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  31. <title>Ozarks Notebook: A Duo of Folk Musicians Preserves Ozark Music for Generations to Come</title>
  32. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/ozarks-notebook-a-duo-of-folk-musicians-preserves-ozark-music-for-generations-to-come/2025/09/17/</link>
  33. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/ozarks-notebook-a-duo-of-folk-musicians-preserves-ozark-music-for-generations-to-come/2025/09/17/#respond</comments>
  35. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Kaitlyn McConnell]]></dc:creator>
  36. <pubDate>Wed, 17 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  37. <category><![CDATA[Arts & Culture]]></category>
  38. <category><![CDATA[History]]></category>
  39. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=232908</guid>
  40.  
  41. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" fetchpriority="high" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  42. <p>When Cindy Woolf and Mark Bilyeu took the stage at the Library of Congress, the echoes of generations of Ozarkers reverberated through the auditorium.&#160; Known as the Creek Rocks, the married musical duo was there because of a personal honor. They were chosen as the library’s American Folklife Center’s inaugural Artists in Resonance, a fellowship [&#8230;]</p>
  43. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/ozarks-notebook-a-duo-of-folk-musicians-preserves-ozark-music-for-generations-to-come/2025/09/17/">Ozarks Notebook: A Duo of Folk Musicians Preserves Ozark Music for Generations to Come</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  44. ]]></description>
  45. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-3-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  46. <p>When Cindy Woolf and Mark Bilyeu took the stage at the Library of Congress, the echoes of generations of Ozarkers reverberated through the auditorium.&nbsp;</p>
  47.  
  48.  
  49.  
  50. <p><a href="https://www.thecreekrocks.com/">Known as the Creek Rocks</a>, the married musical duo was there because of a personal honor. They were chosen as the library’s <a href="https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2024/12/the-creek-rocks-afcs-first-artists-in-resonance/">American Folklife Center’s inaugural Artists in Resonance</a>, a fellowship founded to “support artists in creating new musical works inspired by and sourced from collection materials in the Center’s archives.”&nbsp;</p>
  51.  
  52.  
  53.  
  54. <p>That fact led them to the stage. But as they sang, they shared more than themselves. They represented a region – and the Ozarkers, now long gone, who recorded folk music so long ago.&nbsp;</p>
  55.  
  56.  
  57.  
  58. <figure class="wp-block-video"><video controls src="https://dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Video-Aug-21-2025-7-30-00-PM.mov"></video></figure>
  59.  
  60.  
  61.  
  62. <p>“They are fantastic singers, songwriters, arrangers, and performers, and have released albums of traditional and original material, including songs sourced from other archives,” said Jennifer Cutting, folklife specialist with the Library of Congress, as she opened the concert.&nbsp;</p>
  63.  
  64.  
  65.  
  66. <p>“We&#8217;re delighted to be the very first audience to hear the fruits of their research at the American Folklife Center,” Cutting continued. “So please welcome – all the way from Springfield, Missouri – Cindy Woolf and Mark Bilyeu.”</p>
  67.  
  68.  
  69.  
  70. <p>Over about an hour, Woolf and Bilyeu performed folk tunes and ballads, passed down from other continents and cultures before finding their way to the Ozarks, and, ultimately, into their hands and hearts.&nbsp;</p>
  71.  
  72.  
  73.  
  74. <p>I was fortunate to witness the event, one that represented a big moment for those Ozarks musicians.&nbsp;</p>
  75.  
  76.  
  77.  
  78. <p>It felt significant to hear the culmination of those layers of history, tying then and now together, and the recognition that rural voices are important. Because they are: They are the voices of lived experience, linking generations and stories to now – and beyond – and creating meaning along the way.&nbsp;</p>
  79.  
  80.  
  81.  
  82. <p>As Woolf put it of the singers they studied for the project: “At this point, I feel like some of them are my best friends.”</p>
  83.  
  84.  
  85.  
  86. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>A Passion for Merging Past and Present</strong></h3>
  87.  
  88.  
  89.  
  90. <p>Bilyeu and Woolf are generational Ozarkers, both finding music at early ages. Their expertise and experience with Ozarks field recordings far predates this fellowship; “Wolf Hunter,” their first album, was based on field recordings collected by folklorists <a href="https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/john-quincy-wolf-jr-3033/">John Quincy Wolf</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/15/arts/max-hunter-ozark-folklorist-of-tunes-and-tales-dies-at-78.html">Max Hunter</a> in the 20th century.&nbsp;</p>
  91.  
  92.  
  93.  
  94. <p>The duo’s efforts to research and document local folk culture took them to D.C. in 2023 as part of the <a href="https://festival.si.edu/2023/ozarks">Smithsonian Folklife Festival’s Ozarks program</a>. And that helped lead them to the inaugural voice of the Library of Congress fellowship, which is supported by a bequest from the late Mike Rivers, a well-known folk musician and engineer.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  95.  
  96.  
  97.  
  98. <p>“What Mike Rivers wanted was to facilitate artists getting into the collections and coming out with something new, in the sense that it&#8217;s a reinterpretation — the reimagination of the material,” said John Fenn, head of Research and Programs at the American Folklife Center.&nbsp;</p>
  99.  
  100.  
  101.  
  102. <p>“Their project was competitive, in my mind, from the beginning, out of the 20 or so we received that year,” Fenn said of the Creek Rocks. “It was the spirit, the practicality, and the passion for the content.”&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  103.  
  104.  
  105.  
  106. <p>As part of the fellowship, Bilyeu and Woolf traveled back to D.C., where they conducted research in the library’s archives.&nbsp;</p>
  107.  
  108.  
  109.  
  110. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="585" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-5.jpg?resize=780%2C585&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-232910" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-5.jpg?resize=1296%2C972&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-5.jpg?resize=760%2C570&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-5.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-5.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-5.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-5.jpg?resize=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-5.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-5.jpg?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-5.jpg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-5.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-5.jpg?resize=2000%2C1500&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-5.jpg?resize=780%2C585&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-5.jpg?resize=706%2C530&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-5.jpg?w=2048&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-5-1296x972.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Mark Bilyeu and Cindy Woolf stand in front of the Library of Congress. (Photo by Kaitlyn McConnell)</figcaption></figure>
  111.  
  112.  
  113.  
  114. <p>Their fellowship ultimately focused on the work of <a href="https://www.loc.gov/collections/sidney-robertson-cowell-northern-california-folk-music/articles-and-essays/sidney-robertson-cowell-ethnographer-and-folk-music-collector/">Sidney Robertson Cowell</a>, an ethnographer and folk music collector who visited the Ozarks in the mid-1930s on behalf of the Resettlement Administration, a New Deal agency that later became the Farm Security Administration.</p>
  115.  
  116.  
  117.  
  118. <p>It was part of a larger project that sent the music expert to record local musicians in Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina “using a new portable sound recording device to produce acetate discs on aluminum,” the Library of Congress website notes.&nbsp;</p>
  119.  
  120.  
  121.  
  122. <p>“It is the desire of the government to preserve the folk songs of all sections of this country,” Cowell said in the Springfield Daily News in December 1936. “It wants the original songs of each section as sung by the actual inhabitants.”</p>
  123.  
  124.  
  125.  
  126. <p>Cowell’s Arkansas collection provided a new opportunity to discover music that ultimately will be shared with folks back home via the Creek Rocks.&nbsp;</p>
  127.  
  128.  
  129.  
  130. <p>“One of the reasons we wanted to listen to this music was because we wanted to know what folk music from the Ozarks sounded like in 1936,” Bilyeu said. “Because who knows? I didn’t know. We’ve got the Max Hunter Collection and the other ones, but those pick up in the mid-1950s. There’s a big cultural leap from what was happening in the ‘30s to the ‘50s with World War II in between.”&nbsp;</p>
  131.  
  132.  
  133.  
  134. <p>Turns out, there was a difference, Bilyeu said.&nbsp;</p>
  135.  
  136.  
  137.  
  138. <p>While vocals are generally important – “Ozarks folk music, as revealed by these collections, is all about the voice,” Bilyeu said – a key difference is in the way the songs sound. The tunes Cowell collected seemed even more “ancient,” as Woolf put it, due to their musical structure.</p>
  139.  
  140.  
  141.  
  142. <p>She sang a few bars from one of the songs – “I Have a Father in a Kingdom” – that was sung by <a href="https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/emma-hays-dusenbury-1634/">Emma Hays Dusenbury</a> (1862-1941), who lived near rural Mena, Arkansas, and was known for her vast repertoire of ballads and also because she was blind. Her songs were recorded by multiple researchers in the early 20th century.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  143.  
  144.  
  145.  
  146. <p>“I do like singing with her,” Woolf said. “That&#8217;s what we always do. We pull up these recordings, and end up just singing the harmony along with the person. So I love to sing with Emma. There&#8217;s just something about her voice, and the songs she sang are just really interesting melodies. ”</p>
  147.  
  148.  
  149.  
  150. <p>“Emma told Sidney Robertson (Cowell) that she set out to learn every song in the entire world,” Woolf said from the concert stage. “She did learn hundreds and hundreds and hundreds, but she said she finally gave up on her goal because she said, ‘Folks just keep coming up with new ones.’</p>
  151.  
  152.  
  153.  
  154. <p>“She’s a national treasure for sure.”</p>
  155.  
  156.  
  157.  
  158. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Where the Music Goes from Here</strong></h3>
  159.  
  160.  
  161.  
  162. <p>As applause reverberated through the Washington performance, it was clear that those dusty songs, now with new life, made an impact on the audience. And if things go as they should, it’s likely those songs will evolve yet again.&nbsp;</p>
  163.  
  164.  
  165.  
  166. <p>“Before we started, that whole collection of music was an unknown commodity to us. We’ve been through this process of discovery, and of course, the whole point of the fellowship was to take that material and work it up in our own way,” Bilyeu said. “We’re both excited to do that here (in D.C.), for people who are not accustomed to music from the Ozarks, but we’re equally excited to take it back home and present it to the people from the place where the music originally came from.”&nbsp;</p>
  167.  
  168.  
  169.  
  170. <p>It’s part of the music’s evolution from something that was to something that is.&nbsp;</p>
  171.  
  172.  
  173.  
  174. <p>Fenn said the research and programs at the American Folklife Center, and the broader Library of Congress, are not just focused on archiving for posterity. “We&#8217;re really invested in the notion that traditional culture is not just locked in amber, but that it is fluid and it moves through places and peoples and times, whether it&#8217;s in a recorded medium or passed down orally,” Fenn said. “It&#8217;s going to constantly change and reflect what&#8217;s going on in that moment.”&nbsp;</p>
  175.  
  176.  
  177. <div class="wp-block-image">
  178. <figure class="alignleft size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="1040" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-6.jpg?resize=780%2C1040&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-232911" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-6.jpg?resize=972%2C1296&amp;ssl=1 972w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-6.jpg?resize=570%2C760&amp;ssl=1 570w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-6.jpg?resize=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-6.jpg?resize=1152%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1152w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-6.jpg?resize=900%2C1200&amp;ssl=1 900w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-6.jpg?resize=600%2C800&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-6.jpg?resize=450%2C600&amp;ssl=1 450w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-6.jpg?resize=300%2C400&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-6.jpg?resize=150%2C200&amp;ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-6.jpg?resize=1200%2C1600&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-6.jpg?resize=780%2C1040&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-6.jpg?resize=400%2C533&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-6.jpg?resize=706%2C941&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-6.jpg?w=1536&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Creek-Rocks-Fellowship-6-972x1296.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Cindy Woolf and Mark Bilyeu look through photos of Ozarkers held in the Library of Congress collection. Such materials were part of the musicians’ research efforts in D.C. to learn more about the region’s history. (Photo by Kaitlyn McConnell)</figcaption></figure></div>
  179.  
  180.  
  181. <p>“It&#8217;s kind of preserving that core – of not just ‘This is how it always should be, this performance of it,’ but ‘This was a moment in time that we preserve, and that moment in time informs others.’”&nbsp;</p>
  182.  
  183.  
  184.  
  185. <p>Which takes us back to the people – past, present, and future – who are linked by those songs.&nbsp;</p>
  186.  
  187.  
  188.  
  189. <p>“(The Creek Rocks) will put their record out; someone who&#8217;s 12 or 13, maybe living in the Ozarks, maybe not, might hear and be like, ‘Oh, that&#8217;s captivating to me. I want to know more about it,’” Fenn said. “They have the Creek Rocks’ version, and then any other version that will probably be referenced in liner notes or in interviews, right? So it just starts to spread out that web of, in library terms, access and discoverability.”</p>
  190.  
  191.  
  192.  
  193. <p>The Creek Rocks are embedded in this story, too. Studying tunes from the past helps connect them with the people who sang them, they agree, but also gives room for them to find new life.&nbsp;</p>
  194.  
  195.  
  196.  
  197. <p>“You learn one version from your grandma or something, and then you sing ‘your’ version – and it’s different,” Woolf said. “Then someone will hear my version and make it their own. And that’s what folk music is all about.”</p>
  198.  
  199.  
  200.  
  201. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  202. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/ozarks-notebook-a-duo-of-folk-musicians-preserves-ozark-music-for-generations-to-come/2025/09/17/">Ozarks Notebook: A Duo of Folk Musicians Preserves Ozark Music for Generations to Come</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  203. ]]></content:encoded>
  205. <wfw:commentRss>https://dailyyonder.com/ozarks-notebook-a-duo-of-folk-musicians-preserves-ozark-music-for-generations-to-come/2025/09/17/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  206. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  208. <enclosure url="https://dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Video-Aug-21-2025-7-30-00-PM.mov" length="505111793" type="video/quicktime" />
  209.  
  210. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">232908</post-id> </item>
  211. <item>
  212. <title>Introducing Routes to Roots Podcast</title>
  213. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/introducing-routes-to-roots-podcast/2025/09/17/</link>
  214. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/introducing-routes-to-roots-podcast/2025/09/17/#respond</comments>
  216. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Sara Ozawa]]></dc:creator>
  217. <pubDate>Wed, 17 Sep 2025 09:58:00 +0000</pubDate>
  218. <category><![CDATA[Immigration]]></category>
  219. <category><![CDATA[Rural Life]]></category>
  220. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=233023</guid>
  221.  
  222. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="720" height="720" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image.png?fit=720%2C720&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image.png?w=720&amp;ssl=1 720w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image.png?resize=600%2C600&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image.png?resize=400%2C400&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image.png?resize=200%2C200&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image.png?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image.png?resize=706%2C706&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image.png?resize=100%2C100&amp;ssl=1 100w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image.png?fit=720%2C720&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  223. <p>I was eight years old when I learned about the internment of Japanese Americans by the U.S. government during World War II. I was lucky to go to a school that included this part of our country’s history in the curriculum at all.&#160; Though “internment” had never been mentioned during my regular visits to my [&#8230;]</p>
  224. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/introducing-routes-to-roots-podcast/2025/09/17/">Introducing Routes to Roots Podcast</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  225. ]]></description>
  226. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="720" height="720" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image.png?fit=720%2C720&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image.png?w=720&amp;ssl=1 720w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image.png?resize=600%2C600&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image.png?resize=400%2C400&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image.png?resize=200%2C200&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image.png?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image.png?resize=706%2C706&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image.png?resize=100%2C100&amp;ssl=1 100w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image.png?fit=720%2C720&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  227. <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-spotify wp-block-embed-spotify wp-embed-aspect-21-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
  228. <iframe title="Spotify Embed: Routes to Roots - Ep 1: Movement Across Time and Place" style="border-radius: 12px" width="100%" height="152" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/7dlUUAQlnkmDUoWSwtOyjM?si=HhJPWFU6QMKEyKar7kq6yA&#038;utm_source=oembed"></iframe>
  229. </div></figure>
  230.  
  231.  
  232.  
  233. <p>I was eight years old when I learned about the internment of Japanese Americans by the U.S. government during World War II. I was lucky to go to a school that included this part of our country’s history in the curriculum at all.&nbsp;</p>
  234.  
  235.  
  236.  
  237. <p>Though “internment” had never been mentioned during my regular visits to my grandparents’ in the Los Angeles suburbs, I started to piece together that the story I was reading in class had actually been experienced by my own family.</p>
  238.  
  239.  
  240.  
  241. <p>What resulted was my first experience with oral history. I interviewed my grandparents and presented their story to my class. I explained how my grandparents were our age when they and their families were rounded up by the military, their family business was left behind and never reopened, friendships severed, and threats received from angry citizens misled by rhetoric that fueled their rage. But the same rage that existed in the 1940s is the same rage that existed in the 1770s, and it’s the same rage that exists now.&nbsp;</p>
  242.  
  243.  
  244.  
  245. <p>Routes to Roots Podcast looks to ground us all in the stories we need to be reminded of as our American truth. Each episode curates a collection of accounts speaking to different themes that arose during the conversations my colleague Phillip Norman and I had as part of Rural Assembly’s 2024-25 Welcoming and Inclusion Fellowship, sponsored through a partnership between Rural Assembly and Welcoming America, a nonprofit devoted to building a nation of neighbors.</p>
  246.  
  247.  
  248.  
  249. <ul class="wp-block-list">
  250. <li>Episode 1 shows how the motivations to come to America are almost universally so that people can create better circumstances for their families. It also reminds us that those goals are becoming harder to fulfill.</li>
  251.  
  252.  
  253.  
  254. <li>Episode 2 highlights the reality that our economy is held together by immigrants, but reminds us that genuine inclusion isn’t achieved through acceptance of immigrants’ value as laborers, but as human beings and our neighbors.</li>
  255.  
  256.  
  257.  
  258. <li>Episode 3 addresses the challenges that come with the presence of multiple cultures in places that have a strong identity of their own, and reminds us that expectations of full assimilation have led to harm and erasure of people’s identities that are most beautiful when in dialogue with each other.</li>
  259.  
  260.  
  261.  
  262. <li>Episode 4 sheds more light on the biggest challenge immigrants face in their new communities–language access–but reminds us of the solutions that are possible when multilingualism is seen as a societal strength.</li>
  263.  
  264.  
  265.  
  266. <li>Episode 5 culminates with the ultimate reminder that we are better together, a sentiment echoed by rural newcomers and longtime residents alike.</li>
  267. </ul>
  268.  
  269.  
  270.  
  271. <p>The podcast is posting daily this week (September 15-19, 2025) as part of the <a href="https://welcomingamerica.org/initiatives/welcoming-week">Welcoming Week</a>. The show can be found on the <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rural-remix/id1559100737">Rural Remix feed</a>, wherever you get your podcasts, and on the <a href="https://ruralassembly.org/rural-remix-routes-to-roots/">Rural Assembly landing page</a>.</p>
  272.  
  273.  
  274.  
  275. <p>While conducting the conversations for this podcast, I witnessed people considering whether offering their perspective publicly was worth the possibility of being targeted with animosity or deportation. It is a consideration I know as an important pivot point in my own family&#8217;s quest for belonging in this country.&nbsp;</p>
  276.  
  277.  
  278.  
  279. <p>We hope that this podcast can extinguish the false narratives about immigration in rural America and instead offer real stories from people from all backgrounds who are cultivating a sense of belonging and making their communities better.</p>
  280.  
  281.  
  282.  
  283. <p>Enjoy.</p>
  284.  
  285.  
  286.  
  287. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  288. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/introducing-routes-to-roots-podcast/2025/09/17/">Introducing Routes to Roots Podcast</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  289. ]]></content:encoded>
  291. <wfw:commentRss>https://dailyyonder.com/introducing-routes-to-roots-podcast/2025/09/17/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  292. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  295. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">233023</post-id> </item>
  296. <item>
  297. <title>Coastal Flood Risk in the Rural Southeast Estimated to Increase by 2050</title>
  298. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/coastal-flood-risk-in-the-rural-southeast-estimated-to-increase-by-2050/2025/09/17/</link>
  299. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/coastal-flood-risk-in-the-rural-southeast-estimated-to-increase-by-2050/2025/09/17/#respond</comments>
  301. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Sarah Melotte]]></dc:creator>
  302. <pubDate>Wed, 17 Sep 2025 09:58:00 +0000</pubDate>
  303. <category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
  304. <category><![CDATA[The Rural Index]]></category>
  305. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=233009</guid>
  306.  
  307. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="684" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C684&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C508&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C866&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C513&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1026&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1368&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C802&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C684&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1336&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C521&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C472&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C684&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  308. <p>Editor’s Note: This post is from our data newsletter, the Rural Index, headed by Sarah Melotte, the Daily Yonder’s data reporter. Subscribe to get a weekly map or graph straight to your inbox. The coastal Carolinas are often characterized by family-friendly beaches and world-class golf resorts. But people have lived and worked on these coasts [&#8230;]</p>
  309. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/coastal-flood-risk-in-the-rural-southeast-estimated-to-increase-by-2050/2025/09/17/">Coastal Flood Risk in the Rural Southeast Estimated to Increase by 2050</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  310. ]]></description>
  311. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="684" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C684&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C508&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C866&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C513&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1026&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1368&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C802&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C684&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1336&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C521&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C472&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25233405639414-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C684&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  312. <p><em>Editor’s Note: This post is from our data newsletter, the Rural Index, headed by Sarah Melotte, the Daily Yonder’s data reporter. </em><a href="https://dailyyonder.com/contact-us/subscribe-daily-yonder/"><em>Subscribe</em></a><em> to get a weekly map or graph straight to your inbox.</em></p>
  313.  
  314.  
  315.  
  316. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  317.  
  318.  
  319.  
  320. <p><br>The coastal Carolinas are often characterized by family-friendly beaches and world-class golf resorts. But people have lived and worked on these coasts for generations – long before golf courses became a veritable business sector – and they stand to lose family homes and livelihoods as climate change increases coastal flood risk.</p>
  321.  
  322.  
  323.  
  324. <p>In the coastal Southeast, a higher share of rural residents will face increased estimated flood risk in 2050 compared to their urban counterparts.</p>
  325.  
  326.  
  327.  
  328. <p>In recent decades, these communities have largely urbanized because of population growth, tourism, and second homeownership. But there are still rural counties, and rural pockets of largely metropolitan counties, where long-term residents face potential land loss from both natural disasters and development pressure.&nbsp;</p>
  329.  
  330.  
  331.  
  332. <p>In an upcoming story for the Daily Yonder, I’m exploring how climate change threatens Gullah Geechee owners of heirs’ property, a vulnerable form of landownership that happens when someone dies without a will, leaving the deceased’s heirs without a clear title to the land. The Gullah Geechee are descendants of formerly enslaved people who settled along the sea islands of the Southeast, an area of land once deemed undesirable because of mosquitoes and flooding.&nbsp;</p>
  333.  
  334.  
  335.  
  336. <p>Although heirs’ property is a problem that can happen anywhere in the United States, it is concentrated among vulnerable populations in Appalachia, the United States / Mexico border region, and the coasts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, an area often referred to as the <a href="https://gullahgeecheecorridor.org/">Gullah Geechee Corridor</a>. The Gullah Geechee corridor stretches from Wilmington, North Carolina, to Jacksonville, Florida.</p>
  337.  
  338.  
  339.  
  340. <p>When the Gullah Geechee people first acquired land after the Emancipation Proclamation, Black Americans were largely barred from access to the legal system because of racism. Settling land claims and obtaining titles requires help from an attorney, so many Gullah Geechee families have historically passed down land informally. To this day, obtaining a clear title remains a tedious and costly process.&nbsp;</p>
  341.  
  342.  
  343.  
  344. <p>Owners of heirs’ property, who may live on family land and pay taxes on the property for decades, may not know that they lack a clear title until they try to build home equity or recoup losses from a natural disaster, processes which usually require titles.&nbsp;</p>
  345.  
