Source: UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY submitted to NRP
WESTERN RURAL DEVELOPMENT CENTER 2021
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1024475
Grant No.
2020-51150-32895
Cumulative Award Amt.
$474,880.00
Proposal No.
2020-08973
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2020
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2022
Grant Year
2020
Program Code
[UU.R]- Rural Development Centers
Recipient Organization
UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
LOGAN,UT 84322
Performing Department
Western Rural Development Cent
Non Technical Summary
The Western Rural Development Center is a regional catalyst for capacity building in the West. The Center is committed to providing leadership to assist the region's Cooperative Extension Service and Agricultural Experiment Stations and other partners to build the capacity of its faculty, researchers, and staff. The Western Rural Development Center's work helps advance NIFA's Strategic Goals.
Animal Health Component
70%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
5%
Applied
70%
Developmental
25%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
60860993010100%
Knowledge Area
608 - Community Resource Planning and Development;

Subject Of Investigation
6099 - People and communities, general/other;

Field Of Science
3010 - Economics;
Goals / Objectives
The Western Rural Development Center (WRDC) is proposing the following initiatives for its Fiscal Year 2020-21 Plan of Work. This work plan builds upon activities established in previous years. These proposed initiatives and activities support the following USDA Strategic Goals for FY 2018-2022:· Goal 4: Facilitate rural prosperity and economic development;· Goal 6: Foster productive and sustainable use of our National Forest Systems Lands;· Goal 7: Provide all Americans with access to a safe, nutritious and secure food supply.
Project Methods
The WRDC will work with partners to obtain data, conduct scientifically sound research and share this information with our target audience.

Progress 09/01/20 to 05/16/22

Outputs
Target Audience:Extension and research professionals in Land Grand Universities throughout the West, as well as the residents and decision-makers in rural communities. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We conduct training and professional development for professionals in the west on a regular basis. We work with community leaders with their economic development initiatives. Our Sustainability Summit helps leaders understand issues related to sustainability. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Our publications include: PUBLICATIONS: BRIEFS AND RURAL CONNECTIONS The WRDC may periodically publish Western Policy Briefs written by regional/national Extension researchers/professionals on topics relevant to the rural West. Rural Connections is a magazine published up to twice each year by the Center. Both publications serve to inform the nation about research, outreach, and Extension activities relating to issues affecting the rural West. Objectives - The WRDC briefs and Rural Connections are published to inform the nation on the research and activities in the West regarding issues affecting the region's rural communities, and to bring attention to the region's researchers and professionals working to create vibrant rural communities. Need/Gap - It is often perceived that the West is overlooked by national publications and initiatives because the very nature of the West's uniqueness-its large landmass, vast distances between places, and large percentage of federally-managed lands-sets it apart from the rural communities of the Midwest, Southeast, and Northeast. Strategies/Actions - The WRDC staff selects the topics for each issue of the magazine and briefs based on current issues affecting the region, feedback from its Board of Directors, and from input received from the Western Extension Directors Association and/or the Western Agricultural Association of Experiment Station Directors. Timeline - Briefs may be published throughout the year. Rural Connections may be published up to twice each year in the spring and in the fall. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Goal 4: Facilitate Rural Prosperity and Economic Development AREA SECTOR ANALYSIS PROCESS The WRDC's Area Sector Analysis Process was designed by Extension and Research Specialists from throughout the West to use in collaboration with community leaders in targeted, sustainable economic development. ASAP has already been successfully applied to multiple communities across the region. Additionally, the Center is working to document the outcomes of ASAP in select participating communities and offering expanded research assistance to those communities most involved with and invigorated by the Area Sector Analysis Process. Objectives - ASAP matches a community's economic development goals and assets with the production requirements and benefits/costs of businesses and industries in order to assist in decisions that reflect the desires of community members as well as the needs of business and industry. Need/Gap - The Area Sector Analysis Process (ASAP) program has been developed to provide a framework to aid communities in prioritizing their development goals and identifying the assets they have to help them achieve their goals. Strategies/Action - The WRDC continues to coordinate the ASAP team's conference calls, annual meeting, trainings, and application of ASAP in new communities throughout the West. Additionally, the Center will devote time and resources to developing profiles of participating communities, documenting the outcomes of ASAP, outlining best practices. Timeline - Ongoing year-round. Goal 6: Foster productive and sustainable use of our National Forest Systems Lands LAND USE AND MANAGEMENT PLANNING INITIATIVE Nearly one million square miles (55%) of the land in the western United States is managed by the Federal Government. More than 90% of federally owned land in the U.S. is in the 13 western states. In recent years, federal land management decisions in the region have been prominent and divisive. Objectives - To obtain and provide scientifically sound and politically-neutral information on the various implications of federal lands management decisions in the western U.S. Need/Gap - There is a great need for data and analysis to understand the consequences of various federal land management policies. Strategies/Actions - The WRDC is leading the effort to develop a comprehensive GIS data set on all land west of the 98th meridian in the continental United States. This data will allow the Center and researchers to explore the consequences of various land management approaches. Timeline - The GIS data set is currently being compiled and data analysis will commence when data compilation is complete. NATIONAL EXTENSION CLIMATE INITIATIVE The National Extension Climate Initiative serves to link climate change-related education and research across Extension program areas and Associations.This effort is open to all Extension professionals. Initiated by Paul Lachapelle, Montana State University, in collaboration with Chris Jones, University of Arizona, and with support from the Western Rural Development Center. Objectives - To Communicate and share current and future work with a core group of self-selected faculty and staff representing all program areas of Extension. Need/Gap - This initiative aims to increase multi-state collaboration on research and extension efforts, and to address the need for national Extension education materials as it pertains to climate crisis education. Strategies/Actions - Membership recruitment has been underway for several months and this will be ongoing. Membership currently totals over 100 faculty and staff from numerous states and territories. The team is working to become a sanctioned Extension activity.

