It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Corb Lund calls on ban to Rocky Mountain coal mining
CityNews
May 3, 2023
One of Alberta's most popular musicians says protections for Rocky Mountains against coal mining should be a non-partisan issue in the provincial election.
Country musician Corb Lund, along with artists from across Alberta’s country music spectrum, have released a song many are calling an anthem against proposed coal development in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains. The song, which is a re-release of Lund’s “This is My Prairie” is a collaboration that includes artists like Brett Kissel, Terri Clark, Paul Brandt and a few others. Lund says that he and his fellow musicians have released this song to express opposition and bring awareness to coal mining which he says is a threat to our water supply.
Any proceeds from the song’s release will raise funds for landowner groups who are standing in opposition to coal development in the Alberta Rockies.
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ALBERTA WILDFIRES
Oil sands in Canada face wildfire threat as temperatures rise
Robert Tuttle, Bloomberg News
(Bloomberg) -- Canada’s main oil-producing region in northeastern Alberta faces an increased risk of wildfires as temperatures rise over the weekend, provincial officials said.
This month’s blazes have largely spared the oil sands, but they have hammered the province’s drought-stricken west, forcing the evacuation of as many as 30,000 people and curtailing natural gas output. That pattern is threatening to shift this weekend as temperatures rise and conditions dry out across northern Alberta, Christie Tucker, wildfire information officer, said Thursday.
“The northeast has been relatively less affected than other parts of the province so far,” she said at a press conference. “But that could certainly change because they will be seeing similar conditions to other parts in the north of the province.”
Oil and gas producers have brought output back online in recent days as the blazes in the west die down. Crescent Point Energy Corp. has now restored 85% of the 45,000 barrels a day of oil equivalent Kaybob Duvernay production that was shut due to the fires, up from 75% two days ago, the company said Friday. Chevron Corp., which had evacuated its facilities earlier in the week, has “resumed operations in the Kaybob Duvernay outside of the fire affected area,” spokeswoman Deena McMullen said by email.
Pembina Pipeline Corp. said Thursday that facilities shut due to fires have resumed operations. Peyto Exploration & Development Corp. also said it has restored essentially all production from two plants that were shut.
The output cuts may have affected flows of the light condensate that’s mixed with oil-sands crude to help it move through pipelines, helping strengthen prices for Canadian heavy oil. On Friday, Western Canadian Select’s discount to the US benchmark narrowed 25 cents to $12.85 a barrel, the narrowest in more than a year, data compiled by Bloomberg show. AECO gas prices in Alberta rose 2.9% to C$2.12 per million British thermal units on Thursday.
This year’s wildfires have been far less destructive than those that tore through Canada’s oil sands region seven years ago. The blazes of 2016 shut down more than 1 million barrels of daily crude production and razed whole sections of Fort McMurray, the region’s main city.
Rain showers have helped firefighters bring the most recent series of fires under control in recent days. There are now 74 wildfires, down from more than 80 on Thursday and more 100 earlier in the week. A total of 20 fires are still considered out of control. But Fort McMurray is expected to see temperatures of 32C (90F) on Sunday, according to Environment Canada.
The number of evacuees has fallen to fewer than 17,000 from as many as 31,000 earlier in the week. Meanwhile, hundreds of members of the Canadian armed forces are being deployed in areas including Grande Prairie, Fox Creek and Drayton Valley areas to assist in battling the blazes.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 12, 2023.
Smoke from Alberta wildfires spreading
through Canada and parts of the United
States
The Canadian Press
Smoke from dozens of active wildfires in central Alberta is spreading across the country and in some parts of the United States.
A map created by AirNow that tracks wildfires and air quality in North America shows the smoke from Alberta reaching the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Ontario and New England.
AirNow's partners include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Park Service, as well as several local agencies.
More than 29,000 people in Alberta have been ordered to leave their homes in recent days.
There are 89 active wildfires burning as of this morning, with 26 listed as out of control.
A coronation celebration originally planned for Saturday at the University of Alberta Botanic Garden has been cancelled due to the fires.
Premier Danielle Smith has said military personnel are to be deployed to prevent looting and maintain order in evacuated communities.
The provincial government has announced one-time payments worth $1,250 per adult and $500 per dependent child are to be available as early as today for those forced to spend at least seven straight days away from home.
