Virginia's coalfields are losing residents at an alarming rate

The population in Virginia’s coalfield's region is dropping at an alarming rate, with Buchanan County down 51% from its peak in 1980, writes Jim Branscome at Cardinal News, which covers Southwest Virginia.

Virginia’s seven Central Appalachian coalfield counties collectively lost 7,208 residents between 2020 and 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Buchanan County had the biggest five-year loss of them all at 9.1%, among the worst in the entire 60-county Central Appalachian area, Branscome adds.

Buchanan County had the largest five-year change in population of the seven Virginia coalfield counties. (Chart via Cardinal News, data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Click to enlarge)

The two main factors working together to create the alarming trajectory for Virginia’s coalfields are people leaving the region and the number of deaths exceeding the birth rates, Branscome writes. 

The median age in Buchanan County has almost doubled since 1980, from 26 to 47, Branscome reports. While the county is projected to lose 48% of its current population by 2050, its current annual rate of decline shows this loss occurring closer to the late 2030s, adds Branscome.

Opinion: Virtual cattle fencing offers a multiple-benefit solution for ranchers and helps migrating wildlife

Ranchers can easily move herd grazing lands with an app. 
(NoFence photo)

Western ranches in the United States include thousands of miles of barbed wire fencing, which has both positive and negative effects. GPS fencing could help ranchers strike a healthier balance while cutting business costs, writes Bruce M. Beehler in his opinion for The Washington Post.

Rangeland fencing is "an important tool for managing herds, rotating grazing areas, protecting environmentally sensitive wetlands and stream corridors, and keeping cows off highways," Beehler points out. "But it’s also harmful to wildlife populations, including deer, pronghorn, bighorn sheep and elk, as well as game birds such as the greater sage-grouse."

The idea behind GPS-based virtual fences is similar to "Invisible Fence," which uses buried wire to keep dogs in their yards. Similarly, virtual cattle fencing "uses GPS, cellular technology and a mapping app that allows ranchers to draw cow-proof fence lines on their computer or tablet," Beehler explains.

While the new system requires an initial investment in collars and cell service to install, Beehler believes it offers ranchers enough benefits to justify the initial price tag. For one, they won't have to repair nearly as much fencing, which is time-consuming and expensive for farmers and tax payers. 

For wildlife, removing barbed wire fencing from migration corridors will prevent animal suffering and death. Beehler adds, "One study in Montana found that, on average, one wild ungulate got tangled in fencing every 2.5 miles of fencing per year."

While the system is designed to keep herds within designated grazing lands, it offers a huge secondary benefit. Beehler writes, "With a glimpse at the mapping app, ranchers can see the exact location of every one of their cows in real time."

Virtual fencing collars could be replaced with ear tags.
(Photo by Chad Boyd via USDA)

Virtual fencing won't replace all physical fencing, "especially along highways and to keep bulls from wandering into a neighboring herd," Beehler explains. 

But for every mile of barbed wire that virtual fencing replaces "costs will decline. . . and as a result the annual cost of maintaining a herd will fall, increasing profit margins," Beehler adds.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture offers more insight on virtual fencing benefits for farmers, the environment and wildlife here. 

To prevent bird flu, farmers invest in lasers to discourage wild birds from flying over farm animal operations

Birds see the beams as a threat and avoid the area.
(Graphic by A. Dixon, Ambrook Research)

An increasing number of farmers looking to stop the spread of bird flu are using lasers to discourage wild birds from flying over poultry and dairy operations. Farmers have "sought to reduce the risk of their animals contracting the disease," reports Daniel Walton of Ambrook Research. "They know that wild birds such as geese, ducks, and seagulls spread bird flu along their migration routes, and lasers are becoming a go-to tactic for keeping them — and by extension, the virus — away from buildings or pastures."

Lasers work because birds rely on their vision to sense any surrounding threats. Walton explains, "Green lasers in particular are close to the wavelengths that birds best perceive in motion, and the beams likely interact with the green chlorophyll in plants to produce disorienting effects only birds can see."

Jake Vlaminck, a turkey producer in Lake Lillian, Minnesota, decided to start investing in lasers as a wild bird deterrent after "a bird flu outbreak forced him to cull tens of thousands of turkeys," Walton writes. A neighboring farmer introduced him to a "robotically controlled system. . . . Its laser swivels on a base to target dozens of different points in constantly shifting patterns, keeping birds from growing accustomed to the beams."

