Author: Site Owner

By Max Bennett, OSU Extension Forestry & Natural Resources Extension, Jackson & Josephine Counties

Terry Fairbanks is staff silviculturist for the Bureau of Land Management, Medford District, and a small woodland owner in the Applegate Valley.  In this interview, I ask Terry for her thoughts on adapting to climate change in southern Oregon’s hot, dry, fire-prone forests.

Q: Terry, tell us about your background. 

TF: I’ve been a forester for over 30 years.  I started with the US Forest Service on the Mt Hood, and worked on the Willamette and Umpqua and made my way southward.  I switched to the BLM 13 years ago.  Most of my career I’ve been a silviculturist.  I spent a little while as a timber supervisor.  I’m responsible for reforestation, young stand management and I work with the prescription foresters.  I also participate in planning efforts at the District level.

Q: What are some of your concerns about climate change in the Rogue Basin? 

TF: There are a lot of concerns…one is that that trees planted today won’t be adapted in 50 years.  My biggest concern, though, is catastrophic fire. Catastrophic fire takes out a lot of wildlife habitat that you can’t easily replace such as large trees and certain mixtures of species. And it speeds up the transition to non-forest vegetation.

The Douglas Complex fire was 50,000 acres, and we’re still planting 3 years later.  We are planting 2 million trees per year.  We had a small reforestation program, but now we are spending four months a year and hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to plant behind the fires.  So, how do we get the right mix back into plantations when we have a big fire like that?  Are they adapted for the future?  And there are areas we don’t plant because they are inaccessible or we just haven’t got to them yet.

Q: With reforestation on the Douglas fire, are you doing anything differently?

TF: It’s pretty much business as usual.  Some of the climate change adaptation science hasn’t filtered down.  We can suggest things to people, like plant more pine or expand the seed zones but at this point we don’t have approaches that are agreed upon.  Each manager is making their own judgements. We only have guidelines at this point.

Q: Are you seeing any other climate-related trends locally?

TF: Yes, in the ecotones, for example Douglas-fir is dying at low elevations in the Applegate from the flatheaded fir borer.  There are changes at higher elevations from the early snowmelt such as early bud burst.  From a forest tree perspective locally I don’t know if it’s as evident that the climate is changing.  But trees do appear to be leafing out earlier.  Now here’s another noticed effect:  Just as we are closing down the Provolt Seed Orchard (for reasons other than climate), those orchard units that were previously subject to spring frosts, have been really producing seed, because they are not getting the frost in the spring.  There are good effects and bad effects from climate change.

Q: Any thoughts about managing Douglas-fir, or other species, in the Rogue Valley, in light of climate change? 

TF: Again I think catastrophic fire is the stage on which things change from a tree perspective.  But, if you’ve read any of Connie Harrington’s research on phenology, here’s the weird thing about climate change effects on Douglas-fir:  It appears that higher elevation Douglas-fir is going to fare better than low elevation Douglas-fir.  Douglas-fir needs a certain period of dormancy.  It’s a combination of low temperatures over a certain period of time, so the lower the temperature the less time is needed in dormancy.  If it’s cold, but not very cold, trees need a longer period.  Well, the big concern is that in northern California with much warmer temperatures, bud burst could actually occur later in the season, when soil moisture is more limited¹.

Q: You’re a small woodland owner in the Applegate Valley.  Tell us a little about your property and your management approach. 

We have 20 acres, on west and northwest slopes, with Douglas-fir, a few white fir, sugar pine, ponderosa pine, both types of oak, lots of madrone and manzanita.  It’s a Doug-fir/poison oak habitat type.

We’ve done a lot of thinning, but have been pretty conservative.  We have a dozen or so fir dying and have lost a couple of sugar pine in the last two years.  It is not nearly as bad as some nearby areas where there are patches of 50 or more trees dying.

We are thinking about planting more pine and adjusting the ratio of Douglas-fir to pine.  At our elevation of 2000 feet, Douglas-fir is more affected by drought than ponderosa pine and may not survive over the long term. We also want to create more openings and retain tree clumps to break up the stand continuity and reduce overall density. You know, it’s funny, other owners on our road system, some of them don’t thin at all, some have, and all seem to have some Douglas-fir mortality from the flat-headed borer!

Q: What are some of the things you’re doing at BLM to evaluate and monitor climate effects?