Parts of Alberta are experiencing cooler temperatures and even light rain as the province remains under a state of emergency while dozens of wildfires continue raging.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 9, 2023.
'The devil': Métis settlement looks to rebuild from wildfire as hot weather to return
Story by The Canadian Press • Yesterday
A Métis settlement devastated by an out-of-control blaze remains at risk as hot and dry conditions in Alberta's forecast threaten to worsen an already intense wildfire season.
"That fire, I call it the devil. I've never seen a fire like that in my life," said Raymond Supernault, chair of the East Prairie Métis Settlement.
"I never seen a fire like that come that quick and fast and go through the settlement and burn everything in its sight."
Driving through the settlement around 165 kilometres east of Grande Prairie, the ground is charred black, electrical poles look like matchsticks and 14 homes were consumed by the inferno.
Around 80 per cent of the community was touched by the blaze in some way or another. It's an overwhelming loss for the community of around 300, Supernault said.
Family pictures, heirlooms and important history for the Métis families vanished in ash. A bridge needed by some families to return home was also destroyed.
The settlement is not out of the woods yet. Temperatures in the high 20s and low to mid-30s are expected in some areas of the province over the coming days, with daytime highs soaring up to 15 degrees above normal.
"That's going to be hot. The fires will start rising again," Supernault said. "That's the scary part."
There were 78 active wildfires in the province as of Friday night, including 22 out of control. About 16,000 people from several other communities in central and northern Alberta remained out of their homes.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith was in Grande Prairie surveying the fire zone and meeting with local officials and Indigenous leaders.
About 300 members of the Canadian Armed Forces are set to be deployed to help with the blazes over the next few days. About 100 of those soldiers will be sent to the area around Grand Prairie and the settlement.
Related video: Wildfires are raging — and Albertans are rallying to help (cbc.ca)
The help will be a reprieve for community members after the fire rapidly tore through the East Prairie Métis Settlement a week ago.
People were given an hour to flee. Supernault said within seven hours, the community was destroyed.
A provincial state of emergency was put in place the following day.
"I never thought I'd have to see something like this in my lifetime," Supernault said
Some community members stayed behind to save what they could. The settlement has a long history of firefighting. Supernault said residents are also slashers, equipment operators and truck drivers with skills to save as many homes as possible.
"We always fought fire growing up, that used to be our source of work," said Brad Desjarlais, who stayed behind to help.
The spruce, muskeg, poplar trees and dry grass lit up quickly as locals did what they could on the ground to keep the flames away from homes, Desjarlais explained.
A small amount of rain this week helped their efforts, but he said hot spots remain.
The Alberta government announced it will join the federal government in a donation-matching program with the Canadian Red Cross that would see every $1 donated become $3.
Supernault said it's difficult for the Métis settlement to navigate jurisdictional issues between the province and federal government when it comes to getting help and funding. They will need to rebuild homes, put up power poles and repair the bridge — all with a significant price tag.
East Prairie is one of eight Métis settlements in the province. It is land-based and self-governing, but not the same as a First Nation reserve.
Elders have often talked about how hard it was when they first came to the area, Supernault said. They were called "roadside people" and lived in tar shacks.
Their forbearers made their permanent home on this land in the 1930s, Supernault said.
"They built it for us and we have to make sure we take care of it," Supernault said.
"No matter how burnt it is, the green grass is going to come back. the houses will come back."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 12, 2023.
Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press
THE WILDFIRE THE NDP FACED AS A NEW GOVERNMENT
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Fort_McMurray_wildfire 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire - Wikipedia On May 1, 2016, a wildfire began southwest of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. On May 3, it swept through the community, forcing the largest wildfire ...
https://globalnews.ca/news/3138183/fort-mcmurray-wildfire-named-canadas-news-story-of-2016 Fort McMurray wildfire named Canada's news story of 2016 Dec 20, 2016 ... The ferocious Fort McMurray, Alberta wildfire that forced nearly 90,000 to flee Canada's oilsands region and reduced thousands of homes to ...
https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/fort-mcmurray-five-years-on-from-disaster Forged by fire: Fort McMurray 5 years after the disaster | C... May 3, 2021 ... The fire started on May 1, 2016 and swept through the community, forcing more than 80,000 people to flee their homes on May 3. Among them, ...
https://cdd.publicsafety.gc.ca/dtprnt-eng.aspx?cultureCode=en-Ca&eventTypes=%27WF%27&normalizedCostYear=1&dynamic=false&eventId=1135&prnt=both Fort McMurray fire - Canadian Disaster Database In May 2016, wildfires broke out in northern Alberta resulting in the most expensive natural disaster in the history of Canada. The city of Fort McMurray, ...