While Vlaminck wasn't sure the system would help, "he was willing to take a chance on anything that might avoid a repeat outbreak," Walton explains. "He set up two units in early 2023, before the spring migration season, and over the following year his flocks remained untouched by flu. . . . Minnesota poultry farmers have put in over 100 laser systems since 2023, some with support from a state program meant to prevent bird flu transmission."

Lasers may not be a "silver bullet" solution to stop bird flu transmission, but "for farmers who’ve lost entire flocks to bird flu. . .Gutshall says the investment can be very worthwhile," Walton reports. "He estimates that laser clients usually see their wild bird activity drop by 80%, with even further reductions when they add on other deterrents."

Quick hits: Super Bowl food line-up; heavy metal plants; immigration explained; changing U.S. geographical names

Buffalo chicken dip sweeps the Midwest and much of the South. (Coffeeness map via Mental Floss)

Super Bowl game parties are all about sporting fun served with delightful spreads of game-night food. "The Super Bowl is more than the championship game for professional football teams in the U.S. Super Bowl Sunday is the country’s 'second-largest food consumption day' (right after Thanksgiving)," reports CaLea Johnson for Mental Floss. "But which foods and desserts do Americans love most for the event?" Researchers mapped the answers state-by-state.

With China in control of much of the world's critical minerals and recently restricting exports to the U.S., that's causing “Western scientists and companies to embark on increasingly novel ways to develop alternative sources,” reports Jon Emont of The Wall Street Journal. One relatively inexpensive idea is to harvest plants grown in mineral-rich soil and purify them into nickel concentrate, which can create stainless steel and other metals.

Americans are waking up to all-time-high coffee prices.
(Coffeeness photo)

Some may blame President Donald Trump’s 25% tariff threat on Colombian products for the jump in coffee prices; however, coffee costs began climbing long before the Trump-Petro dustup. “Coffee futures have been elevated since 2011 as bad weather has plagued key coffee-growing regions like Brazil and Colombia," reports Vanessa Yurkevich of CNN. "And the region’s next crop isn’t expected to produce a bigger yield. . . . With or without a threatened tariff, coffee prices are high and will likely continue rising.”

How the new administration is addressing illegal immigration to the U.S. is hashed over by news media multiple times a day. However, the discussions toss around a lot of terms many Americans may not fully understand. Two scholars of immigration "who closely follow public discussions about immigration policy, trends and terminology" help de-mystify immigration terms, write Ernesto Castañeda and Daniel Jenks for The Conversation. "Understanding the many different immigration terms – some technical, some not – can help people better understand immigration news. While not an exhaustive list, there are 10 important terms to know."

Mt. McKinley is the tallest mountain in the world from base-to-peak on land, measuring 18,000 ft.
(Photo by Bryson Beaver, Unsplash)

When President Donald Trump ordered the name of North America’s tallest peak to be "changed from Denali back to Mount McKinley in honor of the nation’s 25th president, William McKinley, he put the spotlight on the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. . . . A little-known panel made up of officials from several federal agencies that has been in existence since 1890," reports Susan Montoya Bryan of The Associated Press. Under the Trump administration, the board "will have new members, but the makeup will be the same with representatives from several agencies ranging from the Interior and Commerce departments to the Post Office and the Library of Congress. Even the CIA plays a role when the board considers place names beyond U.S. borders."

The killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City in December set off a maelstrom of emotion from Americans sick of dealing with the U.S. health care system. The shooting compelled many U.S. physicians to speak out about what they think are the systemic issues with U.S. health care companies. Their video discussion by The Wall Street Journal is shared here.

Spring migration is active along Mississippi River Flyway; 40% of waterfowl and shorebirds in North America use it

Hundreds of migratory bufflehead ducks on Green Bay, WI.
(Adobe Stock photo)

If you're a bird, spring break travel is in full swing along the Mississippi River Flyway. "Spring migration is underway. . . making the river and its floodplain a hotspot for waterfowl and soon-to-arrive songbirds," reports Madeline Heim of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "The Mississippi plays a critical role guiding these birds across the country and providing them habitat to rest." Below is a short primer on the flyway and the highlights of what birds can be spotted during their spring tour.