  346.  
  347.  
  348. <p>In preparation for writing this story, I’ve been investigating flood risk in the coastal Southeast, both inside and outside the Gullah Geechee corridor. Data from this map came from the <a href="https://app.climatecentral.org/coastal-risk-finder">Coastal Risk Finder</a>, a tool developed by Climate Central, a nonprofit climate science communications organization, to help local leaders, journalists, and other stakeholders better understand flood risk in their own communities.&nbsp;</p>
  349.  
  350.  
  351.  
  352. <p>The following map shows where coastal flood risk is estimated to be the most severe in 2050. The data is grouped into quartiles, where the darkest shade of blue indicates the counties that have the highest estimated risk of coastal flooding in 2050.</p>
  353.  
  354.  
  355.  
  356. <iframe title="Projected Flood Risk in 2050" aria-label="Choropleth map" id="datawrapper-chart-krxQq" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/krxQq/2/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="874" data-external="1"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}})}();
  357. </script>
  358.  
  359.  
  360.  
  361. <p>By 2050, an estimated 58,500 residents in Georgia, Florida, and the Carolinas will be at risk of coastal flooding. But that risk is not evenly distributed among all of the region’s residents. An extensive <a href="https://headwaterseconomics.org/natural-hazards/unequal-impacts-of-flooding/">body of research</a> shows that natural disasters disproportionately hurt the socially vulnerable – the poor and the elderly, for example. <a href="https://magazine.howard.edu/stories/the-injustice-of-climate-change#:~:text=Climate%20change%20is%20a%20global,Department%20of%20Sociology%20and%20Criminology.">Some experts</a> say that climate change, which increases the frequency and intensity of natural disasters, will make these disparities worse.</p>
  362.  
  363.  
  364.  
  365. <p>Rural Hyde County, North Carolina, has the highest percentage of residents estimated to be at risk of coastal flooding in the coming decades. Over 30% of Hyde County’s population, representing 1,400 of the county’s 4,800 residents, will be at risk of coastal flooding in 2050.&nbsp;</p>
  366.  
  367.  
  368.  
  369. <p>A historic fishing community, the entirety of Hyde County lies between <a href="https://magazine.cals.ncsu.edu/climate-change-brings-the-tide-to-farmers-doorsteps/">one and five feet</a> above sea level. North Carolina’s coast is a popular tourist destination, but coexisting with multi-million dollar second homes are also some of the <a href="https://hdpulse.nimhd.nih.gov/data-portal/social/map?age=001&amp;age_options=ageall_1&amp;demo=00009&amp;demo_options=poverty_3&amp;race=00&amp;race_options=race_7&amp;sex=0&amp;sex_options=sexboth_1&amp;socialtopic=080&amp;socialtopic_options=social_6&amp;statefips=37&amp;statefips_options=area_states">state’s highest poverty levels</a>. The poverty rate in Hyde County is 24%, nearly 13 points above the national poverty rate.&nbsp;</p>
  370.  
  371.  
  372.  
  373. <p>Although rural counties only make up 30% of the total counties in this map, they make up 70% of the counties in the highest risk quartile.&nbsp;</p>
  374.  
  375.  
  376.  
  377. <p>The Coastal Risk Finder tool considers residents to be at risk of coastal flooding when they live in a building where there is an unobstructed path for flood water to reach them from the ocean. This type of flood modeling doesn’t take into account wind damage or flooding caused by nearby rivers, which often <a href="https://www.edf.org/climate/how-climate-change-makes-hurricanes-more-destructive">coincides</a> with hurricane-induced coastal flooding.&nbsp;</p>
  378.  
  379.  
  380.  
  381. <p>In Pamlico County, North Carolina, for example, an estimated 532 residents, equal to about 4% of the county’s total population, will be at risk of coastal flooding in 2050. This doesn’t mean that only 532 residents will feel the consequences of a storm, however. Many more residents could experience flooding, property damage, injuries, and even death from high winds and riverine inundation as well. Climate change projection is a complex science, and it’s important to take the hard numbers with a large grain of salt.</p>
  382.  
  383.  
  384.  
  385. <p>If you want to learn more about this data and explore flood risk in your own community, go to the <a href="https://app.climatecentral.org/coastal-risk-finder">Coastal Risk Finder</a> and type in your state, town, or county.&nbsp;</p>
  386. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/coastal-flood-risk-in-the-rural-southeast-estimated-to-increase-by-2050/2025/09/17/">Coastal Flood Risk in the Rural Southeast Estimated to Increase by 2050</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  387. ]]></content:encoded>
  389. <wfw:commentRss>https://dailyyonder.com/coastal-flood-risk-in-the-rural-southeast-estimated-to-increase-by-2050/2025/09/17/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  390. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  393. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">233009</post-id> </item>
  394. <item>
  395. <title>Rural Health Care Summit: Future Looks Grim for Rural Hospitals</title>
  396. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/rural-health-care-summit-future-looks-grim-for-rural-hospitals/2025/09/16/</link>
  397. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/rural-health-care-summit-future-looks-grim-for-rural-hospitals/2025/09/16/#respond</comments>
  399. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Liz Carey]]></dc:creator>
  400. <pubDate>Tue, 16 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  401. <category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
  402. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=232750</guid>
  403.  
  404. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="576" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C428&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C729&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C432&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C675&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C576&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1125&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C439&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C225&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C397&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  405. <p>Rural hospitals facing cuts in Medicaid will struggle to figure out how to stay open in the coming years, experts said during a recent rural summit. Although rural hospitals are working to find ways to address looming cuts in reimbursement, the tipping point to staying open is coming, according to participants in the One Country [&#8230;]</p>
  406. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/rural-health-care-summit-future-looks-grim-for-rural-hospitals/2025/09/16/">Rural Health Care Summit: Future Looks Grim for Rural Hospitals</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  407. ]]></description>
  408. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="576" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C428&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C729&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C432&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C675&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C576&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1125&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C439&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C225&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C397&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24106749054614-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  409. <p>Rural hospitals facing cuts in Medicaid will struggle to figure out how to stay open in the coming years, experts said during a recent rural summit.</p>
  410.  
  411.  
  412.  
  413. <p>Although rural hospitals are working to find ways to address looming cuts in reimbursement, the tipping point to staying open is coming, according to participants in the<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0prNArfnlg&amp;list=PL2G66VjeWHz4MTTWV39-APse-9Bu1cmm3&amp;index=3"> </a>One Country Project panel<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0prNArfnlg&amp;list=PL2G66VjeWHz4MTTWV39-APse-9Bu1cmm3&amp;index=3"> </a>titled<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0prNArfnlg&amp;list=PL2G66VjeWHz4MTTWV39-APse-9Bu1cmm3&amp;index=3"> “Rural Health Care: Doing More with Less is Not Sustainable</a>.”&nbsp;</p>
  414.  
  415.  
  416.  
  417. <p>As part of<a href="https://www.crowell.com/en/insights/client-alerts/president-trumps-one-big-beautiful-bill-makes-changes-to-medicaid#:~:text=Effective%20December%202026%2C%20the%20Act,be%20exempt%20from%20cost%2Dsharing."> </a>President Donald Trump’s<a href="https://www.crowell.com/en/insights/client-alerts/president-trumps-one-big-beautiful-bill-makes-changes-to-medicaid#:~:text=Effective%20December%202026%2C%20the%20Act,be%20exempt%20from%20cost%2Dsharing."> “One Big Beautiful Bill</a>,” Congress made more than one trillion dollars in cuts to the Medicaid program. Those changes are due to take effect between 2026 and 2028. The bill also includes a carve-out of $50 billion for rural hospitals over six years, but critics have said the money would fall short of what is needed.</p>
  418.  
  419.  
  420.  
  421. <p>Panelists during the session were Dr. Tom Dean, retired family physician and former president of the National Rural Health Association; Kevin Stansbury, CEO of Lincoln Community Hospital and Care Center in Hugo, Colorado; and Jeanne Lambrew, director of Healthcare Reform for the Century Foundation.&nbsp;</p>
  422.  
  423.  
  424.  
  425. <p>All three agreed that hospitals are shifting to telehealth and other virtual forms of care to adapt to needs, but that reimbursement for care is still lacking. That bodes ill for not just rural healthcare, Lambrew said, but for hospitals across the country.</p>
  426.  
  427.  
  428.  
  429. <p>“I feel as though what we see in rural health care is both the best and the canary in the coal mine. The best being how communities come together … to serve the state&#8217;s health because we know it&#8217;s an economic as well as a personal issue for people to have good health care,” she said. “I also know that the places in rural areas in this country are the ones that feel the change that&#8217;s coming quickest. The reimbursement changes that affect our hospitals nationwide affect our rural hospitals first.”</p>
  430.  
  431.  
  432.  
  433. <p>A new report <a href="https://www.protectourcare.org/hospital-crisis-watch-hospitals-across-the-nation-face-bloodbath-as-gop-cuts-come-into-full-view/">from Protect Our Care</a>, a social welfare non-profit, may back Lambrew’s stance. The report, released August 25, 2025, found more than 330 hospitals across the country are at immediate risk of closure, with another 750 at risk of closure in the years to come.</p>
  434.  
  435.  
  436.  
  437. <p>“We have a crisis coming of epic proportions in our health care system,” U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said in an opening letter to the report. “When you cut $800 billion from Medicaid, hospitals, health centers, and nursing homes close. It’s really important that everybody in America understands that when your hospital closes, when your father is kicked out of his nursing home because it shuts its doors, that wasn’t inevitable.”</p>
  438.  
  439.  
  440.  
  441. <p>Stansbury, whose hospital, Lincoln Community Hospital and Care Center, is the only hospital along a 180 mile stretch of I-70 in Colorado, said the cuts would affect preventative care, which would lead to worse health outcomes for patients and more expensive care.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  442.  
  443.  
  444.  
  445. <p>“We&#8217;re taking away access to health care for people. And oftentimes that access gets them in to see the primary care physician… it allows them to have their chronic disease managed appropriately; it allows them to take part in preventative care to keep them healthy,” he said. “And what we experience when somebody lapses from Medicaid or is uninsured, they allow chronic conditions to deteriorate. They get sicker. And they end up in our emergency department, which is our most expensive level of care.”</p>
  446.  
  447.  
  448.  
  449. <p>On top of the one trillion in cuts, Stansbury said, the “One Big Beautiful Bill” will not only reduce reimbursement to each hospital by about $1.5 million a year, which will have a tremendous impact on smaller rural systems, but other larger threats loom in the future.</p>
  450.  
  451.  
  452.  
  453. <p>“That may not sound like a lot for larger health systems, but for me it&#8217;s devastating,” Stansbury said. “We only have about 30 days cash on hand, which is not unusual for many rural hospitals. So if I lose that revenue, it puts the whole enterprise at risk.”&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  454.  
  455.  
  456.  
  457. <p>Additionally, if the Trump-approved cuts affect the federal deficit, they could trigger additional federal provisions that would increase Medicare sequestration by another four percent,&nbsp; further reducing the amount rural hospitals would be reimbursed for their services to below what it costs to provide them, he said. And lastly, he said, rural hospitals are paid less by commercial insurance providers because they have less leverage to negotiate better rates.</p>
  458.  
  459.  
  460.  
  461. <p>The solution, Stansbury said, is to look at the way rural hospitals are reimbursed for their services and to move away from the cost-based reimbursement model by which hospitals are provided payments based on what it costs them to provide care.</p>
  462.  
  463.  
  464.  
  465. <p>“It&#8217;s just not working like it should because medicine has changed since cost-based reimbursement was instituted,” he said. “I think we need to take a look at the entire way we reimburse rural hospitals. We have to put more pressure on the commercial payers.”</p>
  466.  
  467.  
  468.  
  469. <p>Already, cash-strapped hospitals, emergency departments, and maternity wards are beginning to close. In response, Protect Our Health launched its<a href="https://www.protectourcare.org/hospital-crisis-watch/"> “Hospital Crisis Watch”</a> that will track hospital closures across the country.</p>
  470.  
  471.  
  472.  
  473. <p>To illustrate the breadth of the problem, here are some of the more recent closrues: On April 18, 2025, Mid Coast Medical Center in Trinity, Texas, announced its closure just 14 months after opening. In western Pennsylvania, Heritage Valley Health System’s Kennedy Hospital outside of Pittsburgh closed its doors in July, months after announcing its closure. Providence Seaside Hospital in northwest Oregon announced on August 20 it will close its labor and delivery unit this fall because of rising costs, workforce shortages, and a decline in births. And in Nebraska, Community Hospital announced it will close the<a href="https://www.midwestmedicaledition.com/articles/community-hospital-to-close-curtis-medical-center"> Curtis Medical Center in Curtis, Nebraska</a>, due to uncertainty over federal Medicaid funding.</p>
  474.  
  475.  
  476.  
  477. <p>&#8220;Unfortunately, the current financial environment, driven by anticipated federal budget cuts to Medicaid, has made it impossible for us to continue operating all of our services, many of which have faced significant financial challenges for years,&#8221; Troy Bruntz, president and CEO of Community Hospital in Nebraska, said in a news release.</p>
  478.  
  479.  
  480.  
  481. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  482. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/rural-health-care-summit-future-looks-grim-for-rural-hospitals/2025/09/16/">Rural Health Care Summit: Future Looks Grim for Rural Hospitals</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  483. ]]></content:encoded>
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  486. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  489. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">232750</post-id> </item>
  490. <item>
  491. <title>Electric Aquaculture Boats Splash Into Waters Off the Coast of Rural Maine</title>
  492. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/electric-fishing-boats-splash-into-waters-off-the-coast-of-rural-maine/2025/09/15/</link>
  493. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/electric-fishing-boats-splash-into-waters-off-the-coast-of-rural-maine/2025/09/15/#respond</comments>
  495. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Julia Tilton and Maria Gallucci / Canary Media]]></dc:creator>
  496. <pubDate>Mon, 15 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  497. <category><![CDATA[Energy]]></category>
  498. <category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
  499. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=232962</guid>
  500.  
  501. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="682" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Collab-lede_CMedit.jpg?fit=1024%2C682&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Collab-lede_CMedit.jpg?w=1700&amp;ssl=1 1700w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Collab-lede_CMedit.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Collab-lede_CMedit.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Collab-lede_CMedit.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Collab-lede_CMedit.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Collab-lede_CMedit.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Collab-lede_CMedit.jpg?resize=1024%2C682&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Collab-lede_CMedit.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Collab-lede_CMedit.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Collab-lede_CMedit.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Collab-lede_CMedit.jpg?fit=1024%2C682&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  502. <p>This article was copublished with Canary Media, a newsroom covering clean energy. At a dock along the banks of the Cousins River, Chad Strater loaded up his small aluminum workboat with power tools and a winch. Strater, who owns a marine construction business, was setting out to tinker with floating equipment at a nearby oyster [&#8230;]</p>
  503. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/electric-fishing-boats-splash-into-waters-off-the-coast-of-rural-maine/2025/09/15/">Electric Aquaculture Boats Splash Into Waters Off the Coast of Rural Maine</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  504. ]]></description>
  505. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="682" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Collab-lede_CMedit.jpg?fit=1024%2C682&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Collab-lede_CMedit.jpg?w=1700&amp;ssl=1 1700w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Collab-lede_CMedit.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Collab-lede_CMedit.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Collab-lede_CMedit.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Collab-lede_CMedit.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Collab-lede_CMedit.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Collab-lede_CMedit.jpg?resize=1024%2C682&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Collab-lede_CMedit.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Collab-lede_CMedit.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Collab-lede_CMedit.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Collab-lede_CMedit.jpg?fit=1024%2C682&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  506. <p class="has-text-align-center"><em>This article was copublished with <a href="https://www.canarymedia.com/">Canary Media</a>, a newsroom covering clean energy.</em></p>
  507.  
  508.  
  509.  
  510. <p class="has-drop-cap">At a dock along the banks of the Cousins River, Chad Strater loaded up his small aluminum workboat with power tools and a winch. Strater, who owns a marine construction business, was setting out to tinker with floating equipment at a nearby oyster farm. On the quiet morning in August, with the sun already beating down hard, his vessel whirred to life, only without the usual growl of an oil-guzzling motor. The boat is all electric.</p>
  511.  
  512.  
  513.  
  514. <p>Just north of where the Cousins River meets Casco Bay, Willy Leathers was powering up his own electric watercraft, which had its first outing in July. Leathers uses his 28-foot boat for cultivating oysters at <a href="https://maineoceanfarms.com/">Maine Ocean Farms</a>, where roughly 3 million of the animals grow in dozens of floating cages.</p>
  515.  
  516.  
  517.  
  518. <p>Both Strater and Leathers said they switched to electric workboats for several reasons. Their new watercraft are a cleaner alternative to the smelly, polluting petroleum-powered vessels that dominate Maine’s 3,500 miles of coastline. Electric propulsion is also significantly quieter than a gas or diesel motor. For Leathers, whose 10-acre sea farm is a significant presence in the cove where he operates, the swap is about being a good neighbor to the shoreside community.</p>
  519.  
  520.  
  521.  
  522. <p>“It’s an innovation born from necessity for us,” said Strater about his electric boat, which he docks each night at the <a href="https://www.seameadow.org/">Sea Meadow Marine Foundation</a>, the nonprofit boatyard and aquaculture innovation hub he runs with several other small business owners. “[The boat] really works well for what we do with it, and we’re letting farmers use it to see how it could work for them.”</p>
  523.  
  524.  
  525.  
  526. <p>Battery-powered vessels are starting to catch on in the United States and worldwide as companies and maritime authorities work to reduce emissions and improve the experience of cruising waterways. The technology ranges from small outboard motors on workboats and recreational watercraft to powerful inboard systems on ferries, <a href="https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/sea-transport/the-first-all-electric-tugboat-in-the-us-is-about-to-launch">tugboats</a>, and supply vessels for offshore wind farms and oil rigs.</p>
  527.  
  528.  
  529.  
  530. <p>In recent decades, Norway, with its extensive coastline and ample government funding, has spearheaded the transition globally. China, which is both the world’s largest shipbuilder and battery manufacturer, has rapidly deployed hundreds of battery-powered vessels over the last several years. Falling battery costs, better technology, and stricter environmental rules are compelling some vessel owners to install partial or fully electric systems, primarily for watercraft that operate near the shore or on fixed routes. For commercial fishing in particular, customers are helping to drive the push to clean up.</p>
  531.  
  532.  
  533.  
  534. <figure class="wp-block-image alignwide size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="332" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Maine-oysters.jpg?resize=780%2C332&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-232963" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Maine-oysters.jpg?resize=1296%2C552&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Maine-oysters.jpg?resize=760%2C324&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Maine-oysters.jpg?resize=768%2C327&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Maine-oysters.jpg?resize=1200%2C511&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Maine-oysters.jpg?resize=1024%2C436&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Maine-oysters.jpg?resize=780%2C332&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Maine-oysters.jpg?resize=400%2C170&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Maine-oysters.jpg?resize=706%2C301&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Maine-oysters.jpg?w=1500&amp;ssl=1 1500w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Maine-oysters-1296x552.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">E-boats are helping to make cleaner, quieter work of oyster farming in Casco Bay. (Photo by Julia Tilton / The Daily Yonder)</figcaption></figure>
  535.  
  536.  
  537.  
  538. <p>“Everyone’s more concerned now with where their food comes from, and we’ve seen that [consumers] are looking for that complete sustainable supply chain,” said Ed Schwarz, the head of marine solutions sales in North America for Siemens Energy, which has built electric propulsion systems for <a href="https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/sea-transport/new-york-first-hybrid-electric-ferry">U.S. ferries</a>.</p>
  539.  
  540.  
  541.  
  542. <p>Electrification has only very recently come to America’s aquaculture sector. In Maine, the small but fast-growing segment includes nearly <a href="https://maineaqua.org/about/">200 farms</a> for shellfish, fin fish, and edible seaweed. Strater and Leathers are among the first in their business to trade gas motors for electric propulsion — a switch they say they’re hoping to accelerate. Oil-guzzling motors are among the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions for the state’s multibillion-dollar seafood sector.</p>
  543.  
  544.  
  545.  
  546. <p>Still, electrifying commercial watercraft can be a difficult course to navigate, given the higher up-front costs of electric motors and the lack of charging infrastructure — and grid infrastructure in general — in rural waterfront communities.</p>
  547.  
  548.  
  549.  
  550. <p>Early adopters like Strater and Leathers said they hope the experiences gained from their demonstrations can help pave the way for decarbonizing Maine’s blue economy.&nbsp; With the help of the <a href="https://www.islandinstitute.org/">Island Institute</a>, a Maine-based nonprofit that works on marine-related energy transitions, Leathers is collecting performance data from his vessel to share more broadly with the industry.&nbsp;</p>
  551.  
  552.  
  553.  
  554. <p>“People say it looks cool and shiny and looks like it operates great,” Lia Morris, the Island Institute’s senior community development officer, said of electric boats. “But we really want to be able to prove out the [business] case.”</p>
  555.  
  556.  
  557.  
  558. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  559.  
  560.  
  561.  
  562. <p class="has-drop-cap">Electric boats can cost between 20% and 30% more than a gas- or diesel-powered vessel of a comparable size. However, owners can save on maintenance and fuel over the long term, Strater’s business partner Nick Planson said.</p>
  563.  
  564.  
  565.  
  566. <p>“The high-level math that we&#8217;ve come up with” is a financial break-even point of “about four to five years, and then over a 10-year time span, you&#8217;re definitely coming out way ahead based on the vastly reduced maintenance cost, replacement cost of failed equipment, and fuel costs,” said Planson.</p>
  567.  
  568.  
  569.  
  570. <p>But the initial price tag presents a significant hurdle. Strater and Planson’s sleekly designed, no-frills watercraft cost $100,000 to build and outfit with a single electric outboard motor. Leathers’ boat, called Heron, cost about four times more. It has two electric outboards and a ramp for unloading and hauling more than 10,000 oysters at a time from the sea farm to distributors waiting on the dock. Its hull is also equipped with a small cabin and toilet.</p>
  571.  
  572.  
  573.  
  574. <p>Both operations relied on grant funding to defray the expense of going electric.&nbsp;</p>
  575.  
  576.  
  577.  
  578. <p>For their part, Strater and Planson used about $50,000 from a larger U.S. Department of Agriculture <a href="https://portal.nifa.usda.gov/web/crisprojectpages/1031783-an-electric-workboat-for-the-aquaculture-industry.html">small business grant</a> they got in 2024 to establish a use case for electric workboats in the aquaculture industry. Leathers’ business, Maine Ocean Farms, was included on a collaborative $500,000 U.S. Department of Energy <a href="https://www.aquaculturenorthamerica.com/maine-ocean-farms-adopts-electric-workboats-for-oyster-farming/#:~:text=The%20company%20was%20able%20to%20bring%20this,of%20Energy%2C%20Office%20of%20Energy%20Efficiency%20and">grant</a> last year that earmarked about $289,000 for boat building and propulsion systems, in addition to other funds for charging infrastructure and data collection.&nbsp;</p>
  579.  
  580.  
  581.  
