NCAT News Archive for 2001
NCAT Takes Action for a Better World
Streams as Living Laboratories Involves Students
NCAT to Promote Irrigation Efficiency
Wind Anemometer Loan Program Begins
ATTRA Receives Continued Funding
Groups Meet to Explore Rural Policy Network
NCAT Manager to Attend Ditchley Conference
Clean Snowmobile Facts Website Launched
NCAT Advances Organic Agriculture
NCAT to Host Rural Policy Network Gathering
Sustainable Livestock Production Workshop Held
ASTA Project Improves Sustainability of Pennsylvania Housing
Green Thumb and NCAT Partner on Energy Assistance Referrals
National Energy Affordability and Accessibility Project Launched
NCAT Helps Bring Alternative Energy to Montana
CRBT Project Named Founder of New Northwest
Montana Rivers Project Helps Keep Rivers Flowing
NCAT Marks 25 Years of Service
NCAT Looks Back Over 25 Years
NCAT Opens California Office
NCAT Awarded EPA Grant for Water Quality Education in Fayetteville Schools
Sun4Schools Project Introduces Montana Students to Solar Power
NCAT Staff Member Wins National Sustainable Agriculture Award
NCAT Launches Affordable Sustainability Program and Website
NCAT Takes Action for a Better World
(12/31/01) As NCAT concludes its 25th anniversary year, we're taking a look at how NCAT has played an important role in fostering sustainability, not only with myriad projects, but also by sponsoring conferences and issue-related nonprofit organizations. Through organizational memberships and individual volunteering, NCAT and its employees are contributing time and talent to making the world a better place.
Over the past few years, NCAT has been a co-sponsor for a number of significant regional conferences that served as forums for public education and discussion. In September 2000, NCAT co-sponsored "Spirit, Commerce and Sustainability," an event that brought speakers like Paul Hawken and Alan AtKisson to Missoula, Montana. This conference inspired local people to organize their efforts to promote sustainability, and resulted in the creation of the Sustainability Alliance of Western Montana. NCAT employees helped arrange and present the conference, and have since devoted countless hours to developing and launching the Sustainability Alliance.
NCAT's involvement on the energy front has been particularly noteworthy. In both 2000 and 2001 NCAT co-sponsored regional conferences on "Harvesting Clean Energy" that explored economic development opportunities linked to a variety of renewable energy technologies. NCAT was also instrumental in forming the Montana Renewable Energy Association (MREA), where an NCAT staff member serves as Secretary. NCAT has been a longtime member of the Northwest Energy Coalition, was one of the first members of IASBO, the International Association of Sustainable Business Organizations, and is also a core member of the Montana Smart Growth Coalition.
In the area of agriculture, NCAT supports the Grassroots Grazing Group, a nonprofit educational and networking organization dedicated to encouraging better forage production and grazing management, as well as the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group, a regional working structure promoting sustainable agriculture.
Many NCAT staff are active in personal, as well as professional capacities. Several employees serve on the board of the Clark Fork River Technical Assistance Committee, a group of Western Montanans who have volunteered to work with the EPA to try to make the Superfund process and cleanup options on the Clark Fork River understandable for all. Other staff members serve local food cooperatives and farmers markets, and still others volunteer with organizations like the Boy Scouts of America. Finally, on an even broader level, NCAT employees participate in the workplace giving campaigns of United Way and Montana Shares.
Streams as Living Laboratories Involves Students
(12/17/01) Fayetteville, Arkansas, students have been getting their feet wet by studying local urban creeks this Fall. Students from two Fayetteville High School classrooms are studying College Branch and Scull Creeks as a part of the Streams as Living Laboratories (SALL) pilot program. NCAT is working closely with the Fayetteville Urban Resources Stream Team, the City of Fayetteville, the Washington County Extension Service, and the Ozark Natural Science Center to bring this program to local schools.
Streams as Living Laboratories classrooms participate in a combination of classroom and field activities that are designed to use their schoolyard streams to learn about watersheds, water quality and aquatic biology.
Fayetteville High's School Within A School classroom adopted a segment of College Branch adjacent to the school. After learning about fundamental concepts of the hydrologic cycle, watersheds and stream dynamics, the students were anxious to get to the creek to take a look around. The initial creekside stream assessment set the stage for further study of the biotic and abiotic factors relating to the creek, stormwater effects on the creek, and the effects of land use decisions on the creek. The Ozark Natural Science Center delivered an interesting classroom presentation about aquatic habitat and aquatic life in local creeks. The students were then off to the creek again with the Washington County Extension Service's water quality specialists to learn to quantify turbidity and to catch and identify mulitiple specimens of benthic macroinvertibrates. The students caught quite a few critters and learned even more in the process.
In addition to assessing the creek's biological health, the students also took a look at chemical parameters of the water with creekside testing kits for nutrients. These test results will soon be compared with results from a water sample sent to the Arkansas Water Resources Laboratory for EPA certified analysis. The students enjoyed the hands-on testing and are looking forward to comparing the laboratory analysis. The School Within A School classroom will keep several portable testing kits and will continue monitoring the water periodically throughout the school year.
The Streams as Living Laboratories pilot project is getting off to a good start, and we're looking forward to an exciting Spring.
Fayetteville High School's Field Biology classroom adopted a section of Scull Creek and will be participating in similar activities after the holidays. We are actively recruiting additional classrooms to participate in Spring program and will report back with more news. For further information, please contact our Fayetteville Office.