A: When climate change funding first became available I competed and was funded for a proposal to look at low elevation climate changes.  We put in 44 permanent plots in oak and Douglas-fir ecotone sites.  I am dying to go back to those plots to see how they’re doing.  The ideas is that in the Douglas-fir-oak ecotone, to see in 20 years, if the Douglas-fir is still growing and naturally regenerating in the understory.

We also funded an analysis of the effect of climate change on oak habitat.  It turns out there were three variables that predicted where oaks grow: soil moisture, depth to bedrock and ph.    Three climate change scenarios were examined: all three predicted an increase in temperature but there was some uncertainty about more or less moisture.  Areas were identified where oak would persist under all three scenarios so that we can prioritize restoration work.

We have a drought study at the old Sprague seed orchard that BLM is funding, to look at the genetics of drought resistance in DF.  We have always bred for volume and growth in the past; no one has done breeding for drought resistance in DF that I know of.

Emilie Henderson (PNW Research Station) has been modelling implementation of the Southern Oregon Forest Restoration Collaborative (SOFRC) Strategy under hot and dry and warm and moist scenarios.  The broad scale models presents the possibility of a move to a more subtropical forest in SW Oregon by the end of the century.  That doesn’t mean it will look like Central America, but maybe more like something in the San Francisco Bay Area, more of a mixed evergreen hardwood forest.  The effect on northern spotted owl habitat, particularly after 2050 doesn’t look promising, especially under a hot and dry scenario, but again, these are possibilities not certainties and point to the importance of restoration. The fact that trees live for a long time is an advantage if we can keep them healthy.

Q: What are you recommending for climate adaptation at a district level?

We encourage more ponderosa pine and other early successional species in the mix, wider spacing, and lower densities.  I’m referring to both planting and thinning.  Other activities include thinning around large trees, especially early seral trees such as oak, ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir.   This is something I think landowners can do as well.  We will be looking at planting from lower seed elevation zones for Douglas-fir.  How much you need to change seed zones depends on the species.  Some species have less variability in their genotype such as pine; others like Douglas-fir have a lot of genetic variability.

You know the climate is changing, and good conservation practices will make the forest more resilient.  We should try to get people to think about what they would do differently in the light of climate change.  For example, when replanting in lower elevation ecotone areas, adjust the species mix.

Q: You’ve talked a lot about fire, and all predictions are for more fire with climate change.  Are there any important directions in fire management you’d like to mention?

A: There is the possibility that when we do have fires, we could have a local team of folks at the agencies working with the fire team to gain some prescribed fire benefits.  There has been some movement in this direction but it certainly isn’t standard practice yet.  It would be very beneficial that when the fire crews backburn, that there will be some resource benefit from the fire, if possible.  Federal land managers in this area typically to treat 8-9 thousand acres in a year (as funding permits), however, up to 10-20 thousand acres could be treated in one fire and this could go a long way to help reduce fuels and density. There could be some resource benefits if we saw fires as an opportunity to gain fuel reduction by moving to a resource benefit approach, not just full suppression.

Fire is going to happen, why not take advantage of it? The more suppression we have, the more severe the fires will be.

References:

¹ Parks, Noreen; Harrington, Connie; St. Clair, Brad; Gould, Peter. 2010. The future of spring bud burst: looking at the possibilities. Science Findings 128. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station.  5 p.

For further reading:

DeRose, Robert J., and James N. Long. “Resistance and resilience: A conceptual framework for silviculture.” Forest Science 60.6 (2014): 1205-1212.

Millar, Constance I., Nathan L. Stephenson, and Scott L. Stephens. “Climate change and forests of the future: managing in the face of uncertainty.” Ecological applications 17.8 (2007): 2145-2151.

Millar, Constance I., and Nathan L. Stephenson. “Temperate forest health in an era of emerging megadisturbance.” Science 349.6250 (2015): 823-826.

Stephens, Scott L., et al. “Historical and current landscape‐scale ponderosa pine and mixed conifer forest structure in the Southern Sierra Nevada.” Ecosphere 6.5 (2015): 1-63.

