Building a LEED certified school has become a potential reality in our community thanks to the efforts of individuals connected to the On Sacred ground local chapter and individuals in the Lander Community. LEED building became front page and editorial news in our local newspaper. Community members met in late November at our local coffee shop to learn more about what exactly is a LEED building and community members wrote the school board members and attended school board meetings voicing their desires for LEED built schools. The grassroots work paid off. The school board agreed to create an ad hoc committee that had representatives from the school district, school board and community. This ad hoc committee formed to look closely at the merits of LEED building design and the costs associated with building a LEED school. The committee traveled to Greybull in December to tour a LEED built elementary school and hear the testimonies of the Greybull personnel on the merits of the building design. A final decision has not been made on building LEED. This decision should be coming shortly in January.

On the local food front, the Fremont County Food Security project called Sustainable Lives continues to move forward. At the moment six individuals representing various organizations have been working on writing a trends report that holistically evaluates our local food system. This report covers our general demographics, water quality and quantity that effects agricultural production, land use trends such as subdivision development, direct market economies such as Community Supported Agriculture, farmer’s markets and food stands, farm production and economic indicators, and food security. This document will be a base report to inform the project steering committee, which is comprised of community members who individually have expertise in various facets of our food system. The projects ultimate goal is to create a project(s) that works to address food security and relocalizes our food system. A few project ideas are farm to school, community gardens, cooperative markets, and expanded community supported agriculture.