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NCAT to Promote Irrigation Efficiency
(12/10/01) The National Center for Appropriate Technology has been selected by the Montana Power Company (MPC) to implement a comprehensive irrigation efficiency program in 2002 and 2003. The program is designed to benefit the maximum number of irrigators in the MPC service territory, delivering results that can be measured in terms of efficient equipment installed, operating procedures implemented, and kWh saved. The program is funded through the MPC Universal System Benefits program.
Efficient irrigation not only saves energy and money for agricultural producers, but also prevents overwatering, increases crop yields, reduces the leaching of nitrates and other chemicals to groundwater, limits erosion and sediment-loading, and enhances stream flows that benefit Montana's fisheries. In order to achieve higher efficiency, many irrigators need to correct basic hardware problems. Unless individual pieces of equipment are efficient and system components are optimized to work together, the system will not operate efficiently. Another important source of energy savings is basic irrigation management. Is the irrigator applying approximately the right amount of water for the right length of time, based on soil type, system application rate, crop type, and growth stage? Beyond basic hardware and system management opportunities is a third general area to address: "advanced" hardware and management options.
NCAT staff will promote the Irrigation Efficiency program, issue rebates for upgrades to efficient equipment, solicit and review energy-saving proposals, perform irrigation system audits, provide technical assistance, administer incentive payments for measure implementation, carry out verifications of energy savings, and coordinate follow-up studies. NCAT will also lead an educational campaign intended to improve irrigation management and help irrigators save energy and money.
NCAT will work with each qualifying irrigator to evaluate the current irrigation system, identify cost-effective improvements, and offer an appropriate and fair cash incentive.
The new program complements NCAT's ongoing projects directed at improving irrigation efficiency, the Montana Rivers Project and NCAT's Ag Solar Project which demonstrates agricultural uses of solar power, including solar-powered pumping for stock watering.
Wind Anemometer Loan Program Begins
(12/3/01) NCAT has recently launched a new wind anemometer loan program for the state of Montana, in cooperation with the Denver Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Energy and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. The program will make ten anemometers available to assess wind power potential at specific sites in the state.
NCAT will administer the loan program in which landowners pay a damage deposit and small usage fee to have a 20-meter tower, anemometer, and wind vane installed at their site for a year. The system uses a datalogger to record wind speed and direction every ten minutes. The dataloggers store information that is sent to NCAT. This wind data will be accessible to the public through NCAT's website and will be used by NCAT staff to create a profile of the site's wind power potential.
Anemometers are used to measure wind power potential because wind speed aloft is higher than wind speed near the ground. The anemometer stays in place for a full year to provide an accurate estimate of the amount of wind that a particular location experiences in each season. Wind power and solar power potential tend to be strongest at different times, so can often be used to complement one another, to provide steady supplies of renewable energy in a variety of weathers and during all seasons. The anemometer loan program will help landowners assess their wind resources before they make an investment in expensive generating equipment.
NCAT's wind anemometer loan program is already in full swing. Systems were installed near Great Falls, Whitehall, Cutbank, Valier, Wolf Creek and Fairmont, Montana in the Fall of 2001. Data from these installations is currently being received and will begin to be posted in mid-December. Next Fall the systems will be available for installation at new sites. NCAT is now accept applications for participation in the next round of the anemometer loan program. In addition to helping individual landowners assess the amount of wind power they have, the program will be amassing information to provide a clearer portrait of wind power resources across Montana. For more information on the program, contact NCAT Headquarters.
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ATTRA Receives Continued Funding
(11/26/01) Through a federal appropriation, NCAT's Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas project will receive $2.5 million in funding for FY 2002. This will mark a fifteenth year of operation for the national sustainable farming information center that links people involved in full- or part-time farming to information and resources on sustainable agriculture.
Twenty-five program staffers located in Arkansas, Montana, and California provide services under the ATTRA project, together with administrative support staff. ATTRA program services are available free of charge to farmers, Extension agents, researchers, farm organizations, and others involved in commercial agriculture, including market gardeners and small farmers nationwide.
ATTRA makes information available in several ways. First, farmers can call a toll free hotline to ask questions or request information. Their needs may be addressed by one or more of ATTRA's many publications. If a publication on the topic is not available, an ATTRA program specialist is assigned to research the topic, using ATTRA's extensive and diverse collection of information resources. The program specialist compiles a written report that is then sent to the farmer by mail. ATTRA staff have fulfilled more than 24,000 information requests during the past year, responding to as many as 1500 inquiries in a single week. More than 40 percent of the questions received concern the reduction of agricultural chemicals used on field, fruit, and vegetable crops. Twenty-five percent are questions about raising animals, including animal feeds, health, and pasture management. Sustainable production techniques, crop diversification, and marketing are the other major areas of interest along with wildlife, water management, and the availability of equipment designed for sustainable agricultural practices.
The ATTRA website makes sustainable agriculture information and publications available free to the general public. The website experiences approximately half a million hits each month, and hosts an average of 20,000 visitors per month. Print and online publications include titles such as "Intercropping," "Assessing the Pasture Soil Resource," "Entertainment Farming & Agri-Tourism," "Use of Baking Soda as a Fungicide," and "Integrated Pest Management for Greenhouse Crops." ATTRA also publishes a newsletter that is posted on the ATTRA website and mailed to ATTRA users.
NCAT is pleased to have the opportunity to continue providing and expanding ATTRA services in the coming year.