  582. <figure class="wp-block-image alignwide size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="322" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/DY-collab-Strater-boat.jpg?resize=780%2C322&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-232964" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/DY-collab-Strater-boat.jpg?resize=1296%2C535&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/DY-collab-Strater-boat.jpg?resize=760%2C314&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/DY-collab-Strater-boat.jpg?resize=768%2C317&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/DY-collab-Strater-boat.jpg?resize=1200%2C495&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/DY-collab-Strater-boat.jpg?resize=1024%2C423&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/DY-collab-Strater-boat.jpg?resize=780%2C322&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/DY-collab-Strater-boat.jpg?resize=400%2C165&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/DY-collab-Strater-boat.jpg?resize=706%2C291&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/DY-collab-Strater-boat.jpg?w=1500&amp;ssl=1 1500w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/DY-collab-Strater-boat-1296x535.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Chad Strater cruises the Cousins River in his battery-powered vessel. (Photo by Julia Tilton / The Daily Yonder)</figcaption></figure>
  583.  
  584.  
  585.  
  586. <p>The prospects for funding future projects are now much murkier under the Trump administration, maritime policy experts say.</p>
  587.  
  588.  
  589.  
  590. <p>The DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, which awarded the money to Maine Ocean Farms and its partners, is facing significant budget cuts in the next fiscal year. The GOP-backed spending law that passed in July rescinded some unobligated grant funding for cleaning up marine diesel engines. While other programs were spared, it’s unclear whether the current Congress will approve new funding for initiatives ranging from electrifying huge urban ports to deploying low-emissions ferries in rural communities.</p>
  591.  
  592.  
  593.  
  594. <p>But federal grants aren’t the only way to address the higher cost of electric boats. Strater and Planson also worked with Coastal Enterprises Inc., a Maine-based community development financial institution focused on climate resilience, to establish a “marine green” <a href="https://www.ceimaine.org/financing/small-business-loans/#marine-green-loans">loan program</a> that can make the up-front costs of switching to electric propulsion more accessible to small businesses.&nbsp;</p>
  595.  
  596.  
  597.  
  598. <p>“The more electric engines that are being employed in Maine helps lift the whole tide for everyone,” said Nick Branchina, director of CEI’s fisheries and aquaculture program. As part of its marine green lending, CEI offers loans starting at $25,000 for small businesses to make the switch to electric propulsion and comfortably afford the cost of batteries or a shoreside charging installation.</p>
  599.  
  600.  
  601.  
  602. <p>Planson said that as electrification moves beyond initial grant-funded projects, the challenge is keeping systems affordable. He said he wants to see other small business owners able to “take a reasonable swing” at electric propulsion.&nbsp;</p>
  603.  
  604.  
  605.  
  606. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  607.  
  608.  
  609.  
  610. <p class="has-drop-cap">Buying a boat, of course, is only the first obstacle. Electric vessel owners must also learn how to use their new propulsion systems and find a place to charge them.</p>
  611.  
  612.  
  613.  
  614. <p>This summer, Leathers said he’s had no trouble making the nearly two-mile round trip from the slip where he docks Heron in South Freeport, Maine, to his farm on Casco Bay. With a full charge, he can make trips slightly farther to meet distributors closer to Portland. But as temperatures drop this winter, Leathers said he’s not sure how far the outboards’ two batteries will take him. Cold weather can reduce battery capacity and impact performance, shrinking an electric motor’s range. It’s a part of Leathers’ demonstration to find out what the impacts are in practice.&nbsp;</p>
  615.  
  616.  
  617.  
  618. <figure class="wp-block-image alignwide size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="332" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Leathers-Heron.jpeg?resize=780%2C332&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-232965" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Leathers-Heron.jpeg?resize=1296%2C552&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Leathers-Heron.jpeg?resize=760%2C324&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Leathers-Heron.jpeg?resize=768%2C327&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Leathers-Heron.jpeg?resize=1200%2C511&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Leathers-Heron.jpeg?resize=1024%2C436&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Leathers-Heron.jpeg?resize=780%2C332&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Leathers-Heron.jpeg?resize=400%2C170&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Leathers-Heron.jpeg?resize=706%2C301&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Leathers-Heron.jpeg?w=1500&amp;ssl=1 1500w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Leathers-Heron-1296x552.jpeg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Willy Leathers’ workboat Heron has two electric outboards and cost $425,000 to build. (Photo by Julia Tilton / The Daily Yonder)</figcaption></figure>
  619.  
  620.  
  621.  
  622. <p>Like Leathers, Strater and Planson also work year-round. They said they’re both impressed with how their boat performed last winter after launching in the fall of 2024. For Planson, who markets battery-powered equipment to aquaculture farmers as part of his startup, <a href="https://www.shredelectric.com/">Shred Electric</a>, a boat’s ability to run through the year’s coldest months is a key selling point.&nbsp;</p>
  623.  
  624.  
  625.  
  626. <p>“The proof is in the pudding,” said Planson. “When you&#8217;re working with … waterfront applications, it really needs to work every day and all year.”</p>
  627.  
  628.  
  629.  
  630. <p>Strater and Planson said their boat’s range was an important consideration when they partnered with the startup Flux Marine to build the electric outboard motor. With limited shoreside charging infrastructure in place, the boat has to make it out and back on a single charge, sometimes to aquaculture operations seven miles away. In the 10 months since the boat’s launch, Strater has learned range correlates to speed. He can modulate the boat’s pace depending on how far he wants to go.&nbsp;</p>
  631.  
  632.  
  633.  
  634. <p>“We can go really fast for a short distance. We can go really slow for a long distance, and it works for what we do with it,” he said.</p>
  635.  
  636.  
  637.  
  638. <p>Soon, Maine’s early adopters will have shared access to a higher-capacity Level 2 charger that will be installed at the Sea Meadow Marine Foundation and can charge batteries in little over two hours, or three times faster than the current system. The startup <a href="https://www.aqua-superpower.com/">Aqua superPower</a> was awarded a portion of the DOE funding last year to install additional marine chargers there and at a wharf in Portland owned by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. Island Institute also helped with grant funding for the charger at the Sea Meadow boatyard.&nbsp;</p>
  639.  
  640.  
  641.  
  642. <figure class="wp-block-image alignwide size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="520" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/charging-cable-CMedit.jpg?resize=780%2C520&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-232966" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/charging-cable-CMedit.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/charging-cable-CMedit.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/charging-cable-CMedit.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/charging-cable-CMedit.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/charging-cable-CMedit.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/charging-cable-CMedit.jpg?resize=1024%2C682&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/charging-cable-CMedit.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/charging-cable-CMedit.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/charging-cable-CMedit.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/charging-cable-CMedit.jpg?w=1700&amp;ssl=1 1700w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/charging-cable-CMedit-1296x864.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Leathers holds up a high-capacity shoreside charger that plugs into his electric outboards. (Photo by Julia Tilton / The Daily Yonder)</figcaption></figure>
  643.  
  644.  
  645.  
  646. <p>Maine will need much more high-capacity charging infrastructure for the marine industry to transition to electric propulsion, said the Island Institute’s Morris. As the state’s aquaculture and fisheries industries look to grow beyond small-scale operations, other businesses will need to charge more frequently to make longer, farther trips up and down the coast.&nbsp;</p>
  647.  
  648.  
  649.  
  650. <p>Expanding charging stations north of Casco Bay represents what Morris calls a “chicken and egg” problem: a dynamic where chargers are either installed before demand gets high, and sit unused, or electric boats hit the water and there’s not enough charging infrastructure, stalling future adoption.&nbsp;</p>
  651.  
  652.  
  653.  
  654. <p>This challenge is compounded by both New England’s aging grid infrastructure and the remote nature of some of the region’s waterfront access points. Getting the right amount of power to a charging station on the shore can be costly, even in Yarmouth, which sits on Casco Bay. Often it’s the last mile that can be the most expensive. At Sea Meadow Marine Foundation, three-phase power, which can accommodate higher loads, is limited by the dirt road that separates the boat launch from the more heavily trafficked U.S. Route 1.&nbsp;</p>
  655.  
  656.  
  657.  
  658. <p>“There are a lot of complicated questions,” Morris said. “I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s unique to Maine, it&#8217;s any rural area, but complicated questions and conversations with the utilities and the rural municipalities are going to have to be solved for.”</p>
  659.  
  660.  
  661.  
  662. <p>Back on the water, Leathers docked his electric boat, Heron, alongside the sea farm’s barge, where thousands of oysters pass through for processing on harvest days. He switched the motor off and hopped onto the floating platform. For a moment, the bay was calm to the point of near silence. Then Leathers picked up an oyster cage with a rattle, turning it over in his hands as water splashed out. The sounds of the workday began.&nbsp;</p>
  663.  
  664.  
  665.  
  666. <p>“As a whole industry, I think it&#8217;s going to take proving that someone like us can do it,” Leathers said. “And then the next person kind of snowballing after that.”</p>
  667.  
  668.  
  669.  
  670. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  671. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/electric-fishing-boats-splash-into-waters-off-the-coast-of-rural-maine/2025/09/15/">Electric Aquaculture Boats Splash Into Waters Off the Coast of Rural Maine</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
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  679. <item>
  680. <title>Okanogan County Protests Highlight Rural Impact of Trump Policies</title>
  681. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/okanogan-county-protests-highlight-rural-impact-of-trump-policies/2025/09/15/</link>
  682. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/okanogan-county-protests-highlight-rural-impact-of-trump-policies/2025/09/15/#respond</comments>
  684. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Mai Hoang / Cascade PBS]]></dc:creator>
  685. <pubDate>Mon, 15 Sep 2025 09:59:00 +0000</pubDate>
  686. <category><![CDATA[Government & Policy]]></category>
  687. <category><![CDATA[repub]]></category>
  688. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=232931</guid>
  689.  
  690. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="682" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/RuralProtests_DR_HERO.webp?fit=1024%2C682&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/RuralProtests_DR_HERO.webp?w=2000&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/RuralProtests_DR_HERO.webp?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/RuralProtests_DR_HERO.webp?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/RuralProtests_DR_HERO.webp?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/RuralProtests_DR_HERO.webp?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/RuralProtests_DR_HERO.webp?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/RuralProtests_DR_HERO.webp?resize=1024%2C682&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/RuralProtests_DR_HERO.webp?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/RuralProtests_DR_HERO.webp?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/RuralProtests_DR_HERO.webp?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/RuralProtests_DR_HERO.webp?fit=1024%2C682&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  691. <p>This story was originally published by Cascade PBS. One recent Saturday morning, Twisp was full of activity, typical for the region’s peak tourist season. People in bathing suits ready to raft on the Methow River. Shoppers getting fresh produce at the Twisp Farmers Market. Others gathered in Twisp Works, a community hub that offers a [&#8230;]</p>
  692. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/okanogan-county-protests-highlight-rural-impact-of-trump-policies/2025/09/15/">Okanogan County Protests Highlight Rural Impact of Trump Policies</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  693. ]]></description>
  694. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="682" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/RuralProtests_DR_HERO.webp?fit=1024%2C682&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/RuralProtests_DR_HERO.webp?w=2000&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/RuralProtests_DR_HERO.webp?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/RuralProtests_DR_HERO.webp?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/RuralProtests_DR_HERO.webp?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/RuralProtests_DR_HERO.webp?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/RuralProtests_DR_HERO.webp?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/RuralProtests_DR_HERO.webp?resize=1024%2C682&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/RuralProtests_DR_HERO.webp?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/RuralProtests_DR_HERO.webp?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/RuralProtests_DR_HERO.webp?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/RuralProtests_DR_HERO.webp?fit=1024%2C682&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  695. <p class="has-text-align-center"><em>This story was originally published by <a href="https://www.cascadepbs.org/news/2025/09/okanogan-county-protests-highlight-rural-impact-of-trump-policies/">Cascade PBS</a></em>.</p>
  696.  
  697.  
  698.  
  699. <p>One recent Saturday morning, Twisp was full of activity, typical for the region’s peak tourist season.</p>
  700.  
  701.  
  702.  
  703. <p>People in bathing suits ready to raft on the Methow River. Shoppers getting fresh produce at the Twisp Farmers Market. Others gathered in Twisp Works, a community hub that offers a mix of retail, eateries, art and public green space.</p>
  704.  
  705.  
  706.  
  707. <p>At the corner of State Route 20 and South Glover Street, about 150 people gathered for what’s become routine for the community: a protest over President Donald Trump’s policies. Aug. 23 marked the 27th consecutive Saturday protest.</p>
  708.  
  709.  
  710.  
  711. <p>Despite living in a Trump stronghold, Okanogan County residents have been able to sustain several months of regular demonstrations and other activities protesting the first half-year of the president’s second term.<br><br>These Okanogan County protesters hope to connect with others with similar concerns, and also to be heard by those with differing viewpoints.</p>
  712.  
  713.  
  714.  
  715. <figure class="wp-block-image"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.cascadepbs.org/content/images/2025/08/RuralProtests_DR_IN_TEXT_7.jpeg?w=780&#038;ssl=1" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The August 23 protest in Twisp. (David Ryder for Cascade PBS)</figcaption></figure>
  716.  
  717.  
  718.  
  719. <p>Okanogan County, which borders Canada, is the state’s largest county by area — at more than 5,300 square miles, nearly equal to the state of Connecticut. By population — the county had nearly 45,000 residents based on a 2024 estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau — it’s smaller than a few dozen Washington cities. &nbsp;</p>
  720.  
  721.  
  722.  
  723. <p>It heavily favored President Donald Trump in the 2024 election, giving him 55.7% of the county’s votes to Democrat Kamala Harris’ 40.8%. However, several precincts within the county went for Harris, including those in the Methow Valley where Twisp is located.</p>
  724.  
  725.  
  726.  
  727. <p>Those protesting in Okanogan County want to call attention to how Trump’s policies from the other Washington will affect one of the state’s poorest counties: As of 2023, Okanogan County’s personal income per capita was $52,446, putting it in the bottom 28% of all counties statewide, according to figures from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. &nbsp;</p>
  728.  
  729.  
  730.  
  731. <p>As a result, many residents here are dependent on programs such as Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), both of which will receive massive cuts under the <a href="https://www.cascadepbs.org/politics/2025/07/wa-delegates-toe-party-lines-in-house-passage-of-trump-budget-bill/">budget reconciliation bill passed by Congress</a> and signed into law by Trump in early July.</p>
  732.  
  733.  
  734.  
  735. <p>Additionally, increased immigration enforcement actions may impact the immigrant and migrant workers who work in the county’s agriculture sector. The county is also home to public lands and other entities that employ federal workers.</p>
  736.  
  737.  
  738.  
  739. <p>For the Twisp protesters, highlighting these local impacts is important. Many hope that their efforts could reach their neighbors, including those who voted for Trump in the 2024 election.</p>
  740.  
  741.  
  742.  
  743. <p>“I would say democracy only works if we work it,” said Lauralee Northcott, who has lived in Twisp for 50 years and worked as a teacher for 34 years before retiring. “It slipped away by not working it enough. Every side matters. We need balance.”</p>
  744.  
  745.  
  746.  
  747. <figure class="wp-block-image"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.cascadepbs.org/content/images/2025/08/RuralProtests_DR_IN-TEXT-9.JPG?w=780&#038;ssl=1" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Protesters gather for their 27th Saturday protest in Twisp. (David Ryder for Cascade PBS)</figcaption></figure>
  748.  
  749.  
  750.  
  751. <h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="widespread-civic-action"><strong>Widespread Civic Action</strong></h3>
  752.  
  753.  
  754.  
  755. <p>The region is no stranger to local activism. Isabelle Spohn, who coordinates the weekly protest in Twisp, has long been active in environmental activism. In the 1970s and 1980s, Spohn and others tried to stop the construction of a large ski resort in Mazama that would have brought 10,000 skiers a day to a region with a fraction of year-round residents. The effort was successful, and the group involved in protesting that development — the Methow Valley Citizens Council —&nbsp;remains active, addressing land-use issues that could potentially affect the environment’s and region’s character. &nbsp;</p>
  756.  
  757.  
  758.  
  759. <p>For Spohn, this current protest effort has provided a space for people to voice concerns over several different issues, including the war in Gaza; the outsized influence of billionaires on public policy; &nbsp;the attack on public institutions, including some addressing public health and science issues; and dramatic cuts to government health care and nutrition programs.</p>
  760.  
  761.  
  762.  
  763. <figure class="wp-block-image"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.cascadepbs.org/content/images/2025/08/RuralProtests_DR_IN-TEXT-8.JPG?w=780&#038;ssl=1" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Protest organizer Isabelle Spohn uses a megaphone at the Twisp protest. Spohn has been an environmental activist since the 1970s. (David Ryder for Cascade PBS)</figcaption></figure>
  764.  
  765.  
  766.  
  767. <p>The protests have attracted as many as 700 people — for example, when the protest coincided with the national “No Kings” protest this summer. Most weeks they get around 100 participants. The Methow Valley has 6,500 residents.</p>
  768.  
  769.  
  770.  
  771. <p>Participants include longtime residents who have been at all or nearly all the protests, and other residents who have relocated to the region in the past several years from other parts of the state, including the Puget Sound region. Others are visitors who join out of solidarity.</p>
  772.  
  773.  
  774.  
  775. <p>Patty Yates, a Twisp resident of Twisp for 45 years, has been at all but one protest this year. During the Aug. 23 protest, Yates was joined by her visiting children and grandchildren.</p>
  776.  
  777.  
  778.  
  779. <p>Yates said she wants Okanogan County residents to know what they’re losing through the cuts in legislation proposed by Trump and ultimately passed by the Republican-majority Congress. She also is concerned about the decreased access to abortion and depriving women of a choice for their bodies. “That whole thing gets me foaming,” she said.</p>
  780.  
  781.  
  782.  
  783. <p>Yates’ stepdaughter, Carly Lewis, was there with her two children, ages 9 and 7.</p>
  784.  
  785.  
  786.  
  787. <p>Lewis, who lives in Bothell, said she has brought her family to the protest during every visit this year. “I think it’s important for the younger generation to see they can have a voice and that local activism is just as important as national activism,” she said.</p>
  788.  
  789.  
  790.  
  791. <h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="multiple-movements-for-a-big-county"><strong>Multiple Movements for a Big County</strong></h3>
  792.  
  793.  
  794.  
  795. <p>Later that Saturday, another group of protesters gathered at a park in Tonasket, a city of 1,100 people about an hour from Twisp.</p>
  796.  
  797.  
  798.  
  799. <p>These protesters are affiliated with the Okanogan County chapter of Indivisible, a national effort to provide resources and guidance to help residents build grassroots civic movements. The group has been gathering weekly, both on Zoom and through protests.</p>
  800.  
  801.  
  802.  
  803. <p>Some participants have driven upward of an hour or more to get to the protest in Tonasket. The group has also staged protests in Brewster and Omak to cater to those living in other parts of the county.</p>
  804.  
  805.  
  806.  
  807. <figure class="wp-block-image"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.cascadepbs.org/content/images/2025/08/RuralProtests_DR_IN-TEXT-2.JPG?w=780&#038;ssl=1" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">(David Ryder for Cascade PBS)</figcaption></figure>
  808.  
  809.  
  810.  
  811. <p>“We have to speak up,” said Sandy Vaughn, co-organizer with Okanogan County Indivisible. “If we don’t speak up in this time, we are failing this nation.”</p>
  812.  
  813.  
  814.  
  815. <p>For co-organizer Shirl Kuchta, the protests are not about partisan politics —Trump’s policies are impacting residents of both parties, not just Democrats, she said. They are also impacting people in other parts of the world.&nbsp;</p>
  816.  
  817.  
  818.  
  819. <p>Kuchta said the protests provide a space for participants to be around others who share their concerns, and to gain more courage to stand up and speak out. “It gives people a place to focus their unease, their upset, their anger and their fear about what’s happening in this country,” she said. &nbsp;</p>
  820.  
  821.  
  822.  
  823. <h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="other-civic-efforts"><strong>Other Civic Efforts</strong></h3>
  824.  
  825.  
  826.  
  827. <p>While protests provide visibility, organizers encourage participants to engage in other types of civic action.</p>
  828.  
  829.  
  830.  
  831. <p>In Twisp, for example, attendees promoted other causes, such as a fundraiser for World Central Kitchen, which provides meals for Palestinians in Gaza.</p>
  832.  
  833.  
  834.  
  835. <p>Spohn said the Twisp group has worked with other civic groups in the Methow Valley that focus on other actions, such as writing letters. She’s also tried to keep in touch with other groups, including the Okanogan County Indivisible group in the Omak/Tonasket area.</p>
  836.  
  837.  
  838.  
  839. <p>For Rural People’s Voice, a civic advocacy organization working in Okanogan, Chelan and Douglas counties that formed in 2021, the work centers on getting the stories of the community in front of key policy- and decision-makers.</p>
  840.  
  841.  
  842.  
  843. <p>In early July, Rural People’s Voice staff and volunteers gathered at Three Rivers Hospital to <a href="https://www.cascadepbs.org/politics/2025/08/wa-community-groups-seek-to-mobilize-voters-around-medicaid-cuts/">voice concerns over the recently passed House Resolution 1</a>, which included $990 billion in cuts over the next decade to Medicaid, the government-funded health care program, and to numerous other government services, such as nutrition and food programs for low-income residents.&nbsp;</p>
  844.  
  845.  
  846.  
  847. <figure class="wp-block-image"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.cascadepbs.org/content/images/2025/08/RuralProtests_DR_IN-TEXT-3.JPG?w=780&#038;ssl=1" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">An aerial view of the monthly protest in Twisp. Demonstrators come from the around the Methow Valley, with a population of about 6,500. (David Ryder for Cascade PBS)</figcaption></figure>
  848.  
  849.  
  850.  
  851. <p>For executive director Elana Mainer, it’s about expressing the urgency of taking programs from rural residents who have dealt with poverty for decades.</p>
  852.  
  853.  
  854.  
  855. <p>Mainer says that the rural communities her organization serves cannot afford further government funding cuts, and she believes it’s unfair that health care and nutrition programs are further cut while wealthy people receive more tax cuts. “It’s time for rural folks like us to have our fair share,” she said. &nbsp;</p>
  856.  
  857.  
  858.  
  859. <p>Mainer said the focus for her and her group has been on one-on-one engagement through door-knocking — the group knocked on thousands of doors last year. She believes there are opportunities to not only inform residents but get them involved in civic efforts, including running for office.&nbsp;</p>
  860.  
  861.  
  862.  
  863. <p>“There are so many natural leaders in mobile home parks, in apartment complexes, some of the things they do best is talk to their neighbors, talk to them about voting, what’s up with Medicaid [cuts], what’s up with health insurance.”</p>
  864.  
  865.  
  866.  
  867. <h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="engaging-with-differing-views"><strong>Engaging with Differing Views</strong></h3>
  868.  
  869.  
  870.  
  871. <p>But while community organizers and protesters throughout Okanogan County believe in showing resistance to Trump and policies being passed in Washington, D.C., they emphasize the importance of remaining in community with their neighbors, even those who support Trump.</p>
  872.  
  873.  
  874.  
  875. <figure class="wp-block-image"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.cascadepbs.org/content/images/2025/08/RuralProtests_DR_IN-TEXT-5-1.JPG?w=780&#038;ssl=1" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A passing driver signals support for the monthly protest. (David Ryder for Cascade PBS)</figcaption></figure>
  876.  
  877.  
  878.  
  879. <p>In recent years, it has not been unusual for political viewpoints to drive people apart, but in a smaller community, that’s not an option, given frequent interactions with those with differing views.&nbsp;</p>
  880.  
  881.  
  882.  
  883. <p>Mainer said that in her work she finds that most rural residents, regardless of their political affiliation, want a lot of the same things, such as economic prosperity and health care. She said it’s most important to maintain relationships and encourage dialogue to find solutions. “It takes a constant work to stay connected and [show] we do care about each other,” she said.</p>
  884.  
  885.  
  886.  
