 1-1.5 large tomatoes or 1-1.5 cups of tomato juice daily for about six weeks. . . . Researchers found people who did this had reduced blood levels of triglycerides (a type of fat in your blood that increases heart disease risk), as well as lower total and 'bad' cholesterol levels. . . .These people also had increased levels of 'good cholesterol".

Pumpkin: "Pumpkin is rich in beta-carotene, which is also a carotenoid (plant pigment). It gets converted into vitamin A in the body and is used in the production of antibodies that fight infection. It's also needed to maintain the integrity of cells in eyes, skin, lungs and the gut."

Mushrooms and oats also top Collins's list. Click here to learn what benefits fungi and oats have to offer.

As more Americans chose to eat more cheese, farmers look for ways to increase milk fat content

Jersey cows produce milk that is high in butterfat and
has a golden hue. (Wis. Jersey Breeders Association photo)

What's better than cheese? More cheese. That's what many Americans are telling the U.S. dairy industry. But heightened demand for rich-tasting young gouda and spunky blue cheese comes with a catch -- dairy farmers need their cows to produce fattier milk, reports Kirk Maltais of The Wall Street Journal. "Just five years ago, dairy farmer Melvin Medeiros said his herd consisted entirely of Holsteins, which are the black-and-white spotted cows. . . . Now about 70% are brown Jersey cows, which are smaller but produce a fattier milk."

In dairy-producing states such as Wisconsin and Vermont, loving cheese is threaded throughout the culture, but the rest of the country is catching on. "Cheese consumption is at an all-time high, with Americans eating an average of 42 pounds a year in 2022, according to the most recent data available from the Department of Agriculture," Maltais writes. "That is up 17% over the previous decade." Although butter sales declined in 2022, consumption is still up 9% compared to a decade ago. 

Beyond switching cow breeds, what else can farmers do to "squeeze" fattier milk from their herd? It comes down to keeping cows comfortable and providing a richer diet. "Cross-ventilated barns ensure animals don't get too hot," Maltais explains. "Keeping cows cool helps them get fatter — and produce fattier milk. Medeiros adds oilseeds like cottonseed and canola to their feed."

Michael Hutjens, professor emeritus of animal sciences with the University of Illinois, told Maltais, "We're seeing a lot more money invested in fans and sprinklers." Maltais reports: "Hutjens said breeding and genetics could help push up fat levels in milk even more."

Small New England daily raises $155,000 for its covid-19 support fund, after initial $50,000 goal was met in 5 days

Valley News logo

The Valley News of West Lebanon, N.H., and White River Junction, Vt., reports tremendous success in its efforts to seek donations to subsidize the small daily paper during the pandemic: "The response to our Valley News Covid-19 Support Fund has been overwhelming. We hit our initial goal of raising $50,000 to support our operations, which have been drastically undermined by the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, in less than five days. Almost 600 people donated."

UPDATE: The final total was $150,000, from about 1,500 donors, News Editor John Gregg said on "Success Stories in Rural Journalism," a July 30 webinar of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, which publishes The Rural Blog. "We were pretty astounded," he said. The latest total, as of 4 p.m. Tuesday, was $135,234, with 1,363 donors. The effort "was boosted by an outfit called Vital Communities of the Upper Valley, a non-profit that promotes local agriculture, conducts transportation studies and the like" in the Upper Connecticut River Valley, former New Hampshire agriculture commissioner Steve Taylor tells The Rural Blog.

The paper's plea began, "The Valley News is asking for financial support from the Upper Valley community to continue producing trusted local journalism during the Covid-19 pandemic, which has wreaked an unprecedented economic crisis that threatens our ability to serve our readers and region. Our business depends on revenue from advertisers, but the coronavirus crisis has brought the local economy — and many of the advertisers who support our work — to a near standstill. We have rigorously reported on the local impacts of this worldwide pandemic in words and photos and made all of our local coronavirus coverage free online since early March."

Two Vermont dailies to print four days a week

The Herald, founded in 1794, won a Pulitzer Prize in 2001 for
editorials on civil unions. (SavingCommunityJournalism.com)

Early next month Vermont's Rutland Herald and Barre-Montpelier Times Argus will stop publishing print editions on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

The sister newspapers will continue to publish online seven days a week. The reduced printing schedule will result in expanded newsprint editions Thursday through Sunday, Patrick McArdle of the Herald reported.

Company executives announced the decision to employees on Monday evening. R. John Mitchell, chairman and president of the Herald Association Inc., said the changes will allow the company to continue its mission without cutting additional jobs.