Groups Meet to Explore Rural Policy Network
(11/19/01) Twenty-three organizations from across the United States gathered November 9-11 at NCAT headquarters in Butte, Montana, to discuss formation of a national rural policy network. Sponsored by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the meeting was hosted by NCAT and the Southern Rural Development Initiative of Raleigh, North Carolina.
"The need for a place-based rural policy network was first discussed by organizations participating in a Kellogg Foundation project
called Managing Information with Rural America" (MIRA)," NCAT staff member David Zodrow says. "Under MIRA, NCAT and five other organizations served as national Policy Support Organizations (PSOs) from 1998-2000. They focused on ways that economically-disadvantaged rural communities can use modern information and computer technologies to build capacity and address policy issues that impact their lives."
At the conclusion of the MIRA project, PSOs were asked to nominate other rural development and policy organizations as a nucleus group for possible creation of a rural policy network. Additional organizations will eventually be asked to join the network.
"As our first step, members of this core group will draft a concept paper for the Kellogg Foundation concerning a policy network that will be strongly tied to rural people at the grassroots level, will strive to be inclusionary of all segments of rural populations, and will complement the efforts of similar national networks already in place," Zodrow explains.
Groups at the meeting discussed their broad experiences in addressing the problems of rural America – such woes as the decaying economics and infrastructure of rural areas, urbanization that is taking away irreplaceable farmland, the loss of young people to jobs in the city and a growing sense of isolation and despair among rural people.
"We touched on the problems but focused on ways to create a policy network that is ‘values-led' and builds on unique strengths such as the diversity of rural people, their sense of spirituality, their ties to the land, their sense of community spirit and the many advantages to living in a rural place."
Groups that attended the Rural Policy Network meeting in Butte:
Alternative Energy Resources Organization (AERO), Helena, MT
Appalachian Focus, Middlesboro KY
C.A.S.A. del Llano, Hereford, TX
Center for Civic Networking, Friday Harbor, WA
Center for Rural Affairs, Walthill, NE
Central Oregon Partnership, Redmond, OR
Civil Rights Forum on Communications Policy, Washington, DC
Communication Resources, Maryville, TN
Communities by Choice, Berea, KY
Community Technology Centers Network, Cambridge, MA
Delta Woman's Action Agency, Little Rock, AR
Lee County Community Development Corporation, Marianna, AR
Llano Grande Center for Research and Development, Elsa, TX
MacIntosh Sustainable Environment & Economic Dev., Darien, GA
Minnesota Project, St. Paul, MN
National Center for Appropriate Technology, Butte, MT
Navajo Nation Virtual Alliance, Flagstaff, AZ
Owsley County Action Team, Booneville, KY
South Carolina Association of Community Development
Corporations, Columbia, SC
Southern Rural Development Initiative, Raleigh NC
Strategic Interventions, Washington DC
The LOKA Institute, Amherst, MA
United Farm Workers, Sacramento, CA
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NCAT Manager to Attend Ditchley Conference
(11/12/01) Teresa Maurer, NCAT Program Manager for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development, has been invited to participate in a Ditchley Foundations Conference on sustainable agriculture to be held November 16-18, in Oxfordshire, England.
The Ditchley Foundations convene intimate weekend conferences of international decision-makers to help people of different countries learn to understand each other's problems and outlook. Ditchley hosts approximately 15 conferences annually, on subjects chosen in response to new international challenges arising from issues of concern to democratic societies. During each conference, a maximum of 40 distinguished invitees participate in open, informal and private discussions. According to the Foundations' website,
"Ditchley's impact manifests in contacts made, understanding deepened, fresh insights gained, and new ideas or lines of thought established in the minds of those who engage in the candid dialogues conducted in an atmosphere of informality, confidentiality and trust that characterize this extraordinary enterprise."
Maurer will attend the conference entitled "Sustainable Agriculture: What is Farming For?" The Chairman for this conference is The Earl of Selborne. In addition to several agricultural policy and sustainable agriculture experts from the United States, this conference will also include participants from Canada, United Kingdom, Irish Republic, New Zealand, and Germany.
Teresa Maurer joined NCAT in 1991, where she co-manages NCAT's 13 projects in sustainable agriculture and currently heads NCAT's ATTRA project, a federally-funded service that offers sustainable agriculture technical assistance to farmers and other agricultural professionals across the United States. Her work has included grassland ecology, livestock and forage systems, weed management, and diverse collaborations with agricultural organizations at the local, regional and national levels. She is also involved in outreach projects for minority and low-income farmers, including Hispanic farmers, and small-scale farmers in the Four Corners area tribal communities. Maurer has 20 years of experience in sustainable agriculture education and research, biology, and project management, including 5 years with The Land Institute in Kansas and the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture in Oklahoma.
Clean Snowmobile Facts Website Launched
(11/5/01) A new website created by NCAT on behalf of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality has been launched this past week. NCAT worked as a contractor to research, design and construct this new solutions-oriented
information source. The website Clean Snowmobile Facts presents objective and balanced information about all aspects of the debate over snowmobile emissions and access to national parks and other public lands.
The new website addresses common concerns about snowmobiling and snowmobile emissions, including snowmobiling in national parks, air quality and water quality, and personal exposure. Links to reports, organizations and information sources are provided.