What is the Mississippi River Flyway?
The Mississippi Flyway is a migratory route along the Mississippi, Missouri and lower Ohio rivers "that birds take each spring and fall to make their way between their breeding grounds in Canada and their winter homes in the Gulf of Mexico, Central and South America," Heim explains. "More than 325 bird species will travel along the flyaway including sparrows, warblers, owls, ducks, plovers, cranes, chickadees and many more. . . . It's estimated that roughly 40 percent of waterfowl and shorebirds in North America use the flyway."

When and where will the flocks be traveling?
Tens of thousands of waterfowl began heading north in April. "Songbirds start to arrive in early to mid-May, sometimes in groups so large they can be tracked on weather radar," Heim reports. "The best time to catch them is in the early morning, from sunrise until about 10 a.m., when they're moving around and actively feeding."

Why is the Mississippi so popular during migration?
For a traveling bird, the Mississippi River is their map. "In the middle of the country, there's no better visual marker than the Mississippi," Heim writes. "It also comes with an added bonus: reliable habitat to stop and rest in. . . . There's water and a ribbon of forest alongside it in many places that make it an attractive place to rest and refuel."

Has climate change, habitat loss or light pollution affected migratory birds?
Yes, all three have had an impact on migratory birds. Warming temperatures have caused some birds to leave their migratory spots and head north too soon. "As winters and springs warm up, data shows birds are arriving a little sooner than they were historically," Heim explains. "The danger is that the weather could fluctuate, and a spring cold snap could kill off tree buds and insects that the birds need to eat, eventually causing them to die."

Monarch migration has begun. They're 'marathon runners.'

Monarch butterflies fly thousands of miles, often starting in
Canada, to overwinter in Mexico. (Photo by Ron Holmes, FWS)

As summer tips into fall, much of nature shifts with it. Alongside breathtaking leaf foliage and the harvest, autumn includes the monarch butterfly migration from the Northern United States to Mexico.

"Sometime in August, the monarchs from Wisconsin and the upper Midwest start to migrate south. Traveling as far as 50 miles each day, it will take them a month or more," reports Julie Belschner for AgriView. "They often roost at night on trees or bushes. The generation floating on the Midwest winds – as much as a quarter-mile or more high – are those that will overwinter in Mexico for the next six to eight months."

Explaining how monarchs know when to migrate and how they endure the long journey, P.J. Liesch, with the University of Wisconsin Department of Entomology, told Belschner, "It turns out that monarchs have a way to read the earth's magnetic field; essentially metals interact with the earth's magnetic fields, and they use those clues. . . . .Compare the butterflies to a marathon runner. They need carbs. Those butterflies are going from nectar source to nectar source – pit stops, if you will. Have a pit stop ready for them, so if they're passing through, they can pick up what they need." Belschner adds, "Farmers can make a difference by limiting use of pesticides, creating windbreaks and planting nectar plants."

The Fish & Wildlife Service has marked five monarch "super stops" along their journey, reports Julie Morse of the National Wildlife Refuge System.

Iowa
Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge held its first Monarch Madness Day in 2006. Ninety people caught and tagged 250 monarchs during the day; almost 500 were tagged over the season.

Kansas
The butterflies tend to come in waves based on weather patterns. Migrating monarchs feed on asters goldenrods and other wildflowers that bloom throughout the refuge in the central Kansas wetlands. If winds frustrate butterfly hunters, visitors can catch monarchs inside an enclosed butterfly pavilion.
During the day, look for monarchs in wildflower areas. Toward evening, the best viewing areas are sheltered places that are cool and damp. Monarchs typically visit Kansas in mid-to late September. Check out Quivira National Wildlife Refuge.

Texas
In late September/early October, when conditions are favorable, thousands of monarchs a day may flutter through the prairies and oak savannas of Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge in the Hill Country of central Texas.

Virginia
Each year during monarch season (from early September to late October), the Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory counts and tags monarchs at the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge, at the tip of the Delmarva Peninsula between the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay. Visitors are welcome to watch. Taggers record monarch size, condition and gender.

Florida
People start calling St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge as early as August to ask when the monarch butterflies are coming. The refuge is the last refueling stop for thousands of migrating monarchs before they fly over the open water of the Gulf of Mexico.

You can do more than just observe bird migration season; resources are available to help with conservation efforts

Blue-winged Teal (Photo by Sharif Uddin, Macaulay Library via CornellLab)

As bird migration season takes flight, there are many resources for helping and enjoying birds during this magnificent phenomenon.