First Nation did not prove Aboriginal title for entire claim area: B.C. Supreme Court
VANCOUVER — A British Columbia Supreme Court judge ruling on a First Nations land title lawsuit says it did not prove it had rights to its entire claim area, although he suggested it may be time for the provincial government to rethink its current test for such titles.
The Nuchatlaht First Nation, a community on Vancouver Island's northwest coast, wanted title over an area of Crown land that included a portion of Nootka Island and much of the surrounding coastline.
Justice Elliott Myers said in his decision issued Thursday that there "may be areas" the nation can establish in its claim, but if it wants to do that another hearing would be required.
"I stress that I am not prejudging any of the issues or whether a pleading amendment would be necessary," he said in the decision. "I am merely leaving it open to the plaintiff to come back before me to canvass these issues should it wish to do so."
He's given the nation 14 days to decide if it wishes to proceed on the further claims.
The nation said in a statement issued Friday that it was celebrating the judge's finding that it has Aboriginal title within its territory, while it's disappointed it has been asked to return to court to identify just where that title is.
"Nuchatlaht were victorious on nearly every point at issue in the trial, pushing the state of the law forward," the statement said.
It said it would return to the court to identify the locations of its title and will apply to the B.C. Court of Appeal over the decision to deny awarding the entire claim area.
“We need to take this victory and continue fighting for recognition of our rights," Nuchatlaht Councillor Mellissa Jack said in the statement. The court heard the Nuchatlaht moved to a village on Nootka Island in the 1780s and they say they occupied the area in 1846, when the Crown resolved boundary disputes with the United States and claimed sovereignty over what is now British Columbia.
However, the province denies the Nuchatlaht occupied all of the territory it was claiming.
In the lawsuit filed in 2017, the nation argued that the B.C. and federal governments denied Nuchatlaht rights by authorizing logging and "effectively dispossessing" the nation of territory.
The B.C. government said the Nuchatlaht did not hold Aboriginal title over the entire 230-square-kilometre area, and said it has met its obligations under agreements with the nation related to forest resources.
Myers said in his decision that the case demonstrates "the peculiar difficulties of a coastal Aboriginal group meeting the current test for Aboriginal title, given the marine orientation of the culture."
For example, he said it is difficult to prove the nation had used the land because they primarily travelled by canoe, so there were no established trails between coastal locations.
He wrote that this case may be indicative of the need for a "reconsideration of the test for Aboriginal title as it relates to coastal First Nations."
"That would be for a higher court to determine," the decision said.
Premier David Eby said the province is looking at the decision to determine "how to move forward from it."
"Our relationship with coastal First Nations remains critically important as we work together in partnership," he told an unrelated news conference Friday.
"At this point, we've only just received (the ruling), but we know our work has to continue with Indigenous people, and in particular with coastal First Nations going forward."
The land claim was the first to be heard since B.C. passed legislation in 2019 to align its laws with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
It was also the first case since the landmark 2014 Tsilhqot’in Aboriginal title decision by the Supreme Court of Canada, which recognized the Tsilhqot’in Nation’s rights and title over a swath of its traditional territory in B.C.’s central Interior, not only to historic village sites.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 12, 2023.
Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press
ALBERTA
Temitope Oriola: No charges in Pacey Dumas case will lead to more abuses
Opinion by Temitope Oriola • Yesterday Pacey Dumas takes part in a protest outside Alberta Justice after prosecutors declined to prosecute a police officer who kicked Pacey Dumas in the head.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) April 2023 report on the use of force by an Edmonton Police Service officer against Pacey Dumas calls for sober reflection on independent civilian oversight and police accountability in Alberta.
The eight-page report is significant for its clinical analysis of the case from the perspectives of all the individuals concerned, including Dumas and the officer, and its conclusion. The report provides an exegesis of the facts of the matter, particularly the initial report about a suspect with a knife, Dumas’ interaction with the officers on scene, police power under the law, and the conduct of the subject officer vis-à-vis the necessity, reasonableness and proportionality of use of force.