In the Solutions section, the website offers a collection of the best and most current scientific studies on snowmobile technology, including both engine technology and fuel and lubricant research. Papers on efficiency, emissions, and ethanol blend fuel produced by the Southwest Research Institute, and sponsored by the U. S. Department of Energy Regional Biomass Energy Program, are also available on the site. In addition, the website presents opposing points-of-view, links and summaries of news stories related to snowmobile technology and regulation, links to rules and regulations themselves, and links to other useful sites
and online versions of studies and reports.
In cooperation with the Society of Automotive Engineers, slide presentations and some of the technical papers from the Clean Snowmobile Challenge event are available at the site. In addition, the site features a section specifically on Montana issues.
Clean Snowmobile Facts is one of several sites that NCAT has created and administers under contract to state and federal agencies or nonprofit organizations.
NCAT Advances Organic Agriculture
(10/29/01) Interest in Organic agriculture has been growing by leaps and bounds over the past several years. The industry has been expanding at close to 20 percent annually, the National Organic Program has finalized its regulations, and there is a growing body of research that highlights the sustainability of traditional Organic farming systems.
NCAT has long had a special relationship with the Organic community, who have been among the heaviest users of NCAT's ATTRA services. The relationship is now being strengthened through additional projects that will serve diverse needs of Organic farmers, researchers, certifiers, and consultants.
Organic Matters
Over the past year, NCAT has been developing a series of publications that highlight the frontiers of organic research and technology. Current titles include Considerations in Organic Hog Production, Considerations in Organic Tree Fruit Production, and Pursuing Conservation Tillage Systems for Organic Crop Production. A fourth publication on Organic farming and water quality is expected by the end of 2001. This project received funding from the Organic Farming Research Foundation, USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service, and the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture.
The Checksheet Project
NCAT has recently earned a contract with the National Organic Program to produce a set of crop and livestock checksheets designed for organic farmers to use in evaluating the sustainability of their operations while assessing compliance with the new federal standards.
Info Gaps Phase II
NCAT is completing a project that studied the gaps in farmer-friendly information for several areas of sustainable farming. This project is now beginning a second phase that will look at similar gaps in conversion to organic farming. Tree fruits, hogs and dairy will be addressed.
Organic Conversion & Transition
The Sustainable Agriculture Network has also provided funding to develop a series of publications dealing with the mechanics of converting to organic production and adapting to a new marketing system.
In addition to these ongoing projects, NCAT is also investigating the possibility of starting an Organic "hotline" to serve organic
producers that have immediate information needs.
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NCAT to Host Rural Policy Network Gathering
(10/22/01) On behalf of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, NCAT will host a national gathering of about 20 rural development and policy support organizations at its headquarters in Butte, Montana, from November 9-11. The goal of the meeting is the formation of a "place-based" policy network to serve America's economically disadvantaged rural communities. "We're honored that NCAT has been asked to convene this meeting at our home office," NCAT Executive Director Kathy Hadley says. "We view this gathering as an opportunity to plant a seed that will bloom into something good for our organizations and the rural people we serve."
Formation of the rural policy network is a result of the Kellogg Foundation project, "Managing Information with Rural America"
(MIRA). Under that project from 1998-2000, NCAT and five other national groups served as "Policy Support Organizations" in helping clusters of selected rural communities acquire empowering telecommunication technologies.
"At the end of the MIRA project in October of 2000, the Kellogg Foundation asked the six policy organizations to continue our work by calling together a sample of rural development organizations for formation of a possible policy network," Hadley explains. "The network will presumably be expanded to include many other organizations involved with rural development issues, as well as regional clusters of rural communities."
In addition to NCAT, other Kellogg policy support organizations are:
Southern Rural Development Initiative of Raleigh, NC;
Alliance for Technology Access of San Rafael, CA;
Civil Rights Forum on Communications Policy of Washington, DC (a project of the Tides Center);
The LOKA Institute of Amherst, MA;
and Community Technology Centers Network (CTCNet) of Cambridge, MA.
Groups attending the November meeting will include a diversity of nationally-focused and locally-based organizations such as the Center for Rural Affairs of Walthill, NE, the Center for Civic Networking of Bellview, WA, the Llano Grande Center for Research and Development of Edcouch, TX, and Delta Women's Action Group of Little Rock, AR. Following the meeting a report will be posted on the NCAT website.
Sustainable Livestock Production Workshop Held
(10/15/01) NCAT, its Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA) project, and the Natural Resources Conservation Services are the co-sponsors of a Sustainable Livestock Production Workshop taking place in Fayetteville, Arkansas this week. The workshop emphasizes a systems approach to grazing management, with a goal of helping producers fine-tune their whole farm management plans and enjoy improved land and herd health.
The three-day workshop, with the theme "Using Grass Profitably" was designed to include both morning classroom sessions and afternoon on-farm field sessions. The conference moves from an introduction of basic principles on the first day into more specialized resource management on the second day. The third and final day of the event helps participants focus on management for individual livestock species and involves them in whole-farm planning strategies.
Speakers for the Sustainable Livestock Production Workshop include experts from regional research facilities, as well as Ron Morrow, NCAT specialist on beef cattle and grazing systems. Many other ATTRA Technical Specialists will contribute their expertise on soils, grazing and livestock to the event.
Workshop field sessions are conducted at the JB Salers Farm owned by John and Becky Spain. The Spains manage a 360-acre beef cattle and turkey farm in Madison County, Arkansas, that ranges from hillside pastures to riparian woodlands. John Spain is a board member with NRCS's Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative as well as the American Forage and Grassland Council, and is the recipient of numerous awards for innovative grazing practices and conservation measures.