CornellLab offers recorded educational webinars and an interactive game with their Merlin Bird ID Trivia: Fall Migration Edition. "Can the app outperform an experienced birder and you, our audience?. . . .Our panelists share their advice on how to identify tricky birds based on calls and appearance—plus provide insights into birding during the migration season."

The American Bird Conservancy website has a plethora of information, tips and delightful photos of our feathered friends, many of whom are struggling to survive. "The great streams of migratory birds that once filled North America's skies are dwindling as habitat loss, climate change, and other threats take their toll. The declines cast doubt on the continued survival of these birds and the greatest wildlife phenomenon in the Western Hemisphere," according to the website.

To help birds year-round, these resources provide information about planning bird conservation efforts:

Cornell Lab of Ornithology: This institution, part of Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, has all kinds of bird-related resources.
National Audubon Society: A premier national nonprofit for conservation and policy and just birding. It has a network of local and regional affiliates.

Peregrine Falcon
(Photo by Marky Mutchler)

The Great Backyard Bird Count: Join the world in connecting to birds – Feb. 16–19, 2024.
Christmas Bird Count: A long-standing tradition in many places that can give a sense of population trends. Organized by National Audubon. To find local/regional birding and conservation groups: start here. (Note: The listing for some states is incomplete.)
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: The federal agency most active in bird conservation. Find a refuge near you and talk to the staff. You can also reach out to managers of your state, local and private wildlife refuges.
National Wildlife Health Center: This unit of the U.S. Geological Survey is an authoritative source on bird disease.
North American Bird Conservation Initiative: The consortium of researchers, government agencies and conservation groups that produced the 2022 report mentioned above.
Ducks Unlimited: Yes, its members do hunt ducks, but the group works very hard for conservation. Check with your local chapter and talk to them about migratory birds.
State conservation agencies: The terminology varies, but a good directory can be found here.
People who maintain local backyard bird feeders: One way to find them is to go to a hardware store where feeders and seeds are sold. 

The pandemic turned many employees into remote workers; some are moving to less costly states and rural areas

Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies map, adapted by The Rural Blog

Joint Center for Housing Studies table, from Census Bureau data; click on it to enlarge

One of the most significant changes wrought by the pandemic was expansion of remote work, which allowed many people to move to states with lower costs of living. "The U.S. housing map is being redrawn as work-from-home makes renters and home buyers more mobile and more likely to choose a place to live based on factors such as weather and tax rates," reports Meg Cunningham for Investopedia. They are "increasingly relocating to less-expensive areas, according to a report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, leading to increased demand for housing in lower-cost areas."

Expensive, often coastal, urban areas have seen the largest declines as remote workers prioritized moving places with cheaper overall living costs. "While the trend was especially popular [to move to] the suburbs across the country, rural areas also had an increase in demand. At 57%, more than half of all rural counties recorded more people moving in than out last year, according to the Harvard report," Cunningham writes. "The South had the largest net inflows of any U.S. region last year, with the biggest gains in Texas, Florida, and North Carolina. . . . Montana and Wyoming also experienced a similar influx, according to the Harvard report. . . . The Sun Belt has remained popular for those looking to leave big city life, with states such as Florida, Arizona, and Texas seeing massive influxes."

Domestic migration has become "the largest source of population growth in 20 states and the largest source of population decline in 23 states," Cunningham reports. "Because of their tendency to prioritize remote work and more flexibility, younger Americans are leading the way when it comes to domestic migration trends across the country. . . . . And migration shows no signs of slowing down. . . . . A record 25.2% of Redfin users nationwide are looking to relocate, up from 22.8% last year, according to a report from earlier this year. Many buyers are looking to leave their hometowns or move to more affordable areas. . . . Five of the top 10 destinations are in Florida, and nearly all of them are in the Sun Belt. Florida was the fastest-growing state in 2022, with warm weather, affordability, and low taxes enticing those from out-of-state."

Rural America grew last year for the first time in a decade, even more so than metropolitan areas, but future uncertain

Carsey Institute graph from census data

After 10 years of population decline, rural America is growing again. That's what the newest analysis of census data from Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire is indicating.

"Recent research suggests that the turbulent economic, social, and epidemiological conditions of recent years altered traditional demographic trends in non-metropolitan America," writes Kenneth Johnson, professor of sociology and senior demographer at Carsey.