The pace of ASIRT’s investigations continues to befuddle but the analysis in the report is thorough. The report notes that the subject officer’s (SO) kick on Dumas’ head made him “unconscious immediately and (he) began to bleed.” ASIRT finds that Dumas’ “injuries make it more likely that a court would find that the SO’s use of force was intended or likely to cause death or grievous bodily harm.”
The report notes that the officer’s insistence that there was no time to ask other officers to deploy less-lethal options “is not believable.” Dumas laid on the ground 1.5 metres from the officer because he followed the commands issued by the same officer: The officer “acted in a hasty and violent manner” and displayed “a shocking lack of judgement and disregard for the life” of Dumas. ASIRT concludes that there were “reasonable grounds to believe that an offence may have been committed” by the officer.
To be clear, Dumas was 18 years old and weighed 90 pounds in December 2020. Multiple officers with a range of weapons and a police dog surrounded him during the incident.
Despite the findings above, the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service (ACPS) declined to charge the officer. This goes beyond one victim. Police services in Alberta are fast gaining a reputation as national leaders in problematic use of force. For example, a recent CBC report based on the Tracking (In)Justice database notes that Alberta “ranked as the province with the most police-involved deaths per capita, and second only to Ontario in total deaths.” As I informed Taylor Lambert, who authored the CBC report, the EPS, Calgary Police Service and RCMP are at the epicentre of grim statistics on police use of force in Alberta. They regularly over-rely on force relative to their counterparts in other parts of Canada.
ASIRT rarely recommends charges against officers. The decision of the ACPS not to proceed with charges in this case is not backed by any evidence. It appears beneath the integrity of reason. The ACPS standpoint is capable of eroding public trust and confidence in the entire criminal justice system. The legitimacy of the EPS and ACPS is now firmly on the ropes. The ACPS has done a major disservice to its hardworking professionals and all police officers doing their job and respecting the rights of citizens every day. This has potential to damage the reputation of both organizations.
Widespread police misconduct often begins in trickles. We do not yet know the disciplinary action taken in the case of the officer who displayed his boxing skills against a teenager at a parkade and the officer who wrestled a disturbed citizen and smashed their head on concrete . The road to Minneapolis does not happen overnight. That is how it begins: zero consequences for excessive use of force. You may note this in your diary: A prolific carousel of human rights abuses by police officers in Alberta will be unleashed if this case goes unpunished. How? Such officers acquire a kind of entertaining notoriety and become “sexy” household names within the service. Younger and impressionable officers inadvertently see in them what is doable, permissible and without consequence. The moral fibre of the service becomes challenged. Such persons begin to overestimate the boundaries of their power over civilians and may soon be involved in similar cases.
The Crown needs to present the evidence they relied on to determine the case could not move forward. Our province is conscious of history and precedence. I have no doubt that reason will prevail and the officer offered his day in court.
Temitope Oriola is professor of criminology at the University of Alberta and president-elect of the Canadian Sociological Association. Email: oriola@ualberta.ca Twitter: @topeoriola
Group of Montreal workers want union investigated after VP resigns over racist posts
MONTREAL — Some Montreal blue collar workers called on Friday for their union to be investigated for alleged racial bias, telling a news conference they need to be reassured the leadership is up to the task of representing them.
The workers said they sent a letter to the provincial branch of the Canadian Union of Public Employees asking it to investigate its Montreal local, after one of the local's vice-presidents recently resigned over racist social media posts.
"Those revelations … created among my colleagues who are Haitian, Arab, African and other nationalities, a deep worry about how our complaints about racism and a toxic work environment are dealt with," Hakilm Tali Mamar, a city worker for 21 years, told reporters.
Tali Mamar said he wonders if the former executive's social media posts are indicative of deeper problems with union leadership.
"Who will defend us? The employer will never take our complaints seriously," Tali Mamar said.
On May 9 union leadership said Gaétan Archambault had resigned after his alleged racist and Islamophobic posts came to light, adding that the local had zero tolerance for discrimination and racism. His posts reportedly included complaints about the "Islamization" of a Quebec university, and suggestions that human traffickers from Afghanistan were immigrating to the province and "don't have our values and don't want French."