Publications

  • Type: Books Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Albrecht, Don E. 2020. Building a Resilient 21st-Century Economy for Rural America. Logan: Utah State University Press.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Shupp, Robert, Scott Loveridge, Mark Skidmore, Brandn Green, and Don Albrecht. 2020. Recognition and Stigma of Prescription in Drug Abuse Disorder: Personal and Community Determinants. BMC Public Health 20 (977).
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Spangler, Kaitlyn, Riana Gayle, and Don Albrecht. 2020. Balancing Environmental and Economic Priorities in Rural Western U.S. Communities. WRDC ASAP Research Series.


Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21

Outputs
Target Audience:Residents and leaders of rural communities in the west; community development extension professionals; policy makers at the local, state and national levels. Changes/Problems:Because of the pandemic, the WRDC staff has been working from home. Also, we have had to do our training and other meetings virtually. We have made the transition very smoothly. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The WRDC has organized a Community Development Extension Professional Working Group. This group meets together virtually once each month where we share ideas and learn from one another. Further, our ASAP process invovles direct training for rural community leaders. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We use a variety of approaches to disseminate information. Our publications are distributed widely. We have created a video to share information about the ASAP process. We work with Community Development Extension Professionals who then work directly with communities. With our ASAP strategic planning process, we work directly with communities, meeting with them face-to-face and virtually. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue with the important work we are doing, while constantly seeking to improve how we share information.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? This past year will be remembered as the year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Communities were faced with unique and difficult challenges. The WRDC assisted the rural communities of the west by providing timely and accurate information through our COVID-19 series publications. Despite travel limitations, our other work continued. We are currently conducting our strategic planning process (ASAP) with about a dozen communities. We have learned to do much of the process virtually. Our unique GIS data set is nearly complete.

Publications

  • Type: Books Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Albrecht, Don E. 2020.. Building a Resilient 21st-Century Economy for Rural America. Logan: Utah State University Press.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Shupp, Robert, Scott Loveridge, Mark Skidmore, Brandn Green, and Don Albrecht. 2020. Recognition and Stigma of Prescription in Drug Abuse Disorder: Personal and Community Determinants. BMC Public Health 20 (977).
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Spangler, Kaitlyn, Riana Gayle, and Don Albrecht. 2020. Balancing Environmental and Economic Priorities in Rural Western U.S. Communities. WRDC ASAP Research Series
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Albrecht, Don, Marion Bentley, Tom Harris, and Roger Coupal. 2020. "COVID-19 and Economic Opportunities for Rural America. Rural Connections, Fall/Winter.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Albrecht, Don, Marion Bentley, Tom Harris, Roger Coupal, and Riana Gayle. 2020. "Vulnerable Industries and Employment in U.S. Counties." WRDC COVID-19 Series.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Coupal, Roger, Tom Harris, Marion Bentley, and Don Albrecht. 2020. "Economic Impacts of a COVID-19 Recovery: Thinking Through Growth, Decline, and Rebound Logic. WRDC COVID-19 Series.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Lacy, Katherine, Malieka Bordigioni, Ruby Ward, Staci Emm, Karin Allen, and Anne Whyte. 2021. "Consumer Preferences for Locally Raised Beef." WRDC Research Brief.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: "Strengthening Rural Utah Communities." (Video) http//www.youtube.com/TheWRDC.