The decade prior to 2020 was noted by rural depopulation, as many people left rural areas in favor of more urban living and rural areas had more deaths than births. "Yet, the latest Census Bureau population estimates document renewed population gains in nonmetropolitan America between April 2020 and July 2021," Johnson writes. "In fact, the rural population gain exceeded that in metropolitan areas, something that is rare in American history." Johnson explains that the number of people moving into rural areas exceeded the "growing excess of deaths over births fostered by Covid-19."

Johnson reports some migration to rural areas was seen in "high amenity recreational and retirement areas because net migration gains to these counties accelerated early in the pandemic." While some rural areas continue to see declines, many counties still saw gains "but a sizable number of counties had population increases" because more people moved into areas than died from Covid 19.

To survive, rural counties need continued, sustained migration. Johnson writes, "only sustained net migration gains can provide the demographic lifeline these communities need to stave off depopulation. Whether these nonmetropolitan migration gains will continue in this turbulent era remains to be seen."

How do rural communities recover from disaster? Recovery is often bumpy, and that can lead to loss of population

A fire truck in Hindman, Ky., after historic flooding
in the area in late July. (Brynn Anderson/AP photo)

When a major disaster strikes a rural area, the rebuilding process is often bumpy. If there's not much temporary housing for displaced families or a lack of community cohesion then a community can often end up "smaller than they were before the event," said Susan L. Cutter, a professor and director of the Hazards Vulnerability & Resilience Institute at the University of South Carolina. In the wake of devastating flooding in some Eastern Kentucky counties and an active hurricane season, Daily Yonder Editor Tim Marema interviewed Cutter about rural disaster recovery. 

"What happens is, there’s a lot of out-migration," Cutter said. "People leave, and they seek opportunities elsewhere. You know, they’re given some resources from FEMA to assist, and they simply move out of the area. Others stay in the area and are very much focused on rebuilding, but that rebuilding is — you’re talking years to rebuild and reconstruct communities. In those instances people may start out wanting to reconstruct but ultimately end up leaving."

There have been some exceptions to the trend, Cutter said, pointing to Princeville, N.C., and Valmeyer, Ill., as examples. Princeville, a historically African American community that faced multiple hurricane-related floods, has been able to bounce back because of the high level of interest in preserving the community, leading to an influx of external resources to help rebuild. Valmeyer, a Mississippi River town that periodically flooded, is the "classic example" of post-disaster resilience, Cutter said. The tight-knit community all agreed to "physically relocate the town on a bluff instead of down in the flood plain. So they reconstructed the community with most people’s buy-in, in another location." A strong sense of place, good local leadership and often outside help can all go a long way in helping a  community keep from deteriorating after disaster, Cutter said. 

Royal beekeepers tell their hives about the Queen's death, following a centuries-old tradition that echoes in Appalachia

Royal beekeeper John Chapple wrapped mourning
ribbons around the hives. (Daily Mail photo)

When Queen Elizabeth II died last week, most of the world heard the news within hours.

Her bees didn't hear about it until the next day. That's when royal beekeeper John Chapple went to Buckingham Palace and Clarence House, where the Queen's hives are kept, to inform the bees that their mistress had died. He also asked the bees to be good for their new master, King Charles III, John Dingwall reports for the Daily Mail.

"Telling the bees" is an ancient tradition, stemming from ancient cultures that revered bees as messengers to the spirit realm. If bees are not told about important family news (such as births, deaths, and marriage), legend holds, bees could stop producing honey, desert their hives, or even die.

Der Bienenfreunde ("The Bee Friend"),
an 1863 painting by Hans Thoma.

The practice is best known in the British Isles, but hitched a ride to Appalachia along with the Scots-Irish and English Borderers who settled the mountains. The latest book of the Outlander novels, about a Scot and his time-traveling wife who eventually settle in the Blue Ridge Mountains, is Go Tell the Bees That I Have Gone.

Many modern beekeepers still keep the age-old custom—not because they worry about bad luck, but as "a mark of respect," folklorist Mark Norman told Daniel Victor of The New York Times.

Stephen Fleming, who co-edits BeeCraft magazine, said he performed the tradition after a fellow beekeeper died. "It was just something I thought my friend would have enjoyed," he told Victor. Which is just, well—sweet.

