Amador County – A USDA forum on jobs, economic development and sustainable communities will be held in Plymouth Feb. 15, with an appearance by the state director of USDA Rural Development.

Valerie Klinefelter, president of the California Association of Resource Conservation & Development Councils, said the forum is for all of Amador County, and she lobbied successfully for it to be held in Plymouth this year. It is the follow-up to last year’s forums, held to gather information from residents of every rural county in the United States, not to mention nearly every county in California. But not every county hosted its own forum.

Klinefelter, a former mayor of Plymouth, said: “Amador County did not get one last year,” so she “was insistent on getting one in Amador County this year.”

Last year, Amador County was lumped into a forum held in El Dorado County. Klinefelter said there is a distinct difference between the needs in the two counties. This year, a forum will be held in Plymouth City Hall.

Klinefelter said she has notified Assemblywoman Alyson Huber’s office about the forum, and given the proposed closure of the Preston Youth Correctional Facility, she hoped someone from Huber’s office will attend.

Besides being the state association president, Klinefelter is executive director of the Central Sierra Resource Conservation & Development Council, based in Jackson, and covering Amador, Alpine, Calaveras, Mono and Tuolumne counties. She said the workshop would be worthwhile to attend just to hear Dr. Glenda Humiston speak. Humiston is the California State Director of USDA Rural Development.

Klinefelter said Humiston will attend the forum and will probably speak for about 45 minutes, talking about last year’s forums, the resulting report, prospects in the state, and USDA Rural Development’s “role in helping turn California’s economy around.”

Humiston was appointed by President Obama in 2009. She worked as a western states consultant on environmental and agricultural issues, during which she “developed a Rangeland Water Quality Management plan for the state of California that has become a model in many western states.”

Humiston completed her Ph.D. at U.C. Berkeley in 2009, with her dissertation entitled “Sustainable Agriculture as U.S. Farm Policy: Opportunities and Threats to Reform.”

The report to be discussed at the forum is the USDA Rural Development’s “Jobs, Economic Development and Sustainable Communities” report, written after 43 community forums were held around rural California, talking to nearly 900 people about their concerns.

The forum is 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday, Feb. 15, at Plymouth City Hall, at 9426 Main Street in Plymouth. To see a copy of the report online, see USDA’s website.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.