The provincial union did not respond Friday to a request seeking comment on the letter or next steps.
Gino Clyford Lubérisse said the local executive must be placed under trusteeship if the provincial union deems it necessary. Lubérisse, a union delegate and city worker for 20 years, said Archambault's social media comments were "liked" by others in the local union hierarchy.
"We are asking the (provincial union) to do an inquiry on the executive and the local to be sure we're not going to repeat history," he said. "We just want to be sure that we're on the right track; that's why we're asking for the intervention, just to reassure the members."
Those members are also marking the two-year anniversary of a 2021 report that described a racist and toxic work environment against visible minorities in the Montréal-Nord borough.
Members say that while the borough has created committees to address racism and provided workers with diversity training, more needs to be done to implement the recommendations.
Fo Niemi, with non-profit civil rights group Center for Research-Action on Race Relations, is assisting some of the workers. While those present at Friday's news conference were from Montréal-Nord, he said there are many racialized city workers across the city with the same concerns.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 12, 2023.
Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press
Two northern spotted owls found dead in B.C. forest, in blow to release program
Story by The Canadian Press • Yesterday
Provided by The Canadian Press
SPUZZUM, B.C. — Two northern spotted owls that had been released into a British Columbia forest last year have been found dead, potentially reducing the known wild population in the province to a single female.
Spuzzum First Nation Chief James Hobart says in a joint statement issued with the government and Jasmine McCulligh, facility co-ordinator for the Northern Spotted Owl Breeding Program, that the two male birds' remains were found with their GPS trackers in early May.
Nathan Cullen, minister of water, land and resource stewardship, says the cause of the released birds' death is unknown, but could include physical injury, predation, disease or starvation.
Hobart calls the deaths "devastating," and says efforts will be made to retrace the birds' final days to work out what could have been done differently. A third male owl that had been released with the others last August was found injured near train tracks in October after potentially colliding with a train.
It has since recovered but remains in the breeding program's facility in Langley.
McCulligh says that despite the birds' deaths, her team would use the experience to help move the breeding and release program forward.
She says "countless hours" had been spent nurturing the owls, as she recalled the "exciting and rewarding moment" of their release near the Spuzzum First Nation, about 200 kilometres northeast of Vancouver.
“Although this is clearly not the result we had wished for, we are committed to learning as much as we can from this experience," she says in the statement issued Friday.
McCulligh had said in February that the release of the male trio had brought the confirmed wild population to four, with a single female known to exist.
Cullen says in Friday's statement that the government and its partners were doing everything they could to help spotted owls recover, supporting the world’s only captive breeding and release program.
Protection of spotted owls has fuelled decades-long disputes between environmental groups and the forest industry as their future is often tied to saving old-growth forests where the birds live.
When the birds were released last year, the Ministry of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship said it was a "historic milestone,” crediting a partnership between the breeding program and the Spuzzum First Nation.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 12, 2023.
The Canadian Press
Gutting the National Environmental Policy Act is a political vendetta, not permitting reform
Opinion by Reps. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.),
At the end of March, House Republicans passed H.R. 1, a shameless giveaway of handouts and loopholes to the oil, gas, and mining industries, fittingly dubbed the Polluters Over People Act. While oil companies’ record-breaking profits make it clear that they’re not an industry under duress, Republicans continue to push legislation to gut our most fundamental environmental and public health laws, namely the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), to line industry pockets.
But of course, if you listen to industry-branded talking points you won’t hear that side of the story. You’ll hear relatively innocuous-sounding words, like “streamlining,” “modernizing,” or the latest turn of phrase — “permitting reform.”
To be clear, permitting reform is not inherently a dirty concept. After all, the climate crisis is calling on us to get clean energy infrastructure up and running quickly — and there is broad consensus across the political spectrum that we must improve existing permitting processes to make that happen.
But, the way Republicans are using permitting reform as a foil to wage a full-scale political attack on NEPA and other bedrock environmental laws most certainly is dirty. As ranking member and Subcommittee ranking member of the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over NEPA, we know this strategy all too well and have watched it play out for years.
