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Tag: agriculture departments

  • Tom Vilsack Fast Facts | CNN Politics

    Tom Vilsack Fast Facts | CNN Politics

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    Here’s a look at the life of US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.

    Birth date: December 13, 1950

    Birth place: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

    Full name: Thomas James Vilsack

    Father: Bud Vilsack

    Mother: Dolly Vilsack

    Marriage: Christie (Bell) Vilsack (1973-present)

    Children: Jess and Doug

    Education: Hamilton College, B.A., 1972; Albany Law School J.D., 1975

    Was mentioned as a possible running mate for John Kerry during the 2004 presidential election process.

    Adopted as an infant from an orphanage by Bud and Dolly Vilsack.

    Ran for mayor of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, after his predecessor was shot and killed at a city council meeting.

    1975-1998 – Practices law.

    1987-1992 – Mayor of Mount Pleasant, Iowa.

    1992 – Elected to the Iowa Senate.

    1994 – Wins reelection to the Iowa Senate.

    1998 – Becomes the first Democrat elected governor of Iowa in more than 30 years.

    January 15, 1999-January 12, 2007 – Governor of Iowa.

    2004 – Chair of the Democratic Governors’ Association.

    November 9, 2006 – Vilsack files a statement of candidacy to run for the White House in 2008, becoming the first prominent Democrat to do so.

    February 23, 2007 – Drops out of the 2008 presidential race.

    March 26, 2007 – Endorses Hillary Clinton and becomes co-chairman of her national campaign.

    April 2007 – Joins Minneapolis-based international law firm Dorsey and Whitney as a managing partner.

    December 17, 2008 – Is nominated by President-elect Barack Obama to be agriculture secretary.

    January 21, 2009 – Is sworn in as the 30th secretary of the Department of Agriculture after a unanimous US Senate confirmation.

    July 19, 2010 – Calls for the resignation of USDA official Shirley Sherrod after an excerpted video clip of Sherrod is posted online, in which Sherrod discusses an incident involving a White farmer. Vilsack contends that he made the decision without conferring with the White House.

    July 21, 2010 – Vilsack apologizes to Sherrod after video of the full speech shows that her remarks from the clip were taken out of context. Vilsack offers Sherrod another job with the Department of Agriculture, which she later declines.

    January 15, 2016 – President Obama names Vilsack his Cabinet-level point person to address the problem of heroin and other opiate use in rural communities.

    January 13, 2017 – Vilsack steps down as agriculture secretary one week early.

    February 1, 2017 – Becomes the president and CEO of the US Dairy Export Council (USDEC).

    April 10, 2017 – Colorado State University announces that Vilsack and his wife, Christie Vilsack, will join the university as advisers.

    February 10, 2020 – Vilsack comes forward to claim the $150,000 Powerball prize he won on January 22 in the Iowa Lottery.

    February 23, 2021 – The US Senate confirms Vilsack for a second stint as agriculture secretary by a vote of 92-7. Vilsack is sworn in on February 24.

    April 9, 2022 – Vilsack, who is fully vaccinated and boosted, announces he has tested positive for Covid-19 and has “mild” symptoms.

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  • Parts of Florida’s Broward County are under quarantine after giant African land snails were detected | CNN

    Parts of Florida’s Broward County are under quarantine after giant African land snails were detected | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Some neighborhoods in Broward County in Florida are under quarantine Tuesday after sightings of invasive giant African land snails, known to be one of the most dangerous species, officials said.

    The quarantine, announced Tuesday, was established after snails were detected earlier this month in the Miramar area of the county, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said in a news release on Tuesday.

    Essentially, the quarantine means it is illegal to move a giant African land snail or plants, which includes soil, compost, and yard waste, in or out of the area without a compliance agreement from the agriculture department.

    State officials established two treatment areas within the quarantine zone, a map released by the department shows.

    The state agriculture department plans to use the same treatment methodology, which is metaldehyde-based molluscicide, a type of snail bait approved for residential use, according to the news release.

    Last year, the New Port Richey area of Pasco County was placed under quarantine after the snails were detected.

    Giant African land snails eat at least 500 different types of plants, and they can also chomp through stucco, plastic recycling bins and even signs. Their calcium shells bear pointy edges sharp enough to blow out tires of vehicles that run over them.

    “These snails could be devastating to Florida agriculture and natural areas as they cause extensive damage to tropical and subtropical environments,” the state Department of Agriculture said Tuesday.

    The snails also pose a health risk to humans because they carry a parasite called rat lungworm, which can cause meningitis, according to the state Department of Agriculture. The condition leads to swelling of membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.

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  • No. 2 at USDA, who led efforts to remedy historical racial discrimination, set to leave department | CNN Politics

    No. 2 at USDA, who led efforts to remedy historical racial discrimination, set to leave department | CNN Politics

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    Washington
    CNN
     — 

    Jewel Bronaugh, the No. 2 person at the US Department of Agriculture and the first Black woman in the position, will leave the department on Tuesday after a two-year tenure in which she led agency efforts to diversify its workforce and provide relief to farmers of color who say they have been discriminated against over the years.

    Bronaugh announced last month that she was leaving the agency in order to spend more time with her family. Xochitl Torres Small, the under secretary for rural development, has been nominated to succeed her.

    Along with helping steer a department that boasts 29 agencies and more than 100,000 employees across the country, Bronaugh has played a central role in the USDA’s efforts to remedy decades-long discrimination that has impacted farmers and ranchers of color. Most notably, she has co-chaired an independent commission that has examined the USDA’s policies and programs for factors that have contributed to historic discrimination against farmers of color and identify disparities, inequity and discrimination across the agency.

