Rural Action 2003
Annual Report

the Seeds

From the Executive Director
2003 Revenue and Expense
From the Board President

the Soil

Collaborators and Community Partners

Grants and Contracts

Business and Organizational Members

the Roots

Program Highlights:
Sustainable Communities
Sustainable Economies
Sustainable Environments

the Branches

2003 Staff Members

the Fruit

Sustainability

the Fruit

 

Sustainable Communities
Rural Action’s dedication to the health of our region’s communities takes many forms. We commemorate local history and culture through youth writing projects, Southeast Ohio Mural Corridor paintings and traditional music and storytelling preservation. Community Organizing and Support Initiative efforts help community members improve organizing skills to create new community resource centers, conduct festivals and conferences and plan heritage events. Environmental Learning Program staffers infuse nature education with wonder and fun for many teachers and students of all ages through workshops, programs and Watershed Day Camps. Job Training Staff develop clerical abilities and establish solid credentials, and our Youth Act program garners praise from area educators who see Youth Grant-Making Council participation helping middle school students build key leadership skills.

Sustainable Economies
Rural Action strives to contribute to local economies through initiatives that strengthen sound, sustainable business practices. Having made great strides in networking within Morgan County, the AORIC partnership envisions a future in which businesses devoted to sector development in arts and heritage tourism and field and forest products will thrive throughout Southeast Ohio via community-based entrepreneurship. While our Sustainable Agriculture Program determines local growers’ interests to connect them with appropriate markets, our Sustainable Forestry Program helps landowners restore forests and develop income by identifying proper Non-Timber Forest Product growing sites and good marketing opportunities. Our Forestry office also helps landowners obtain high-quality NTFP seed stock and confront ginseng poaching, bringing many of them together for education and sharing at our annual June Landowners Conference. Meanwhile, the newly-dedicated Rural Action Research and Education Center conducts valuable NTFP research and hosts our ongoing Appalachian Forest Resource Center support of sustainable forestry practices throughout Central and Southern Appalachia.

Sustainable Environments
Rural Action’s watershed groups reach out to area communities in important ways. Through public meetings and field trips, watershed residents study and discuss topics of mutual concern. Many contribute to watershed well-being by removing trash, planting trees, maintaining trails and stabilizing stream banks. Educational programs teach watershed residents about water quality issues, encouraging them to seek solutions and join restoration efforts.
Staff members monitor water quality and help landowners restore riparian habitat, upgrade septic systems and fence livestock from creek banks. They also work with federal and state agencies to reclaim polluted sites that have been ignored for decades, like the Grimmett Site seeps and gob pile.

The staff and board members of Rural Action are committed more than ever to continuing our work for sustainable communities, economies and environments, as well as for a stronger and more sustainable organization. In this time of transition, partnering with our membership and area leaders, we intend to help make this vision a reality.

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