ASTA Project Improves Sustainability of Pennsylvania Housing
(10/9/01) NCAT's Affordable Sustainability Technical Assistance (ASTA) project is working with the Housing Development Corporation of Northeast Pennsylvania to help make a new development more sustainable.
The Pine Street Neighborhood Revitalization will construct 21 new affordable homes in Hazleton, Pennsylvania. The one-, two- and three-bedroom individually-owned homes will provide high-quality residences in a neighborhood that is gaining new life as abandoned and deteriorating industrial buildings are deconstructed.
NCAT is participating in the Pine Street Neighborhood Revitalization by helping the developer incorporate environmentally sound practices and energy efficient materials and standards. NCAT has helped the developer assemble a green design team, and will be working with the team over the coming months to help the Pine Street development meet its sustainable design goals.
The Pine Street Neighborhood Revitalization is focusing on providing energy-efficient, healthy, and accessible homes without compromising affordability. These homes, located near public recreation facilities and within walking distance of downtown Hazleton, will not only breathe new life into an urban neighborhood, but will provide a tangible example of how NCAT's Affordable Sustainability Technical Assistance can be applied.
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Green Thumb and NCAT Partner on Energy Assistance Referrals
(10/1/01) NCAT is partnering with the Green Thumb program to offer the public a new free national service of energy assistance referrals. This new service will direct callers to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program providers who serve their communities. It is made possible through funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
As energy prices have skyrocketed during the past year and as LIHEAP funding has risen, the Clearinghouse operated by NCAT to serve LIHEAP providers has received an increasing number of queries from the general public on how to obtain LIHEAP. Since the LIHEAP Clearinghouse is not equipped to serve the general public, NCAT created the National Energy Assistance Referral (NEAR) service to effectively respond to these queries from needy low-income households. The service will provide a national toll-free number that callers can use to obtain a referral to their state LIHEAP office toll-free line or local energy assistance provider.
The NEAR service will be staffed by participants in the federally-funded Green Thumb program. This program seeks placement of older workers in environments that can provide them job training and help them achieve economic self-sufficiency. The program subsidizes the wages of income-qualified seniors in positions at nonprofit and federal agencies. NCAT will begin the NEAR project with two part-time Green Thumb workers staffing the toll free number from the NCAT office in Butte, Montana. The Green Thumb workers will attain office skills, including use of telephones and computers, while training, supervision and support are provided by NCAT LIHEAP Clearinghouse staff.
Appropriately, NEAR's toll free number will be 1-866-NRG-NEAR. The service is scheduled to begin operating by mid-October.
Employment of low-income senior workers at NCAT in a position where they can assist other low-income households by providing them LIHEAP referrals helps NCAT fulfill its mission to serve the economically disadvantaged.
National Energy Affordability and Accessibility Project Launched
(9/24/01) A new NCAT project will educate consumers and policy makers about changing energy markets and the impacts of energy restructuring on low- and moderate-income households. Titled the National Energy Affordability and Accessibility Project (NEAAP), it will provide news and information that consumers can use about energy affordability, energy restructuring and deregulation, energy savings programs, and energy prices.
While the project is now in the start-up phase, NCAT plans to launch a project website and newsletter, and conduct qualitative research in key states that have restructured their energy industries. NCAT will partner with national experts on restructuring who will interview stakeholders in several states about the impacts of restructuring on low-income and moderate income households and will prepare research reports resulting from the interviews.
"As state governments and energy providers implement restructuring and as energy markets change, consumers will also be faced with new energy choices and new rules that will affect their daily lives and their pocketbooks," said Kay Joslin, project director. "All consumers, regardless of income, will need more education specific to energy markets in their states, and on how to cope in the event of volatile energy markets and prices."
The project is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It will build upon NCAT's LIHEAP Clearinghouse project, also funded by HHS, which compiles and disseminates information on low-income energy programs. While the LIHEAP Clearinghouse is geared to entities such as states, tribes, local agencies, and utilities who administer low-income energy programs, the new project is primarily oriented to the consumer. It will provide timely, user-friendly, easily-accessible information on a state-specific basis that will help consumers access information on such issues as energy affordability and energy efficiency programs, energy restructuring and deregulation, and consumer protections under energy restructuring.
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NCAT Helps Bring Alternative Energy to Montana
(9/17/01) For many years NCAT has been a national leader in demonstrating and promoting the use of solar energy. This Fall NCAT is helping to bring more and different kinds of renewable energy to Montana through educational conferences and an anemometer loan program.
NCAT is a co-sponsor for two alternative energy conferences scheduled in Montana in October. "Wind Powering Montana" will take place October 3, at Big Sky Resort. Other sponsors for the event include the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The workshop will cover issues of wind technology status/economics, Montana wind resources, Montana wind projects, transmission/utility integration, state policies, environmental issues/siting, rural economic development, landowner perspectives/leases, small wind applications, and irrigation. Two hundred to 300 attendees are expected including representatives from the Governor's office, state legislators, ranchers/farmers, utilities, and rural coops. NCAT staff member John Walden will be a speaker at the event.
