Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Page A-9
Strategic plan to be announced at IVCDO meeting
Judy Hoyle
IVN Contributing Writer
The public is invited to attend the annual
general membership meeting for the Illinois
Valley Community Development Organization
(IVCDO) April 21 at the RCC / Kerby Belt
Building, 24353 Redwood Hwy. The free
event will include several special presentations
this year, including review of the first draft of
the community strategic plan, titled “Illinois
Valley 20/20 Vision.”
The evening will start with socializing
and voting members’ sign-up at 5:30 p.m.
IVCDO membership is free and available to
all I.V. residents and business owners and
on-site registration will be available. The
program is slated to begin at 6 p.m. Guests are
asked to RSVP at 541-956-7400 so adequate
refreshments and other arrangements can be
obtained.
In addition to the annual recognition of
community volunteers and business leadership,
the event will include voting for the slate of
volunteer board members. Special recognition
of volunteer efforts to address the Valley’s
public safety crisis will also take place.
The lack of adequate funding for the
Josephine County Sheriff’s Office is the result
of the loss of federal payments through the
Secure Rural Schools Act and multiple public
levy defeats, including four such losses over
the past four years.
New this year, the IVCDO will also
acknowledge various county, state and federal
agencies and non-governmental organizations
which have contributed to IVCDO’s success
at creating opportunities for individual Valley
residents and an enhanced quality of life for
all.
IVCanDO Partnership Awards will go to
representatives of the Josephine County Board
of Commissioners for helping to fund the I.V.
Micro-loan program and the Oregon Parks and
Recreation Department for allowing the Forks
State Park to remain open through various
initiatives and the Adopt a Park partnership
with IVCDO.
Federal agency recognition will go to
USDA Rural Development for helping fund
the current strategic planning process and
home ownership programs and the Oregon
Caves National Monument and Preserve
(ORCA) for working with IVCDO to help
keep the Oregon Caves Chateau open and
attracting millions of tourism dollars into
the local economy. The IVCDO is the only
nonprofit National Park Service Concessioner
in the country.
For the past two years, the Oregon
Community Foundation’s innovative Studio to
School program has funded arts education at
Evergreen Elementary’s afterschool EverStars
program and Lorna Byrne Middle School’s
ArtNovas project; both theater and dance
programs.
The Ford Family Foundation Leadership
Institute Program’s (FFFLIP) ongoing
investment in the Illinois Valley has resulted
in many Valley residents being trained in
important self-assessment and collaborative
skills as well as community building projects
including the Jubilee Park playground, the
bioswale installation in front of Evergreen
Elementary and the disc golf course at Forks
State Park. The fourth and final cohort is
currently organizing a special series of events
around public safety awareness for the months
ahead. The foundation has also helped fund the
strategic planning process.
Rural Development Initiatives (RDI)
has been a longtime partner with FFFLIP,
delivering the training programs on behalf of
the public benefit foundation and coordinating
the companion I.V. Networking project, now
in its fifth year. RDI has also led the strategic
planning process with public workshops and
focus groups.
In addition, to the awards presentations,
the first draft of the strategic plan will be
evaluated by the public and comments and
suggestions will be solicited.
Can you see underwater? NASA can!
By Michael Gregory
National Aeronautics and Space
Administration
If you could, what would you want to
look at? Maybe to find out if a crab is about
to nibble on your toe? Well, if you were really
lucky, you might just see a beautiful coral reef.
What is a reef? It’s basically a big
collection of rocks sitting on the floor of the
ocean. Coral reefs are living reefs covered by
tiny animals called corals. They make their
skeletons on the outside of their bodies, like
a shell, andglueit to a rock—they stay in one
place for their whole life!
After corals die, their hard outer shells
stay attached to the reef. After years and years
of corals leaving their little skeletons behind, a
reef gets bigger and bigger. A reef in Australia
is so gigantic you can see it from space!
We have learned that coral reefs are very
sensitive to changes in temperature and light.
They don’t like it when they can’t get enough
clean water because the ocean has pollution in
it. And sometimes the water they are living in
gets too hot for them to survive.
In 2016. NASA invented a way to
study coral reefs from airplanes. Because
reefs are underwater, it’s not very easy to see
them clearly. That’s why NASA is going to
use a special instrument (called an imaging
spectrometer) to see how the reefs are doing.
Coral reefs are usually really pretty.
Some animals that live on reefs are fish, crabs,
eels, sharks, sea turtles, and starfish. A lot of
the fish living on coral reefs are very brightly
colored, which makes people want to go and
look at them. Just be sure to bring a mask
and snorkel so you can see and breathe under
water! And visit the Space Place web site to
learn more about Earth (http://spaceplace.nasa.
gov/all-about-earth/).
Image credit: Jim Maragos/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
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