Tag: Tom Vilsack

A plan to manage some of Colorado's most prized forests went into effect on Tuesday, marking the end of a seven-year process conducted among an eclectic mix of stakeholders.

Carbondale's denizens shouldn't have to lie down in front of bulldozers any time soon.

The Obama administration announced new job initiatives in Peosta Tuesday that have been recommended by the White House Rural Council. The initiatives are specifically geared toward growing the economy and creating jobs in rural America.

Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., on Tuesday urged the head of the U.S. Forest Service and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to rework timber sale contracts for logging on federal lands so that three financially struggling Colorado sawmills can stay afloat.

President Barack Obama is expected to create a new advisory council Thursday that will focus on quality of life and economic issues facing rural America. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, former Iowa governor, will likely lead the effort

More than a year ago, the U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Agriculture began an unprecedented joint journey into possible agricultural sector antitrust violations. The series of five public workshops ended in December 2010 but no findings have yet been released.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack noted Friday that education is at the core of all efforts to promote economic development in rural America.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is giving people a new way to access a wealth of county-level data. The Atlas of Rural and Small-Town America is an online mapping tool that captures more than 60 statistical indicators encompassing demographic, economic and agricultural data from across the U.S.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today praised the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for delaying for three years carbon dioxide emissions permits for biomass boilers that convert wood and other plant material into energy. The move is significant in Colorado because backers of biomass energy say that more 2 million acres of national forest land hit hard by a mountain pine park beetle epidemic could be tapped to generate hot-water heat and electricity that would actually replace dirtier fuel sources like coal and natural gas. The EPA delay makes that process more realistic.

Colorado environmental groups were among 12 national and regional organizations that launched an ad campaign last week calling for an early Christmas present from the Obama administration in the form of enhanced protections for the nation’s 193 million acres of national forests and grasslands – including 14.5 million in Colorado.