“I think we were at the place that all newspapers get to currently,” Mitchell said. "We've cut, I think, all the jobs we can without really decimating the newsroom. This is an attempt to keep from having dramatic layoffs in the newsroom and to try and monetize the technical base we've built for social media.” Mitchell said most of the newspapers' revenue is generated by the print edition of the paper. His goal is to expand online revenue so that both sides contribute equally.

Catherine Nelson, publisher and CEO, said the company would be lax if administrators didn't pursue another model for delivering the news. She described the traditional standard of printing newspapers and driving them to people's homes is archaic and no longer cost-effective. She said most people now get their news from computers or smartphones, and the technology has become so ubiquitous, even in rural Vermont, that e-papers can be delivered as effectively and consistently as if paper copies were brought to people's doorsteps.

The company says that since 2010, readers have purchased 49,500 digital subscriptions. The combined print subscriptions of both newspapers is 18,000. Mitchell said the company will revamp websites for both papers. Both papers will still be considered dailies by industry convention.

The papers eliminated their Sunday news desk in 2009 and laid off 20 people over the course of a year, Anne Galloway of VTDigger.org reported. More layoffs have followed. The Times Argus sold its building in Barre several years ago, and the Herald building has been up for sale. In December, the papers dropped publication of the New England Business Journals.

College students help small Vt. town chart its path

Many small towns struggle to balance economic growth with preservation of their community's spirit. One community is turning to the local college to help with the task.

Starksboro, Vt., population 1,900, is home to Middlebury College. City leaders have asked students to spend a semester interviewing residents to help determine what makes the town unique. “Our hope is to create enough consensus to then drive the plan’s language,” Bill Roper, president of the Orton Family Foundation, one of the groups funding the project, tells Abby Goodnough of The New York Times. “Then they can move forward with how to protect what they’ve all agreed is most important.”

The students are part of a class entitled "Portraits of a Vermont Town." The project is aimed not only at helping the town plan how they want to grow, but also at helping students understand the realities of rural life. “I’m guilty, like most of us, of really romanticizing Vermont life and Vermont towns,” said Max Kanter, a junior from Phoenix. “Now I have a sense of the challenge they have to stay afloat.” (Read more)

Senators hold hearing on rural crime, drug issues

Vermonters gave two U.S. senators "an earful today on what rural communities need to combat increasingly violent drug-related crime," reports Nina Keck of Vermont Public Radio. The senators were Democrat Patrick Leahy (right) of Vermont, the most rural state by population, and Republican Arlen Specter (left) of Pennsylvania, which has the second largest number of rural residents.

"The myth is still alive that drug abuse and drug-related crimes are only big city problems. We need a fresh look at drug crime through the lens and the experience of smaller cities and rural communities," Leahy told nearly 200 people at the hearing in Rutland.

Specter asked Rutland City School Superintendent Mary Moran when schools start teaching students to avoid drugs. Not specifically until the fifth grade, Keck's story says with a sound bite of the dialogue. Moran said cuts in federal law enforcement funding would hurt anti-drug efforts. Leahy said, "Among other things we've been told that we need the money for the Iraqi police forces. Frankly, this senator feels we ought to worry a little bit more about our own police forces in the United States.''

Keck reports, "During a break in the hearing, some in the audience wondered how much the event could really accomplish, besides providing a photo op for those attending. But panelist Hal Colston, founder of NeighborKeepers, a non profit, anti poverty organization in Burlington, was more optimistic." For his comments, and the rest of the story, click here.

Tap a tree: American maple-syrup industry booms

The appeal of maple syrup has long traveled far beyond the woods of New Hampshire and Vermont; now that appeal has reached Europe and Asia. That growth in customers, plus the weak U.S. dollar, has helped the American maple industry outsell its Canadian rivals, former New Hampshire agriculture commissioner Steve Taylor writes for The Valley News in White River Junction, Vt., and Lebanon, N.H.

"Folks long used to buying a gallon of new-crop Vermont or New Hampshire syrup hot from the evaporator for $35 will be in for a surprise this year, for the reality is that there are buyers in Japan or someplace else who are willing to pay far more, although it will probably be packaged in many tiny bottles," Taylor writes. "Though these new economics may make it seem like a bonanza is in the offing for syrup producers, sharp increases in energy costs for evaporating and for the plastic tubing that is now the norm for gathering sap will restrain any exuberance."

