10.29.13
State
Gaillet out as Jackson Public Works director
Jackson mayor wants a change
Clarion Ledger
Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba has dismissed Public Works Director Dan
Gaillet, signaling that a long-anticipated overhaul of the department is
underway.
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20131029/NEWS/310280040/Gaillet-out-Jackson-Public-Works-director?nclick_check=1
Eutaw-McShan aquifer means good water for Columbus
Commercial Dispatch
October 28, 2013 9:55:53 AM
Nathan Gregory - ngregory@cdispatch.com
EDITOR'S NOTE: There are few infrastructure systems as critical to a
community's health and prosperity as a city's water supply. Beginning with
Sunday's look at the Columbus wastewater treatment facilities, The Dispatch
continues an examination of three critical aspects of the water system with
today's look at the city's water supply.
Mitchell Brown makes sure Columbus residents have clean water to drink.
He does this by overseeing the city's two water treatment and distribution
plants and the equipment that processes raw water from 1,000 feet
underground into something fit for consumption.
http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=28304
DMR investigates underwater debris field
WLOX
BILOXI, MS (WLOX) -The DMR is warning boaters to avoid an area near the
Biloxi-Ocean Springs Bridge. An underwater debris field, just north of the
bridge span, poses a real danger to navigation.
http://www.wlox.com/story/23808389/dmr-investigates-underwater-debris-field
Regional
Cat Island National Wildlife Refuge management to be discussed at Nov. 18
public meeting
Mark Schleifstein
The Times-Picayune
October 28, 2013 at 6:34 PM
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service will hold a public meeting in mid-November
to discuss how best to manage the Cat Island National Wildlife Refuge near
St. Francisville, which is home to the largest American bald cypress tree
east of the Sierra Nevada mountains.
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2013/10/cat_island_national_wildlife_r.html#incart_river
National
Coal-state lawmakers seek to block EPA power plant rules
Fox News
A pair of coal-state lawmakers introduced legislation on Monday that would
scale back the Environmental Protection Agency's push to impose carbon
dioxide limits on power plants.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/29/coal-state-lawmakers-push-to-block-epa-power-plant-rules/?intcmp=latestnews
Bipartisan duo launch attack on EPA climate rules
The Hill
By Ben Geman - 10/28/13 05:33 PM ET
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) are floating
legislation to greatly scale back Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
carbon emissions rules for new coal-fired power plants.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/331007-bipartisan-duo-launch-attack-on-epa-coal-rules
Opinion
Direct fine monies to coastal environmental restoration
Clarion Ledger
Written by Captain Louis Skrmetta
After almost 40 years of ferrying passengers out to the barrier islands, I
know better than most that a healthy Gulf and Sound is essential to
Mississippi's economy.
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20131029/OPINION/310290009/Direct-fine-monies-coastal-environmental-restoration?gcheck=1
Sid Salter: Examine underlying costs of federal budget cuts on the state
Clarion Ledger
Politicians talk earnestly, passionately and with historical flourishes
about cutting federal spending.
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20131027/OPINION/310270012/Sid-Salter-Examine-underlying-costs-federal-budget-cuts-state
Press Releases
TORNADO PREPAREDNESS WEEK DECLARED
PEARL – Gov. Phil Bryant has proclaimed the week of Oct. 28 to Nov. 1 as
Tornado Preparedness Week in Mississippi.
Every year tornadoes pose one of the biggest threats to our state. The
months of November and March see the second highest average number of
tornadoes annually in the state of Mississippi behind April.
Tornadoes spawn from powerful thunderstorms and can cause deaths and
devastate neighborhoods in seconds, sometimes with little to no warning.
Between 1950 and 2012, Mississippi was struck by 229 tornadoes in the month
of November.
"We saw how effective preparedness can be during the Pine Belt tornadoes
back in February as hundreds of homes were destroyed, but there was not one
death," said Mississippi Emergency Management Agency Director Robert
Latham. "When our citizens know what to do, lives are saved and all we have
to do is go in and help with rebuilding."
The National Weather Service will conduct a statewide tornado drill at 9:15
a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 30. The NWS will use the Routine Weekly Test on NOAA
weather radios to simulate an actual tornado warning. All local emergency
managers, schools, businesses and residents throughout the state are
encouraged to participate in this drill.
