Digestibles

Ecology and Economic Growth
The Wildlife Society’s recent technical review, The Relationship of Economic Growth to Wildlife Conservation, by Trauger, D. L., B. Czech et al., presents theoretical and empirical evidence supporting views that the conflict between economic growth and wildlife conservation is increasing and endangering ecological balance.

Contact: The Wildlife Society, phone 301/897-9770 or visit www.wildlife.org.
Cost: $7.00; member price $5.00

FEMA Disaster Guide
Are You Ready: A Guide to Citizen Preparedness is an updated publication of the federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on how to prepare for natural and man-made disasters. The guide provides instruction for preparedness to both individuals and communities in the case of winter storms, floods, terrorism, earthquakes, water shortages, volcanoes, fire, tsunamis, landslides, hurricanes, nuclear attack and more.

Contact: FEMA, POB 2012, Jessup, MD 20794; phone 800/480-2520; or visit www.fema.gov/library
Cost: Free

New Brownfields Web Site Launched
The International City/County Management Association (ICMA) has formally launched BrownfieldSource.org. The Web site provides instant access to news, events, research reports and other published materials related to brownfields revitalization, focusing on the latest in community, economic, environmental, governmental, innovative, legal and redevelopment issues.

Contact: ICMA, 777 North capitol St., NE, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20002; phone 202/289-4262. Visit the site at www.lgean.org/html

Workforce Preparation: A Southern Example
The Southern Growth Board’s 2002 Report on the Future of the South entitled The Mercedes and the Magnolia: Preparing the Southern Workforce for the Next Economy provides charts, analysis and recommendations for creating a new workforce for a new economy. State-by-state profiles of southern workforce programs are also included (AL, AR, GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, OK, PR, SC, TN, VA, WV).

Contact: Southern Growth Policies Board, PO Box 12293, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709; phone 919/941-5145.
Cost: $10.00 or free online at www.southern.org

Rural Communities Still Have a Chance
The economic health of rural America is still fragile, according to Creating Vibrant Communities and Economies in Rural America by Lionel J. Beaulieu and the Southern Rural Development Center. The article purports that a vibrant rural America is still possible provided that four elements exist: expanding the quality of human capital resources, continuing entrepreneurial development, continued enhancement of digital capacity and promotion of broad- based involvement of local individuals in communities.

Contact: Southern Rural development Center, Box 9656, Mississippi State, MS 39762; phone 662/325-3207 or visit http://srdc.msstate.edu
Cost: Free online at http://srdc.msstate.edu/publications/agoutlook_02.ppt

Battling Sprawl Together
Town Meets Country: Farm-City Forums on Land and Community, a publication of the American Farmland Trust and the United States Conference of Mayors highlights unprecedented cooperation between rural and urban leaders on policies promoting smarter land use decisions. The report is based on five forums conducted across the nation with farming and urban participants.

Contact: American Farmland Trust, 1200 18th Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20036; 202/331.7300 or visit www.farmland.org
Cost: Free online at www.farmand.org/farm_city_forum/index.htm

Handy Tri-fold of Rural America Facts
Released by the USDA Economic Research Service, this tri- fold Rural America at a Glance gives quick facts about rural America’s current population distribution according to ethnicity, recession effects, poverty rates with child poverty levels and other grant writing useful statistics. Useful charts and maps illustrate the information provided.

Contact: ERS, 1800 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036; phone 202/694-5139 or email Karen Hamrick at khamrick@ers.usda.gov or visit www.ers.usda.gov/emphases/rural
Cost: Free online at www.ers.usda.gov/briefing/rural/gallery; Rural Development Research Report Number 94-1

Recruiting Executive Directors Guide
The South Carolina Association of Regional Councils (SCARC) Succession Planning Committee released a July 2002 recommendations report and guidelines for the selection of South Carolina’s Council of Governments’ (COGs) Executive Directors, due to the fact that fifty percent of the COGs current directors are planning retirement within the next five years. The guidelines address matters such as, minimum qualifications, suggested places for advertisements, job contract particulars and samples of reference and supplemental questionnaires.

Contact: Yoli Crowley or Jim Darby, Santee-Lynches Regional COG, 803/775-7381; email slrcog@slcog.org
Cost: No cost but limited number of hard copies available.

The Shortcomings of Rural Policy
In The Failure of National Rural Policy William P. Browne blends history, politics and economic to show that the federal government emphasis on farm productivity has failed to meet broader rural needs and actually has increased rural poverty. However, Browne maintains that nonfarm rural society can make a realistic claim for public policy assistance.

Contact: Hopkins Fulfillment Service, PO Box 50370, Baltimore, MD 21211; phone 800/537-5487 or visit www.press.georgetown.edu
Cost: Paper $24.95 plus shipping and handling

The CDBG Guide
The US Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Community Planning and Development’s State Community Development Block Program (CDBG): Guide to National Objectives and Eligible Activities for State CDBG Program is designed to make program requirements easier to understand and allow communities and states easier access. The guide also highlights program flexibility and outlines project selection criteria.

Contact: US Government Printing Office, Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402; phone 866/512-1800; online bookstore.gpo.gov
Cost: $45.00 or free online at www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/communitydevelopment/library/

Appalachian Entrepreneurs
The Appalachian Regional Commission's (ARC’s) 2002 annual project report, Entrepreneurship Initiative Approved Projects, presents profiles of 189 projects with information such as, project purpose, funding sources, funding amounts, project descriptions and grantee identities. Altogether these projects have created 711 new businesses and created/retained 4,343 jobs in the ARC states.

Contact: ARC, 1666 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20009; phone 202/884-7799; email cbrazell@arc.gov
Cost: Free online at www.arc.gov/entrepreneurship

The Key to Human Resources
The Human Resources Center at the International Personnel Management Association’s (IPMA’s) new guide Auditing the Human Resources Department teaches HR managers how to conduct a successful audit. The guide has step-by-step instructions and provides a self-audit questionnaire.

Contact: IPMA, 1617 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314; phone 703/549-7100; Internet www.ipma-hr.org
Cost: $30.00 members; $50.00 non-members

Stronger Non-Profits
Strengthening Non-Profit Performance: A Funder’s Guide to Capacity Building authored by Paul Connolly and Carol Lukas under the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation synthesizes the latest in capacity building research and practices. The book evaluates numerous logic models and a design blueprint for organizational planning.

Contact: Wilder Publishing Center, 919 Lafond Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104; phone 800/274-6024; www.wilder.org
Cost: $35.00

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