About Redwood Coast Rural Action

Redwood Coast Rural Action (RCRA) is a network of community leaders working regionally to improve current and future conditions of people and the land.

Background:

RCRA was created initially by a consortium of three key institutions: Humboldt State University, College of the Redwoods and Humboldt Area Foundation who believe that in this complex world we live in, it will take collective action of diverse-minded individuals to address the pressing issues of the region.

The initial identified functions of the network by the consortium were threefold:

  • Exchange- sharing of information widely
  • Combination- Assembling of new capacities
  • Advocacy- Influencing of decision-making structures

While these were the functions envisioned by the conveners, they are no means the only ones the network can perform, new functions seem to develop as needed within a network.

RCRA was created to connect leaders across the region, provide a forum at which individual interests and a regional identity might align, and get something done. A network does not have to do all three of these. The purpose of a network might be to connect leaders for the sake of creating relationships of their own choosing, without worrying about what the results might be. Or the purpose could be to connect individuals and align them to form more collective transactions—nodes of common interest—but not come together to get something specific accomplished. There is value in each of these activities. RCRA was created with all three in mind, although there was not initially a specific plan for what might be accomplished collectively.

During the first 18 months (three convenings) county leaders were able to connect and build relationships, begin to align around the identity of the region and what we had in common, there was agreement around four Areas of Focus.

Areas of Focus:

  1. Build the economic base and workforce of the region.
  2. Increase the economic success of the region’s poor and working families.
  3. Improve the care and use of the region’s natural resources
  4. Improve the population health including addressing housing