Climate change effects increasingly drive U.S. migration

U.S. counties that would be affected by a six-foot sea-level rise are in blue, based on a 2020 study. Inland counties are shaded in red according to how many migrants they would likely receive from coastal areas. (PLOS ONE map)

"Worsening climate effects, including heat waves, wildfires, floods, droughts, and sea-level rise, are leading a growing number of Americans to have second thoughts about where they are living and to decide to move to places that are perceived to be less exposed to these impacts . . . such as New England or the Appalachian Mountains. Researchers say this phenomenon will intensify in the coming decades," Jon Hurdle reports for Yale Environment 360. Some are forced to move because of current or frequent threats, while others choose to move before disasters force them to.

The phenomenon will become increasingly common in the coming years, and temperate Northern states will see the most incoming migration, according to researchers like Jesse Keenan, an associate professor of real estate in Tulane University's architecture school. "Keenan, who studies the intersection of climate change adaptation and the built environment, estimated that 50 million Americans could eventually move within the country to regions such as New England or the Upper Midwest in search of a haven from severe climate impacts," Hurdle reports. "He predicted that migration driven by increasingly uninhabitable coastal areas is likely to happen sooner rather than later, citing the latest federal estimate that U.S. coastal sea levels will rise by as much as a foot by 2050. Another projection, by Matthew Hauer, an assistant professor of sociology at Florida State University, is that 13.1 million Americans will relocate because of sea-level rise alone by 2100, based on projections that seas along the U.S. coast will rise by an average of 1.8 meters — nearly six feet — by then."

However, not everyone is as concerned about climate change (or at least not concerned enough for it to change where they move), since many Americans have moved to disaster-prone states such as Texas and Florida during the pandemic, Hurdle reports.

73% of counties had more births than deaths in 2020-21, but most micropolitan areas gained people as they fled cities

Bureau of the Census map, adapted by The Rural Blog; for a larger version, click on it.

Almost three-fourths of U.S. counties had more deaths than births in 2020, a pandemic-driven phenomenon never seen before, according to data released Thursday by the Census Bureau.

"More people died than were born in 2,297 (73 percent) of the nation’s 3,143 counties between July of 2020 and July of 2021. This is the most counties to suffer such a loss in U.S. history and 60 percent more than before the Covid pandemic began two years ago," writes Kenneth Johnson, senior demographer in the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire.

"That's unheard of in American history," Johnson told Fredrick Kunkle of The Washington Post. He wrote for Carsey that nationwide, "With immigration also at a low ebb, the population grew by just 393,000—the lowest rate of annual population increase in history and the smallest numeric gain in more than 100 years."

Rural counties, which had a slight population loss from the 2010 census to the one in 2020, appeared to benefit from last year's trend. Kunkle reports, "Millions of residents traded cities for suburbs or larger suburbs for smaller ones. Many migrated farther into rural counties or resettled to second homes in vacation areas."

The Census Bureau's report reflects that: "Most of the nation’s counties – 2,063 or 65.6% – experienced positive domestic migration overall." it says. "In many cases, there was a shift from larger, more populous counties to medium and smaller ones. These patterns contributed to population increases in 1,822 counties (58.0%), while 1,313 (41.8%) lost residents, and eight (0.3%) saw no change in population."

The report didn't look at rural population, but did examine micropolitan or "micro" areas, which have population centers with 10,000 to 50,000 population: "Micro areas, up 0.2% between 2020 and 2021, grew slightly faster than U.S. metro areas, which increased by 0.1%. This is a departure from past trends when metro areas typically grew at a faster rate than micro areas. Among metro areas, 251 (65%) experienced population increases between 2020 and 2021. Of the 543 U.S. micro areas, 287 (52.9%) had population increases in 2021."

Philip Bump of The Washington Post produced maps giving the relative population changes in rural counties and overall:

Rural population fall mainly from out-migration; international in-migration was more than natural increase; see state data

Daily Yonder graph; click to enlarge

Rural counties as a whole lost population from 2010 to 2020 because people left them, and they gained more from international migration than from natural increase (births totaling more deaths), according to an analysis of new census data by Roberto Gallardo for The Daily Yonder.

 "The decrease from 2010 to 2020 was slight — about half a percentage point," Gallardo writes. But it was apparently the first time an overall decline in rural population -- actual numbers, not percentage -- has been recorded from one census to another. Each year from 2010 to 2015, rural population declined.

