Testimony before the Subcommittee on Forestry, Conservation and Rural Revitalization

of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

Cornelius P. Grant, Executive Director

North Dakota Rural Development Council

On behalf of the North Dakota Rural Development Council, and our fellow State Rural Development Councils in 35 States located across rural America, I initially wish to express

appreciation to this distinguised Committee for affording the opportunity to discuss the

common bounds of Organization, then describe several relationships unique to North Dakota.

The National Rural Development Partnership is a network of established and emerging rural

institutions that work together to strengthen rural America. Each of the State Councils is comprised of active, volunteer members from a broad range of rural development organizations, which are served by a full-time executive director. States may differ in how they are organized and, in the rural issues they decide to address.

The North Dakota Rural Development Council is governed by an 18 member Board of Directors, five derived from the private sector, including the chairman are appointed by the Governor of the State. Other Board members are elected by their peers to represent Community/Local Govern-ment, Major Communities, Tribal Government, and State and Federal Agencies. In addition, the State Director of the USDA-Rural Development serves in a liaison capacity. The full Board meets on a quarterly basis, and the five-member executive Committee meets every six-eight weeks and at the discretion of the Board of Directors' Chairman. One or more of the Board meetings are held in field locations, in regional centers or on one of the States' Four Indian Reservations.

I am an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and was born and reared on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation, located in northcentral North Dakota. I retired from 35 years of Federal civil service in 1996, having served twelve years with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, primarily in education and administration, and, twenty three years as the State Representative for the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration.

It is my understanding that I am one of two Native Americans presently serving as Council Executive Directors, the other being Chuck Akers from Alaska. Also, we have at least one Board of Directors Chairman in Quentin Fairbanks of the Minnesota Rural Partners.

In North Dakota, in addition to myself as the executive director, we have three other Native Americans on the Board of Directors. Governor's appointee, Jim Laducer represents the private sector, Austin Gillette, Tribal Councilman for the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation represents elected Tribal leadership, and, Larry Bodin is a Standing Rock Sioux, and presently serves in the important role as their Bureau of Indian Affairs Agency Superintendent. I mention these factors to underscore the inclusive intent of the State Rural Development Council concept, and, as one of the stated goals of the North Dakota Rural Development Council to forge new and proactive partnerships with the Tribal governments.

Over the years, there were scheduled statewide, regional, and Tribal-specific meetings held as "Clusters" or "Roundtables", with no one entity responsible to identify and engage in a group setting affected entities or organizations, then provide the necessary follow through coordination.

Technically, the North Dakota Rural Development Council was formalized upon my acceptance of the Executive Directorship on May 1996.

The North Dakota Rural Development Council and our counterparts in the other 35 states (at this time) are charged with the primary responsibility to bring together state, federal, local and tribal governments, and, the private and public sectors in meaningful forums, offering opportunity to join forces, cooperate in new ways, and devise strategic action plans to address common issues or concerns, ultimately to strengthen representative communities and rural America itself.

The North Dakota Rural DevelopmentCouncil is not intended to be a new rural development program, a source of funds, a project clearing house or lobbying organization. The goal is to make existing programs work more effectively to meet the needs of local communities. The Councils role is to complement, reinfore and ehnance these efforts by serving as facilitator, expeditor, convener, coordinator, and where appropriate, initiator.

As early noted, we are a relatively new organization, but are gaining in visibilty and stature as we proceed with our Annual Work and Strategic Plan. The first opportunity in this regard was to become a part of the State's team to assist in the recovery efforts necesssitated by the 1997 winter blizzards and Flood which brought devastation to large numbers of Red River Valley communities in eastern North Dakota nd three of the four Indian Reservations in the State.

Working directly with affected Regional Planning Councils, the Tribal Governments, and the primary Federal response Agencies such as FEMA, SBA, and more particularly the Economic Development Adminstration, on-site community meetings were held with local officials to determine the extent of damage, and to establish locally-driven priorities. Regional Economic Recovery Coordinators were hired, revolving loan programs were either recapitalized or started to assist small business owners, and, public works projects identified and applications filed. In short, EDA (alone) invested over $20 million in program funds to assist to alleviate distress conditions for the two major cities of Grand Forks and Fargo, and 12-15 smaller communities.

The NDRDC as a key team member, was so credited with greatly assisting in the overall effort.

Fourteen of the 53 counties in the State have Tribal lands within their boundaries, and for the large part, full-time County Emergency Managers. The NDRDC entered into a Partnership Agreement with the ND Department of Emergency Management wherein local meetings would be held on the four Indian Reservations to better acquaint the two parties to emergency management

matters and the availability of State EM training and supportive service. Responsibilities were to encourage and assist with the design of a local awareness campaign and to utltimately formulate mutually-acceptable Operations and Hazard Mitigation Plans. At this juncture, each of the four Tribal Governments have a designated EM contact, who are attending State-sponsored training sessions, and, are working closer with their neighbors on a defined cooperative response basis.

In early 1998 a new Leadership North Dakota Initiative was announced by the Governor's Office

and more importantly, the NDRDC was pronounced to be the lead entity for the special effort.

The Council developed a multi-stage strategy built around high visibility statewide events, including the use of interactive television broadcasts to twelve sites, including the Tribal communtiy colleges. Dr. Barry Asmus, senior economist at the National Center for Policy Analysis, described global trands and their potential impact on local communities, prior to a lively question-answer session. 200 community leaders actively participated in this initial event.

The second event, a six-hour seminar presented by best-selling author and motivational speaker Tom Peters, was attended (free of charge) to 5,000 community leaders and interested citizens.

The First Annual Leadership Development Conference was attended by nearly 1,000 participants who were wlecomed by showcase community betterment booths and leadership skills building classes and materials. A later, Youth Leadership Summit, held in collaboration with several other organizations and youth groups, attracted an estimated 2500. Due to popular demand, several LNDI events are anticipated to be held over the upcoming summer and late fall months.

A direct offshoot of the Leadership Initiative, was a charge to the NDRDC, and many partners to develop a common format and process for community strategic planning. 70 facilitators from every geographic region of the state have received the necessary training and are so certified. As a prerequisite to the free training, each commited to assist at least one community in their area to complete an acceptable strategic plan. Later this month they are scheduled for a one-day refresher course and additional group dynamics skills building exercises. Selections are currently being made for active participation by at least 30 communities, and the four Indian Reservations to be assisted (as necessary) to complete satisfactory community strategic plans.

These activities were noted as tangible examples of the power of proactive partnerships such as those forged by the NDRDC and a large number of individuals and organizations who are dedicated toward enhancing the quality of life and standard of living in North Dakota. My counterparts in the other 35 States have accomplished as much or much, much more through the auspices of the State Rural Development Council concept.

Your demonstrated interest in the State Rural Development Councils is sincerely appreciated. Thank you for the opportunity to describe what the North Dakota Rural Development Council is all about, and on behalf of rural America, our ambitions for the future.