Creating Resilient Rural CommunitiesMarch 8, 2017

Res/Con

Panelists• Nathan Cataline, Project Manager, GCR

• Kevin Bush, U.S. Department of Housing

and Urban Development

• Louise Bedsworth, Deputy Director, State

of California’s Office of Planning and

Research

• Brenna Minor, Vice President,

GrantWorks

Resilient Rural Communities

• National Disaster Resilience Competition & Available Federal Resources.

• Resilience at the State Level, State & Local Partnership Implementing NDRC at Local Level.

• Incorporating Resilience Through Planning with Local Government.

3

Defining Resilience in Rural Areas

• Ability to prepare for disruptions, to recover from shocks and stresses, and adapt and grow from disruptions.

• The Ability to recover quickly, withstand or avoid a shock all together (EDA).

• Communications framework: Ground Resilience Around Community Values (State of CO).• Self-Reliance, Reduce Government Dependence, Increase

Public Safety

4

Adapting the Rockefeller City Resilience Framework to Rural Areas

• Leadership & Strategy

• Health & Wellbeing

• Economy & Society

• Infrastructure & Environment

5

Challenges

• Unmet Needs vs. Resilience

• Building Trust – Rural/Urban

• Reliance on Single or Few Industries

• Access to Services

• Lack of Financial Resources

6

Source: GCR

Opportunities

• Robust Social Networks –Build Social Capital

• Engaged and Passionate Residents

• Community Leadership –Traditional/Untraditional

• Asset-based Economic Opportunities

• Collaborate and Work Regionally

7

Source: GCR

The Community and Watershed Resilience Program:

A Pilot Program for Rural Resilience

Louise Bedsworth, PhD

Deputy Director, Office of Planning and Research – Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown

ResCon, New Orleans, LA

March 8, 2017

Tuolumne County

• Located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada

• Population: ~55,000

• Land area: ~2200 mi2

• Labor Force:• Healthcare

• Leisure and hospitality, Retail

• Government

The 2013 Rim Fire

• 3rd largest wildfire in California history

• Burned for over 2 months

• Destroyed over 250,000 acres

• Over $100,000,000 damage to ecosystem services

• $127 million to fight the fire

Large, Destructive Wildfires are an Issue of Statewide Concern

• Fire is a natural part of the forest ecosystem

• Environmental impacts• Water supply

• Carbon storage

• Air quality

• Economic impacts• Response costs

• Recovery

Fire Impacts are Felt at Multiple Scales

Local

• Property damage

• Public health

• Economic disruption

• Infrastructure damage

• Ecosystem services

Statewide

• Water

• Infrastructure

• Ecosystem services

• Public health

• Economic

Desired Outcomes

Diverse and resilient local economy

• Local job creation

• New business development

• Restoration of existing business opportunities

Engaged, healthy, and safe community

• Property protection

• Emergency response

• Social cohesion

• Access to jobs, training, and services

Healthy forests

• Reduced risk of large, destructive wildfire

• Resilient carbon storage

• Habitat and species

Healthy watershed

• Clean and secure local water supply

• Water supply for downstream users

Replicable model

• Economic viability

• Governance and institutional arrangements

• Environmental sustainability

Challenges to Resilience

• Rural area• Large land area

• Small population size

• Rural economics

• Governance and economics• Patchwork land ownership pattern

• Urban-rural disconnect

• US Forest Service budget limitations

• Traditional cost-effectiveness

Federal-State-Local Partnership

Community and Watershed Resilience Program

Forest and Watershed Health

Biomass removal and thinning, restoration and reforestation in burn area, strategic fuel breaks,

and rangeland restoration

Biomass and Wood Products

Phased development of a bioenergy and wood product

campus to provide marketable use for biomass removed,

provide economic development, and local energy

Community Resilience Centers

Multipurpose community resilience centers that provide services during an emergency, but also serve the community

year round

Community and Watershed Resilience Program• Program elements work together

• Tracking local and statewide program benefits

• Goals:• Link environmental goals and

economic development

• Overcome economic barriers

• Replicable model

H A Z A R D M I T I G A T I O N I N R U R A L T E X A S

RURAL RESILIENCE

Brenna Minor, AICP

Vice President

brenna@grantworks.net

WORK IN RURAL TEXAS

• Working mainly with cities with fewer than 5,000

people and rural counties

• Resilience is not a common term in rural Texas

• Constraints: budget, capacity, time and resources

• Lack of state and local funding

• Mitigation vs. Resilience – FEMA HMGP

• Mitigation actions are inherently designed to build resilience

FEMA HAZARD MITIGATION PROGRAMS

• Plans & Studies – identify potential threats and how

to mitigate them; necessary to apply for 404 funds

• Warning sirens – one life saved is $5.8-7 million in

FEMA terms

• Generators – keeping infrastructure running in a

disaster prevents massive failure and can keep

critical facilities in operation

• Community Safe Rooms – protection for residents in

tornado and hurricane events

• Drainage improvements

PLANNING FOR RURAL RESILIENCE

• Resilience issues and barriers:

• Small and/or shrinking population

• Geographic and economic differences

• Ensuring equitable benefits from mitigation actions

• Unwillingness to participate

• Resilience assets:

• Social cohesion and local connections

• Locals know how to reach particularly vulnerable

populations

PLANNING FOR RURAL RESILIENCE

• Benefits of informing rural citizens about mitigation:

• Residents’ increase their individual resilience

• Low-cost mitigation actions can reach the entire

community

• Rural jurisdictions can target more expensive actions to

improve resilience for residents and infrastructure with

disproportionate vulnerability to hazard events

• Plans can include jurisdictions that don’t always

participate such as school districts, drainage

districts, and community colleges.

BEE COUNTY HAZARD MITIGATION

• The County is eligible to apply for grants because

they participate in a Hazard Mitigation Plan

• $20.5 million drainage project, 25% must come from

the County

• Not possible for a rural community without grant

funding

• Forming a Levee Improvement District

• Making a Hurricane Evacuation route safer

• Preventing loss of life due to severe road and neighborhood flooding during hurricanes

RESILIENCE ACTIONS