As the GOP seizes every possible opportunity to wage war on NEPA, these attacks ignore the fact that it was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress because it gave the American people a seat at the table in federal decision-making. These attacks ignore the fact that good-government process put into place by NEPA are often communities’ only line of defense against pollution and other harms. And, these attacks ignore how critical NEPA is for environmental justice communities, which have long been excluded from decisions and treated as collateral damage by irresponsible polluters.
But perhaps most curiously, Republican attacks ignore the fact that slicing and dicing NEPA won’t speed up permitting processes.
That’s because a whopping 95 percent of all projects are already exempt from detailed reviews under NEPA. Of the less than 1 percent of projects that go through NEPA’s full Environmental Impact Statement process, these are the largest and most complex — making their environmental and public health impacts deserving of closer scrutiny and public input.
When there are project delays, they are often caused by the permit applicants themselves who may fail to provide the right application materials or pause a project due to financing and market conditions.
Putting applicant issues aside, NEPA itself is not the primary source of delays, but rather underfunded agencies that lack the resources and staffing needed to carry out reviews. That’s why, last year, House Democrats passed more than $1 billion in the historic Inflation Reduction Actto help federal agencies staff up permitting offices. That funding is expected to shrink review timelines by years — a goal that Republicans claim to aspire to, yet unanimously voted against. Republicans’ own expert witness acknowledged these factors, calling this funding “wonderful,” in a committee hearing this year.
So, if Republicans are so concerned about permitting reform, why haven’t they championed full funding for environmental review offices? Why are they instead passing draconian budget cuts that would actually make permitting issues worse?
To put it simply, Republicans appear to be more interested in advancing a pro-polluter political agenda than putting real and meaningful permtting solutions in place. They know that if they weaken longstanding environmental protections and hollow out federal agencies, polluters can pursue projects with as little accountability (and as much profit) as possible.
Like all of our Democratic colleagues, we are eager to get clean energy infrastructure up and running quickly — as long as it’s done equitably and protects our communities and the environment in the process. We stand ready to come to the table to talk about real permitting solutions, like fully funding environmental review offices and improving clean energy transmission planning and resilience.
But when it comes to taking the knife to NEPA and other bedrock environmental laws, we will continue to hold the line. On behalf of the millions of Americans who are already overburdened by polluting industries’ messes, and the millions more who have entrusted us to fight for policy solutions that actually work, we have no intention of supporting this industry-driven effort.
Permitting reform may indeed be necessary for our clean energy future, but let’s not let a worn-out political vendetta against NEPA goad us into believing it’s a necessary evil.
Raúl M. Grijalva is ranking member of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources. He has represented southern Arizona in U.S. Congress since 2003. Melanie Stansbury is Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee ranking member of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources. She has represented central New Mexico in U.S. Congress since 2021.
CTV News' Bill Fortier teamed up with The Narwhal to report on uncovered documents showing the Alberta’s energy regulator struggling to keep track of the growing number of contaminated oil wells.
Friday, May 12, 2023
UConn researcher explores impact of recreational homes on agricultural land use
Research from agricultural economists explores why some farm land goes idle
IMAGE: UCONN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMIST CHARLES TOWEview more
CREDIT: JASON SHELDON/UCONN PHOTO
Charles Towe, associate professor of agricultural and resource economics in the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources, started noticing a change in land use in Columbia County, New York where his family farms.
Towe saw a lot of potential agricultural land in New York state going unused. He also personally knew farmers who couldn’t find land in their area. This led him to explore this trend of decreased agricultural productivity.
“I was trying to solve the problem of, how do we have hundreds and hundreds of acres of land idle, and farmers looking for land saying, ‘I can’t find any land around,’” Towe says.
He found that of the 800 agricultural parcels in Columbia County, an area near the Catskill Mountains, about a quarter were owned by non-residents. Of the non-residents – people whose primary address is somewhere other than their property in Columbia County – the most significant population came from New York City, which is about two hours away by car.
While there may be non-resident owners from other areas, Towe focused his study on New Yorkers to understand their impact on land use in his community.
“It appears that there is a preference for the amenities that an ag parcel here provides for second homeowners coming out of the city,” Towe says.
Since 2001, nonresident ownership of farmland in Columbia County increased by 22.7%. Part of this upward trend may be related to the use value taxation credit New York state offers. The credit, which has existed for decades, allows property owners to receive a break on their property taxes if they use part of their land for agricultural purposes.