Large metropolitan areas also lost population from domestic migration, reports Gallardo, who runs the Purdue University Center for Regional Development. "The international or immigration component buffered population losses in both metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas," he writes. "This highlights the importance of welcoming and helping these groups assimilate into a community’s culture. Without them, population loss would have been higher coupled with the decreasing natural component and in nonmetropolitan areas, domestic migration."

Gallardo's very detailed story includes an interactive table with state-by-state data.

Quick hits: Fire-department funding model could help rural ERs; developers say new plant 'milk' tastes like real thing

Here's a roundup of stories with rural resonance; if you do or see similar work that should be shared on The Rural Blog, email heather.chapman@uky.edu.

The American West has 620,000 miles of fencing; that may threaten the migration of deer and other species. Read more here.

A recent study found rural Americans and Native Americans on average must travel the farthest to receive certified stroke care. Read more here.

A federal fire-department funding model could help rural emergency departments stay afloat. Read more here.

Developers of the newest plant-based milk alternative say it looks, tastes and behaves more like real milk than any other substitute. The brew is being sold at Whole Foods and will reach nearly 3,000 U.S. grocery stores this year. Read more here.

Jennifer Rocha picks peppers alongside her parents. She worked with
 them from high school through college. (Photo by Branden Rodriguez)

A new book tackles the issue of rural gentrification in a Washington tourism town. Read more here.

A recent graduate of the University of California, San Diego, wanted to honor her immigrant parents' sacrifices for her education, so she did her graduation photos in the Coachella Valley vegetable fields where they had all worked for years. Read more here.

For the first time since last July, the Agriculture Department's Economic Research Service has updated its Atlas of Rural and Small-Town America with new data on employment, poverty, income, and more. The resource features an interactive, county-level map that can be toggled to display data on a host of topics, including population change, race, rurality, and veterans. Read more here.

An Oregon writer explores the roots of a conflict over water rights in the nearby Klamath River basin, where anti-government activists are threatening to dynamite open a closed irrigation canal. Better compromise and innovation could provide a solution for all parties involved, she writes, both there and in other areas where climate change is making water more scarce. Read more here.

Fact-checking Biden's first presidential news conference

At his first presidential news conference yesterday, President Joe Biden took questions on immigration, foreign policy and more. Here's some fact-checking:

Asked about the increase in immigrant children crossing the border, Biden said "Truth of the matter is, nothing has changed. As many people came — 28 percent increase in children to the border in my administration; 31% in the last year in 2019, before the pandemic — in the Trump administration. It happens every single solitary year. There is a significant increase in the number of people coming to the border in the winter months of January, February, March. It happens every year."

Border crossings do have seasonal trends, but "unaccompanied immigrant children have come to the border in higher numbers than what he said," report Nomaan Merchand and Josh Boak of The Associated Press. "According to statistics published by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, authorities encountered 9,457 children without a parent in February, a 61% increase from January, not 28%. The numbers of unaccompanied children did rise 31% between January 2019 and February 2019." And while Biden downplayed his election as a reason many youths decided to come to the U.S., AP interviewed migrants who said they hope immigration policies would be more permissive under him.

Biden said the U.S. is sending back the "vast majority" of families crossing the border illegally. Not so, Jane C. Timm reports for NBC News. It's true that they're sending back more than 70% of people at the border, according to data from February, but less than half of family units were sent back.

Biden addressed Republican complaints that his pandemic relief-and-stimulus package was too expensive, saying GOP lawmakers and President Trump passed a nearly $2 trillion tax cut, 83% of which 83% benefitted the wealthiest 1%. That's misleading, AP says: The tax cuts disproportionately favored the top 1%, but the stats Biden cited will only be true if Congress extends the cuts in 2027.

House passes bill to create pathway to citizenship for farmworkers in U.S. illegally and their family members

The U.S. House passed a bill Thursday that "sets out a path to citizenship for farmworkers in the country illegally and their family members, reports Siobahn Hughes of The Wall Street Journal. It passed 247 to 174, "with 30 Republicans in favor and a single Democrat against."

Nevertheless, the bill's fate in the Senate is uncertain, partly because it passed along with a bill to "create a path to citizenship for young immigrants known as Dreamers who came to the U.S. before the age of 19 and have lived in the country illegally, as well as hundreds of thousands of immigrants living in the U.S. under a humanitarian program that provides temporary protection to people suffering from extraordinary conditions like war or natural disasters," Hughes reports.