  887. <p>The protest in Twisp underscored that struggle. While many drivers honked in support, at least two vehicles stopped and blew dirty exhaust into the protesters’ faces. Two high school boys circled the group in their scooters waiving a large Donald Trump flag. At times they would get aggressive, waving their middle fingers at the group.</p>
  888.  
  889.  
  890.  
  891. <figure class="wp-block-image"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.cascadepbs.org/content/images/2025/08/RuralProtests_DR_IN-TEXT-1.JPG?w=780&#038;ssl=1" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A Trump supporter passes the monthly protest. In Okanogan County, where Twisp is located, 55.7% of the vote went to Trump in the 2024 election. (David Ryder for Cascade PBS)</figcaption></figure>
  892.  
  893.  
  894.  
  895. <p>But that didn’t faze the protesters, who were acquainted with the boys and their families.</p>
  896.  
  897.  
  898.  
  899. <p>A few of the protesters asked the boys to walk with their flag rather than create a safety issue by taking up the bike lane. The conversation occurred without escalation, and the two boys eventually parked their scooters and carried their Trump flag on foot.</p>
  900.  
  901.  
  902.  
  903. <p>“Even with counter-protesters, there [was] no aggression, no anger,” said Lewis, the visiting Bothell resident. “We’re protecting free speech, and everyone has a right to free speech.”</p>
  904.  
  905.  
  906.  
  907. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  908. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/okanogan-county-protests-highlight-rural-impact-of-trump-policies/2025/09/15/">Okanogan County Protests Highlight Rural Impact of Trump Policies</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  909. ]]></content:encoded>
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  916. <item>
  917. <title>Q&#038;A: The Rural Cartoonist</title>
  918. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/qa-the-rural-cartoonist/2025/09/12/</link>
  919. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/qa-the-rural-cartoonist/2025/09/12/#respond</comments>
  921. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Myat Theingi]]></dc:creator>
  922. <pubDate>Fri, 12 Sep 2025 09:59:00 +0000</pubDate>
  923. <category><![CDATA[Arts & Culture]]></category>
  924. <category><![CDATA[Path Finders]]></category>
  925. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=232947</guid>
  926.  
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  928. <p>Navied Mahdavian is a former 5th-grade teacher who is currently working as a full-time cartoonist. His work has been featured in The New Yorker, The LA Times, NPR, Reader’s Digest, and Wired. He moved to rural Idaho from the San Francisco Bay Area in 2016, spent a couple of years there, and published a very [&#8230;]</p>
  929. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/qa-the-rural-cartoonist/2025/09/12/">Q&amp;A: The Rural Cartoonist</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  930. ]]></description>
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  932. <p>Navied Mahdavian is a former 5th-grade teacher who is currently working as a full-time cartoonist. His work has been featured in <em>The New Yorker</em>, <em>The LA Times</em>, <em>NPR</em>, <em>Reader’s Digest</em>, and <em>Wired</em>. He moved to rural Idaho from the San Francisco Bay Area in 2016, spent a couple of years there, and published a very insightful and humorous graphic novel called “<a href="https://www.naviedm.com/thiscountry"><em>This Country: Searching For Home In (Very) Rural America</em></a><em>.</em>” I spoke with Navied to learn more about his book, his passion for cartooning, his wildest experiences living in rural Idaho, and his take on the urban-rural divide. Enjoy our conversation below.</p>
  933.  
  934.  
  935.  
  936. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  937.  
  938.  
  939.  
  940. <p class="has-text-align-center"><em>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.</em></p>
  941.  
  942.  
  943.  
  944. <p><strong>The Daily Yonder: How did your transition from San Francisco to rural Idaho happen? What prompted the decision?</strong></p>
  945.  
  946.  
  947.  
  948. <p><strong>Navied Mahdavian: </strong>We had visited the summer before [we moved] and immediately fell in love with the landscape.&nbsp; Also, San Francisco is expensive, and [my wife and I] both wanted to be artists. In the Bay Area, as a teacher and a PhD student, we were living in an apartment, but in Idaho, we could own land, and we were able to buy six acres for a very low price. So, it was the overall allure of possibility and economic viability that led to the decision. Besides, cowboys are romantic, too!</p>
  949.  
  950.  
  951.  
  952. <p><strong>DY: </strong><strong>As you said, one of the reasons you moved was to focus on your career as a cartoonist. Could you tell us more about your passion and career in cartooning?</strong></p>
  953.  
  954.  
  955.  
  956. <p><strong>NM: </strong>It was pretty random to start cartooning. I was always a doodler, but it wasn&#8217;t until we moved to Idaho that I had the time to work on my craft. When people think of New Yorker cartoons, they think of New York. They don&#8217;t think of Idaho. So, it didn’t exactly make sense to have moved there to pursue cartooning. But more than anything, it was the time that the place afforded, where I could actually sit down and think, away from many of the pressures that would have prevented a sort of creative practice. I have some friends who are New Yorker cartoonists who have day jobs, and I don&#8217;t know how they&#8217;re able, you know, at night time or on the weekend, to have the mental space, to be able to sit down and say, “Okay, I&#8217;m going to be creative. I&#8217;m going to be funny.”</p>
  957.  
  958.  
  959.  
  960. <p><strong>DY: According to your book description, you’d never fished, gardened, hiked, hunted, or lived in a snowy place before your move to rural Idaho. Could you tell us about some of your wildest experiences there?</strong></p>
  961.  
  962.  
  963.  
  964. <p><strong>NM:</strong> We were a little naive about what it was going to be like. We had visited during the summer before; we hadn&#8217;t been there during the winter. The first winter we were there, it got down to -36 degrees [Fahrenheit], and that January, it didn&#8217;t even reach zero degrees during the daytime. So the cars didn&#8217;t start. We also always ran out of firewood quickly. And the nearest town was 20 miles away.&nbsp;</p>
  965.  
  966.  
  967.  
  968. <p>There&#8217;s a moment when I was driving and suddenly the car started veering off the road. I was turning, but the car wasn’t responding because it was iced over. And I was like, “Okay, well, I&#8217;m going off the road.” We were almost hit by a semi and flew off the road. Fortunately, someone who would become a good friend stopped to help us.&nbsp;</p>
  969.  
  970.  
  971.  
  972. <p>I also got into bird watching. I can track the seasons by the bird sounds. I wake up early to listen to them. I also did a lot of hiking and gardening. At the peak of our gardening, we had 23 raised beds. I&#8217;ve always been a city person, and nature wasn&#8217;t something that I had explored, but being in rural Idaho, it was hard not to interact with the natural world in a way that you don&#8217;t do in cities.&nbsp;</p>
  973.  
  974.  
  975.  
  976. <p><strong>DY: Before moving, what preconceptions did you hold about rural America, and how were they challenged or reinforced during your time in Idaho?</strong></p>
  977.  
  978.  
  979.  
  980. <p><strong>NM: </strong>My parents are from Iran. So, being a brown person moving to a predominantly white area, I thought my racial identity would be the thing that would alienate me the most. There&#8217;s one interaction, it’s in the book, where a conversation that I was having with somebody that was really pleasant suddenly turned negative when the person asked me, “You’re not a Muslim, are you?” in a really pointed way. She&#8217;s like, “Oh, I don&#8217;t mean to be nosy.” There were numerous interactions like that, and I had to figure out their intentions. Were people just being curious, or were they trying to be unwelcoming?&nbsp;</p>
  981.  
  982.  
  983.  
  984. <p>There is also a city versus rural divide, where people there were very suspicious of those from big cities. We had a few friends who visited from New York. They ended up driving from New York, arriving in a big black SUV with a New York license plate. And one of the guys from the town walks over to them. He was a retired cowboy, and he said, “So I heard you boys are from New York City.” Then he found out what they were doing (donating a film projector), and he became really welcoming after that. But there&#8217;s a suspicion of people from the city, and it is because, just like me, he might have acted with preconceived notions.</p>
  985.  
  986.  
  987.  
  988. <p>But I also understand that they are rightfully concerned about gentrification. Many of the residents [in my area] are ranchers whose livelihoods depend on hundreds of acres of land. And so, when people from the cities move in, they drive up real estate prices.</p>
  989.  
  990.  
  991.  
  992. <p>So, in the book, I attempted to capture the push-and-pull situation.</p>
  993.  
  994.  
  995.  
  996. <p><strong>DY: Are there any cultural differences you experienced moving there?</strong></p>
  997.  
  998.  
  999.  
  1000. <p><strong>NM:</strong> There&#8217;s a moment in the book where we opened up the movie theater that had been closed for like 10 years. My wife and I, both being artists, were drawn to it as something we could do for the community. We don&#8217;t know ranching, we don&#8217;t know cows, but we do know art and film, so we thought we could reopen the movie theater. We were trying to do what we thought was best for the town by showing them what we wanted to show, and we felt they needed to come and see them, because these are really good movies. And I think it was one of those moments where we realized that we were being naive, we were being patronizing, and we were falling into that trap of city folk coming in and trying to teach people in rural areas, like this is what they “should” be watching. Eventually, we ended up showing mainstream movies and John Wayne, which they really wanted to see, instead of the artsy movies we had originally intended to show. There&#8217;s nothing wrong with wanting to watch John Wayne.</p>
  1001.  
  1002.  
  1003.  
  1004. <p><strong>DY:</strong> <strong>In your book, you mention political differences between you and your rural friends, but it also highlights the broader political divide between rural and urban residents. Do you think they will be able to bridge the divide anytime soon?</strong></p>
  1005.  
  1006.  
  1007.  
  1008. <p><strong>NM: </strong>The majority of the town and the county voted for Trump in 2016. So, it was hard not to experience the place within the context of the First Trump Presidency. There was no hiding that the people in the town were very different politically from what I was used to, and from the views that I myself held. For example, I never thought about hunting from a class perspective. Being from the cities, I have always associated guns with violence. But for people in rural Idaho, as some of them told me, hunting was for feeding their families. They are using their local resources rather than trucking in things. So, in that sense, I was also able to understand the complexities of their views, which I did not before.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  1009.  
  1010.  
  1011.  
  1012. <p>But one of my biggest takeaways was that I made really good friends there, many of whom had very different political views. For example, with one of the characters in the book, Josiah, there were a couple of times when we discussed politics, but for the most part, we didn&#8217;t. We understood that we had very different views, but I think it did not matter. With people’s political views, we are getting only 1% of a person, and we are missing all of the other things that make them human.&nbsp;</p>
  1013.  
  1014.  
  1015.  
  1016. <p><strong>DY: There will be both rural readers and non-rural readers reading your book. What do you hope that both audiences take from your story?</strong></p>
  1017.  
  1018.  
  1019.  
  1020. <p><strong>NM: </strong>There is one interaction that I had with somebody who makes a very brief cameo in the book. She was one of those people in the town whose family had been there for 150 years. In my book, there&#8217;s one image of cowboys looking out over the landscape. To create that, I used a reference photo that I found online from the National Geographic Issue. She said that when she saw the image, it brought tears to her eyes because it featured her dad, uncle, and someone else in the photo in the book. For me, it was just random cowboys in the area, based on a reference photo I used. However, for her, they were real people &#8211; her family. It was a special moment and also a reminder that, through the book, I was not only telling my story but also sharing their stories and experiences &#8211; and I wanted to honor them.</p>
  1021.  
  1022.  
  1023.  
  1024. <p>Overall, I tried to give a nuanced portrait of the place to not come across as the coastal elite, coming in and judging the people who are there but rather just illustrating my personal experiences living in such a place.&nbsp;</p>
  1025.  
  1026.  
  1027.  
  1028. <p>So, after reading my book, I hope that city dwellers will gain some insights into rural life and vice versa. I also hope they see that there are divisions and different cultures. But there are also friendships that I forge, that show that it is possible to bridge those divides in a meaningful and lasting way.</p>
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  1045. <p>This interview first appeared in <strong>Path Finders</strong>, a weekly email newsletter from the Daily Yonder. Each Monday, Path Finders features a Q&amp;A with a rural thinker, creator, or doer. Join the mailing list today, to have these illuminating conversations delivered straight to your inbox. </p>
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  1083. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/qa-the-rural-cartoonist/2025/09/12/">Q&amp;A: The Rural Cartoonist</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
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  1091. <item>
  1092. <title>Q&#038;A: Hidden Challenges For Rural Students Attending Selective Colleges</title>
  1093. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/qa-hidden-challenges-for-rural-students-attending-selective-colleges/2025/09/11/</link>
  1094. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/qa-hidden-challenges-for-rural-students-attending-selective-colleges/2025/09/11/#respond</comments>
  1096. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Nick Fouriezos / Open Campus]]></dc:creator>
  1097. <pubDate>Thu, 11 Sep 2025 09:59:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1098. <category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
  1099. <category><![CDATA[Mile Markers]]></category>
  1100. <category><![CDATA[repub]]></category>
  1101. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=232925</guid>
  1102.  
  1103. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/250116_Mara_Tieken_Classroom_1396.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/250116_Mara_Tieken_Classroom_1396.jpg?w=1920&amp;ssl=1 1920w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/250116_Mara_Tieken_Classroom_1396.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/250116_Mara_Tieken_Classroom_1396.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/250116_Mara_Tieken_Classroom_1396.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/250116_Mara_Tieken_Classroom_1396.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/250116_Mara_Tieken_Classroom_1396.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/250116_Mara_Tieken_Classroom_1396.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/250116_Mara_Tieken_Classroom_1396.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/250116_Mara_Tieken_Classroom_1396.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/250116_Mara_Tieken_Classroom_1396.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/250116_Mara_Tieken_Classroom_1396.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  1104. <p>Editor’s Note: A version of this story first appeared in Mile Markers, a twice monthly newsletter from Open Campus about the role of colleges in rural America. You can join the mailing list at the bottom of this article to receive future editions in your inbox. Mara Casey Tieken began her career as a third-grade teacher in rural [&#8230;]</p>
  1105. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/qa-hidden-challenges-for-rural-students-attending-selective-colleges/2025/09/11/">Q&amp;A: Hidden Challenges For Rural Students Attending Selective Colleges</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  1106. ]]></description>
  1107. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/250116_Mara_Tieken_Classroom_1396.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/250116_Mara_Tieken_Classroom_1396.jpg?w=1920&amp;ssl=1 1920w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/250116_Mara_Tieken_Classroom_1396.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/250116_Mara_Tieken_Classroom_1396.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/250116_Mara_Tieken_Classroom_1396.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/250116_Mara_Tieken_Classroom_1396.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/250116_Mara_Tieken_Classroom_1396.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/250116_Mara_Tieken_Classroom_1396.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/250116_Mara_Tieken_Classroom_1396.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/250116_Mara_Tieken_Classroom_1396.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/250116_Mara_Tieken_Classroom_1396.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/250116_Mara_Tieken_Classroom_1396.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  1108. <p style="font-size:14px"><em>Editor’s Note: A version of this story first appeared in <strong>Mile Markers</strong>, a twice monthly newsletter from Open Campus about the role of colleges in rural America. You can </em><a href="https://dailyyonder.com/rural-universities-experiment-with-innovation-hubs/2024/06/06/#signup"><em>join the mailing list at the bottom of this article</em></a><em> to receive future editions in your inbox.</em></p>
  1109.  
  1110.  
  1111.  
  1112. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  1113.  
  1114.  
  1115.  
  1116. <p>Mara Casey Tieken began her career as a third-grade teacher in rural Tennessee, watching her students navigate small-town life with curiosity and intelligence. Years later, as a professor of eduction at Bates College, a private liberal arts school in Maine, she found herself wondering: Why weren&#8217;t many of her former students attending schools like hers?</p>
  1117.  
  1118.  
  1119.  
  1120. <p>That question launched a multi-year research project following nine rural, first-generation college students as they navigated elite higher education. Her book &#8220;<a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/E/bo247751497.html?utm_source=mile-markers.beehiiv.com&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=hidden-challenges-for-rural-students-attending-selective-colleges" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Educated Out: How Rural Students Navigate Elite Colleges—And What It Costs Them</a>,&#8221; was published by the University of Chicago Press earlier this year.</p>
  1121.  
  1122.  
  1123.  
  1124. <p>Tieken&#8217;s research reveals how geography shapes college experiences in ways that go far beyond economics, creating barriers that push rural students away from their home communities while leaving them struggling to find their place in urban professional worlds.&nbsp;</p>
  1125.  
  1126.  
  1127.  
  1128. <p>I talked with her about how her findings challenge assumptions about college access and success, revealing the hidden costs of pursuing higher education far from home. This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.</p>
  1129.  
  1130.  
  1131.  
  1132. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  1133.  
  1134.  
  1135.  
  1136. <p><strong>Nick Fouriezos, Mile Markers:</strong> <strong>What surprised you most during your research?</strong></p>
  1137.  
  1138.  
  1139.  
  1140. <p><strong>Mara Casey Tieken: </strong>For me, it was really interesting to try to think about how geography specifically shaped the students’ experiences. </p>
  1141.  
  1142.  
  1143.  
  1144. <p>The students often individualized it, so when they faced a barrier or a challenge, they often thought it was because they hadn&#8217;t studied enough for the math test, or they just, you know, they&#8217;re the ones that are kind of weird, not fitting in.&nbsp;</p>
  1145.  
  1146.  
  1147.  
  1148. <p>They didn&#8217;t often see how this was maybe a larger structural issue.</p>
  1149.  
  1150.  
  1151.  
  1152. <p>And when they did, they often wrote it off as class. Geography does matter, clearly. Yet we often really don&#8217;t think about that as part of the opportunity structure. If you look at professors&#8217; syllabi, it&#8217;s pretty urban-centric. Or if you look at admissions officers, outreach approaches, it favors urban areas. If you look at career counseling services or career services, they&#8217;re really designed to put kids in cities or put graduates in cities.</p>
  1153.  
  1154.  
  1155.  
  1156. <p><strong>NF: How does geography matter differently from class?</strong></p>
  1157.  
  1158.  
  1159.  
  1160. <p><strong>MCT: </strong>Class and geography are very much related. If you think about the availability of jobs or, we know, for example, that on the whole rural folks have lower incomes than non-rural folks. So is that geography? Is that class? It can feel like a fool&#8217;s errand to really figure out which of those is which, but there are some components that are very much about geography.</p>
  1161.  
  1162.  
  1163.  
  1164. <p>Still, if you look at the admissions process, especially at elite schools, most of the schools are small, they don&#8217;t have a huge admissions staff. They go to the places that are easier to reach, where they can get high yields. And so what that means is they don&#8217;t go to many rural places because they&#8217;re really hard to get to. And so that&#8217;s a lot of time and cost and then they might only yield maybe one student. It&#8217;s just not cost effective from an admissions perspective.</p>
  1165.  
  1166.  
  1167.  
  1168. <p>We also know that quality of K-12 education really matters. Many rural schools don&#8217;t even have a counselor. So of course it&#8217;s really hard to give good post-secondary guidance if you&#8217;re not there, if there&#8217;s not a counselor or if you&#8217;re being shared across several buildings. AP classes — we know that varies by geography. It&#8217;s hard to have a robust AP bio class when you&#8217;ve only got one student that&#8217;s interested.</p>
  1169.  
  1170.  
  1171.  
  1172. <p><strong>NF: What are some examples from your research?</strong></p>
  1173.  
  1174.  
  1175.  
  1176. <p><strong>MCT: </strong>One story is Sylvan, who came in being really focused on wanting to be a doctor. He was always a smart kid. Everyone always said, “One day, you’ll be a doctor.” He&#8217;s taking all the science classes, doing really well. Then he has this moment of crisis. He&#8217;s taking Latin classes too, and loving Latin classes. And he&#8217;s like, should I continue to go forward with the sciences? Should I do Latin?</p>
  1177.  
  1178.  
  1179.  
  1180. <p>He ends up kind of abandoning the pre-doctor track for a whole variety of reasons. One of them being that he didn&#8217;t get into this fast track pre-med program.&nbsp;</p>
  1181.  
  1182.  
  1183.  
  1184. <p>But what I really didn&#8217;t see at the time was all the ways in which there were structural barriers to him completing his pre-med requirements. For this fast track program, he needed to have job shadows, internships that all pay very little. He couldn&#8217;t do that. He was going back home and bartending because that&#8217;s where he could make the most money.</p>
  1185.  
  1186.  
  1187.  
  1188. <p>So this is a kid that was sort of pushed out of the STEM fields, not for lack of having the academic chops or even for lack of preparation. For him, it was all those hidden costs of academia that really kept him out.</p>
  1189.  
  1190.  
  1191.  
  1192. <p>Fast forward a few years. He does end up returning to the sciences arena, and is considering job options. He opts for the one in the city that seems prestigious over a promising one back home.&nbsp;</p>
  1193.  
  1194.  
  1195.  
  1196. <p>I do my last interview with him the October after graduation, and he&#8217;s in tears, He misses home. “Even if I am there though, what am I going to do?” he’s asking. There are so few jobs, fewer still if you want to be able to earn a master’s or a Ph.D.</p>
  1197.  
  1198.  
  1199.  
  1200. <p>Plus, now he&#8217;s experiencing some disconnect with his family just because they&#8217;ve had very different past four years while he was at college. I talk about how the students are educated out, and he is, but they also have trouble being in these other places too. They&#8217;re kind of stuck in between.</p>
  1201.  
  1202.  
  1203.  
  1204. <p><strong>NF: What changes would help rural students succeed at selective institutions?</strong></p>
  1205.  
  1206.  
  1207.  
  1208. <p><strong>MCT: </strong>There are a whole bunch of things that can be done. In terms of the admissions pipeline, admissions offices often think about geography in really superficial ways. &#8220;Yep, we got our kid from Idaho.” Not in ways that would allow us to think about spatial marginality. Are we getting kids from the places that probably have the most barriers or hurdles to overcome?</p>
  1209.  
  1210.  
  1211.  
  1212. <p>When we&#8217;ve got more students from those places, they don&#8217;t feel as isolated when they&#8217;re on campus. Maybe part of merit is overcoming these various kinds of geographic barriers.</p>
  1213.  
  1214.  
  1215.  
  1216. <p>In terms of experience on campus, reducing all the hidden costs of college. Making sure that when you are offering internships, they&#8217;re paid at a level that would actually be competitive with what students could earn in blue collar jobs back home. One student returned home because he could make more money digging trenches than any of the opportunities related to what he was studying.&nbsp;</p>
  1217.  
  1218.  
  1219.  
  1220. <p>All the students came because they wanted connections. Very few of them actually got connections, because connections at these elite institutions are often going through things like “Your roommate invites you to Cabo, and so then you&#8217;re hanging out on the yacht with your roommate and their parents.” These students aren&#8217;t being invited to those kinds of things.</p>
  1221.  
  1222.  
  1223.  
  1224. <p>I think there&#8217;s a lot to do in our curriculum. Students read urban authors, they study cities. They often see really flat, one dimensional portrayals of rural places. They read &#8220;Hillbilly Elegy.&#8221; I think there&#8217;s a lot of curriculum that we can do to make sure that the portrayals of rural places, first, they&#8217;re there and they&#8217;re authentic and they don&#8217;t reinforce stereotypes and continue to alienate rural students.</p>
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  1239. <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="780" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/mile-markers-higher-ed-newsletter-logo.png?resize=780%2C780&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-84653" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/mile-markers-higher-ed-newsletter-logo.png?w=800&amp;ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/mile-markers-higher-ed-newsletter-logo.png?resize=760%2C760&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/mile-markers-higher-ed-newsletter-logo.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/mile-markers-higher-ed-newsletter-logo.png?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/mile-markers-higher-ed-newsletter-logo.png?resize=400%2C400&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/mile-markers-higher-ed-newsletter-logo.png?resize=200%2C200&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/mile-markers-higher-ed-newsletter-logo.png?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/mile-markers-higher-ed-newsletter-logo.png?resize=706%2C706&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/mile-markers-higher-ed-newsletter-logo.png?resize=100%2C100&amp;ssl=1 100w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/mile-markers-higher-ed-newsletter-logo.png?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /></figure>
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  1245. <p>This article first appeared in <strong>Mile Markers</strong>, a twice monthly newsletter from <a href="https://www.opencampusmedia.org/">Open Campus</a> about the role of colleges in rural America.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.opencampusmedia.org/category/newsletters/mile-markers/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Join the mailing list today</a> to have future editions delivered to your inbox.</p>
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  1261.  