USDA, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Science Finding, “Rise and Shine:  How do Northwest Trees Know When Winter Is Over?”  March 2016, Issue 183. http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/sciencef/scifi183.pdf

USDA, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, General Technical Report, PNW-GTR-900, Portland Oregon,  2014.  Climate change effects on vegetation in the Pacific Northwest: a review and synthesis of the scientific literature and simulation model projections http://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/46520

The post Climate Change Adaptation in Klamath-Siskiyou Forests: An Interview with Terry Fairbanks appeared first on Oregon Forests and Climate Change.

Find out the latest in forest news in this week’s Forest Digest!

Credit: USDA

• Scientists have identified a key way the Amazon’s forests may adapt to climate change — Washington Post
  A recent study published in the journal Nature Climate Change reveals the plant diversity resulting from new growth after climate-change-induced tree die off may actually help the Amazon rainforest to adapt to climate change.
• Drought in the Northern Forests? — USDA.gov
  As temperatures continue to warm, lower levels of rainfall could produce drought-like conditions in northern forests, such as in the New England region, although it may not be the type of drought the public is familiar with in the western U.S.
• Mending A Broken Heart? Nature Can Help You, Give You Emotional Balance; Study Reveals — Science World Report
  A new study analyzing the presence of nature’s impact on emotions and one’s heart reveals its ability to create healthy balance and regulate heart rhythms.
• Exploring How and Why Trees ‘Talk’ to Each Other — Yale Environment
  This Q&A with ecologist Suzanne Simard dives into trees’ use of a network of fungi and soil to communicate with neighboring plants and how climate change and clear cutting threaten this network of communication.

Spanning more than two decades, our partnership with Eddie Bauer has included interesting projects, major successes and more than 6.8 million trees planted. One of those highlights has been The One Tree Initiative, through which Eddie Bauer and American Forests have showcased just how much one tree — and you — can make a difference for our planet.

As we near the end of the initiative’s first year and to celebrate its successes, Eddie Bauer and American Forests created the #hug2give campaign, which launched this week at a special event in New York City.

Amid the backdrop of the beautiful High Line, with the sunset reflecting off the Hudson River in the distance, guests gabbed and snapped tree-hugging photos, spreading the word about #hug2give and the efforts of The One Tree Initiative. It was the perfect way to ring in the end of a great year that included tens of thousands of newly planted trees!

Staff from American Forests and Eddie Bauer had some fun at the #hug2give photo booth!

Thankfully, you didn’t have to attend the event to be able to participate in this wonderful initiative. Simply take a photo of you hugging a tree and post it to Twitter or Instagram, tagging #hug2give, #onetree, @americanforests and @eddiebauer. For each photo posted through September 15, Eddie Bauer will donate $50 to American Forests, giving one tree for every dollar donated up to 25,000 trees!

When you #hug2give and snap a pic, Eddie Bauer donates $50, giving one tree for every dollar, up to 25,000 trees!

So #hug2give today and help us reach our goal!

Sustainable Recreation mural created by artists from the VSA North Fourth Art Center. Photo credit: VSA Arts of New Mexico

Recently, U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell visited the agency’s Southwestern Regional Office in Albuquerque, NM, to review the status of a number of different programs. However, on this visit, the setting was very different than the normal business setting of a boring conference room.

This is because the Very Special Arts (VSA) North Fourth Art Center in Albuquerque was asked to paint a mural that represented what sustainable recreation meant to them. The art center immediately embraced and ran with the idea, creating a 6’ x 16’ movable mural that helped bring the outside inside.

The resulting work illustrates the message of an exciting recreation management movement called sustainable recreation and clearly articulates their love and passion for the land. Sustainable recreation is a new way of acting and thinking about how recreation improves lives, communities and the natural world. It engages with the enormous and creative energy of people who care for and benefit from public lands. This passion for natural resources inspires citizen stewardship of the land, creating a relationship in which people recognize the need to protect national forests and grasslands for future generations.

The mural paints the picture of public lands as the joyful heart of the community with people enriching their lives by being outdoors. A river represents the flow of benefits from public lands into the community and the words: only you, reminds us that citizens have a responsibility to be stewards of our natural heritage.

Artist Rudy Via from the VSA North Fourth Art Center. Photo credit: VSA Arts of New Mexico

In addition to the mural, two prop specialists from the Albuquerque Opera voluntarily contributed numerous hours and amazing talent to create a fake campfire, and brought in trees and benches to help create the outdoor scene.