"Harvesting Clean Energy in Montana Through Agriculture, Forestry, Wind & Solar" will be held October 9-11 in Great Falls. This
event will provide an opportunity for Montanans to learn about alternative energy sources for communities, businesses and homes, and will explore the technical and financial resources available to help support a move to alternative energy sources. In addition to NCAT, sponsors include the Montana RC&D Association, the U.S. Department of Energy, Montana Department of Environmental Quality, the Montana Grain Growers Association and Montana Power. NCAT staff members speaking at this conference include Executive Director Kathy Hadley, Sustainable Energy Program Manager Dale Horton, and Program Specialists John Walden and Mike Morris.
Meanwhile NCAT is also cooperating with Montana Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Department of Energy to offer Montana landowners the opportunity to use a 60-foot anemometer to assess wind energy potential at their sites. This Fall NCAT will install 8 anemometers and evaluate the data collected from them over the course of the next year to determine the wind energy potential at these locations. The anemometers will then be moved to new sites for another year of wind assessments.
CRBT Project Named Founder of New Northwest
(9/5/01) NCAT's Center for Resourceful Building Technology project has been named one of the "Founders of a New Northwest" by Sustainable Northwest, a nonprofit organization with headquarters in Portland, Oregon. According to Sustainable Northwest, the organization initiated the Founders of a New Northwest program in 1995 to understand how sustainability was being implemented in the region, and to recognize individuals, businesses and communities working to reconcile individual well-being, community vitality, economic progress, and environmental health. The Founders program aims to prove that "sustainable is attainable," and to share some of the innovative solutions that are being developed to resolve seemingly intractable problems.
The thirty winners of this year's Founders of a New Northwest award will be formally announced by Sustainable Northwest at a Sustainability Gala to be held September 8 as the culmination of the Oregon Sustainability Forum. Several NCAT staff members will be present for the event.
The stories of 115 organizations and individuals in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, California, and Alaska that have been named Founders are available from Sustainable Northwest in book format, or may be viewed on their website. Sustainable Northwest says, "The Founders project bridges the gap between rural and urban interests, economic and environmental concerns, scientific research and knowledge on the ground. Simply put, the Founders offer hope that we can create solutions for the future."
The Center for Resourceful Building Technology was founded in 1991 by builder Steve Loken, and operated as an independent nonprofit until 1999, when it became a project of NCAT's Sustainable Communities program. CRBT is dedicated to promoting environmentally responsible practices in construction, and works as both catalyst and facilitator in encouraging building technologies that realize a sustainable and efficient use of resources. CRBT is well known for its research, education and demonstration activities, including presentations, building project consulting, and the Guide to Resource Efficient Building Elements.
Montana Rivers Project Helps Keep Rivers Flowing
(8/27/01) This summer many Montana rivers have been flowing at extremely low levels, due in part to a prolonged cycle of drought and low snowpacks. Water levels are also drawn down by farmers and ranchers watering livestock and irrigating their crops. As hot weather and low water levels continue, many people are worried about the survival of some of Montana's legendary trout fisheries. In this critical situation, NCAT's Montana Rivers Project is receiving recognition for its work with farmers and ranchers to improve irrigation efficiency and keep as much water as possible in the rivers.
For several years the Montana Rivers Project has worked with irrigators in Montana's Jefferson River watershed, helping them accurately determine soil moisture levels and avoid overwatering. Last summer NCAT introduced a new, affordable in-field soil moisture meter. These meters take much of the guesswork out of irrigation, tracking precise moisture levels in the field and giving agricultural producers much greater control over the irrigation process. A small datalogger is connected to moisture sensors buried throughout the irrigator's field. A display screen shows current moisture levels at each sensor and also displays moisture levels graphically for the past five weeks. The effect is startling and vivid, something like looking at an x-ray machine or ultrasound monitor. Irrigators report feeling that, for the first time in their lives, they are looking directly at a previously invisible world beneath the surface of the soil.
Armed with this new information about how water is moving through their soils, many irrigators are finding that they can cut the amount of water they use, leaving more water in streams and rivers, maintaining or improving crop yields, and reducing their pumping costs. With sharp energy cost increases expected in the next few years, these energy savings are becoming important to the economic survival of many Montana farmers and ranchers.
This year the Montana Rivers Project has expanded to include irrigators in several more watersheds, including the Big Hole, Blackfoot, Beaverhead, Clark Fork, Red Rock, and Yellowstone Rivers. NCAT has now helped install 63 soil moisture monitors. Many of these projects are taking place in cooperation with three local watershed groups: the Jefferson River Watershed Council, Big Hole Watershed Committee, and Blackfoot Challenge. In keeping with NCAT's mission of promoting self-reliance, the Montana Rivers Project is teaching local groups how to install their own soil moisture monitors and run their own irrigation efficiency projects.
Besides introducing new irrigation technologies, the project sees itself as playing a facilitating and coordinating role: bringing people together who have not traditionally talked to each other, putting on educational and training events, and creating a climate where there is more trust, more support for experimentation and learning, and better communication among stakeholders. Drought conditions bring out the best and the worst in the people who live along Montana's rivers, and they take a terrible toll on some of the best-loved fisheries in the world. After five years of working on this problem, the Montana Rivers Project believes that the keys to progress are as likely to be social and psychological as they are to be narrowly technical.
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NCAT Marks 25 Years of Service
(8/20/01) On Friday, August 24, 2001, NCAT will observe its 25th anniversary with an open house at its Butte office and release of the new report "National Center for Appropriate Technology: Celebrating 25 Years of Service."