  1262. <p></p>
  1263. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/qa-hidden-challenges-for-rural-students-attending-selective-colleges/2025/09/11/">Q&amp;A: Hidden Challenges For Rural Students Attending Selective Colleges</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
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  1270. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">232925</post-id> </item>
  1271. <item>
  1272. <title>Meet the Small Business Owners Electrifying Maine’s Rural Coast </title>
  1273. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/meet-the-small-business-owners-electrifying-maines-rural-coast/2025/09/10/</link>
  1274. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/meet-the-small-business-owners-electrifying-maines-rural-coast/2025/09/10/#comments</comments>
  1276. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Julia Tilton]]></dc:creator>
  1277. <pubDate>Wed, 10 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1278. <category><![CDATA[Energy]]></category>
  1279. <category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
  1280. <category><![CDATA[Rural Life]]></category>
  1281. <category><![CDATA[Yonder Report]]></category>
  1282. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=232732</guid>
  1283.  
  1284. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  1285. <p>Editor’s Note: Reporting for this article was made possible by the Guerry Beam Memorial Reporting Grant award from the Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources. On a sunny, 85-degree day in August of 2025, some 9,300 oysters were loaded into ice-filled containers on southern Maine’s Casco Bay. The boat shuttling them from the warm, shallow [&#8230;]</p>
  1286. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/meet-the-small-business-owners-electrifying-maines-rural-coast/2025/09/10/">Meet the Small Business Owners Electrifying Maine’s Rural Coast </a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  1287. ]]></description>
  1288. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LEDE_-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  1289. <p><em>Editor’s Note: Reporting for this article was made possible by the Guerry Beam Memorial Reporting Grant award from the </em><a href="https://www.ijnr.org/"><em>Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources</em></a><em>.</em></p>
  1290.  
  1291.  
  1292.  
  1293. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  1294.  
  1295.  
  1296.  
  1297. <p class="has-drop-cap">On a sunny, 85-degree day in August of 2025, some 9,300 oysters were loaded into ice-filled containers on southern Maine’s Casco Bay. The boat shuttling them from the warm, shallow waters of Recompense Cove to the marina two miles away hummed quietly. Notably missing: the roar of an engine and the smell of diesel.&nbsp;</p>
  1298.  
  1299.  
  1300.  
  1301. <p>Heron, the boat in question, is a 28-foot aluminum vessel that runs on two 100% electric outboards, the motors that hang off of small and medium-sized boats. It’s one of the first commercial workboats in the United States to use electric outboards. The vessel officially splashed into the waters of South Freeport, Maine on July 17, 2025. The moment, though, had been years in the making. It required a coalition of industry-wide partners, a <a href="https://www.aqua-superpower.com/article/aquaculture-goes-electric-at-maine-ocean-farms">$500,000 U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant</a>, and at least that much in matching funds from the operating businesses’ cost share agreement and philanthropic investments through the Rockland, Maine-based <a href="https://www.islandinstitute.org/">Island Institute</a>, the <a href="https://www.mainetechnology.org/">Maine Technology Institute</a>, and others. Altogether, the $1 million private-public investment covers Heron’s $425,000 sticker price and the costs to install two high-capacity shoreside chargers. A portion of these funds also supports data collection and research to assess the viability of electric technology in the greater aquaculture industry.&nbsp;</p>
  1302.  
  1303.  
  1304.  
  1305. <p>Willy Leathers is the director of farm operations and owner of Maine Ocean Farms, the mid-size aquaculture business that operates this particular boat. The 10-acre plot he and farm co-founder Eric Oransky tend to on Recompense Cove holds about 3 million oysters. The two farmers are among a growing group of small business owners on the cutting edge of marine innovation along rural and remote parts of Maine’s coast. They’ve been in operation together just shy of a decade, and have seen the aquaculture industry <a href="https://maineaqua.org/shellfish-farmers/#:~:text=Shellfish%20Statistics,attach%20themselves%20to%20the%20gear.">spring up</a> around them in the coves and small islands that make up Casco Bay. Beyond the bay is the wide-open Gulf of Maine, which has been documented as one of the world’s <a href="https://gmri.org/stories/gulf-maine-explained-warming-gulf-maine/">fastest-warming bodies of water</a>. Between 2004-2016, it warmed more quickly than <a href="https://youtu.be/z0gmqoX-XKU?feature=shared&amp;t=71">99% of the global ocean</a>, a trend scientists attribute to climate change caused by humans burning fossil fuels.&nbsp;</p>
  1306.  
  1307.  
  1308.  
  1309. <figure class="wp-block-embed alignwide is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
  1310. <iframe title="A Tractor for the Sea: Maine’s Electric Boats" width="780" height="439" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yrYfUTAxqJ0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
  1311. </div></figure>
  1312.  
  1313.  
  1314.  
  1315. <p>For Leathers and Oransky, there’s a connection between electrifying operations and transitioning away from the fossil fuels that have impacted their home waters. But beyond reducing environmental impact, the farmers say there’s another motivator: being a good neighbor. One feature of replacing traditional gas and diesel-powered outboards is that the electric versions are quieter.</p>
  1316.  
  1317.  
  1318.  
  1319. <p>“Our boats are our workplaces,” said Leathers. “We&#8217;re out there for eight hours a day, five days a week, so reducing noise and reducing on-site emissions is a goal of not only improving the workplace but also improving our potential impact on the environment around us, whether in an ecological sense or a community sense.”</p>
  1320.  
  1321.  
  1322.  
  1323. <p>Staying in the community’s good graces is essential for a business that operates year-round in close quarters with at least a dozen other farms, as well as traditional fisheries and shorefront landowners.&nbsp;</p>
  1324.  
  1325.  
  1326.  
  1327. <p>By the winter, Leathers and his crew expect to load between 10,000 and 15,000 oysters onto Heron each day they harvest. When the temperatures drop, they’ll no longer need containers filled with ice to keep the oysters cool. What the farmers don’t know is how the technology in their new battery-powered boat will fare in these cold, salty conditions. Part of their mission, and the DOE grant agreement, is to find out.</p>
  1328.  
  1329.  
  1330.  
  1331. <p>“There&#8217;s a great proving ground here, of saying if this technology is going to develop, this is a place where it&#8217;s going to be put through its paces,” Leathers said.&nbsp;</p>
  1332.  
  1333.  
  1334.  
  1335. <div class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow alignwide" data-effect="slide" style="--aspect-ratio:calc(1296 / 864)"><div class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_container swiper"><ul class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_swiper-wrapper swiper-wrapper"><li class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide"><figure><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="520" alt="" class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-232734" data-id="232734" data-aspect-ratio="1296 / 864" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Willy-and-Eric-1296x864.jpg?resize=780%2C520&#038;ssl=1" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Willy-and-Eric-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Willy-and-Eric-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Willy-and-Eric-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Willy-and-Eric-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Willy-and-Eric-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Willy-and-Eric-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Willy-and-Eric-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Willy-and-Eric-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Willy-and-Eric-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Willy-and-Eric-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Willy-and-Eric-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Willy-and-Eric-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Willy-and-Eric-1296x864.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption">Maine Ocean Farms owner Willy Leathers (left) handles what he calls &#8220;product&#8221;: three year old oysters ready for market. Fellow farmer and co-founder Eric Oransky (right) prepares to sort the mesh bag cages where the oysters grow. (Photo by Julia Tilton / The Daily Yonder)</figcaption></figure></li><li class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide"><figure><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="520" alt="" class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-232735" data-id="232735" data-aspect-ratio="1296 / 864" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Oyster-harvest.jpg?resize=780%2C520&#038;ssl=1" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Oyster-harvest-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Oyster-harvest-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Oyster-harvest-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Oyster-harvest-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Oyster-harvest-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Oyster-harvest-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Oyster-harvest-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Oyster-harvest-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Oyster-harvest-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Oyster-harvest-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Oyster-harvest-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Oyster-harvest-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Oyster-harvest-1296x864.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption">Maine Ocean Farms grows about 3 million oysters at a time on its 10-acre plot in southern Maine&#8217;s Casco Bay. (Photo by Julia Tilton / The Daily Yonder)</figcaption></figure></li><li class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide"><figure><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="520" alt="" class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-232736" data-id="232736" data-aspect-ratio="1296 / 864" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Oyster-ice.jpg?resize=780%2C520&#038;ssl=1" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Oyster-ice-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Oyster-ice-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Oyster-ice-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Oyster-ice-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Oyster-ice-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Oyster-ice-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Oyster-ice-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Oyster-ice-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Oyster-ice-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Oyster-ice-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Oyster-ice-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Oyster-ice-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Oyster-ice-1296x864.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption">In the summer, oyster farmers use ice to keep their product at low temperatures. At Maine Ocean Farms, Leathers and his crew can load up to 3,500 pounds of oysters and ice in containers onto their electric boat, Heron. (Photo by Julia Tilton / The Daily Yonder)</figcaption></figure></li></ul><a class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-prev swiper-button-prev swiper-button-white" role="button"></a><a class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-next swiper-button-next swiper-button-white" role="button"></a><a aria-label="Pause Slideshow" class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-pause" role="button"></a><div class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_pagination swiper-pagination swiper-pagination-white"></div></div></div>
  1336.  
  1337.  
  1338.  
  1339. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>A Tractor for the Sea</strong></h3>
  1340.  
  1341.  
  1342.  
  1343. <p class="has-drop-cap">A few miles down the coast, Chad Strater cruised up the Cousins River in Yarmouth, Maine on his 26-foot, all-electric workboat. He was headed to the Sea Meadow Marine Foundation, a nonprofit waterfront facility he co-owns and is actively transforming into what he calls an “aquaculture innovation hub.”&nbsp;</p>
  1344.  
  1345.  
  1346.  
  1347. <p>Since its launch last fall, Strater has used his electric boat almost daily for the marine construction work he does with his own business, the Boat Yard, and with partner Shred Electric, a startup that replaces gas generators with batteries to power sea farm equipment. Both the Boat Yard and Shred Electric share space at the Sea Meadow Marine Foundation’s Yarmouth facility. Strater’s boat has one battery-powered outboard that can haul equipment to sea farms and other marine businesses within a 15 mile radius on Casco Bay. Nick Planson, Shred Electric’s CEO and Strater’s business partner, said the two were impressed by the boat’s performance during the winter.</p>
  1348.  
  1349.  
  1350.  
  1351. <p>The switch to an electric outboard was born of necessity, Strater said. When using a gas-powered boat, he’d lose fuel from idling and maneuvering the boat around work sites. Now, Strater’s success with the electric boat doubles as a model for others in the marine industry, like sea farmers, who are curious about making a switch.&nbsp;</p>
  1352.  
  1353.  
  1354.  
  1355. <p>“You need the right tools to do the job,” said Strater. “You can&#8217;t be out there farming potatoes in a tractor from 1982 and expect to be efficient. So developing tools that make sense for efficiency, for Maine sea farmers, is what we&#8217;re doing.”</p>
  1356.  
  1357.  
  1358.  
  1359. <figure class="wp-block-image alignwide size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="520" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Chad-Strater.jpg?resize=780%2C520&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-232737" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Chad-Strater-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Chad-Strater-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Chad-Strater-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Chad-Strater-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Chad-Strater-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Chad-Strater-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Chad-Strater-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Chad-Strater-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Chad-Strater-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Chad-Strater-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Chad-Strater-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Chad-Strater-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Chad-Strater-1296x864.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Chad Strater has been using his electric workboat almost daily since it launched in the fall of 2024. He takes it to do construction work on sea farms within a 15 mile radius of where he docks it on the Cousins River. (Photo by Julia Tilton / The Daily Yonder)</figcaption></figure>
  1360.  
  1361.  
  1362.  
  1363. <p>In this early stage of marine electrification, aquaculture operations, or sea farms, are a logical use case, said Lia Morris, the senior community development officer at the Island Institute’s Center for Marine Economy. That’s because farmers have known variables like range, location, capacity, and schedule that tend not to change. Morris is working with Willy Leathers and Maine Ocean Farms on data collection and analysis as they compare their new boat, Heron, to a control: their existing gas-powered workboat.&nbsp;</p>
  1364.  
  1365.  
  1366.  
  1367. <p>“It&#8217;s almost like writing the case studies,” said Morris. “It’s putting the qualitative and quantitative data on paper and presenting the solution so that people can see how they can replicate it. That&#8217;s part of our long game in terms of outboards and commercial adoption.”</p>
  1368.  
  1369.  
  1370.  
  1371. <p>Still, there are significant hurdles when it comes to scaling up electrification in Maine’s aquaculture industry. Up front, electric boats are anywhere from 20% to 30% more expensive than gas-powered ones. Once they’re in the water, charging is difficult because Maine’s sea farms are spread across a vast and mostly rural area that is largely unequipped with the <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/we-mapped-fast-ev-charging-ports-across-rural-america-heres-what-we-found/2025/06/16/">charging infrastructure</a> this transition will require.&nbsp;</p>
  1372.  
  1373.  
  1374.  
  1375. <p>“It&#8217;s the chicken and the egg problem,” Leathers said. “What comes first? You put a charger in and there&#8217;s nobody to use it, or you have a bunch of boats waiting to charge, but then nobody wants to invest in the boats because there&#8217;s nowhere to charge them.”</p>
  1376.  
  1377.  
  1378.  
  1379. <figure class="wp-block-image alignwide size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="520" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Willy-and-Lia.jpg?resize=780%2C520&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-232738" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Willy-and-Lia-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Willy-and-Lia-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Willy-and-Lia-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Willy-and-Lia-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Willy-and-Lia-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Willy-and-Lia-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Willy-and-Lia-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Willy-and-Lia-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Willy-and-Lia-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Willy-and-Lia-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Willy-and-Lia-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Willy-and-Lia-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Willy-and-Lia-1296x864.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Island Institute&#8217;s Lia Morris (left) is working with Willy Leathers (right) and his crew at Maine Ocean Farms to collect performance data on the electric boat Heron, pictured here charging from a low-capacity shoreside power supply at a slip in South Freeport, Maine. (Photo by Julia Tilton / The Daily Yonder)</figcaption></figure>
  1380.  
  1381.  
  1382.  
  1383. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Uncharted Waters</strong></h3>
  1384.  
  1385.  
  1386.  
  1387. <p class="has-drop-cap">Like Leathers’ boat Heron, Strater’s boat was funded in part by federal and philanthropic support, including grants from some of the same institutional partners like Island Institute and Maine Technology Institute. About half of the boat’s cost, which comes in around $100,000, was financed with private investment and loans from the Coastal Enterprises Inc., a community development financial institution that helps Maine’s small businesses access lending. </p>
  1388.  
  1389.  
  1390.  
  1391. <p>Strater said the boat’s relatively low cost, about a fourth of the price tag on a boat like Leathers’ Heron, is an important part of the pilot model, since many small business owners can’t foot a several hundred thousand dollar investment up front. He and Planson have worked with the Coastal Enterprises Inc. on a <a href="https://www.ceimaine.org/financing/small-business-loans/#marine-green-loans">marine green loan program</a> to set up additional financing options apart from federal and philanthropic grant structures. It’s part of Planson’s philosophy to “de-risk” electrification for farmers who want to try the new technology without financial strain.</p>
  1392.  
  1393.  
  1394.  
  1395. <p>“We&#8217;re working towards having all of these solutions be affordable without grant funding,” said Planson.&nbsp;</p>
  1396.  
  1397.  
  1398.  
  1399. <p>For now, that’s an uphill climb. In Maine, it comes at a time when marine businesses are already struggling to overcome rising costs associated with working on a rapidly developing coastline.</p>
  1400.  
  1401.  
  1402.  
  1403. <p>In the early 2000s, nonprofit and government entities in Maine identified a growing risk to the state’s “working waterfront,” a term used to describe the network of access points that marine industries, including the state’s <a href="https://www.seamaine.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/SeaMaine-Seafood-Market-Report.pdf">$3.2 billion seafood sector</a>, depend on to make a living. A <a href="https://www.islandinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/TheLast20Miles_web.pdf">2006 report</a> commissioned by the Island Institute found that of Maine’s 3,500 miles of coastline, only 20 miles were dedicated working waterfront space.&nbsp;</p>
  1404.  
  1405.  
  1406.  
  1407. <p>The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association <a href="https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/38651">listed</a> climate change, sea level rise, and real estate development as ongoing threats to Maine’s working waterfront in a 2020 report. Of the state’s remaining 20 miles of working waterfront, NOAA wrote that just eight miles are dedicated for public use. The remaining 12 miles are privately owned and thus vulnerable to residential or commercial development.&nbsp;</p>
  1408.  
  1409.  
  1410.  
  1411. <p>Rebecca Rundquist is a board member of the Sea Meadow Marine Foundation, the nonprofit organization focused on protecting Maine’s working waterfront whose marina provides space for Strater and Planson’s electric boat. She said that development along the coast, and in a small town like Yarmouth, affects local food sources and the economy. She sees innovation as a way to “revitalize” communities and generate excitement around the working waterfront at a hyper-local scale.</p>
  1412.  
  1413.  
  1414.  
  1415. <p>“Our message is we don&#8217;t have a one-size-fits-all. We&#8217;re here to show how you work with your community to identify the most important needs with these parcels,” said Runquist.</p>
  1416.  
  1417.  
  1418.  
  1419. <p>In Yarmouth, the need revolves around aquaculture and electrification. Both Strater’s boat and Heron, the electric vessel operated by Maine Ocean Farms, will soon have access to a higher capacity level two charging station at the Sea Meadow Marine Foundation along the Cousins River. Once it’s installed, the boats will be able to get a full charge in a matter of hours as opposed to the overnight shift they plug in for now. The funding for the station comes from the Island Institute and the Island Institute and the DOE grant that helped build Heron.&nbsp;</p>
  1420.  
  1421.  
  1422.  
  1423. <p>While it’s a start, those involved on Casco Bay recognize there’s more progress to be made on charging infrastructure, particularly as businesses up the rural parts of the coast go electric. Island Institute is preparing to release a Shoreline Charging Infrastructure report later this year detailing specific challenges around grid readiness for marine electrification in Maine.</p>
  1424.  
  1425.  
  1426.  
  1427. <p>“It will be a public resource that people can read and digest and ask questions,” Morris said. “Our goal and hope is really to elevate the conversation around electrification and electric propulsion.”</p>
  1428.  
  1429.  
  1430.  
  1431. <div class="wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex">
  1432. <div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow">
  1433. <figure class="wp-block-image alignwide size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="520" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/EVOY-3.jpg?resize=780%2C520&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-232743" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/EVOY-3-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/EVOY-3-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/EVOY-3-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/EVOY-3-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/EVOY-3-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/EVOY-3-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/EVOY-3-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/EVOY-3-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/EVOY-3-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/EVOY-3-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/EVOY-3-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/EVOY-3-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/EVOY-3-1296x864.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Heron, Maine Ocean Farms&#8217; new electric boat, is equipped with two all-electric outboards that they purchased with funding from a U.S. Department of Energy grant. (Photo by Julia Tilton / The Daily Yonder)</figcaption></figure>
  1434. </div>
  1435.  
  1436.  
  1437.  
  1438. <div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow">
  1439. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="520" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Ford-Charger-1.jpg?resize=780%2C520&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-232744" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Ford-Charger-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Ford-Charger-1-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Ford-Charger-1-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Ford-Charger-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Ford-Charger-1-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Ford-Charger-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Ford-Charger-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Ford-Charger-1-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Ford-Charger-1-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Ford-Charger-1-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Ford-Charger-1-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Ford-Charger-1-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Ford-Charger-1-1296x864.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A Ford charger provides low-capacity charging to the electric outboard on Chad Strater&#8217;s boat at the Sea Meadow Marine Foundation in Yarmouth, Maine. Strater can use the same charger to plug in his Ford Lightning electric truck when he&#8217;s at the marina. (Photo by Julia Tilton / The Daily Yonder)</figcaption></figure>
  1440. </div>
  1441. </div>
  1442.  
  1443.  
  1444.  
  1445. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Finding a Charge</strong></h3>
  1446.  
  1447.  
  1448.  
  1449. <p class="has-drop-cap">For now, Strater keeps things simple. At the end of his workday, he docked the boat along the Cousins River and headed toward a Ford charger, the same one he uses to charge his all-electric Ford Lightning truck when it&#8217;s parked at the marina. The low-capacity level two charger is mounted on a wooden post a few yards from the shore. Strater grabbed a thick charging cable to run back down toward the water, and&nbsp; a light blinked green on the charger as he plugged the cable into the all-electric outboard, hovering several feet out of the water. The boat would sit there, slowly charging, for the next eight hours.&nbsp;</p>
  1450.  
  1451.  
  1452.  
  1453. <p>Usually, the down time isn’t a problem for Strater, who puts in eight-hour workdays on the boat and then leaves it overnight to charge. In the instance he does need a quick fill, he can tow the boat over land with his Ford Lightning to a Tesla fast charger off the nearby interstate.</p>
  1454.  
  1455.  
  1456.  
  1457. <p>At the front edge of innovation, it’s this kind of creativity that makes Morris excited about the future of electric boat adoption in the region. “Mainers are scrappy and, you know – rural context – people figure out how to make things work,” Morris said.</p>
  1458.  
  1459.  
  1460.  
  1461. <figure class="wp-block-image alignwide size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="520" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Boat-and-truck.jpg?resize=780%2C520&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-232745" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Boat-and-truck-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Boat-and-truck-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Boat-and-truck-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Boat-and-truck-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Boat-and-truck-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Boat-and-truck-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Boat-and-truck-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Boat-and-truck-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Boat-and-truck-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Boat-and-truck-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Boat-and-truck-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Boat-and-truck-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Boat-and-truck-1296x864.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">For Strater, the boat is one piece in an electrification puzzle. He also uses an electric Ford Lightning truck for his land-based operations. Both the boat and the truck can use the same charging station. (Photo by Julia Tilton / The Daily Yonder)</figcaption></figure>
  1462.  
  1463.  
  1464.  
  1465. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  1466. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/meet-the-small-business-owners-electrifying-maines-rural-coast/2025/09/10/">Meet the Small Business Owners Electrifying Maine’s Rural Coast </a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  1467. ]]></content:encoded>
  1469. <wfw:commentRss>https://dailyyonder.com/meet-the-small-business-owners-electrifying-maines-rural-coast/2025/09/10/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  1470. <slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
  1473. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">232732</post-id> </item>
  1474. <item>
  1475. <title>Mobile Home Residents Face Increased Risks from Severe Weather</title>
  1476. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/mobile-home-residents-face-increased-risks-from-severe-weather/2025/09/09/</link>
  1477. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/mobile-home-residents-face-increased-risks-from-severe-weather/2025/09/09/#respond</comments>
  1479. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Claire Carlson]]></dc:creator>
  1480. <pubDate>Tue, 09 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1481. <category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
  1482. <category><![CDATA[Housing]]></category>
  1483. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=232718</guid>
  1484.  