However, there are few stipulations about what this use must look like. While the credit does benefit farmers, many non-resident owners use part of their land to produce low-value hay for animal bedding, but not a lot else. Others may rent out their land to local farmers as a way to receive the credit.
Looking at two USDA databases on land use records from the past decade, Towe found that when non-residents buy agricultural land in this area, 10-11% of the land is removed from the agricultural sector altogether. An additional 10-11% is used for low-value hay.
In 2019, Towe completed a similar study for the Connecticut Department of Agriculture to evaluate Connecticut’s Public Act 490 which provides tax breaks for agricultural land. The Act was adopted in 1963 to help preserve the state’s farm, forest, and open land.
Just like in New York, Towe found that, by far, the most common crop grown on farmlands that the owner rented out was hay, around 40%.
“At the end of the day, if you want to buy land and use it in your way, that’s your right,” Towe says. “But perhaps certain pro-agricultural tax policies should be revisited to verify that these are not being abused.”
Towe says this is the “first log on the stack” of uncovering the questions surrounding land use change with non-resident owners and the costs and benefits to the local community.
“There’s a lot happening here that’s kind of hard to put a finger on,” Towe says.
The next study Towe is conducting will look at data from short-terms vacation rentals in the area. Local attitudes often see these types of rentals as detrimental to the local community. But the full picture is likely more complicated as additional rental income makes more expensive homes more affordable to residents, and they bring tourist spending to the area.
“We’re trying to make an economic link between the urban and rural communities because the country feels like it needs it,” Towe says. “I think the takeaway from this is we’re really trying to say, ‘What are the impacts, what are the positives and negatives of being in this second home market.'”
Short-term therapy sessions with parents and their children in homeless shelters could help improve parenting skills and reduce parental stress and children’s post-traumatic stress symptoms, according to a pilot study published by the American Psychological Association.
Researchers from Florida International University partnered with Lotus House in Miami, one of the largest women’s homeless shelters in the U.S. The study included 144 families (mother and one child) with children from 18 months to 5 years of age. The research was published online in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.
Shelter staff worked daily with the families to build trust with the mothers – many of whom weren’t seeking therapy – and 99% of them agreed to take part in the study, said lead researcher Paulo Graziano, PhD, a professor of psychology at Florida International University.
“We’re excited to find that evidence-based parenting interventions can be implemented within a shelter setting with wonderful benefits to the mothers and children,” he said. “I think more community-university partnerships are essential towards addressing the mental health needs of our most vulnerable families and children in a setting where they normally wouldn’t receive it.”
More than 2 million children in the U.S. experience homelessness every year, and homeless children face heightened challenges from poverty, traumatic experiences, mental illness and behavioral problems. Previous research has also found that homelessness is associated with increased parental frustration and negative parenting behaviors, including aggression. Those issues can be exacerbated by the parents’ chronic medical, mental health or substance use issues and their own histories of trauma.
Graziano and his team trained Lotus House staff to provide two types of evidence-based therapy to the mothers and their children in weekly sessions over three or four months. Half of the participants received Parent-Child Interaction Therapy while the other half received Child-Parent Psychotherapy.
Parent-Child Interaction Therapy includes positive parenting techniques to reduce critical statements and negative interactions with children during observed play sessions. Child-Parent Psychotherapy uses play and language to help identify and address traumatic triggers, provide emotional support and offer assistance with daily living issues.
Mothers in both therapy groups reported reductions in their stress and their children’s post-traumatic stress symptoms. The mothers also made more positive statements during observed play sessions. Parent-Child Interaction Therapy also helped reduce children's behavior problems so may be more effective in a shelter setting, the study noted.
With adequate training and supervision, homeless shelter staff may not need mental health degrees to provide effective therapy, Graziano said. His team and Lotus House are working on a larger randomized trial to see if the successes from this pilot study can be replicated at other homeless shelters. He also hopes that other researchers will conduct their own studies.
Constance Collins, president of the Sundari Foundation, which operates Lotus House, said the project has produced dramatic results.
“It was a game changer that transformed homelessness into a window of opportunity for our children," she said. “We’re sharing our experiences with other homeless shelters across the country with hopes that critically needed therapy will become more available to homeless parents and their children.”