The public is invited to attend the open house that takes place from 3 to 6 pm at NCAT's distinctive Butte office. Built in the early 1900s as a poor farm hospital, today the building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. In a modern addition to its historic character, the building features a 4kW solar electric demonstration system that will be on view at the open house.
During the open house Montana NCAT employees will staff displays showcasing the many projects the organization conducts in the state and nationally. Visitors will be able to learn about the information clearinghouses operated by NCAT, see examples of resource efficient building materials, and experience renewable energy technologies. NCAT's Sustainable Energy program will demonstrate how anamometers are used to assess wind power potential, and how solar-powered pumps can be used for stock watering applications. Interactive displays will let the public experience renewable energy generation.
Members of NCAT's national Board of Directors and the management team from NCAT's Fayetteville, Arkansas office will also be on hand for the open house. The event will include a variety of locally-grown and organic refreshments.
NCAT's hot-off-the-press anniversary retrospective "Celebrating 25 Years of Service" is a 16-page report that highlights some of the groundbreaking work the organization has done over the past quarter century in helping people -- especially poor people-- solve problems in energy, housing, agriculture, communities and the environment through the application of appropriate technologies. The report summarizes NCAT's past and current projects, and provides a clear portrait of an enduring and vibrant organization ready to embark on its next 25 years.
NCAT Looks Back Over 25 Years
(8/13/01) As NCAT prepares to celebrate its 25th anniversary August 24, the organization is taking the opportunity to look back at some of its highlights during the past quarter century. Through numerous projects in the areas of energy, housing, communities, agriculture and the environment, NCAT has provided information, technical assistance, and technologies to people across the United States, improving lives and protecting the environment at the same time.
Over the course of its history, NCAT has employed nearly 600 staff members, ranging in experience from student interns to specialists with doctorates in their fields. NCAT's offices have been a positive force in their communities, providing living-wage jobs, co-sponsoring state and local events and community gardens, and offering public access to a wide range of information resources. NCAT staff members also support their communities through United Way and Montana Shares workplace giving programs, and by donating volunteer time to many worthy causes.
For 25 years NCAT has been serving people—particularly economically disadvantaged people—and bettering lives by promoting and demonstrating appropriate technologies. As just a small sampling, NCAT has weatherized homes, installed solar electric systems, monitored energy use, devised water and energy savings plans, trained agency staff, administered funding for community projects, and helped farmers try new crops and find new markets. NCAT has been privileged to work under contracts and grants with federal agencies including the Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Health and Human Services. NCAT has also worked with state agencies and universities in Montana, Arkansas, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, and with national, regional and local nonprofit organizations across the country.
NCAT is pleased to be the administrator of several well-respected and long-running federally- funded projects, including:
- Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA), providing sustainable agriculture information since 1987
- LIHEAP Clearinghouse, providing information to Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program providers since 1988
- Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development Website, operating since 1995.
NCAT is also pleased to be continuing a number of other projects, and embarking on several exciting new projects. It is an organization with an outstanding track record and a bright future.
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NCAT Opens California Office
(8/6/01) This Summer NCAT has opened an office in Davis, California that will house staff from the organization's Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development program. Over the past several years, NCAT had found that California generated the largest number of information requests to the Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA) project's technical assistance service. NCAT responded by establishing a local office to better serve the needs of the California agricultural community, to reach out to minority and limited-income farmers, and to look for new ways to expand NCAT's work in sustainable communities and sustainable energy. The office is coordinated by Rex Dufour, who has held a variety of positions with NCAT since 1994.
State records show that half of US-grown fruits and vegetables originate in California. According to the California Farm Bureau Federation, there are 27,800,000 acres of farmland in the state, providing 1.4 million jobs and an average daily output of $75.8 million. With a new office in the state, NCAT is ideally poised to furnish information on sustainable agriculture to a vast and important market. "California is a leading player in US sustainable agriculture and organic farming," says Dufour. "Our new office will allow NCAT to become more responsive to regional differences in sustainable agriculture and gather cutting-edge information…on behalf of the farmers we serve nationwide."
Initially, the California office will be concentrating on the ATTRA project, through which NCAT provides technical assistance to farmers, extension agents, market gardeners, agricultural researchers, and other ag professionals. Topics addressed by ATTRA can be categorized into three broad areas: sustainable farming production practices, alternative crop and livestock enterprises, and innovative marketing. Technical assistance, publications, and resources are provided free of charge to appropriate users. ATTRA is funded through a cooperative agreement with the USDA Rural Business--Cooperative Service agency.
NCAT's new California office shares space with the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF), in a historic house on the T.S. Glide Ranch in Davis. The office opened with one staff member and plans quick expansion.
NCAT Awarded EPA Grant for Water Quality Education in Fayetteville Schools
(7/30/01) Beginning this fall, students and teachers from six pilot classrooms in Fayetteville, Arkansas will conduct hands-on experiments in the natural laboratory of Fayetteville's waterways to determine the well being of area streams and aquatic habitats. The "Streams as Living Laboratories" project will use this novel pilot program directed by NCAT and funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to assess how area land use is impacting the health of community streams.
"This is a fabulous opportunity for Fayetteville students," according to Barbara Bellows, NCAT Program Specialist and project manager for the new initiative. "Water is an essential part of our environment. Increasing our students' practical knowledge of watersheds and stream ecology is a great investment in Fayetteville's future. NCAT is excited about this pilot initiative and we hope that it can be expanded to include even more classrooms in the coming years."
