| Initiative Title: |
The Rosebud Sioux Tribe Wind Turbine Project in South Dakota |
| Summary: |
The Rosebud Sioux Tribe Wind Turbine Project is the first utility scale wind turbine to be located on tribal land in South Dakota. This project was the first USDA Rural Development loan granted to a |
| Website: |
http://www.rosebudsiouxtribe-nsn.gov/ |
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| Initiative Title: |
Rural Electrification through User-Owned Cooperatives |
| Summary: |
Key Results -
In the U.S., electricity cooperatives have been instrumental in providing electric services to rural areas. Electric co-ops now own and maintain 2.3 million miles of electricity dis |
| Website: |
http://www.nreca.coop |
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| Initiative Title: |
Methane to Markets: An international public-private partnership to advance the recovery and use of methane as a clean energy source |
| Summary: |
The Methane to Markets Partnership is a multilateral initiative uniting public and private interests to advance the recovery and use of methane as a clean energy source. Currently, 17 national gover |
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| Initiative Title: |
Effective Strategies for Animal Waste Management on Large Farms in the U.S. |
| Summary: |
Key Results: A variety of research, education, assistance and cost share programs now focus on ensuring cost-effective management of animal waste. Examples include:
• University of Nebraska |
| Website: |
http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/AgAndEnvironment/animalagriculture.htm |
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| Initiative Title: |
Indicators for Sustainable Management of Rangelands, Water Resources and Forests |
| Summary: |
Key results: Three national sustainability roundtables on rangelands, water resources and forests have resulted in:
• Criteria & indicators at national and sub-national scales
• National |
| Website: |
http://sustainablerangelands.warnercnr.colostate.edu -- rangeland |
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| Initiative Title: |
Environmental Quality Incentive Program of U.S. Dept of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service |
| Summary: |
Volunteers enrolling land in the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) receive both technical and financial assistance to implement irrigation water management practices that sustain our nat |
| Website: |
http://www.ne.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/EQIP/EQIP_Considerations.html |
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| Initiative Title: |
Manure-Digester-Fueled Generators: Dairyland Power Cooperative, Wisconsin |
| Summary: |
Dairyland Power Cooperative (Dairyland) is a generation and transmission cooperative located in La Crosse, Wisconsin, that supplies wholesale electricity to locally owned cooperatives and municipal u |
| Website: |
http://www.dairynet.com |
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| Initiative Title: |
Landcare International Partnership and Approach in the U. S. |
| Summary: |
Key results:
• Emergence of local Landcare groups in countries of the world including the U.S., such as Grayson LandCare (www.graysonlandcare.org) and Catawba Landcare (www.catawbalandcare.org |
| Website: |
http://www.landcareinternational.net -- Landcare International |
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| Initiative Title: |
Dryland Health Assessment: A Protocol for Rapid Evaluations Based on Local and Scientific Knowledge |
| Summary: |
Key Results: The dryland health assessment protocol is now being applied (to inform policy and management at local to national scales) by:
• The Bureau of Land Management -- on much of the 3.4 |
| Website: |
http://usda-ars.nmsu.edu/JER/Monit_Assess/monitoring_main.php |
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| Initiative Title: |
Landfill Gas-To-Electricity Project in Coventry, Vermont |
| Summary: |
In Coventry, Vermont, the Washington Electric Cooperative, Inc. (WEC) successfully guided, implemented, and established a landfill gas-to-electricity generating plant, rated at 4.8 MW, through an int |
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| Initiative Title: |
“One-stop information” Source on Sustainable Agriculture and Energy for Farmers and Ranchers |
| Summary: |
Key results: In 2007, National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service provided more than 26,000 responses to technical assistance requests. Its website received more than 2.9 million unique vi |
| Website: |
http://www.attra.ncat.org |
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| Initiative Title: |
Meeting the e-Commerce Needs of Rural Businesses and Communities |
| Summary: |
Key Results: Specialized new curricula have been developed expressly for farm business managers, value-added agricultural firms, niche market producers, rural food retailers, and Hispanic/Latino cl |
| Website: |
http://rrdc.info -- information about USDA’s Regional Rural Development Centers and their roles integrating research, education, and extension to address rural development issues |
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| Initiative Title: |
Conservation Security Program |
| Summary: |
Designed to reward the best land stewards and motivate the rest, the Conservation Security Program (CSP) gives farmers who qualify for the program the opportunity to receive payments for a variety of |
| Website: |
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/csp/ |
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| Initiative Title: |
Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education: Grants and Information to Improve Profitability, Stewardship and Quality of Life |
| Summary: |
In 20 years, thousands of local and regional projects to advance sustainable agriculture and food systems have helped farmers and ranchers realize new ways to make money - while protecting the enviro |
| Website: |
http://www.sare.org |
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| Initiative Title: |
Research coordination to Overcome Barriers to Microirrigation |
| Summary: |
Key Results: A coordinated research program across USDA and U.S. Land Grant Universities may help expand the use of microirrigation, which can save money for farmers and reduce environmental impacts |
| Website: |
http://lgu.umd.edu/lgu_v2/pages/showInfo.cfm?trackID=5254&CFID=3896218&CFTOKEN=19347802 |
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| Initiative Title: |
Geotourism in the Western United States |
| Summary: |
Key results:
• Community-based local geotourism alliances of residents, businesses, organizations, and government representatives to create co-branded National Geographic maps
• Geotouris |
| Website: |
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/sustainable -- information and resources including directories for tourism and government professionals, destination communities, and travelers. |
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| Initiative Title: |
The Navajo Tribal Utility Authority Solar Power System (NTUA-SPS) |
| Summary: |
NTUA-SPS is a state-of-the-art, lightweight, transportable and very effective solar photovoltaic system. Each system is designed to produce enough energy for a small dwelling. The total project inv |
| Website: |
http://www.ntua.com |
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| Initiative Title: |
American Farmland Trust: Saving the Land that Sustains Us |
| Summary: |
Key results: Working with farmers and ranchers, political leaders and community activists, AFT has helped to permanently protect more than a million acres of America's best farm and ranch land. AFT |
| Website: |
http://www.farmland.org/default.asp |
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| Initiative Title: |
Food Security Learning Center |
| Summary: |
The Food Security Learning Center, available at www.whyhunger.org/fslc, is an online hub of information exchange for the food security movement, with detailed information on the following topics:
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| Website: |
http://www.whyhunger.org/fslc/default.asp |
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| Initiative Title: |
Use of Native Plants in Ecosystem Restoration |
| Summary: |
Key results:
• Native Plant Materials Policy within USDA Forest Service
• Information available for Forest Service employees and partners
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| Website: |
http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/nativeplantmaterials/index.shtml |
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| Initiative Title: |
4-H Programs Encourage Youth Development through a “Learn-by-Doing” Approach |
| Summary: |
Key results:
• The 4-H organization serves over 6.5 million members in the U.S. from ages 5 to 19 in approximately 90,000 clubs.
• 4-H and related programs exist in over 80 countries around |
| Website: |
http://www.national4-hheadquarters.gov/index |
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| Initiative Title: |
The Benefits of Conservation Tillage & Crop Residue Management |
| Summary: |
Key results: In most agricultural systems, conservation tillage combined with CRM provides many advantages over conventional moldboard plow systems that turn over the soil. Advantages include:
• |
| Website: |
http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/arei/eib16/ |
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| Initiative Title: |
Nutrient Management in Agriculture to Increase Productivity and Protect the Environment |
| Summary: |
Research has identified many practices that can achieve significant reductions of nutrient loss from farms. A few examples follow, but it should be realized that different practices may only be effe |
| Website: |
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/TECHNICAL/NRI/ceap |
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| Initiative Title: |
The Rosebud Sioux Tribe Wind Turbine Project in South Dakota |
| Summary: |
The Rosebud Sioux Tribe Wind Turbine Project is the first utility scale wind turbine to be located on tribal land in South Dakota. This project was the first USDA Rural Development loan granted to a |
| Website: |
http://www.rosebudsiouxtribe-nsn.gov/ |
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| Initiative Title: |
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Voluntary Methane Programs |
| Summary: |
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's methane programmes are designed to overcome a wide range of informational, technical, and institutional barriers to reducing methane emissions, while creati |
| Website: |
http://www.epa.gov/methane/voluntary.html |
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| Initiative Title: |
Planning for Green Infrastructure helps Communities Balance Conservation and Development Goals |
| Summary: |
Key results:
• Many local green infrastructure projects are underway, such as the Baltimore, Maryland, county forest and a plan for open space reinvestment in Wisconsin.
• A “Green Infras |
| Website: |
http://www.greeninfrastructure.net -- Green Infrastructure |
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| Initiative Title: |
Cooperative Development of Standardized Indicators for Monitoring Rangeland |
| Summary: |
Key Results - This standardized protocol has been field tested Multi-Agency Oregon Pilot Project in a areas that covers 13 counties in central Oregon -- over 30 million acres of federal, state, priv |
| Website: |
http://sustainablerangelands.warnercnr.colostate.edu/ |
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| Initiative Title: |
Building National Capacity for Biofuels Production |
| Summary: |
Initiatives of the U.S. Department of Agriculture include programs to increase the capacity of the U.S. to expand production of bioenergy, bioproducts, and promote energy conservation. Since 2002 et |
| Website: |
http://www.ers.usda.gov/features/farmbill/titles/titleIXenergy.htm |
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| Initiative Title: |
U.S. Cooperative Extension System: The Largest Non-Formal Educational System in the World |
| Summary: |
Key Results -
Extension of university research is responsible for the large increases in agriculture productivity and contributed significantly to growing the middle class in the 20th century by t |
| Website: |
http://www.csrees.usda.gov |
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| Initiative Title: |
Woody biomass from waste to energy |
| Summary: |
Contracts with the U.S. Forest Service are used to create a relatively stable source of woody biomass that is used in the production of electricity and heat in a number of facilities. The wood provi |
| Website: |
http://www.fuelsforschools.org |
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| Initiative Title: |
Wind Energy and Rural Development: Innovative Farmer-Ownership Models |
| Summary: |
This financing model features a wind turbine owned by a group of individuals who have purchased shares. The 7 turbines are each owned by a separate “Minwind” cooperative so that investors are i |
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