The Recreation department also collaborated with one of their partner schools, the Albuquerque Sign Language Academy, whose students beautifully signed the song “This Land is Our Land” to the campfire group.

Forest Service employee Francisco Valenzuela, Regional Director of Recreation, Heritage and Wilderness Resources, was inspired to create a unique outdoors scene for meeting participants that would exemplify the concept of sustainable recreation.

Valenzuela’s vision was to create a campfire environment that would lend itself to storytelling between Chief Tidwell, agency employees and several partners in attendance who collaborate with the Forest Service.

Campfire scene created in the basement of the Southwestern Regional Office. Photo credit: US Forest Service

Secretary Vilsack swore me in to be the Under Secretary for Rural Development (RD), and I'm so proud of the work we've accomplished.

Eight years ago this month, the US economy went into free fall. The crash of the housing market led to a chain of historic levels of bankruptcies and layoffs. The stock market would eventually lose 20% of its value; family incomes, investments, and home values were being crushed. Along with that, the hopes and dreams of many families.

One month after stepping into office, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act – the greatest single investment in our nation’s economy since “The New Deal.”

And with that tool – that resource – the men and women of USDA Rural Development (RD) went to work with ‘boots on the ground’ in every part of rural America. Our field staff knew about the rural communities, businesses, and producers that had projects sitting at ‘go’ just waiting for a financial investment to get them off the ground.

The housing sector of the economy was most impacted by the recession. A strategic federal investment in rural housing put a stable floor back in the market and USDA’s Rural Housing Service (RHS) was a key player; When private lenders were pulling back, Rural Development was stepping up. RHS essentially doubled its production during the Recovery Act from making 73,000 mortgages in 2008 to 145,000 mortgages in 2009 and 150,000 mortgages in 2010.  Even after the Recovery Act ended, RHS averaged 150,000 mortgages over the next five-year period, thanks in large part to the expansion of our guaranteed loan program. The single family guaranteed home loan program has grown from averaging 36,000 mortgages in the eight years prior to 2009 to averaging nearly 136,000 mortgages over that last eight years – all by leveraging private lender funds with a federal guarantee which makes taxpayer dollars go farther and gets more deserving families their piece of the American Dream.

As President Roosevelt pulled America out of the Great Depression in the 1930s, he turned to USDA to bring electricity to rural America. In 2009, President Obama called on USDA and the Rural Utility Service to bring smart grid technology to those transmission lines, making them more efficient and reliable. The Recovery Act also addressed the next frontier in rural economic development: investing nearly $3 billion in telecommunications and broadband technology, providing high-speed internet access to nearly six million rural Americans. And, it brought unprecedented investments in rural water and wastewater systems communities that desperately needed them.

On top of that, The Recovery Act contained the single largest federal investment in renewable energy ever made. The Rural Business and Cooperative Service invested in bio-refineries, advanced biofuels, and the Renewable Energy for America Program (REAP). Since 2009, REAP has helped finance more than 11,000 renewable energy and energy efficiency projects that have reduced energy costs for roughly 15,000 rural businesses. When operational, these projects will generate or save almost 9 million megawatt hours – enough to power more than 730,000 homes and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more 5 million metric tons in carbon dioxide each year; the equivalent of removing more than 1.1 million cars from our roads.

In eight years, I am so proud of the work we’ve been able to do: leveraging private investment in rural America, partnering with local communities and maintaining the momentum of the Recovery Act by creating jobs, expanding opportunity for small businesses and improving the quality of life in rural America.

The people of rural America are resilient. They rise to take advantage of every opportunity for partnership. In my time as Under Secretary, I have received the blessings of Native American elders and the thankful tears of leaders who see our federal investment dollars as key to moving forward the big projects of water or housing or business that many thought impossible.  I am inspired by their hope in what we can do together.

After eight years of hard work and innovation, USDA Rural Development has achieved much for rural America.  Check out more of our results here: http://bit.ly/results-ch9.

USDA Under Secretary Lisa Mensah visiting the Kentucky Guild of Artists and Craftsmen

FAS Administrator Phil Karsting shows one example of U.S. organic produce from Earthbound Farms, now available at the Gourmet Market at Siam Paragon shopping complex in Bangkok. Photo credit: U.S. Embassy Bangkok, Thailand

In mid-August, I traveled to Southeast Asia and witnessed firsthand the great strides being made to help increase food security and trade. I also came to appreciate the immense potential for future trade opportunities in the area. I returned with a reaffirmed sense of urgency to continue building upon recent gains in trade with Thailand.