A tornado appears as a rotating, funnel-shaped cloud that extends from a
thunderstorm to the ground with whirling winds that can reach in excess of
200 miles per hour. Damage paths can be in excess of one mile wide and 50
miles long. Mississippi averages 29 tornadoes and seven deaths per year
since 1950, according to the weather service.
"Over the past 20 years, about 80 percent of tornadoes during the month of
November have occurred at night, and more than half of the tornadoes in
December and January have also occurred at night. This presents a
challenge to our residents to remain weather aware during the overnight
hours," said NWS Jackson Meteorologist in Charge Alan Gerard. "A NOAA
Weather Radio is the best way to make sure that you receive a warning when
asleep."
For more information, contact MEMA External Affairs at 866-920-MEMA (6362),
or visit us online at www.msema.org. You may also visit the National
Weather Service for more tornado preparedness information at
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jan/?n=swad
A copy of Gov. Bryant's proclamation is attached.
###
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Secretary Vilsack Highlights First-Ever Report on USDA Efforts to Expand |
| Agroforestry Practices on Farms, Ranches and Woodlands |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
|WASHINGTON, October 28, 2013 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today |
|released the first-ever report on USDA's role advancing agroforestry. |
|Agroforestry: USDA Reports to America details how agroforestry practices are|
|helping farmers, ranchers and woodland owners enhance agricultural |
|productivity, protect the environment and increase profits. |
| |
| |
|"USDA has invested less than one percent of its budget into tree-based |
|practices. Yet that small investment allows us to help create private goods |
|and public services that reap great rewards, including reduced greenhouse |
|gas emissions and more resilient agricultural lands," Vilsack said. |
|"However, much work remains to promote and sustain agroforestry practices, |
|which have great potential to promote economic growth and job creation in |
|rural communities." |
| |
| |
|Agroforestry is a management approach that intentionally combines |
|agriculture and forestry to create more sustainable land-use systems. Over |
|the last five years, USDA has assisted landowners financially and with |
|technical guidance to establish roughly 336,000 acres of windbreaks, |
|riparian forest buffers and alley cropping; about 2,000 acres of |
|silvopasture; and about 500 acres of forest farming. Those acres represent |
|less than 1 percent of the potentially suitable land for applying those |
|practices, suggesting there is an opportunity to significantly expand the |
|application of agroforestry in the United States. |
| |
| |
|"Agroforestry provides benefits beyond rural areas," Vilsack said. "In |
|suburban areas, agroforestry practices can improve wildlife habitat, |
|mitigate the movement of odors and dust, serve as noise barriers and act as |
|filters that help keep water clean." |
| |
| |
|Agroforestry: USDA Reports to America is a cross-Departmental effort from |
|eight agencies serving on the Agroforestry Executive Steering Committee: |
|Agricultural Marketing Service; Agricultural Research Service; Farm Service |
|Agency; National Agricultural Statistics Service; National Institute of Food|
|and Agriculture; Natural Resources Conservation Service; Rural Development; |
|and U.S. Forest Service. These agencies work closely with the USDA National |
|Agroforestry Center to advance the science, practice and application of |
|agroforestry, and guide implementation of the USDA Agroforestry Strategic |
|Framework. A longer version of the report will be posted by USDA soon. |
| |
| |
|With the release of this report on agroforestry, USDA wants to start a |
|national conversation about agroforestry with producers, landowners, |
|communities and young people - America's future farmers. |
| |
| |
|"Our goal is and always has been to help landowners understand that trees - |
|and other permanent vegetation - planted in the right place for the right |
|reason, will add value to their lands," said Wayne Honeycutt, USDA Natural |
|Resources Conservation Service Deputy Chief for Science and Technology, who |
|chairs USDA's Agroforestry Executive Steering Committee. "Through the |
|report, we are able to show landowner successes. In some cases, family farms|
|have been saved and woodlands spared from development. We hope by showing |
|these stories, more landowners will see the potential for their operations."|
| |
| |
|To access the report, visit www.usda.gov/agroforestry. Send comments and |
|questions about the report and USDA's role in agroforestry to |
|agroforestry@USDA.gov. |
| |
| |
|# |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
