To find out more about LEARN

write or call:

 LEARN@learn-us.org

LEARN

Michael Coffman,

6 Heather Rd.

Bangor, ME 04401

(207) 947-7931

 (9:00am-5:30pm Eastern)

In December of 1999 a group of grassroots activists from the Walla Walla County Farm Bureau brought a resolution to the floor of the annual convention of the Washington Farm Bureau that began a process of teaching grassroots people all over the country what their rights are and more importantly what the rights of their local governments are. Washington Farm Bureau President Steve Appel appointed a committee to develop a program of training that could be used to teach elected county officials and grassroots leaders not only their rights, but also how to engage federal and state agencies in a process that would put all affected parties at the table to develop solutions to natural resource problems.

President Appel appointed Dave Winckler to chair that committee. Dave had no idea what he was agreeing to. He had a vertical learning curve for two years. Through the patient instruction of those with greater knowledge than he possessed, he was able to develop training materials and put together training workshops to help local officials and their constituents take their rightful place at the planning table with other government agencies. This created the County Empowerment Program in the Washington Farm Bureau.

The first step was to contact attorney Karen Budd-Falen from Cheyenne, Wyoming, a specialist in natural resource law. She and Bert Smith, a property rights advocate out of Ogden, Utah, had initially discovered that Federal law allowed local government joint and equal standing with federal planning efforts when assisting Catron County, New Mexico in the late 1980s. Karen assisted us in putting together the materials necessary to show how local planning was a legal process and the rights of local government really were protected under the laws and constitution of the United States. As a result we have developed a strong working relationship with the Budd-Falen Law Offices. That relationship has provided us with not only legal advice, but also Karen; as a speaker at our training workshops, has given people a perspective on the law and our rights that we otherwise would not have.

John Williams, Extension Agent for Oregon State Universityin Wallowa County offered his expertise as someone who had been involved from the beginning of this type of process in Wallowa County. John’s experience in local planning has been instrumental in establishing the materials and information that counties need. John has served on the Wallowa County Natural Resource Advisory Committee since its beginnings in the early 1990’s and has hands-on experience in putting together meaningful natural resource plans. Through John’s efforts a strong working relationship with OSU extension developed to further satisfy the needs of the program and those being served. 

With a training team assembled, Dave Winckler was ready to move forward into the first of many work­shops to present the materials and ideas for local governments to use to protect their community stability.  As he moved out among the counties and learned what their needs were, he realized that he still did not have everything needed to move into the development of the natural resource strategy that was so sorely needed.  From that information gathering he became aware that he had to have not only a formula from successful counties, but also a detailed process to follow. Only then could the formula be implemented in every county in the United States.  That created the Writing Local Plans seminar where he could show people how to research the law, build a working advisory committee, establish goals and identify issues, all for the purpose of writing a natural resource strategy for the local government to fall back on if their community stability was threatened. 

Our first resource book, known as Bringing People Together, was a three-ring binder of various forms and documents for local citizens to reference in order to empower their local government. From that binder evolved Strengthening a Nation from Within: Bringing People Together. This latest version combines the resources previously available with the most recently developed materials to take the local government to the next step of developing the advisory group and natural resource strategy necessary to protect the custom, culture, economy and environment (community stability) of their county.

A group of individuals from grassroots organizations across the country realized the potential of the County Empowerment Program to help local citizens effectively work with federal and state planning efforts to protect local citizens. Through their efforts the Local Environment and Resource Network (LEARN) was created and the program went national under the umbrella of dozens of organizations under the capable leadership of Dr. Michael Coffman as Executive Director.

The LEARN process is founded in federal law and the Constitution; therefore, it applies to every state and county in the United States and not just in the Westor places with a high percentage of federal land. Natural resource planning covers federal, state and private lands for the purpose of coordinating the actions of all agencies from the federal to the local governments.

Today we have the knowledge, the people and now the resources available to protect our way of life and property rights in rural and urban America. This country was built on the foundation of private-property ownership and individual rights as the cornerstones of freedom. It is not only our privilege, but also our responsibility to protect those rights we hold so dear. We must not allow those responsibilities to be taken away by a central government that believes it holds the answer, for we will not like that answer when it comes.