Thailand purchased a record $1.7 billion in food and agricultural products last year from the United States, making it our 13^th largest export market. Overall, U.S. agricultural exports to Thailand have grown by more than 150 percent over the past decade. Throughout my visit, growing demand for both U.S. bulk commodities and consumer products was very clear.

When I met with the Thai Feed Mill Association, we discussed the livestock industry’s growing need for grain. Total feed demand in 2005 was at 10.6 million metric tons and increased to 12.9 million metric tons in 2010. In 2015, due to insufficient local supplies of feed grains and co-products, Thailand imported feed ingredients totaling 17.9 million metric tons, valued at $1.7 billion.

FAS Administrator Phil Karsting serves as sous chef to Chef Benjamin B. from the DOCK Seafood Bar to prepare U.S. Scallop Tom Yam Au Gratin. The DOCK Seafood Bar is operated by Thailand’s largest importer of U.S. seafood, Thammachart Seafood Retail. Photo credit: U.S. Embassy Bangkok, Thailand

While in Thailand, I also had the opportunity to serve as sous chef to Chef Benjamin B. from the DOCK Seafood Bar in Bangkok. Thai consumers have developed a taste for safe, high-quality U.S. foods, from U.S. organic salad greens to U.S. seafood – all on full display during my visit to the Gourmet Market at Siam Paragon shopping complex. I also had an opportunity to discuss the quality, diversity and sustainability of U.S. seafood products. In 2015, roughly 10 percent of Thailand’s fish and seafood imports came from the United States, including tuna, sockeye salmon, Alaska pollock, lobster, cod and scallops.

Whether discussing future trading prospects in Thailand or elsewhere in the world, our principles and sustained focus on trade continue to point us in the same direction. At the Foreign Agricultural Service, much of our recent focus has been on Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) nations for obvious reasons. The TPP is significant – it brings together 12 countries representing nearly 40 percent of the world’s gross domestic product.  But other nations in the Pacific Rim, such as Thailand, are on the move and offering opportunities, too.

Trading platforms like TPP create enhanced paths for U.S. producers, who already have exports to thank for 20 percent of farm income. In addition, we must continue to cultivate sound business relationships with customers all over the world, and reinforce adherence to science-based and rules-based trading systems. These three principles are the foundation of TPP and the core principles that will help increase exports of made-in-America food and agriculture products across the globe for generations to come.

Fresh U.S. seafood available for customers to purchase at Gourmet Market in the Siam Paragon shopping complex in Bangkok. Top quality U.S. seafood is recognized in Thailand for being sustainably managed against overfishing, using science-based methods focused on maintaining and rebuilding stocks, and preserving the environment. Photo credit: U.S. Embassy Bangkok, Thailand

By Lindsay Seventko, American Forests

This coming Sunday, September 4^th, is National Wildlife Day! To celebrate, here are some of the adorable, impressive and incredible wildlife that have all had sections of their habitat restored through American Forests’ planting projects!

Ocelot

The endangered ocelot typically lives under the rainforest canopy in every South American country except Chile, but the large cat been seen as far north as Texas.

Credit: Debs via Flickr.

Sumatran Orangutan

There are only about 7,500 Sumatran orangutans left in the wild, primarily due to the deforestation of their rainforest habitat. Known as “People of the Forest,” orangutans are similar in build to a 6-foot human man and are highly intelligent.

Credit: Rob Chandler via Flickr.

Gopher Tortoise

The threatened gopher tortoise thrives in longleaf pine forests, which used to cover the southeastern U.S., digging burrows up to 40 feet in length for shelter and foraging, used by themselves and hundreds of other species.

Credit: FlaPack via Flickr.

Golden Lion Tamarin

The golden lion tamarin lives primarily in the shrinking Brazilian rainforest, in social groups and families where the males often care for and carry their offspring. They typically live exclusively in the forest canopy, sleeping in the hollows of trees and swinging from the branches to travel during the day.

Credit: Tambako the Jaguar via Flickr.