That bill's passage was narrower, by 288-197, and some Republicans lumped it with the farmworker bill, saying they would send the wrong message at a time when the U.S. is dealing with a surge in migrants at the Mexican border. “These bills are . . . advertising that people who come here legally are suckers, and we’re going to give preference to people who didn’t come here legally,” said Rep. Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin.

Hughes quotes Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., a former state agriculture official who supports the bill: “The timing is unfortunate. It’s distracting people from what the issues are.” And she notes, "Agriculture Department data show that nearly 50 percent of hired crop farmworkers in the U.S. lack legal status." Cornell University offers experts to discuss both bills. One is Richard Stup, a farm-workforce specialist who serves as liaison between the industry and employment regulators and says the bill would be a major step toward stabilizing the nation's agricultural workforce.

How Trump won over Latino voters in the Rio Grande Valley

While Joe Biden was competitive in Texas, President Trump was able to win over the heavily Latino, reliably Democratic counties in the Rio Grande Valley along the border, helping him carry the state. 

"The bluest of blue counties along the river, Zapata County, flipped to President Trump, who won 52.5 percent of the vote. It was the first time since Reconstruction that a Republican presidential candidate won Zapata County," Arelis Hernandez and Brittney Martin report for The Washington Post. That may seem odd to outsiders who may see voters as Latinos first and rural residents second, but rural conservatism is nothing new, said University of Texas-San Antonio political scientist Sharon Navarro.

The difference, she says, is that this year Republicans did the work to court these voters and tailor their message about the election around the economy and jobs. Republicans won those Rio Grande counties by "taking advantage of the habitual underinvestment and lack of infrastructure there, as well as neglect from the state and national Democratic parties," the Post reports. "The shift extended through the more than 1,200-mile border, from the populous lower delta of Brownsville and McAllen to the sparse ranchland near Laredo and the high desert of El Paso."

Biden won most of the valley counties, but by much smaller margins than Hillary Clinton did in 2016. "The story of Trump’s performance and Biden’s backslide along the Texas border, experts say, shows the importance of cultivating deeper relationships with a diverse Latino population that continues to claim a growing and dominant share of the Texas electorate," Hernandez and Martin write.

Courting the Latino vote, especially in Texas, is more important than ever. Latinos make up about 40% of the Texas population and about 30% of its voters, and that number is rising. Each year, more than 203,000 Latinos come of voting age in Texas, Rogelio Saenz, a UT-San Antonio demographer, told the Post, which reports: "While White migration to the state has slowed, Saenz said, there has been a significant increase in Latinos and African Americans moving to Texas in recent years."

2 p.m. ET webinar TODAY discusses report on how population migration can make it hard to assess rural trends

A new report from the University of New Hampshire's Carsey School of Public Policy examines whether rural America is "failing or succeeding". The answer is: it's complicated, Kenneth Johnson and Daniel Lichter report.

The report "provides cautionary lessons regarding the commonplace narrative of widespread rural decline and urban growth," Johnson and Lichter report. "It highlights the demographic fact that many counties simply 'grow up' to become metropolitan. Each decade, many of the most successful nonmetropolitan counties—those with the greatest population and economic gains—are redefined as metropolitan. Today, 71 million people reside in the 753 counties that were once nonmetropolitan but since 1970 have been reclassified as metropolitan. With so many growing nonmetropolitan counties shifting to metropolitan status each decade due to urbanization, it is little wonder that rural population gains lag behind those in urban areas."

A webinar at 2 p.m. ET today will discuss the report. Click here to attend the webinar. If you are unable to attend the webinar, a recorded version will be available here.

Rural home prices rise as people consider leaving cities during pandemic

New data from Realtor.com suggests that people may be increasingly interested in moving to rural areas during the pandemic.

The data, "which compared this June to June of 2019, found that homes in rural and suburban zip codes saw the biggest jump in average views per property," Dante Chinni reports for NBC News. "Homes in urban zip codes had a 19 percent increase in views compared to last year. But homes in suburban zip codes had a much larger 30 percent jump. And homes in rural zip codes saw a 34 percent increase in views."

Chinni cautions that property views don't necessarily translate to sales, and it's difficult to imagine the pandemic reversing the larger trend toward urban migration. "But these numbers show there is at least an interest in getting out of the most densely packed areas and into communities that are more spread out. Anecdotal evidence suggests some of it may be about searching for second-home getaways in more remote communities," Chinni reports.