Partners in the "Streams as Living Laboratories" project include the City of Fayetteville, the Fayetteville School District, the Fayetteville Urban Resources Stream Team, the Lake Fayetteville Environmental Center and the Arkansas Water Resources Laboratory.
The "Streams as Living Laboratories" initiative is a hands-on program that will involve students and educators in stream clean-up activities, water quality analyses and experiments measuring the impacts of land use practices on stream ecology. Project activities will increase students' understanding of their local environment and will provide students and teachers with a dynamic natural laboratory where they can use inquiry-based learning skills to integrate science, math, literature and social studies curricula.
NCAT and its partners plan to expand this pilot project to work with schools throughout the area. They will work with teachers to develop a "Streams as Living Laboratories" training manual. This manual will include water quality assessment methods, experiential activities that engage students in inquiry-based problem solving about environmental dynamics and guidelines for conducting educational programs for community members.
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Sun4Schools Project Introduces Montana Students to Solar Power
(7/23/01) Sun4Schools is a project of NCAT's Sustainable Energy program, funded by Montana Power Company through the Universal System Benefits Charge. In 2000, its first year, Sun4Schools accepted applications to participate in the project from 12 middle and high schools within the Montana Power service area.
Through Sun4Schools two-kW photovoltaic (PV) systems were installed at Butte High School, Butte East Middle School, Choteau High School, Darby High School, Fort Benton High School, Geyser High School, Hamilton High School, Red Lodge High School, Stevensville High School, Sussex Middle School (in Missoula), Utterback Middle School (in Conrad) and Victor High School.
The project was designed to demonstrate the benefits of solar energy while providing a unique educational opportunity for students and their communities. NCAT compiled curriculum materials for the schools to use in conjunction with the installation and power output of their new photovoltaic systems.
Much of the educational benefit of the project comes from an instrumentation and data collection package installed at each participating school. Seven of the schools received extensive monitoring systems which collect both PV system power output and solar energy input, along with wind speed, outside air temperature, and the school's total electrical consumption and demand. The other five schools received monitoring systems which collect PV system power output, as well as the school building's total electrical consumption and demand.
Data from the schools is collected on-site by the monitoring systems, transferred to a computer server via telephone line, and displayed on the Internet at http://www.newhorizontech.com/schools_frameset.htm. Participating schools can compare their system's performance and total building energy use with the other schools in the project.
NCAT is continuing its Sun4Schools project for a second year, with installations of PV systems on another five schools in the Montana Power Company service area planned for Fall 2001.
NCAT Staff Member Wins National Sustainable Agriculture Award
(7/16/01) NCAT program specialist Nancy Matheson has received recognition from the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture at the Campaign's annual meeting in Washington, DC, in recognition and appreciation for her farming innovations, organizational accomplishments and farmer-led policy development. The National Campaign is a policy development and education organization made up of more than 2,000 organizations nationwide that work on policy issues related to sustainable agriculture.
"Nancy has been a role model for both farmers and advocates in Montana and nationwide," National Campaign Founding Director Amy Little said. Folks across the U.S. who are involved in the work of sustaining a future for our farms and ranches and conserving our natural resources recognize Nancy as a key leader.
"It's about time that Nancy has been recognized for her sustainable ag efforts," said Grant Jackson, Associate Professor of Agronomy at Western Triangle Ag. Research Center in Conrad, Montana. "I can't imagine anyone doing more than Nancy to promote, encourage, research, talk about, write about, organize educational programs about, or be more committed to sustainable ag practices. She walks the talk about sustainable ag."
Before joining NCAT, Matheson served as the Agriculture Program Manager for the Alternative Energy Resources Organization from 1987 to 1998. She has also directed a national agricultural project for the National Governors' Association and was agriculture project coordinator for the Western Governors' Association. She served as agriculture policy aide to former Montana governor Ted Schwinden. Matheson currently provides technical assistance and policy expertise through NCAT's ATTRA project, and is herself an organic farmer.
"If Montana agriculture is to survive and thrive, it will require innovative ownership structures, greater enterprise diversity and closer connections to customers," Matheson said, adding that all of these characterize her farm in the Helena Valley, where she raises certified organic alfalfa, herbs and seed spices.
NCAT Launches Affordable Sustainability Program and Website
(7/9/01) NCAT has recently posted a new website to help facilitate the use of sustainable design in affordable housing. The website is part of NCAT's Affordable Sustainability Technical Assistance (ASTA) project, a multi-year project funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Specifically, the ASTA project provides technical assistance to recipients of HOME grants, to encourage HOME-funded projects to incorporate principles of sustainable design. The new www.homeasta.ncat.org website is one of the first components of the ASTA project, which also includes a toll-free telephone hotline, and will conduct training sessions, and a release a collection of affordable, sustainable building solutions.
The www.homeasta.org website introduces visitors to the principles of sustainable design, and then provides specific recommendations for implementing these principles in the design and construction of affordable housing. Energy efficiency, material efficiency, water efficiency and regionally appropriate design are identified as key aspects of sustainability for affordable housing. The recommendations provided are applied in the Pre-Design, Design, Construction, and Occupancy stages of a building project, to help a project match a series of sustainable design patterns.
Case studies that illustrate application of sustainable design patterns in actual building projects across the United States are also featured at www.homeasta.ncat.org. In addition, a resource section of the site provides links to many sources of further information on particular aspects of affordable, sustainable residential design. The site also allows visitors to submit questions for personal assistance, and offers a forum for site users to discuss their applications of sustainable design.
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