Mauii Parrotbill

The Mauii parrotbill is so rare that it was thought to be extinct during the early 1900s, but the current population is estimated to be around 500. Mauii parrotbills are monogamous and typically only have one chick a year, making population increases slow and incremental.

Credit: Andrew Smith via Flickr.

Spruce Grouse

The spruce grouse often goes undetected by bird-watchers not because of its few numbers, but because it usually sits completely still and isn’t easily disturbed. Unlike most birds, the spruce grouse makes its annual migration on foot.

Credit: Lois Smith via Flickr.

Monarch Butterfly

Monarch butterflies are known for their 3,000-mile migration through Mexico and California and for their ostentatious coloring that warns predators that they are poisonous. The mystery of the monarch’s great migration confounds scientists — butterflies who have never taken the migratory journey know exactly where to go and often end up on the exact same tree as their ancestor. Their dependency on a single destination in Mexico has resulted in them being ranked among the most endangered species in the world.

Araripe Manakin

Brazil’s Araripe Manakin is considered by many to be the most beautiful bird in the world. Only recently discovered in 1996, the bird lives in the riparian forest of the Araripe Plateau, an area highly threatened by deforestation.

Credit: Elis Simpson.

Grizzly Bear

Grizzly bears can grow to be up to 1,600 pounds, up to 14 feet in height (although most are much smaller) and run at speeds of up to 35 mph. The grizzly bear is an umbrella species, meaning that in order to protect them, their entire habitat ecosystem must be maintained and countless other species will also benefit.

Black-Throated Green Warbler

The black-throated green warbler comes alive during breeding season, when territorial males often sing around the clock to assert their dominance, sometimes up to 466 songs an hour. Reaching up to only 5 inches, birders joke that its name is longer than its body.

Credit: Fyn Kynd Photography via Flickr.

Rural Development State Director Vicki Walker staffing the USDA booth at the Eugene/Springfield Pride Festival along with representatives from the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Forest Service on August 13.

I recently had the privilege of representing the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development at the Eugene/Springfield Pride Festival in southwestern Oregon. We stood side-by-side with our counterparts at the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Forest Service. When this festival began 25 years ago, the idea of a government agency participating was unthinkable. At that time, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals had no assurance of equal treatment when requesting government services or financial assistance. In fact, it was not so long ago that federal employees suspected of being gay were fired from their jobs. This sad chapter in our history saw careers destroyed and lives irreparably damaged.

I am deeply proud of the tremendous progress we have made nationally and at home here in Oregon to correct those past mistakes. USDA has been among the first federal departments to participate in Pride festivals across Oregon, and we have been leading the way nationally in the arena of LGBT civil rights. We were one of the first federal departments to enact protections specifically on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. USDA has instituted training for our employees, and we have been making a concerted effort to reach out to our LGBT customers, partners, and potential future employees. As I handed out information on the financial programs in Rural Development and the career opportunities available with USDA in a park festooned with rainbows, I experienced first-hand the incredible strides we have made in recent years toward a new era of civil rights.

Ensuring our programs are accessible to the LGBT community is especially important for Rural Development, as we play a key role both in providing low-income rural residents with affordable housing and in providing access to capital for rural businesses to help them get off the ground, expand their operations, and provide more quality jobs. Last year alone, Rural Development provided nearly $480 million for affordable housing and $68 million to support rural businesses in Oregon. This assistance can be especially important for the LGBT community as a study by the Williams Institute found that LGBT individuals are more likely to live in poverty. According to the study, 24 percent of lesbian and bisexual women are poor compared with 19 percent of heterosexual women while transgender people are four times as likely to live in poverty as gender conforming individuals.

At this year’s Eugene/Springfield Pride Festival, I spoke to families, leaders in the community, young people just starting their careers, and seniors now helping to raise their grandkids. The refrain I heard from each one of them was a sincere and heartfelt thanks for being there, for visibly demonstrating our support for this long underserved community, and for setting an example as a government agency that is welcoming and open to our LGBT friends and neighbors.

Through outreach efforts like these, USDA is showing our commitment to civil rights as an employer of choice and an equal opportunity provider. To the everyday Americans who have shown the courage and confidence to say who you are and to make your voice heard, please know that USDA is here for you, not just during Pride celebrations, but year-round.

This year, USDA in Oregon has participated in Pride festivals across the state, including in Eugene, Portland, and Bend.