Page 32 RAIN Oct./Nov. 1982 Pacific Northwest Bioregion Report Patrick Mazza When RAIN began eight years ago, a principal goal was to enhance communication among members of the emerging environmental movement in the Pacific Northwest. However, because of the scarcity ofgood information available at the time in the areas ofappropriate technology, community self-reliance and renewable energy development, the magazine soon began to cover those areas as well. It was not long before it gained national and international recognition for the quality of its coverage. Although RAIN's roots remained firmly fixed in Northwest soil its scope and its readership became truly global. Events during the past two years have brought us, in several important ways, closer to home. In 1980 the Rain Umbrella merged with the Portland Community Resource Center and the resulting hybrid, the Rain Community Resource Center (RCRC) not only set about organizing and computerizing our vast information resources but also took on a host of locally-focused activities like energy conference planning, community self- reliance forums and educational programs which made us feel more a part ofour own region. In 1981 we published Knowing Home: Studies for a Possible Portland — our attempt to define the issues and the possible strategies involved in creating a socially equitable and self-reliant community. The book received wide attention nationally and locally and put us in even closer touch with our near neighbors. A few months ago we began to discuss the future direction of the magazine and decided on several changes, including the regular inclusion of a Pacific Northwest Bioregion section. We explored the state of communication flow in the region among social change and community-based organizations to understand what role this new RAIN feature might play. We noted there were already several periodicals covering regional environmental, energy, and food/agriculture issues, but one obvious gap lay in the area which we, very roughly, labelled "community development." Because of this, we decided that the new RAIN section should focus on, but not be limited to, the information needs of organizations and citizen activists in the region's large and medium-sized towns. As we develop the Pacific Northwest Bioregion Report as a continuing RAIN feature, we will be looking at: • cooperative efforts (coalitions, consortiums) among community-based organizations; • model community projects that represent strategies for dealing with social and economic crises in urban areas; • organizations which provide technical assistance, funding and support for community-based organizations; • other community development news, on such topics as innovative uses of block grant monies, citizen involvement, neighborhood economic enterprises, urban agriculture, and community energy planning; • government policies that affect the entire Northwest on energy, environmental, agricultural and social justice issues. We will also be including resource lists and directories of organizations working in key areas, with a special focus on community development organizations. We hope that our Pacific Northwest readers will consider assisting us in developing this much needed regional communication vehicle; news tips and written contributions from our ecotopian neighbors will be crucial in helping to make the Bioregion Report a success. We hope, too, that our national and international readers will enjoy and benefit from reading about the many innovative developments taking place in our comer of the world. — Steve Johnson and John Ferrell
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