  1485. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  1486. <p>Like most high desert towns, Madras, Oregon, is no stranger to extreme temperatures.&#160; Located about 2,250 feet above sea level in a dry valley surrounded by central Oregon’s Cascade Range, summers in Madras can reach triple-digits, and winters below freezing.&#160; Homes outfitted for both hot and cold days are necessary in this rural community – [&#8230;]</p>
  1487. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/mobile-home-residents-face-increased-risks-from-severe-weather/2025/09/09/">Mobile Home Residents Face Increased Risks from Severe Weather</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  1488. ]]></description>
  1489. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP24201779741107-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  1490. <p>Like most high desert towns, Madras, Oregon, is no stranger to extreme temperatures.&nbsp;</p>
  1491.  
  1492.  
  1493.  
  1494. <p>Located about 2,250 feet above sea level in a dry valley surrounded by central Oregon’s Cascade Range, summers in Madras can reach triple-digits, and winters below freezing.&nbsp;</p>
  1495.  
  1496.  
  1497.  
  1498. <p>Homes outfitted for both hot and cold days are necessary in this rural community – but never guaranteed. That’s because within Madras city limits, there are eight mobile home parks with 276 housing spaces total, according to Oregon’s manufactured dwelling park <a href="https://appsprod.hcs.oregon.gov/MDPCRParks/parkdirpdfreport">directory</a>.&nbsp;</p>
  1499.  
  1500.  
  1501.  
  1502. <p>Many of these manufactured homes are outdated and lack the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems required to stay cool on Madras’ hottest days.&nbsp;</p>
  1503.  
  1504.  
  1505.  
  1506. <p>That was the case for Shawn King, who, up until 2024, lived in a mobile home in Madras built over 50 years ago. “It was miserable,” Shawn said in an interview with the Daily Yonder. “I dreaded the summers.”&nbsp;</p>
  1507.  
  1508.  
  1509.  
  1510. <p>Shawn is the sole caregiver for her husband Brian, who is disabled. She cooked their meals outside on a portable stove during the summers because using their kitchen appliances indoors made their house too hot. In the winter, she lined the windows with bubble wrap to prevent ice from forming on them.&nbsp;</p>
  1511.  
  1512.  
  1513.  
  1514. <p>Living in these conditions can be deadly. During northwest Oregon’s infamous “heat dome” of 2021 that killed more than 100 people, an <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/weather/2021/08/oregon-data-shows-disturbing-number-of-heat-wave-deaths-at-mobile-home-parks.html">Oregonian analysis</a> found that 20% of these deaths were of people living in mobile home parks. Temperatures in Madras during this heat dome reached 109 degrees Fahrenheit.</p>
  1515.  
  1516.  
  1517.  
  1518. <p>Manufactured and mobile homes make up an <a href="https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/manufactured-housing-and-price/">estimated</a> 15% of the total rural housing stock, as opposed to seven percent of the nationwide housing stock, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). That means rural areas have even more to worry about when it’s hot outside.&nbsp;</p>
  1519.  
  1520.  
  1521.  
  1522. <p>About one-fifth of all manufactured homes were built before standardized building codes were put into effect in 1976. Many of these older homes are less energy efficient and can have issues like mold and other dangerous health hazards.</p>
  1523.  
  1524.  
  1525.  
  1526. <p>One organization in the Pacific Northwest is trying to change this.&nbsp;</p>
  1527.  
  1528.  
  1529.  
  1530. <p>Energy Trust, an Oregon-based nonprofit, runs a manufactured home replacement program that provides funding to replace homes built prior to 1995 with new builds.&nbsp;</p>
  1531.  
  1532.  
  1533.  
  1534. <p>The program provides eligible applicants up to $16,000 to help pay for a new single or double-wide mobile home, and connects them with other agencies that can provide funding to pay for the replacement. Energy Trust also provides a program navigator to help applicants throughout the process.&nbsp;</p>
  1535.  
  1536.  
  1537.  
  1538. <p>“Sometimes people will have their own capital that they invest into it or borrow some of it, and then get other grants or other sources of funding,” said Scott Leonard, a senior project manager for Energy Trust’s residential team. “That&#8217;s really where this navigator role comes in, because it&#8217;s challenging to figure all that out.”</p>
  1539.  
  1540.  
  1541.  
  1542. <p>Shawn and Brian King were one of the beneficiaries of this program. They applied to the program in 2023 and moved into their new house in March of 2024. In total, the project cost around $120,000, which included a carport and an ADA ramp, according to Shawn.</p>
  1543.  
  1544.  
  1545.  
  1546. <p>“We had to put 10% of our earnings — and I did go over budget a little bit — so it ended up being $6,000 is what we had to put in,” Shawn said.&nbsp;</p>
  1547.  
  1548.  
  1549.  
  1550. <p>She applied for a low-interest rate loan through the nonprofit financial institution <a href="https://www.craft3.org/">Craft3</a>. Her loan payments are $45 per month. “It was really affordable,” she said.&nbsp;</p>
  1551.  
  1552.  
  1553.  
  1554. <p>Now, Brian is better able to get around the house, and Shawn can cook inside year-round without worrying about it getting unbearably hot. They also installed a heat pump with the help of Energy Trust, which keeps their electricity bill down.&nbsp;</p>
  1555.  
  1556.  
  1557.  
  1558. <p>“When you&#8217;re low-income, it really means a lot to be able to own your own home,” Shawn said. “I&#8217;m in a mobile home because that&#8217;s kind of where our budget is at, and to be able to have a brand new home compared to the older home… It&#8217;s very uplifting to your mood and how you feel.”</p>
  1559.  
  1560.  
  1561.  
  1562. <p>It has also made them safer during Madras’ hot summers, which are predicted to get even warmer with climate change, according to Oregon’s 2024 <a href="https://oregonstate.app.box.com/s/ziqc1kisxkup45147phjp526kheugqnb">statewide climate assessment</a>.&nbsp;</p>
  1563.  
  1564.  
  1565.  
  1566. <p>But the Kings are one of just a lucky few who are better prepared to face the heat.</p>
  1567.  
  1568.  
  1569.  
  1570. <p>There are an estimated 4.3 million manufactured homesites nationwide, according to the <a href="https://www.manufacturedhousing.org/industry-resources/community-research/manufactured-housing-communities-in-the-u-s/">Manufactured Housing Institute</a>. Many of these homes are outdated and vulnerable to extreme heat, and the vast majority of those residents aren’t benefitting from programs like Energy Trust’s, which is one of its kind in the United States.&nbsp;</p>
  1571.  
  1572.  
  1573.  
  1574. <p>That’s the case in places like Arizona, where extreme heat’s effect on health has been an issue for decades.&nbsp;</p>
  1575.  
  1576.  
  1577.  
  1578. <p>The state is trying to modernize manufactured homes through programs like the Department of Energy’s Weatherization Assistance Program, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and “Efficiency Arizona,” an energy rebates program — but progress can’t keep pace with demand.&nbsp;</p>
  1579.  
  1580.  
  1581.  
  1582. <p>“There are probably 175,000 mobile and manufactured homes that are older in the state that need to have some kind of weatherization done to it,” said Patricia Solís, a research professor at Arizona State University. Solís authored a report on extreme heat’s effect on mobile home residents and found that in Maricopa County, mobile home residents are <a href="https://resilience.asu.edu/heathealthandhousing">six to eight times</a> more likely to die from extreme heat.&nbsp;</p>
  1583.  
  1584.  
  1585.  
  1586. <p>“But these [weatherization] programs are at best only catching about 10,000 households a year of any kind, given limited funding and the limited workforce that is ready to retrofit buildings,” she said.&nbsp;</p>
  1587.  
  1588.  
  1589.  
  1590. <p>Solís published a <a href="https://d1rbsgppyrdqq4.cloudfront.net/s3fs-public/c160/KER%20Heat%20Mobile%20Homes%20Solutions%20Guide%20_0.pdf?versionId=6cLHIGUIhew1gAac8tJYCGgkklO29.M9&amp;X-Amz-Content-Sha256=UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD&amp;X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&amp;X-Amz-Credential=AKIASBVQ3ZQ477LUGVF2/20250828/us-west-2/s3/aws4_request&amp;X-Amz-Date=20250828T152202Z&amp;X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&amp;X-Amz-Expires=120&amp;X-Amz-Signature=56f1fd4df3c53bc83ac09e89c6cc4e152c8b67b94c112b3b670328cc990614a0">heat mitigation solutions guide</a> to help mobile home residents prepare for extreme heat with the resources they already have available or can easily access. Some of these resources include using curtains and shade sails during extreme heat, painting mobile rooftops with reflective white coating, and spacing out mobile homes within a park to allow for more ventilation between houses.&nbsp;</p>
  1591.  
  1592.  
  1593.  
  1594. <p>But these changes aren’t enough to protect mobile home residents from extreme heat. That’s why mobile home replacement or weatherization programs are essential – and could provide a solution for not just the heat problem, according to Solís.</p>
  1595.  
  1596.  
  1597.  
  1598. <p>“If we want to solve the heat problem, why don&#8217;t we solve the housing problem at the same time?” she said. “Manufactured housing… could actually be a great solution.” New manufactured homes cost less than single-family homes to build. With the right technology, they can also be more efficient in heating and cooling than a single-family home.&nbsp;</p>
  1599.  
  1600.  
  1601.  
  1602. <p>“We need more affordable housing in this country. We need climate adaptation in this country. Why don&#8217;t we put problem A with problem B together, and create resilient solutions all around?” Solís said.</p>
  1603.  
  1604.  
  1605.  
  1606. <p>But this will likely take both state and federal buy-in, which could be hard to come by under the Trump administration.&nbsp;</p>
  1607.  
  1608.  
  1609.  
  1610. <p>Many of the green energy initiatives funded through Biden-era laws like the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) have been paused or are under evaluation by the Administration. Additionally, the White House’s 2026 budget proposal recommends eliminating the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which mobile home residents across the country rely on to pay their heating and cooling bills.&nbsp;</p>
  1611.  
  1612.  
  1613.  
  1614. <p>Organizations like Energy Trust, the Oregon non-profit, would likely try to fill the gap that eliminating these programs could create.&nbsp;</p>
  1615.  
  1616.  
  1617.  
  1618. <p>Since Energy Trust’s first pilot run of the manufactured home replacement program in 2018, the organization has steadily increased the number of homes it’s able to service. In 2024, they reached a milestone: more than 100 Oregon families have received new, energy-efficient homes with EnergyTrust’s help.&nbsp;</p>
  1619.  
  1620.  
  1621.  
  1622. <p>They’ve got a long way to go — manufactured homes make up 10% of Oregon’s housing stock, and 60% of them were built before energy efficiency standards were enforced — but Eddie Sepeda, program navigator for Energy Trust, said they’re committed to this work.&nbsp;</p>
  1623.  
  1624.  
  1625.  
  1626. <p>“We still have a lot of work to do… but we&#8217;re ready to do it,” said Sepeda.</p>
  1627.  
  1628.  
  1629.  
  1630. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  1631. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/mobile-home-residents-face-increased-risks-from-severe-weather/2025/09/09/">Mobile Home Residents Face Increased Risks from Severe Weather</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  1632. ]]></content:encoded>
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  1638. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">232718</post-id> </item>
  1639. <item>
  1640. <title>A Rural Calling: Yvette McDaniel</title>
  1641. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/a-rural-calling-yvette-mcdaniel/2025/09/09/</link>
  1642. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/a-rural-calling-yvette-mcdaniel/2025/09/09/#respond</comments>
  1644. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Taylor Sisk]]></dc:creator>
  1645. <pubDate>Tue, 09 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1646. <category><![CDATA[Arts & Culture]]></category>
  1647. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=232699</guid>
  1648.  
  1649. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="768" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C570&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C972&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1500&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C585&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C530&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  1650. <p>There’s a buzz in the room. “Do you hear that noise?” Yvette McDaniel asks. She pauses, listens, then notes, “That’s not noise; it’s excitement.” On a sweltering late-July Wednesday in the small town of Denmark, South Carolina, a dozen or so young people are gathered at the Bethlehem Baptist Union for an event convened by [&#8230;]</p>
  1651. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/a-rural-calling-yvette-mcdaniel/2025/09/09/">A Rural Calling: Yvette McDaniel</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  1652. ]]></description>
  1653. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="768" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C570&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C972&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1500&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C585&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C530&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Yvette-McDaniel1-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  1654. <p>There’s a buzz in the room. “Do you hear that noise?” Yvette McDaniel asks. She pauses, listens, then notes, “That’s not noise; it’s excitement.”</p>
  1655.  
  1656.  
  1657.  
  1658. <p>On a sweltering late-July Wednesday in the small town of Denmark, South Carolina, a dozen or so young people are gathered at the Bethlehem Baptist Union for an event convened by <a href="https://www.breatheeasysouthcarolina.org/">Breathe Easy South Carolina</a>, of which McDaniel is director. It’s three days of education, training, fellowship, and fun. These kids are designing anti-smoking campaigns they’ll champion when they return to their schools in the fall.&nbsp;</p>
  1659.  
  1660.  
  1661.  
  1662. <p>They don’t yet know they’re advocates, McDaniel said, but it’s dawning on them. They’re listening to one another and their instructors, learning from one another. And they’ll carry what they’ve gained forward.&nbsp;</p>
  1663.  
  1664.  
  1665.  
  1666. <p>“We want them to feel that confidence,” she said.&nbsp;</p>
  1667.  
  1668.  
  1669.  
  1670. <p>The Breathe Easy curriculum is infused with the arts – visual art, photo exhibits, poetry, a “No Menthol Sunday” music and arts festival – and thus lands McDaniel in her sweet spot: the nexus of advocacy and the arts.&nbsp;</p>
  1671.  
  1672.  
  1673.  
  1674. <p>She’s the walking embodiment of creative advocacy. For the past half century, McDaniel has been a catalyst here in the Lowcountry of South Carolina – her home, a low-wealth region rich in creative energy – evincing the transformative power of the arts.</p>
  1675.  
  1676.  
  1677.  
  1678. <p>Naviree Johnson met McDaniel when he was an 18-year-old student and McDaniel was teaching music and directing the choir at Denmark Technical College. He’s now 27, a multidimensional visual artist – working in a wide range of mediums, from paper to brick walls to tennis shoes – a musician, and an actor.&nbsp;</p>
  1679.  
  1680.  
  1681.  
  1682. <p>McDaniel saw Johnson’s potential and helped cultivate it. “Pretty much every hat that I wear now, she’s pretty much been the one to tell me that I was gonna wear said hat,” Johnson acknowledged.</p>
  1683.  
  1684.  
  1685.  
  1686. <p>She’s served so many roles, been the driving force behind numerous initiatives. She’s also a classically trained operatic soprano, having performed nationally and abroad, and she’ll tell you about those experiences, Johnson said, but only in the context of, “No matter where you come from, there’s nowhere you can’t go.”</p>
  1687.  
  1688.  
  1689.  
  1690. <p>In her years as community arts development director for the South Carolina Arts Commission, Susan DuPlessis worked closely with McDaniel. She speaks of her “extraordinary love of place.”</p>
  1691.  
  1692.  
  1693.  
  1694. <p>“Yvette has challenged notions of what art is, how it is funded, and how it manifests in small, rural communities,” DuPlessis said. She’s demonstrated the “willingness to be part of an experimental learning community to grow something entirely new in places that were written off in our state as places without promise or hope.”</p>
  1695.  
  1696.  
  1697.  
  1698. <p>“We deal with social, emotional, physical, and mental health,” McDaniel said, “through the arts, through advocacy, through building character and self-esteem.”</p>
  1699.  
  1700.  
  1701.  
  1702. <p>“Artivism” and “edutainment” are words you’re likely to hear if you hang out for a while with Yvette McDaniel – or “Doc,” as many in her community call her – advocacy and the arts intertwined.</p>
  1703.  
  1704.  
  1705.  
  1706. <p>McDaniel has been confronted with some challenging health issues the past few decades: limited mobility after a fall from a stage and diminishing eyesight. But there’s sure no sense of it having slowed her.</p>
  1707.  
  1708.  
  1709.  
  1710. <p>As her colleague in the arts Heather Bruemmer states it: “Yvette is a force of nature.”&nbsp;</p>
  1711.  
  1712.  
  1713.  
  1714. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>‘That Sense of Wonder’</strong></h3>
  1715.  
  1716.  
  1717.  
  1718. <p>Education, advocacy, and music have been foundational throughout McDaniel’s life. She’s of the fourth generation of her family to attend college. A great-grandfather was an original board member of Claflin University, the oldest institution of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities in South Carolina.&nbsp;</p>
  1719.  
  1720.  
  1721.  
  1722. <p>Her father, James Albert McDaniel Sr., was an educator and a musician. Her mother, Myrtle David McDaniel, was the first Black president of the Classroom Teachers Association of South Carolina and a staunch advocate for the arts.&nbsp;</p>
  1723.  
  1724.  
  1725.  
  1726. <p>At 10, McDaniel was introduced to the legendary Leontyne Price, a soprano who sang with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. A friendship was forged, and a love of opera was instilled.</p>
  1727.  
  1728.  
  1729.  
  1730. <p>McDaniel earned degrees from Pfeiffer University and the University of South Florida, then a doctoral degree in musical arts from Louisiana State University. She made her professional debut in “Porgy and Bess” with the Orlando Opera.</p>
  1731.  
  1732.  
  1733.  
  1734. <p>She performed Verdi’s “Requiem” with the South Carolina Philharmonic. “As a soprano soloist,” she said, “that’s the height of heights.”</p>
  1735.  
  1736.  
  1737.  
  1738. <p>She felt blessed by the experience. “I don’t ever want to lose that sense of wonder, of, ‘Wow, how special this is.’ That’s what I learned about me and about music, what I learned that I’ve taken with me.”&nbsp;</p>
  1739.  
  1740.  
  1741.  
  1742. <p>She was driven to convey that wonder to others.&nbsp;</p>
  1743.  
  1744.  
  1745.  
  1746. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Ever in the Moment</strong></h3>
  1747.  
  1748.  
  1749.  
  1750. <p>McDaniel traveled the world. But home beckoned. She returned to help care for family members, intending to return to a life on the stage. But “as the good daughter, I stayed.”</p>
  1751.  
  1752.  
  1753.  
  1754. <p>And she thrived. The initiatives and individuals she’s nurtured in this region of rural South Carolina are many.</p>
  1755.  
  1756.  
  1757.  
  1758. <p>In 2016, President Obama designated six counties in the <a href="https://sc.gov/government/lowcountry">Lowcountry</a> as a <a href="https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/promise-zones/">Promise Zone</a>, an initiative designed to generate opportunities in communities across the country with high rates of poverty. The South Carolina Arts Commission launched <a href="https://www.scartshub.com/art-of-community-rural-sc-recognized-with-power-of-rural-award/">Art of Community: Rural SC</a>, and under its auspices, McDaniel helped found CRAWL, the Community Rural Arts Work League of Bamberg County, to advance health, education, and workforce development.&nbsp;</p>
  1759.  
  1760.  
  1761.  
  1762. <p>DuPlessis remembers vividly the first time she and McDaniel presented together, at a national conference of Grantmakers in the Arts in Detroit. She recalls watching in awe as “the eyes of a room full of national funders lit up as Yvette shared how she had formed a team in rural Denmark, South Carolina, to create an ‘art park’ on a slab of concrete in this largely forgotten town.”&nbsp;</p>
  1763.  
  1764.  
  1765.  
  1766. <p>McDaniel described to the audience how that project evolved to include community health workers, book clubs, churches, and neighborhood folks who had never worked together before, and, DuPlessis said, how people “who thought they were forgotten were reminded that they were part of something bigger than themselves.”&nbsp;</p>
  1767.  
  1768.  
  1769.  
  1770. <p>McDaniel takes great pride in what her community has accomplished on that “slab of concrete”: “Now we have this social connectedness, which is a social determinant of health; people who are socially connected tend to live longer, happier lives.”</p>
  1771.  
  1772.  
  1773.  
  1774. <p>“We’re using the arts to bring people out, and then we’re sprinkling it with health information,” she said. “We didn’t know at the time that this was called ‘edutainment,’” but such it’s been.&nbsp;</p>
  1775.  
  1776.  
  1777.  
  1778. <p>McDaniel has also been active in <a href="https://www.writetochange.org/about.html">Write to Change</a>, another organization that marries advocacy with the arts to help create healthier, safer, more equitable communities.</p>
  1779.  
  1780.  
  1781.  
  1782. <p>Over the years in which they’ve collaborated, Write to Change founder Dixie Goswami has come to admire McDaniel’s “optimism, her belief in the healing power of music, her superpower of listening and loving as well as responding to the words and actions of people in her community – having her feet on the ground locally while connecting with the larger community of rural South Carolina, and nationally.”&nbsp;</p>
  1783.  
  1784.  
  1785.  
  1786. <p>“Yvette shows up and speaks out,” Goswami affirmed.&nbsp;“She defines by demonstrating the meaning of ‘extended family.’”</p>
  1787.  
  1788.  
  1789.  
  1790. <p>Write to Change sponsored an oral arts project and cultural exchange with the city of Douglas, Arizona, in which McDaniel collaborated with Ceci Lewis, co-founder of the <a href="https://www.douglasohp.org/">Douglas Oral History Project</a>. Lewis has deep admiration for McDaniel’s “emotional and intellectual presence,” always in the moment.&nbsp;</p>
  1791.  
  1792.  
  1793.  
  1794. <p>“She’s not just there,” Lewis said. “She is <em>there</em>.”</p>
  1795.  
  1796.  
  1797.  
  1798. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>What’s Possible</strong></h3>
  1799.  
  1800.  
  1801.  
  1802. <p>That recent July Wednesday that began in Denmark with the Breathe Easy kids was punctuated by a quick lunch, then it was a 45-minute drive to the Palmetto Theater in the town of Hampton.</p>
  1803.  
  1804.  
  1805.  
  1806. <p>On board for this outing were two musician/advocates who are particularly dear to McDaniel, both of whom she’s trained in music and otherwise mentored.&nbsp;</p>
  1807.  
  1808.  
  1809.  
  1810. <p>She met Ashley Jordan 16 years ago, a “mess” then, in McDaniel’s words. Now 36, Jordan is a gifted singer (professionally known as “Glyshae”) and serves as McDaniel’s assistant.&nbsp;</p>
  1811.  
  1812.  
  1813.  
  1814. <p>“God has a way of working things out,” McDaniel said. “She’s my eyes.”</p>
  1815.  
  1816.  
  1817.  
  1818. <p>Jas McDaniel is Yvette’s nephew. He, too, is a talented vocalist. He came down from Massachusetts with the offer of her mentorship, on the condition that he complete his education. He now has a business degree from Voorhees University and, like Jordan, is a certified <a href="https://www.apha.org/apha-communities/member-sections/community-health-workers">community health worker</a>.</p>
  1819.  
  1820.  
  1821.  
  1822. <p>Heather Bruemmer, executive director of <a href="https://www.palmettotheater.org/friends">Hampton Friends of the Arts</a>, which operates the Palmetto and organizes educational and community-development activities, greets the entourage in the lobby. Inside, students from across the region are rehearsing the play “Big Bad Musical” for performances over the upcoming weekend.&nbsp;</p>
  1823.  
  1824.  
  1825.  
  1826. <p>Bruemmer met McDaniel about a decade ago. She’d recently moved to the area and was looking for creative outlets for her six children. McDaniel, Bruemmer immediately saw, was making things happen. “She was just oozing, like, ‘If I can just pour a little bit of this [energy] into every child that I meet, some of them are going to take it and run.’”&nbsp;</p>
  1827.  
  1828.  
  1829.  