Taylor, whose family sells syrup, explains that the increased demand has helped New England producers compete with Quebec, which accounts for 75 percent of the world's maple syrup. The province's Federation — the price-fixing organization a producer must join — has set the baseline for maple syrup for everyone in North America, but its mismanagement of surpluses and the weak U.S. dollar have created demand for American product, Taylor reports. Still, all maple syrup is more valuable now, and the price could continue to climb about 10 percent annually as the supply can't keep up with demand. Keeping up with demand is the concern for those in the risky industry, so producers are upgrading technology in hopes of maximizing output. (Read more)

W. Va. lawmakers, reacting to decline in hunting, want optional gun classes in high schools

For more than a decade, two West Virginia lawmakers have tried to make a gun safety course part of the high school curriculum. Unsuccessful so far, they are making progress with their latest attempt, in which "gun safety" becomes "hunter safety," veteran statehouse reporter Mannix Porterfield writes for The Register- Herald in Beckley.

Sens. Billy Wayne Bailey, D-Wyoming County, and Shirley Love, D-Fayette County, introduced the bill that would compel the states' schools to "offer the optional instruction period" for a "two-week, 10-hour course that dovetails with graduation requirements for physical education classes," Porterfield writes. Bailey said the bill could help address a decline in hunting because young people would be able to gain hunting certification from the state's Department of Natural Resources. Currently, new hunters have to take a three-hour evening class to get that license. No live ammunition would be on school campuses and only teachers will handle disabled guns.

The idea has drawn attention from national and international media, and other states such as Colorado, Montana, Texas and Vermont are considering similar bills. (Read more)

Road salt running low in Midwest and New England

It's been a rough winter for parts of the Midwest and New England, and those storms have strained local supplies of road salt, reports The New York Times."With so many municipalities in need of salt, suppliers cannot ship it out quickly enough," Katie Zezima writes. "Public works departments are left waiting for days or weeks to receive their orders."

Those in charge of snow removal and road safety, such as Dennis Lutz, the director of public works for Essex, Vt., (in a Times photo by Karen Pike), have been scrambling to keep their supplies up. The crunch has forced them to buy from smaller suppliers at higher prices. Zezima reports that Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, has been spending more than $66 per ton of salt, up from the $39.29 the county usually pays. The county "is now limiting salt use to hills, curves and intersections," Zezima writes. "The county is putting sand on roads, but some say it is less effective than salt." (Read more)

Some Wisconsin municipalities are using beet juice to thaw roads instead of salt, reports The Associated Press. Mike Hoeft of The Green Bay Press-Gazette reports that neighboring Ashwaubenon has stopped spreading salt on secondary roads and that many rural areas will get sand instead of salt. Around Chicago, suburbs are rationing salt, too, making for long commutes into the city on icy roads, reports The Chicago Tribune. The Tribune also notes that deliveries of more salt are being slowed thanks to ice jams stalling salt barges on the Illinois River.

Sharp drop in N.E. bat population could hurt crops

Thousands of bats are dying in caves of the Northeastern U.S., and while scientists aren't sure why, they do know that a lack of bats could hurt the area's agriculture, reports Beth Daley of The Boston Globe.

"A mysterious illness is sickening and killing thousands of hibernating bats in New York and Vermont, baffling scientists who fear that tens of thousands more may be dying in abandoned mines and dark caves throughout the Northeast," Daley writes. "Humans are not believed to be at risk from the disease, but the death of large numbers of bats could indirectly affect New Englanders: Bats devour crop pests, midges, and mosquitoes."

Scientists first spotted the disease in Albany, N.Y., in January 2007. By March, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation had found 11,000 bats had died from what scientists dubbed "white nose syndrome," called that "because of a flaky white fungus on the nose of many of the sick and dead bats," Daley writes. (Above, bats afflicted with the illness in a photo by DEC's Nancy Heaslip.) Recently the disease has been spotted in more places, including Vermont, and it has been affecting the Indiana bat, an endangered species. The affected area is growing: sick bats have been found as much as 135 miles apart.

Many labs are searching for answers to the mystery, and the best theory so far is that the disease has been spread by humans since the affected caves are popular with cavers. (Read more) Hat tip to Al Tompkins and his "Morning Meeting" for the link.