    “I understood as a Black woman, coming into the role as deputy secretary, the weight that went with that. The responsibility that went with that. The people who for years have not been able to get resources from USDA. The history that that has had on farmers and landowners and people who live in rural communities, I knew that I had a responsibility,” Bronaugh explained in an interview with CNN.

    “I knew coming in that there was a lot of work to be done and I was going to have to be real to that commitment, not only to everyone that USDA serves but specifically as a voice for people who have felt like they had not had a voice that represented in their interactions with the USDA. It was my responsibility to carry that.”

    Born and raised in Petersburg, Virginia, by educators, Bronaugh at first had aspirations to become an educator herself and earned a bachelor’s degree in education from James Madison University.

    But after earning a master’s degree and doctorate in vocational education from Virginia Tech, she stepped into agriculture when she took a job as a 4-H extension specialist at Virginia State University, a historically Black college and university. She also became dean of the College of Agriculture at Virginia State University and was executive director of the university’s Center for Agriculture Research, Engagement and Outreach.

    In May 2018, she was appointed commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and made history as the first Black woman in the position. She was confirmed to her current role in May 2021.

    At USDA, Bronaugh led international agricultural trade missions in the United Kingdom and countries in East Africa to help US farm businesses and organizations strengthen export and trade relationships.

    She also helped create a chief diversity and inclusion office within the Office of the Secretary and has focused on diversifying USDA’s workforce, which has seen a slight uptick in the number of employees of color over the course of her tenure. According to USDA data, 73% of USDA employees are White, 28% are employees of color and 11% are Black. Forty-five percent of USDA employees are women.

    Her very presence atop the department has been inspiring for current and former Black USDA employees, including Shirley Sherrod, who was the USDA’s director of rural development in Georgia before being pushed out under controversial circumstances in 2010.

    “The fact that she is the first Black woman to hold the position means a lot to us. It gives us hope for the future,” Sherrod, who is also a member of the Equity Commission, told CNN. “When you look at the US Department of Agriculture and you look at all of the actions we have suffered as Black people trying to get the programs that should have been available to everyone, to access them and feel that they were being implemented fairly – to actually have someone in the second position … really helping to oversee that and have a voice in places we don’t normally get a chance to be in, just to me meant a lot.”

    As Bronaugh prepares to leave the agency, one of her final orders of business will be to release the Equity Commission’s interim report on its findings on Tuesday, which she hopes will provide a blueprint for acting on the inequities she has tried to address during her time at USDA. She said there is no time frame on when the agency will begin implementing the recommendations but she is hopeful it will happen immediately. If confirmed by the Senate, Small would be tasked with presenting the commission’s final recommendations to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack later this year.

    “Being able to get the Equity Commission to a set of interim recommendations has been huge for me,” Bronaugh said. “That is going to give us an opportunity to look at, you know, where we have discretion, where we have authority and where we have resources to immediately start to address some of the historical inequity issues here are USDA.”

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  • Biden administration restores protections for Alaska’s Tongass forest | CNN Politics

    Biden administration restores protections for Alaska’s Tongass forest | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The Biden administration has restored protections for Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, the world’s largest intact temperate rainforest, sometimes called, “America’s Amazon.”

    The new protections, announced on January 25, repeal the 2020 Alaska Roadless Rule that opened the doors for road construction and timber harvest in the forest and also restore “longstanding roadless protections to 9.37 million acres of roadless areas that support the ecological, economic and cultural values of Southeastern Alaska,” according to a Department of Agriculture release.

    In 2020, President Donald Trump stripped protections from over half the forest’s acreage by exempting it from the original roadless rule implemented in 2001 during the last days of President Bill Clinton’s presidency. All five of Alaska’s tribal nations opposed the rollback.

    Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in the release that the protections were crucial for preserving biodiversity, addressing the climate crisis and prioritizing the voices of tribal nations.

    “As our nation’s largest national forest and the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world, the Tongass National Forest is key to conserving biodiversity and addressing the climate crisis,” Vilsack said. “Restoring roadless protections listens to the voices of Tribal Nations and the people of Southeast Alaska while recognizing the importance of fishing and tourism to the region’s economy.”

    The forest spans a total of 16.7 million acres which, are “critical for carbon sequestration and carbon storage to help mitigate climate change,” according to the Department of Agriculture. By absorbing carbon dioxide, forests like the Tongass can help offset America’s greenhouse gas emissions.

    The area is also a key tourist attraction as home to iconic Alaska wildlife such as eagles, bears, and salmon, according to the US Forest Service.

    In addition to its environmental significance, the forest also has “immense cultural significance” for Indigenous Alaskans, according to the USDA release. The forest falls within the traditional homelands of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian tribes. 

    On Twitter, the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska said that with the rollback, the USDA had “rectified a critical issue for our people who are most impacted by decisions affecting the Tongass National Forest. The Tongass was wrongly exempted from the Roadless Rule and without meaningful tribal consultation.”

    With the repeal, the forest will return to the 2001-era Roadless Rule that “prohibits road construction, reconstruction, and timber harvest in inventoried roadless areas, with limited exceptions,” the USDA news release stated.

    Homer Wilkes, the USDA undersecretary for natural resources and environment, said the move “reflects our continued focus on listening to Tribal Nations and people in Southeast Alaska.”

    “Protecting the Tongass will support watershed protection, climate benefits, and ecosystem health and protect areas important for jobs and community well-being – and it is directly responsive to input from Tribal Nations,” he said in the news release.

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