  1830. <p>McDaniel’s story, Bruemmer said, is inspirational – this “little girl from segregated Orangeburg, South Carolina,” who “saw the world, saw all the lights of Europe, the opera houses” – it was proof positive of what’s possible.</p>
  1831.  
  1832.  
  1833.  
  1834. <p>“Students feel her unwavering love and support,” Bruemmer said. “You can tell they know when Doc’s in the audience.”</p>
  1835.  
  1836.  
  1837.  
  1838. <p>“What’s your dream?” McDaniel asked Jarren Bennett, 14, who has a solo in the musical. “I want to become a singer and an actor,” Jarren replies.&nbsp;</p>
  1839.  
  1840.  
  1841.  
  1842. <p>“Jarren has been with us for a few years now,” Bruemmer said, “and she came with us when we took our student interns to New York City to see <em>Hamilton</em>. And I still remember being outside that theater with her. She said, ‘Someday you’re going to come here and see me.’”</p>
  1843.  
  1844.  
  1845.  
  1846. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="585" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Jarren-Bennett-Alison-Morales5-1.jpg?resize=780%2C585&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-232702" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Jarren-Bennett-Alison-Morales5-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C972&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Jarren-Bennett-Alison-Morales5-1-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C570&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Jarren-Bennett-Alison-Morales5-1-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Jarren-Bennett-Alison-Morales5-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Jarren-Bennett-Alison-Morales5-1-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Jarren-Bennett-Alison-Morales5-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Jarren-Bennett-Alison-Morales5-1-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Jarren-Bennett-Alison-Morales5-1-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Jarren-Bennett-Alison-Morales5-1-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Jarren-Bennett-Alison-Morales5-1-scaled.jpg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Jarren-Bennett-Alison-Morales5-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Jarren-Bennett-Alison-Morales5-1-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1500&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Jarren-Bennett-Alison-Morales5-1-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C585&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Jarren-Bennett-Alison-Morales5-1-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C530&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Jarren-Bennett-Alison-Morales5-1-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Jarren-Bennett-Alison-Morales5-1-1296x972.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Jarren Bennett, left, has dreams of becoming an opera singer. (Photo by Taylor Sisk / The Daily Yonder)</figcaption></figure>
  1847.  
  1848.  
  1849.  
  1850. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>‘No Matter Where You Come From’</strong></h3>
  1851.  
  1852.  
  1853.  
  1854. <p>McDaniel’s sight grows ever dimmer: “I can’t see very much, but I see shadows. I’m grateful to see shadows.”</p>
  1855.  
  1856.  
  1857.  
  1858. <p>Ceci Lewis tells the story of when McDaniel was in Douglas, meeting with a group of high schoolers, taking a moment to speak with each, to ask about their studies, their ambitions.&nbsp;</p>
  1859.  
  1860.  
  1861.  
  1862. <p>“That impressed them so much that they could be heard,” Lewis said, “and that they were seen.”&nbsp;</p>
  1863.  
  1864.  
  1865.  
  1866. <p>Naviree Johnson has experienced that same sensation, of being seen by “somebody who knows that you have all the potential and power in the world to craft whatever future” you desire.</p>
  1867.  
  1868.  
  1869.  
  1870. <p>“She continues to build her place in the history of South Carolina,” DuPlessis said. “I hope she will write a book detailing all her adventures and how she evolved to become the person who never stopped believing in the greatness of where she was from, and of all those around her.”&nbsp;</p>
  1871.  
  1872.  
  1873.  
  1874. <p>“My mother always told us,” McDaniel said, “‘You give the best that you have to the highest that you know,’ and so that’s what I’ve been doing.”</p>
  1875.  
  1876.  
  1877.  
  1878. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  1879.  
  1880.  
  1881.  
  1882. <p><em>“A Rural Calling” is&nbsp;a Daily Yonder profile series featuring people throughout rural America who are making significant contributions to their communities.</em></p>
  1883.  
  1884.  
  1885.  
  1886. <div class="wp-block-group has-background" style="background-color:#f4f4f4"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow"><div class="wp-block-jetpack-contact-form"><a href="https://dailyyonder.com/a-rural-calling-yvette-mcdaniel/2025/09/09/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Submit a form.</a></div></div></div>
  1887. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/a-rural-calling-yvette-mcdaniel/2025/09/09/">A Rural Calling: Yvette McDaniel</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  1888. ]]></content:encoded>
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  1894. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">232699</post-id> </item>
  1895. <item>
  1896. <title>Firefighters Question Leaders’ Role in Washington Immigration Raid</title>
  1897. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/firefighters-question-leaders-role-in-washington-immigration-raid/2025/09/09/</link>
  1898. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/firefighters-question-leaders-role-in-washington-immigration-raid/2025/09/09/#respond</comments>
  1900. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Alex Brown / Stateline]]></dc:creator>
  1901. <pubDate>Tue, 09 Sep 2025 09:59:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1902. <category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
  1903. <category><![CDATA[Government & Policy]]></category>
  1904. <category><![CDATA[Immigration]]></category>
  1905. <category><![CDATA[repub]]></category>
  1906. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=232726</guid>
  1907.  
  1908. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="768" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?w=2048&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?resize=760%2C570&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?resize=1296%2C972&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?resize=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?resize=2000%2C1500&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?resize=780%2C585&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?resize=706%2C530&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  1909. <p>This story was originally published by Stateline. Wildland firefighters were stunned when federal immigration authorities last week raided an active wildfire response in Washington state, arresting two firefighters and sidelining crews for hours. Wildfire veterans say the operation was nearly unprecedented, a breach in longstanding protocol that federal agents don’t disrupt emergency responders to check [&#8230;]</p>
  1910. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/firefighters-question-leaders-role-in-washington-immigration-raid/2025/09/09/">Firefighters Question Leaders’ Role in Washington Immigration Raid</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  1911. ]]></description>
  1912. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="768" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?w=2048&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?resize=760%2C570&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?resize=1296%2C972&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?resize=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?resize=2000%2C1500&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?resize=780%2C585&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?resize=706%2C530&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wildfire-photo.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  1913. <p class="has-text-align-center"><em>This story was originally published by <a href="https://stateline.org/2025/08/31/firefighters-question-leaders-role-in-washington-immigration-raid/">Stateline</a></em>.</p>
  1914.  
  1915.  
  1916.  
  1917. <p>Wildland firefighters were stunned when federal immigration authorities last week raided an active wildfire response in Washington state, arresting two firefighters and sidelining crews for hours.</p>
  1918.  
  1919.  
  1920.  
  1921. <p>Wildfire veterans say the operation was nearly unprecedented, a breach in longstanding protocol that federal agents don’t disrupt emergency responders to check immigration status.</p>
  1922.  
  1923.  
  1924.  
  1925. <p>Worse, many wildfire veterans believe the management team overseeing the fire crews played a key role in handing over the firefighters to immigration authorities.</p>
  1926.  
  1927.  
  1928.  
  1929. <p>Stateline spoke to nearly a dozen firefighters, agency staffers and contractors familiar with the incident, who shared their belief that the top officials assigned to the fire deployed the crews to a remote location under false pretenses so federal agents could check their immigration status. Most of them spoke privately for fear of retaliation.</p>
  1930.  
  1931.  
  1932.  
  1933. <p>The raid has reverberated among fire crews, agency leaders and contractors. Wildfire veterans say the arrests have stoked fear and distrust among firefighters on the ground. They worry that crews may be scared to deploy if they may become a target for immigration raids.</p>
  1934.  
  1935.  
  1936.  
  1937. <p>“There’s really no way [the wildfire management team] could not have been involved,” said Riva Duncan, a former wildland fire chief who served more than 30 years with the U.S. Forest Service. “We’re all talking about it. People are wondering if they go on a fire with this team, if that could happen to them.”</p>
  1938.  
  1939.  
  1940.  
  1941. <p>Since the incident became public, the wildfire world has been abuzz with anger at that team — California Interagency Incident Management Team 7. Made up of federal, state and local fire professionals, the team was assigned to oversee the response to the Bear Gulch fire, which has burned 9,000 acres in and around Olympic National Park in Washington state.</p>
  1942.  
  1943.  
  1944.  
  1945. <p>One firefighter who was present at the raid said he is convinced that Team 7 leaders sent their crews into a trap.</p>
  1946.  
  1947.  
  1948.  
  1949. <p>“I felt beyond betrayed,” said the firefighter, who requested anonymity to protect his career. “What they did was messed up. They’d been talking in their briefings about building relationships and trust. For them to say that and then go do this is mind-boggling. It boiled my blood.”</p>
  1950.  
  1951.  
  1952.  
  1953. <p>Team 7 Incident Commander Tom Clemo, in an email, declined to comment, citing an active investigation. Tom Stokesberry, the team’s public information officer, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.</p>
  1954.  
  1955.  
  1956.  
  1957. <p>According to daily Incident Action Plans filed by Team 7 and posted online, the crews had previously been digging holding lines, working to protect structures and conducting mop-up work. The two crews targeted by federal agents had not been assigned to work together in the days leading up to the raid.</p>
  1958.  
  1959.  
  1960.  
  1961. <p>Then, on Aug. 27, both crews — workers from private companies contracted to help fight the fire — were told to deploy to a staging area where they would cut firewood for the local community. The firefighter who was present at the raid told Stateline that a division supervisor told the crews he would meet them at the site, but never showed up.</p>
  1962.  
  1963.  
  1964.  
  1965. <p>After arriving at the site, the firefighter said, the crews found piles of logs, seemingly from a timber operation. Not wanting to damage a logging company’s property, they waited for a management team leader to show up with further instructions.</p>
  1966.  
  1967.  
  1968.  
  1969. <p>After an hour, unmarked law enforcement vehicles pulled up to the site and federal officials began questioning the firefighters. Duncan, the former Forest Service firefighter, said immigration agents would not have been able to access the site without help from Team 7 leaders.</p>
  1970.  
  1971.  
  1972.  
  1973. <p>“Fire areas are officially closed, very secure and there are roadblocks,” she said. “Somebody would have had to tell these agents how to get there.”</p>
  1974.  
  1975.  
  1976.  
  1977. <p>In a news release, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said its agents assisted with an investigation led by the federal Bureau of Land Management. While the agency’s release did not mention the nature of the investigation, multiple wildfire sources said the feds claimed they had uncovered fraud on time cards submitted by the crews.</p>
  1978.  
  1979.  
  1980.  
  1981. <p>Table Rock Forestry Inc., an Oregon-based company whose crew was one of the two at the scene, was allegedly subjected to the raid due to a half-hour discrepancy on a time sheet, said Scott Polhamus, secretary of the Organization of Fire Contractors and Affiliates. Table Rock Forestry is a member of the fire contractors’ group.</p>
  1982.  
  1983.  
  1984.  
  1985. <p>Multiple wildfire veterans said that time card discrepancies are not uncommon at wildfires, where crews work long days and it’s not always clear if lunch breaks or errands in town count toward working hours. Such mix-ups are typically sorted out between organizational leaders. Calling law enforcement in such a scenario is almost unheard of.</p>
  1986.  
  1987.  
  1988.  
  1989. <p>“This is not the first time a crew has been called on the carpet for maybe padding their time a bit,” Duncan said. “You deal directly with the company. It’s just absolutely mind-boggling to treat it as a criminal issue.”</p>
  1990.  
  1991.  
  1992.  
  1993. <p>After about five minutes discussing the time card issue, according to&nbsp;the firefighter who was present at the raid, federal agents spent the next three hours checking each firefighter’s immigration status.</p>
  1994.  
  1995.  
  1996.  
  1997. <p>The Customs and Border Protection news release announcing the immigration arrests made no mention of time sheets or any evidence that the investigation had turned up fraud. It did state that the two companies whose crews were raided had their contracts terminated by the government.</p>
  1998.  
  1999.  
  2000.  
  2001. <p>Polhamus, with the fire contractors’ group, said that claim is false. While the crews were demobilized and sent home, the feds have not actually ended the companies’ contracts or ability to accept future deployments.</p>
  2002.  
  2003.  
  2004.  
  2005. <p>A Customs and Border Protection public affairs specialist did not immediately respond to questions about the investigation, the alleged fraud or federal agents’ coordination with Team 7.</p>
  2006.  
  2007.  
  2008.  
  2009. <p>The Washington State Department of Natural Resources, the state’s lead wildfire response agency, said federal officials did not notify their state counterparts about the investigation.</p>
  2010.  
  2011.  
  2012.  
  2013. <p>“DNR was not informed of the incident until well after the fact,” said Ryan Rodruck, wildfire on-call public information officer with the agency.</p>
  2014.  
  2015.  
  2016.  
  2017. <p>Rodruck noted that the fire response was under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Forest Service. Press officers with the Forest Service did not immediately respond to requests for comment.</p>
  2018.  
  2019.  
  2020.  
  2021. <p>Multiple wildfire sources said the crews would not have been sent to the staging area where they were ambushed without the knowledge of top leaders on the fire’s management team.</p>
  2022.  
  2023.  
  2024.  
  2025. <p>The two crews that were raided have a diverse mix of firefighters, many of them Hispanic. One of the crews has many foreign workers who are legally in the country on H-2B visas. Duncan, the former Forest Service firefighter, said it was likely not a coincidence that two crews with many brown-skinned members were targeted in the raid.</p>
  2026.  
  2027.  
  2028.  
  2029. <p>Two of the firefighters were arrested, federal officials said, for being in the country illegally.</p>
  2030.  
  2031.  
  2032.  
  2033. <p>One of the firefighters who was arrested is represented by Innovation Law Lab, an Oregon-based legal group that defends refugees and immigrants. Isa Peña, the group’s director of strategy, said the Department of Homeland Security has not revealed the whereabouts of their client.</p>
  2034.  
  2035.  
  2036.  
  2037. <p>The firefighter, who Peña declined to name, has been in the U.S. since he was four years old and served as a firefighter for the past three years. Immigration advocates are alarmed that the raid was potentially arranged by California Interagency Incident Management Team 7, the leaders charged with overseeing the wildfire response.</p>
  2038.  
  2039.  
  2040.  
  2041. <p>“There certainly is concern if that is the case that individuals are being handed over to immigration as they’re trying to keep our communities safe,” Peña said. “Conducting immigration enforcement while brave members of our community are risking their lives to protect us is really disgusting.”</p>
  2042.  
  2043.  
  2044.  
  2045. <p>Several wildland fire veterans also noted that the raid took place on Team 7’s final day in charge of the fire response, hours before a Washington team rotated in to take command. The California team headed home and left the new team to face the media scrutiny and angry firefighters in camp.</p>
  2046.  
  2047.  
  2048.  
  2049. <p>“If you’ve got ICE teams pulling your contractors out, you’d want to cut and run as soon as you can,” Polhamus said.</p>
  2050.  
  2051.  
  2052.  
  2053. <p>On a forum for wildland fire professionals on the social media platform Reddit, many expressed anger at Team 7. Firefighters also took issue with the assertion, shared by federal immigration officials, that the raid did not disrupt firefighting operations.</p>
  2054.  
  2055.  
  2056.  
  2057. <p>“It’s total bulls***,” said Duncan, the former Forest Service firefighter. “Whoever made that statement doesn’t understand the work. To take two crews off of a fire that’s only 13% contained, that seems ridiculous at that point in a fire. That does seem very unusual.”</p>
  2058.  
  2059.  
  2060.  
  2061. <p>Many wildfire veterans said that conducting a raid at the site of an active wildfire was reckless and irresponsible.</p>
  2062.  
  2063.  
  2064.  
  2065. <p>“Having people on the line that you don’t expect to be there is an issue,” said Polhamus, with the fire contractors’ group. “When you need crews and you are taking resources to check them for immigration status, we can all think of better ways to address that.”</p>
  2066.  
  2067.  
  2068.  
  2069. <p>Duncan said she’s spoken with firefighters still assigned to the Bear Gulch fire who are disgusted with the situation and want to leave.</p>
  2070.  
  2071.  
  2072.  
  2073. <p>“The three principal wildland fire values are duty, respect, integrity,” she said. “Utmost in that is taking care of your people. If you can’t trust the people you’re working with when things get hairy, that’s a concern.”</p>
  2074.  
  2075.  
  2076.  
  2077. <p>In Washington and Oregon, elected leaders have decried the raids and are pushing for more information on the status of the firefighters who were arrested. Federal immigration officials have said little since the news release announcing the arrests.</p>
  2078.  
  2079.  
  2080.  
  2081. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  2082.  
  2083.  
  2084.  
  2085. <p><em>Stateline reporter Alex Brown can be reached at <a href="mailto:abrown@stateline.org">abrown@stateline.org</a></em></p>
  2086.  
  2087.  
  2088.  
  2089. <p></p>
  2090. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/firefighters-question-leaders-role-in-washington-immigration-raid/2025/09/09/">Firefighters Question Leaders’ Role in Washington Immigration Raid</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  2091. ]]></content:encoded>
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  2094. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  2097. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">232726</post-id> </item>
  2098. <item>
  2099. <title>Annual Rural Gathering to Gather Leaders, Artists</title>
  2100. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/annual-rural-gathering-to-gather-leaders-artists/2025/09/09/</link>
  2101. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/annual-rural-gathering-to-gather-leaders-artists/2025/09/09/#respond</comments>
  2103. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Staff]]></dc:creator>
  2104. <pubDate>Tue, 09 Sep 2025 09:58:00 +0000</pubDate>
  2105. <category><![CDATA[Arts & Culture]]></category>
  2106. <category><![CDATA[Community & Economic Development]]></category>
  2107. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=232804</guid>
  2108.  
  2109. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="400" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?fit=1024%2C400&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?resize=760%2C297&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?resize=1296%2C506&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?resize=768%2C300&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?resize=1536%2C600&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?resize=2048%2C800&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?resize=1200%2C469&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?resize=1024%2C400&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?resize=2000%2C781&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?resize=780%2C305&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?resize=400%2C156&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?resize=706%2C276&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?fit=1024%2C400&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  2110. <p>That’s the question inspiring conversations at the Rural Assembly’s annual virtual gathering this month. Rural Assembly Everywhere, A Bigger Pie: Cultivating Abundance in a Time of Scarcity will bring together rural leaders, community members, artists, and allies to connect and explore ideas, opportunities, and challenges together. Registration is free and open to all for the [&#8230;]</p>
  2111. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/annual-rural-gathering-to-gather-leaders-artists/2025/09/09/">Annual Rural Gathering to Gather Leaders, Artists</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  2112. ]]></description>
  2113. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="400" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?fit=1024%2C400&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?resize=760%2C297&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?resize=1296%2C506&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?resize=768%2C300&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?resize=1536%2C600&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?resize=2048%2C800&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?resize=1200%2C469&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?resize=1024%2C400&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?resize=2000%2C781&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?resize=780%2C305&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?resize=400%2C156&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?resize=706%2C276&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rural-Assembly-Everywhere-Logo-Lockup-LG-150ppi-scaled.png?fit=1024%2C400&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  2114. <p>That’s the question inspiring conversations at the Rural Assembly’s annual virtual gathering this month. <a href="http://ruralassembly.org/everywhere">Rural Assembly Everywhere, A Bigger Pie: Cultivating Abundance in a Time of Scarcity</a> will bring together rural leaders, community members, artists, and allies to connect and explore ideas, opportunities, and challenges together. Registration is free and open to all for the event, which will be livestreamed on Thursday, September 17, from 1-2:30 p.m. EST. </p>
  2115.  
  2116.  
  2117.  
  2118. <p>“This year with Everywhere we are hoping to push back against the real fear that comes from the realities of scarcity and ask, ‘How can we do this better, together?’ To come together and pool our joy, frustration, anger, and collective rural ‘can do’ attitudes to get good work done. To figure out how to push back against the notion that if you succeed, I don’t,” said Rural Assembly Director Madeline Matson. “Because in small places, we know the biggest success is when we all get there together.”</p>
  2119.  
  2120.  
  2121.  
  2122. <p>New this year, Rural Assembly has partnered with organizations in four communities to host in-person events where participants will watch the live broadcast and discuss ideas for their own communities. Those events will be <a href="https://ruralassembly.org/everywhere-2025-site-partner-announcement/">hosted by organizations</a> in: Danville, Virginia; Granite Falls, Minnesota; Waynesburg, Pennsylvania; and the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, Montana.&nbsp;</p>
  2123.  
  2124.  
  2125.  
  2126. <p><a href="https://ruralassembly.org/attend-an-everywhere-watch-party/">A handful of other communities</a> will host watch parties. Registration for in-person events is available at <a href="http://www.ruralassembly.org/everywhere">www.ruralassembly.org/everywhere</a>.</p>
  2127.  
  2128.  
  2129.  
  2130. <p>The Rural Assembly is part of the nonprofit Center for Rural Strategies, which also publishes the Daily Yonder.</p>
  2131.  
  2132.  
  2133.  
  2134. <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="410" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Everywhere_SpeakersFB_LinkedIN.jpg?resize=780%2C410&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-232807" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Everywhere_SpeakersFB_LinkedIN.jpg?w=1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Everywhere_SpeakersFB_LinkedIN.jpg?resize=760%2C399&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Everywhere_SpeakersFB_LinkedIN.jpg?resize=768%2C403&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Everywhere_SpeakersFB_LinkedIN.jpg?resize=1024%2C538&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Everywhere_SpeakersFB_LinkedIN.jpg?resize=780%2C410&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Everywhere_SpeakersFB_LinkedIN.jpg?resize=400%2C210&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Everywhere_SpeakersFB_LinkedIN.jpg?resize=706%2C371&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Everywhere_SpeakersFB_LinkedIN.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /></figure>
  2135.  
  2136.  
  2137.  
  2138. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>About the Lineup</strong></h3>
  2139.  
  2140.  
  2141.  
  2142. <p>This year, the lineup will feature conversations and performances from a diverse mix of speakers and artists.</p>
  2143.  
  2144.  
  2145.  
  2146. <ul class="wp-block-list">
  2147. <li>Keynote conversation featuring award-winning author Natalie Baszile, interviewed by artist and business leader Carlton Turner. Baszile, author of “We Are Each Other’s Harvest” and “Queen Sugar,” will discuss the importance of Black landownership and agriculture, and how to embrace abundance even when up against a multi-generational legacy of discrimination and systemic lack of access to resources. She will be interviewed by Turner, the founder, co-director, and lead artist of the Mississippi Center for Cultural Production (Sipp Culture).</li>
  2148. </ul>
  2149.  
  2150.  
  2151.  
  2152. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="520" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Natalie-Djerassi-Studio.jpg?resize=780%2C520&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-232808" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Natalie-Djerassi-Studio-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Natalie-Djerassi-Studio-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Natalie-Djerassi-Studio-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Natalie-Djerassi-Studio-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Natalie-Djerassi-Studio-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Natalie-Djerassi-Studio-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Natalie-Djerassi-Studio-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Natalie-Djerassi-Studio-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Natalie-Djerassi-Studio-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Natalie-Djerassi-Studio-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Natalie-Djerassi-Studio-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Natalie-Djerassi-Studio-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Natalie-Djerassi-Studio-1296x864.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>Natalie Baszile, our keynote conversation, author of&nbsp;</strong><em>We Are Each Other&#8217;s Harvest</em><strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;</strong><em>Queen Sugar</em>. (Photo submitted)</figcaption></figure>
  2153.  
  2154.  
  2155.  
