NOTICES
Farm Loans
Available for
Women, Minorities
PORTLAND, Ore. - The USDA’s
Farm Service Agency (FSA) recently
announced that loan funds are available
to help qualified women and minorities
buy and operate family-sized farms
and ranches.
FSA reserves a portion of its loan
and loan guarantee funds each year to
assist socially disadvantaged appli
cants. “Both targeted and non-targeted
loan funds can be used to help members
of socially disadvantaged groups buy
and operate farms,’’ said Larry Frey,
FSA’s Oregon state executive director.
Frey said that socially disadvan
taged groups are those whose members
have been subjected to racial, ethnic,
or gender prejudice because of their
identity as members of the group with
out regard to their individual qualities.
For the purposes of FSA’s loan pro
grams, socially disadvantaged groups
are women, American Indians, African
Americans, Alaskan Natives, Hispanics,
and Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders.
FSA’s loan and loan-guarantee
funds are available to individuals and
entities that are primarily and directly
engaged in farming and ranching on
family-sized operations. Farm own
ership loan funds are available to help
qualified individuals purchase a farm
or ranch.
To qualify, the applicant must have
participated in the business operation
of a farm or ranch for at least three
years. For those applicants who have
at least one year of experience in
managing or operating a farm or ranch,
operating loan funds are available to
help with the purchase of livestock,
machinery, and equipment, as well as
annual production expenses.
So far in FY2003, FSA has made
47 loans and loan guarantees to women
and minorities in Oregon, totaling more
than $4.5 million.
People who would like more
information should contact their nearest
USDA service center. These centers are
listed in telephone directories under
“United States Government, Depart
ment of Agriculture.” Further details
also are available on the Oregon state
FSA Web site - www.fsa.usda.gov/or.
OSU Expands High School Education Programs
A new program at Oregon State
University called OSU K-12 Online
will begin operating this fall, offering
high school students across Oregon and
the nation a broad cross-section of courses
in the language arts, math, and sciences
they can take for high school credit.
This is the most ambitious outreach
effort to K-12 students in the uni
versity’s history and one of the most
comprehensive in the state. Officials
hope it will help fill in the gaps caused by
public school cutbacks, budget crunches,
crowded schedules, remote locations,
and other needs around Oregon.
Within a few years, it will be
possible to obtain a complete,
accredited high school diploma from
OSU K-12 Online, taking courses from
some of the state’s finest and most
experienced teachers.
“OSU has always thought of the
state of Oregon as its campus, and this
program is a way to broaden our
statewide service during a time of
severe pressures on our public schools,”
said Paula Minear, director of enroll
ment and student services for OSU
Extended Campus, the university’s
distance education program. “We have
a long history of outreach to the K-12
level and this is the next step.”
The university already has
developed 23 courses for fall 2003, and
will have 10 more by January 2004. All
the courses have been developed in
cooperation with, and approved by,
public school District 509J in Corvallis,
Ore. Tuition for each course will be
$300. The program begins Sept. 8.
Among courses offered in the first
semester are algebra, creative writing,
journalism, marine science, American
history, psychology, international
studies, consumer economics, political
science, graphic arts, Spanish, family
living, digital imaging, web design, and
many others.
The OSU program initially will
focus on high school courses. But the
first middle school courses should be
added by January 2004 and, in future
years, elementary courses will be
included - mostly of an enrichment
nature in such areas as reading, writing,
math, or science.
According to Tryna Luton, K-12
outreach coordinator with OSU
Extended Campus, the trend of colleges
and other agencies assisting with high
school and other K-12 education is
gaining momentum across the nation.
“A lot of other universities are
already doing much more in this area
than Oregon,” Luton said. “State
universities in Indiana, Oklahoma,
Louisiana, and Utah already have large
outreach programs such as this, and
Texas has a major program. Florida has
a large ‘virtual’ school that’s not
associated with a public university. This
is one of the new growth areas in
distance education.”
The Corvallis public school district
has been an integral partner in the
development of the new program and
all of the courses meet its standards as
well as national standards. All teachers
will be fully certified and in most cases
have decades of experience.
More detail about the courses,
schedule, registration, and other
information can be found on the Web
at ecampus.oregonstate.edu, or by
calling 1-800-667-1465. Courses are
offered in both an 18-week and “fast
track” nine-week format.
Assess Your Forestland Road at Workshops
A two-day Forest Roads Workshop
will be held in several Oregon com
munities to help family forestland owners
assess their forest roads. The road
assessment process will help determine
if they can improve water quality or fish
habitat in support of the Oregon Plan
for Salmon and Watersheds.
Similar voluntary measures were
undertaken by the forest industry
several years ago and made a significant
difference. Besides family forestland
owners, the workshop also is appro
priate for road and logging contractors,
foresters, watershed council employees,
volunteers, and others interested in
forest roads. Participants will learn how
road systems can be improved to better
meet forest management goals in a cost-
effective manner.
The workshops are co-sponsored
by the Oregon State University College
of Forestry, the Oregon Department of
Forestry, the Oregon Forest Resources
Institute (OFRI), the Oregon Watershed
Enhancement Board (OWEB), the
Association of Oregon Loggers, and the
Committee for Family Forestlands of
the Oregon Board of Forestry. OWEB
and OFRI provided grant funding for
the workshops. Locations include:
Aug. 12-13-Eugene
Sept. 9-10 - Medford
Sept. 16-17 - Prineville
Day one will be a classroom session
that describes the importance of quality
habitat and how to assess existing roads
for problems, maintain and improve
forest roads, and develop contracts for
project work. Advice also will be
provided on locating technical and
financial assistance that’s available to
small woodland owners. An optional
evening session - Case Studies from
Local Landowners - also will be offered.
Day two will be an all-day field
session that consists of a hands-on
exercise to assess an existing road and
discuss maintenance and improvement
options with the participants. Infor
mation about easements and road use
issues also may be discussed.
“The information that is going to
be provided in this workshop is based
on several existing publications: The
Forest Road Management Guide Book
from the Oregon Department of
Forestry, the Oregon Forest Protection
Laws, An Illustrated Manual, and some
of the current research findings from
Oregon State University and other
universities,” said Jennie Cornell,
Outreach Education Extension forester,
Oregon State University.
The workshop fee is $50 per
participant. It includes notebook and
materials, lunch, and transportation to
the field site. Those interested in
attending a workshop can register on
line at http://outreach.cof.orst.edu/
roads/, or the conference coordinator
can be reached at 541-737-2329.
August 2003 □
Siletz News
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