Obama invades Edwards' rural congressional base

As the presidential primary season heads toward "Tsunami Tuesday" in 22 states on Feb. 5, Sen. Barack Obama has found support from two representatives from rural congressional districts, including Rep. Rick Boucher left, a Democrat from the 9th District in southwest Virginia, reports Rex Bowman of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

"Boucher's endorsement could give the Illinois senator an important base of support in rural Southwest Virginia in the state's Feb. 12 primary," Bowman writes. While state Democratic Chairman C. Richard Cranwell endorsed former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, Boucher said Obama can win in both urban and rural areas, Bowman reports. “I represent a rural district of 27 counties and cities in southwestern Virginia," Boucher said in a statement. "George Bush received 60 percent of the vote in my district in 2004. I believe Senator Obama can carry it in 2008, and no other Democratic candidate can.” (Read more)

While Edwards had drawn endorsements from rural representatives early in the campaign, some such as Boucher are leaning toward Obama now, reports Julie Ardery of The Daily Yonder. In charting endorsements from representatives of the 25 most rural Congressional districts, Ardery finds Obama has picked up two — one from Boucher and one from Vermont's only representative Peter Welch, an independent. Prior to last week, Edwards was the only candidate any Democratic representative from a rural district had endorsed publicly. Four rural Democrats had endorsed Edwards, including Rep. Michael H. Michaud, D-Maine, who called him "the best chance Democrats have at taking back the White House" back in October. On the Republican side, Mitt Romney has the support of six rural representatives. (Read more, including a full chart of the 25 most rural districts)

Timber theft on the rise; here are tips to prevent it

The demand for American hardwoods overseas has grown in recent years, and as result, some loggers are cashing in — by cutting down someone else's trees. Timber theft and timber trespass are not new, but "as timber values rise, so have the stakes for landowners — and the attitude of law enforcement is adjusting accordingly," Samira Jafari of The Associated Press reported recently.

The Mountain Eagle of Whitesburg, Ky., reported last month on theft of timber from an elderly couple who "told police a crew of loggers came onto their property last month and cut and removed red and white oak trees valued at more than $50,000. One of the trees was at least 60 inches in diameter, the couple said." (Eagle photo shows logs left behind.) The couple wrote a letter to the Eagle saying that the man in charge of the timbering crew offered them $1,700 after the fact. "We wanted to leave those trees to our children and our grandchildren," they wrote. "It was their inheritance and we have worked our whole lives to save that for them. We are not wealthy people so this hurts us more than most." (Read more)

For your readers, listeners and viewers, here are some tips for timber owners from Jeff Stringer, a professor at the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture: To protect their property, owners should know their property boundaries and have them marked. If the land is remote, an owner should have someone keep an eye on the property, and owners should notify adjacent owners that they do not want their timber logged. If timber trespass does occur, owners have recourse. In Kentucky, for example, landowners are entitled to three times the value of the timber logged and three times the value of the damages caused by the trespass. For more tips and background, click here.

Timber theft is when someone intentionally steals tress from an owner, while timber trespass is when a logger cuts down an adjacent landowner's trees. States such as Mississippi and Virginia have established specific timber theft laws, while other states such as Kentucky do not have such statutes, Jafari reports. The problem is a big one for Appalachian states such as Kentucky — a 2003 Virginia Tech study said those areas lose $4 million annually to timber thieves. In Kentucky, the Appalachian Roundtable, a group of forestry experts, law enforcement officials and others, is working to raise awareness of the problem and lobby the state to make timber theft a felony. (Read more) A broader source of information is the National Woodland Owners Association.

"Data on timber theft is hard to come by because, experts say, much of it goes unreported, and many states lump it with other crimes under general property theft handled at the local level," reports Susan Saulny of The New York Times, which ran this Jon Gilbert Fox photo of George Spaulding of Royalton, Vt., with remains of a theft. “We have not been able to determine whether it’s any worse in one place or another,” Alberto Goetzl, a forest economist who is studying the extent of domestic illegal logging, told Saulny. “What we have learned is that the concern about timber theft is greater than I thought before I went into this.” (Read more)

Many woodlands have absentee landowners, who find it difficult to monitor their property or get satisfaction after they are robbed. Dean Manning and Tara Kaprowy of The Sentinel-Echo in London, Ky., write today about a family that lost more than 60,000 board feet of timber to a thief in Letcher County, home of The Mountain Eagle.

"After nine trial dates in Letcher Circuit Court, a special prosecutor reached a plea bargain with Josh Baker, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor (under $300) theft charge," without the family's consent, the Sentinel-Echo reports. Family member Ray Fields told the thrice-weekly paper, 'The sentence calls for Baker to pay us $9,000 at $400 per month and put him on two years of unsupervised probation. I told my sister, "This is happening because we don’t live in Letcher County and don’t vote in Letcher County."'" (Read more)