  2156. <ul class="wp-block-list">
  2157. <li>“How Everywhere Can Be Home for All,” an interview and live chat with journalist Ray Suarez. Suarez will join Rural Assembly Fellows, Phillip Norman and Smmo Ozawa, in conversation about how immigration is reshaping rural communities across the country and how intergenerational interdependence is critical to the success of the United States as a whole. Suarez is the host of the new PBS television series, Wisdom Keepers, on air and online on PBS content services. He is the author of the recent book on the modern era of American immigration, “We Are Home: Becoming American in the 21st Century.”&nbsp;</li>
  2158. </ul>
  2159.  
  2160.  
  2161.  
  2162. <ul class="wp-block-list">
  2163. <li>A panel discussion featuring a group of leaders based in rural Southwest Washington State who will discuss how respect, friendship, and constant collaboration can build abundance and community. They will discuss how they’ve been affected by scarcity mindsets and what strategies they use to work past them. <a href="https://ruralassembly.org/everywhere-panel-essentials-for-positive-sum-thinking-trust-relationships-collaboration/">See the panelist list.</a></li>
  2164. </ul>
  2165.  
  2166.  
  2167.  
  2168. <ul class="wp-block-list">
  2169. <li>A reading from Birmingham, Alabama, Poet Laureate Salaam Green, from her new collection, “The Other Revival.”&nbsp;</li>
  2170. </ul>
  2171.  
  2172.  
  2173.  
  2174. <ul class="wp-block-list">
  2175. <li>Music from Larry &amp; Joe. Larry Bellorin and Joe Troop, of the Latingrass duo &#8220;Larry &amp; Joe,&#8221; are versatile multi-instrumentalists and singer-songwriters on a mission to show that music has no borders.&nbsp;</li>
  2176. </ul>
  2177.  
  2178.  
  2179.  
  2180. <p>Since its inception in 2007, the Rural Assembly has brought together voices from across the country, including government officials, grassroots organizers, funders, and nonprofit and business leaders.&nbsp;</p>
  2181.  
  2182.  
  2183.  
  2184. <p>It aims to amplify and empower rural people by sharing stories and challenging stereotypes. Previous online gatherings of the Rural Assembly have brought together hundreds of rural leaders, residents, and advocates since its first gathering in 2020.&nbsp;</p>
  2185.  
  2186.  
  2187.  
  2188. <p>“We can’t wait for this tidal wave of energy on September 17,” said Taneum Fotheringill, Rural Assembly director of programs and partnerships. “Gathering with rural people in person and online is going to send a message that we believe in showing up for our rural places.”</p>
  2189.  
  2190.  
  2191.  
  2192. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  2193. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/annual-rural-gathering-to-gather-leaders-artists/2025/09/09/">Annual Rural Gathering to Gather Leaders, Artists</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  2194. ]]></content:encoded>
  2196. <wfw:commentRss>https://dailyyonder.com/annual-rural-gathering-to-gather-leaders-artists/2025/09/09/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  2197. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  2200. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">232804</post-id> </item>
  2201. <item>
  2202. <title>Navajo Nation Council Considers New Legislation to Increase Investments in Tribal Education</title>
  2203. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/navajo-nation-council-considers-new-legislation-to-increase-investments-in-tribal-education/2025/09/08/</link>
  2204. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/navajo-nation-council-considers-new-legislation-to-increase-investments-in-tribal-education/2025/09/08/#respond</comments>
  2206. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Madeline de Figueiredo]]></dc:creator>
  2207. <pubDate>Mon, 08 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  2208. <category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
  2209. <category><![CDATA[Indigenous Affairs]]></category>
  2210. <category><![CDATA[Yonder Report]]></category>
  2211. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=232670</guid>
  2212.  
  2213. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?resize=2048%2C1366&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  2214. <p>The Navajo Nation Council is considering legislation that would permanently increase the tribe’s annual investment in students and tribal colleges to $30 million annually, marking a significant jump from the current $12.4 million total allocation.  “This legislation needs to be forward funded and initiates a long-term investment into our tribal institutions and students,” said Delegate [&#8230;]</p>
  2215. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/navajo-nation-council-considers-new-legislation-to-increase-investments-in-tribal-education/2025/09/08/">Navajo Nation Council Considers New Legislation to Increase Investments in Tribal Education</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  2216. ]]></description>
  2217. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?resize=2048%2C1366&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-photo_-Dine-College_A_Hatathli_Cultural_Center-scaled.jpeg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  2218. <p>The Navajo Nation Council is considering <a href="https://dibb.nnols.org/PublicViewBill.aspx?serviceID=a5113f2b-76da-43f1-a71e-b7e6f26b7158">legislation</a> that would permanently increase the tribe’s annual investment in students and tribal colleges to $30 million annually, marking a significant jump from the current $12.4 million total allocation. </p>
  2219.  
  2220.  
  2221.  
  2222. <p>“This legislation needs to be forward funded and initiates a long-term investment into our tribal institutions and students,” said Delegate Dr. Andy Nez, who sponsored the legislation, in a <a href="https://www.navajonationcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/legislation_0169_25.pdf">statement</a>. “We are moving beyond limited five or ten-year grants to a consistent, annual allocation. This ensures funds go directly to the institutions and scholarship office without delay.”</p>
  2223.  
  2224.  
  2225.  
  2226. <p>If passed, beginning in 2027, the legislation would provide $10 million each year to <a href="https://www.dinecollege.edu/">Diné College</a>, Navajo Technical University (<a href="https://www.navajotech.edu/">NTU</a>), and the Office of Navajo Nation Scholarship and Financial Assistance (<a href="https://onnsfa.org/">ONNSFA</a>), respectively.&nbsp;</p>
  2227.  
  2228.  
  2229.  
  2230. <p>Unlike federal funding, which can come with narrow restrictions on how monies can be used, this investment would be governed by the Navajo Nation, allowing funds to directly fulfill the critical needs articulated by educational leaders, like infrastructure and housing. The Navajo funds supplement, not replace, the federal government’s treaty obligations to support Native education.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  2231.  
  2232.  
  2233.  
  2234. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Addressing Urgent Needs</strong></h3>
  2235.  
  2236.  
  2237.  
  2238. <p>Samantha Antone, the NTU Student Senate President, said the funding provided in the proposed legislation is essential to addressing critical needs like student housing, academic facilities, and support services. She said that these investments would benefit not just the university, but the broader community as well.</p>
  2239.  
  2240.  
  2241.  
  2242. <p>“NTU provides consistent academic advising, tutoring, transportation from various points, childcare, health and wellness support, internships, and travel opportunities,” Antone wrote in <a href="https://dibb.nnols.org/PublicViewBill.aspx?serviceID=a5113f2b-76da-43f1-a71e-b7e6f26b7158">a public letter</a> to the Navajo Nation Council. “There are many more important services that the NTU provides to students. These opportunities are supported by Navajo Nation funding.”</p>
  2243.  
  2244.  
  2245.  
  2246. <p>Many of the ongoing needs Antone articulated,“includ(ing) student housing, academic buildings, a modern cafeteria, and continuing to improve student support services programs,” are not directly supported by federal funds.&nbsp;</p>
  2247.  
  2248.  
  2249.  
  2250. <p>Ahniwake Rose, President and CEO of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (<a href="https://www.aihec.org/">AIHEC</a>), a national advocacy organization representing TCUs, said that federal funding is often narrowly restricted, failing to cover many of the most pressing needs tribal colleges face.</p>
  2251.  
  2252.  
  2253.  
  2254. <p>“We&#8217;re really prohibited in the way that we can use our (federal) dollars,” Rose told the Daily Yonder. “There seems to be a constant pushback around the federal government allowing construction for tribal colleges.”</p>
  2255.  
  2256.  
  2257.  
  2258. <p>The federal government’s limitations on construction has meant that the basic maintenance and operations of TCUs often goes underfunded, or sometimes unfunded.&nbsp;</p>
  2259.  
  2260.  
  2261.  
  2262. <p>“One of our TCUs was recently flooded, and they probably have $200,000 or $300,000 in maintenance needs just to repair the flooding damage, and we are not provided the dollars to be able to make those updates. So they have sections of their school now that are closed down because they&#8217;re unsafe, because they can&#8217;t get the dollars for maintenance,” Rose said.&nbsp;</p>
  2263.  
  2264.  
  2265.  
  2266. <p>Additional funds from the Navajo Nation could offer Diné College and NTU the latitude to fulfill infrastructure-based needs, like those stated by Antone.&nbsp;</p>
  2267.  
  2268.  
  2269.  
  2270. <p>In a <a href="https://dibb.nnols.org/PublicViewBill.aspx?serviceID=a5113f2b-76da-43f1-a71e-b7e6f26b7158">statement to the Navajo Nation Council</a>, NTU president Dr. Elmer Guy said that over the past 15 years, student enrollment at NTU has steadily grown, recently peaking at over 4,000 students. To meet this rising demand, NTU has expanded its academic offerings to include 60 degree and certificate programs, including doctoral, master’s, and bachelor’s degrees, and continues to develop new modes of access, such as online learning and micro-credentialing programs aligned with workforce needs. Funding is needed to support both the programmatic expansion of these offerings as well as the physical space to house new degree programs, faculty, and students.&nbsp;</p>
  2271.  
  2272.  
  2273.  
  2274. <p>“With the development of additional academic programs, notably graduate degrees and online programs, the need for funding for capital and infrastructure improvement is vital,” Guy said.&nbsp;</p>
  2275.  
  2276.  
  2277.  
  2278. <p>NTU <a href="https://dibb.nnols.org/PublicViewBill.aspx?serviceID=a5113f2b-76da-43f1-a71e-b7e6f26b7158">currently needs</a> $156.5 million to fund key capital projects, including a $25 million nursing facility, $75 million for student housing, and new faculty housing and academic buildings in Crownpoint and Chinle.&nbsp;</p>
  2279.  
  2280.  
  2281.  
  2282. <p>Rising construction costs, partly due to recent <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/06/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-increases-section-232-tariffs-on-steel-and-aluminum/">steel tariffs</a>, have widened funding gaps for these projects, which also require major investments in water, electricity, and IT infrastructure. NTU officials said the funding is critical to supporting growing student enrollment, expanding academic programs, and providing safe, modern facilities.</p>
  2283.  
  2284.  
  2285.  
  2286. <p>“TCUs need to receive the funding that they need to do their job, and there should be as little barriers as possible put in place for them to be able to use those dollars at their discretion,” Rose said. “When they have basic operation dollars through general operating grants, they should be able to utilize those dollars in the way that their institutions need them to be put to use.”</p>
  2287.  
  2288.  
  2289.  
  2290. <p>“NTU&#8217;s growth and success are attributed to the strong and unwavering support of the Navajo Nation,” Guy said. “Unlike many other TCUs, the Navajo Nation financially supports its TCUs as well as encourages the Navajo students to choose NTU and DC as their first choice in pursuing a college degree.”&nbsp;</p>
  2291.  
  2292.  
  2293.  
  2294. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Boosting Financial Accessibility</strong></h3>
  2295.  
  2296.  
  2297.  
  2298. <p>ONNSFA President Rose Graham has also been an outspoken advocate for this legislation, noting that it could help make higher education accessible to more Navajo students. Currently, the Navajo Nation allocated $3.5 million to ONNSFA, but the proposed legislation would boost that figure to $10 million. The proposal also introduces news measures to support Diné language programs and K-12 education pipelines.&nbsp;</p>
  2299.  
  2300.  
  2301.  
  2302. <p>Graham said Navajo students face significant financial barriers due to long-standing systemic inequities. Although the number of applications ONNSFA received increased by 32% from 2014 to 2024, funding has remained constant. About half of ONNSFA applicants are denied support each year. Graham said expanding financial aid is key to helping students avoid burdensome loan debt and long-term economic hardship as they pursue vocational, undergraduate, or graduate degrees.</p>
  2303.  
  2304.  
  2305.  
  2306. <p>“From 2007 to 2025 the Navajo Nation&#8217;s investment in higher education through the Higher Education Grant Act resulted in 16,701 students, with about 11,000 in undergrads and 5,300 in graduate students, that received awards to help them through their academic goals,” Graham told the Daily Yonder.&nbsp;</p>
  2307.  
  2308.  
  2309.  
  2310. <p>“Increasing the annual allocation from $3.5 to $10 million would be of great benefit to our students, especially because federal funds are not definite,” Graham said. “There possibly might be some changes to federal student aid through Pell Grants and our own funding through the Bureau of Indian Education. The current administration has completely eliminated our budget, but Congress is working on replenishing those funds.”</p>
  2311.  
  2312.  
  2313.  
  2314. <p>In the Trump administration’s proposed Bureau of Indian Education budget, funding for TCUs was cut by<a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/tribal-colleges-universities-trump-cuts-funding"> nearly 90%</a>. But in the appropriations process, both the House and the Senate have funded TCUs to at least the same level as the previous year.&nbsp;</p>
  2315.  
  2316.  
  2317.  
  2318. <p>For students, these funds can be crucial for accessing higher education.&nbsp;</p>
  2319.  
  2320.  
  2321.  
  2322. <p>“As a current graduate student who depends on financial aid, I know how essential these funds are to the success and well-being of our people. Less than half of ONNSFA applicants currently receive scholarships. This must change,” said Gwendolyn Smith, a master’s student at New Mexico Highlands University, in a <a href="https://dibb.nnols.org/PublicViewBill.aspx?serviceID=a5113f2b-76da-43f1-a71e-b7e6f26b7158">statement</a> to the council. “This legislation is a powerful investment in the minds, spirits, and futures of our Diné people.”&nbsp;</p>
  2323.  
  2324.  
  2325.  
  2326. <p>The legislation went before the Navajo Nation Council in August. But the bill was referred to a committee for a work session before the Council considers it again this fall.</p>
  2327.  
  2328.  
  2329.  
  2330. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Navajo Nation Funding Supplements, Not Replaces, Federal Trust and Treaty Obligations</strong></h3>
  2331.  
  2332.  
  2333.  
  2334. <p>Rose said that the Navajo Nation’s funding is not designed to replace the federal dollars that are due to the tribe through treaties and trusts for tribal education.&nbsp;</p>
  2335.  
  2336.  
  2337.  
  2338. <p>“These dollars do not supplant. They supplement already existing vast resources that are needed,” Rose said. “Tribal colleges have been woefully underfunded since the beginning.”</p>
  2339.  
  2340.  
  2341.  
  2342. <p>“Our treaties directly estate education for our tribal students, and that&#8217;s elementary and post secondary education, and so it does not abrogate the responsibility of the federal government to provide that education,” Rose said.&nbsp;</p>
  2343.  
  2344.  
  2345.  
  2346. <p>Tribal colleges play a critical role in Native communities, yet they face steep funding challenges due to systemic limits on tribal economic development. Unlike local governments, tribal nations can’t levy bonds to fund schools, leaving them with fewer revenue options. Despite this, tribes like the Navajo Nation are making bold investments in higher education to preserve Diné culture, support Navajo language revitalization, and help students gain the skills needed to serve their communities.&nbsp;</p>
  2347.  
  2348.  
  2349.  
  2350. <p>Still, tribal colleges remain severely underfunded, with 70–80% of their budgets dependent on federal dollars and little support from states or tribal governments.</p>
  2351.  
  2352.  
  2353.  
  2354. <p>Federal law, through the <a href="https://webassets.aihec.org/Policy-Advocacy/CurrentLegDocs/TriballyControlledCollegesAndUniversitiesAssistanceActOf1978.pdf">Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act of 1978</a>, promised tribal colleges $8,000 per student with annual increases for inflation, an amount that should exceed $12,000 per student today, but that full funding has never been appropriated. For the 2025-2026 academic year, the TCU institutions will receive $10,668 per Native American student.&nbsp;</p>
  2355.  
  2356.  
  2357.  
  2358. <p>Rose said that unlike other post-secondary institutions, tribal colleges receive minimal state funding, keep tuition low to avoid student debt, and rely heavily on federal support, all while lacking wealthy alumni, endowments, and adequate state reimbursement—despite the fact that many well-funded universities built their wealth on lands taken from Indigenous communities.</p>
  2359.  
  2360.  
  2361.  
  2362. <p>“We have students that go to school with exposed wiring. We have incredibly unsafe conditions based on construction needs. Some of our TCUs, they&#8217;re in buildings from when there were forts created,” Rose said. “Not one of our treaties has ever been fulfilled…Not one of our treaties has ever been honored….It’s heartbreaking.”</p>
  2363.  
  2364.  
  2365.  
  2366. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  2367. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/navajo-nation-council-considers-new-legislation-to-increase-investments-in-tribal-education/2025/09/08/">Navajo Nation Council Considers New Legislation to Increase Investments in Tribal Education</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  2368. ]]></content:encoded>
  2370. <wfw:commentRss>https://dailyyonder.com/navajo-nation-council-considers-new-legislation-to-increase-investments-in-tribal-education/2025/09/08/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  2371. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  2374. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">232670</post-id> </item>
  2375. <item>
  2376. <title>Commentary: New Federal Law Encourages Coal Mining That Isn’t Subject to Tax That Supports Black Lung Programs</title>
  2377. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/commentary-new-federal-law-encourages-coal-mining-that-isnt-subject-to-tax-that-supports-black-lung-programs/2025/09/08/</link>
  2378. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/commentary-new-federal-law-encourages-coal-mining-that-isnt-subject-to-tax-that-supports-black-lung-programs/2025/09/08/#respond</comments>
  2380. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Vonda Robinson / National Black Lung Association]]></dc:creator>
  2381. <pubDate>Mon, 08 Sep 2025 09:59:00 +0000</pubDate>
  2382. <category><![CDATA[Energy]]></category>
  2383. <category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
  2384. <category><![CDATA[Commentary]]></category>
  2385. <category><![CDATA[repub]]></category>
  2386. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=232690</guid>
  2387.  
  2388. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="789" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/town-limits-4-scaled-1.webp?fit=1024%2C789&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/town-limits-4-scaled-1.webp?w=1568&amp;ssl=1 1568w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/town-limits-4-scaled-1.webp?resize=760%2C586&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/town-limits-4-scaled-1.webp?resize=1296%2C998&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/town-limits-4-scaled-1.webp?resize=768%2C592&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/town-limits-4-scaled-1.webp?resize=1536%2C1183&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/town-limits-4-scaled-1.webp?resize=1200%2C924&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/town-limits-4-scaled-1.webp?resize=1024%2C789&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/town-limits-4-scaled-1.webp?resize=780%2C601&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/town-limits-4-scaled-1.webp?resize=400%2C308&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/town-limits-4-scaled-1.webp?resize=706%2C544&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/town-limits-4-scaled-1.webp?fit=1024%2C789&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  2389. <p>This story was originally published by Cardinal News. As an advocate for miners with black lung disease and their families, I was so disappointed to see a tax break for metallurgical coal in the Big Beautiful Bill Act in July. Why? Because that tax break will encourage the mining of coal that isn’t subject to [&#8230;]</p>
  2390. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/commentary-new-federal-law-encourages-coal-mining-that-isnt-subject-to-tax-that-supports-black-lung-programs/2025/09/08/">Commentary: New Federal Law Encourages Coal Mining That Isn’t Subject to Tax That Supports Black Lung Programs</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  2391. ]]></description>
  2392. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="789" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/town-limits-4-scaled-1.webp?fit=1024%2C789&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/town-limits-4-scaled-1.webp?w=1568&amp;ssl=1 1568w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/town-limits-4-scaled-1.webp?resize=760%2C586&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/town-limits-4-scaled-1.webp?resize=1296%2C998&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/town-limits-4-scaled-1.webp?resize=768%2C592&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/town-limits-4-scaled-1.webp?resize=1536%2C1183&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/town-limits-4-scaled-1.webp?resize=1200%2C924&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/town-limits-4-scaled-1.webp?resize=1024%2C789&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/town-limits-4-scaled-1.webp?resize=780%2C601&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/town-limits-4-scaled-1.webp?resize=400%2C308&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/town-limits-4-scaled-1.webp?resize=706%2C544&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/town-limits-4-scaled-1.webp?fit=1024%2C789&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  2393. <p class="has-text-align-center"><em>This story was originally published by <a href="https://cardinalnews.org/2025/08/28/new-federal-law-encourages-coal-mining-that-isnt-subject-to-tax-that-supports-black-lung-programs/">Cardinal News</a></em>.</p>
  2394.  
  2395.  
  2396.  
  2397. <p>As an advocate for miners with black lung disease and their families, I was so disappointed to see a tax break for metallurgical coal in the Big Beautiful Bill Act in July. Why? Because that tax break will encourage the mining of coal that isn’t subject to the excise tax that supplements the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund.</p>
  2398.  
  2399.  
  2400.  
  2401. <p>Black lung disease is killing our communities. Miners are falling sick with the disease younger and younger. My husband has been battling black lung for 11 years, since he was 47 years old. I see what it does to him and to our family every day. Because of that, I deeply understand some of what the thousands of people in Virginia who are impacted by black lung disease go through every day.</p>
  2402.  
  2403.  
  2404.  
  2405. <p>For nearly a decade I’ve poured my heart and soul into fighting for these men and their families and acting as a resource — whether they need help applying for benefits or a shoulder to cry on. As the vice president of the National Black Lung Association, I, along with other coal miner advocates, speak with congressional offices, including my representative, Congressman Morgan Griffith, about the need to support mining families with a better black lung benefit system and the importance of preventing the disease among current and future coal miners once and for all.&nbsp;</p>
  2406.  
  2407.  
  2408.  
  2409. <p>Something I have heard time and again when I push politicians to do better is, “but what about the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund? Isn’t it running out of money?” This often becomes a stopping point. We agree we’d like to work on ways to put more money into the fund in order to pay for stronger cost of living adjustments for mining families, but the conversations often end there.</p>
  2410.  
  2411.  
  2412.  
  2413. <p>The black lung trust fund, which kicks in to pay black lung benefits when a coal company can’t, is funded by an excise tax only on coal sold within the United States. The majority of met coal is exported overseas. Revenue from exported coal doesn’t go in to support the trust fund, but those miners are just as likely to get black lung as any other coal miner is.&nbsp;</p>
  2414.  
  2415.  
  2416.  
  2417. <p>The least Congress could do is increase the monthly disability benefit that coal miners with black lung receive. It hasn’t kept up with inflation in decades. You can do the math yourself, or you can just ask any family that depends on the stipend as times get hard.&nbsp;</p>
  2418.  
  2419.  
  2420.  
  2421. <p>So it felt like a slap in the face to give tax breaks to mining companies and not tie that tax break&nbsp; to solving the problems faced by the miners that keep those companies afloat. But we can change that, and we know that Congress will listen to coal mining communities when we work together.</p>
  2422.  
  2423.  
  2424.  
  2425. <p>We recently had a victory when Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cut coal program staff at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The black lung associations, clinics and others worked together and told lawmakers that wasn’t right and it would hurt us. Many of those cuts were reversed. That shows me what’s possible when we’re united. Now coal communities need to band together again to ask our lawmakers to honor their commitment to coal miners who have and continue to help power this country with energy for homes and for our industries. We need to increase the black lung benefit levels while also making sure we protect miners from the silica dust that is making the black lung epidemic worse.&nbsp;</p>
  2426.  
  2427.  
  2428.  
  2429. <p>If they want to give a tax break to met coal, that’s fine, but they better also find a way to stabilize the trust fund while also improving benefits for the mining families that depend on the stipend. Our miners deserve care and commitment to their health and future.</p>
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  2433. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
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  2437. <p><em>Vonda Robinson is vice president of the National Black Lung Association.</em></p>
  2438. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/commentary-new-federal-law-encourages-coal-mining-that-isnt-subject-to-tax-that-supports-black-lung-programs/2025/09/08/">Commentary: New Federal Law Encourages Coal Mining That Isn’t Subject to Tax That Supports Black Lung Programs</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  2439. ]]></content:encoded>
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