National Association of Counties • Washington, D.C. Vol. 35, No. 4 • February 24, 2003
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Web Watch
• Wildfire, I Think I Love You
A great resource has just been launched by the USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station at www.wildfireprograms.com. The site allows surfers to view wildfire risk-reduction programs from across the nation.
The National Database of State and Local Wildfire Hazard Mitigation Programs provides plenty of best practices and policies from state, county and other local entities. Better yet, the site’s maintainers want to hear about more programs, and there’s a call on the home page for counties to send in information, which can be easily accomplished by e-mailing a Word file.
Coconino County, Ariz.; Alachua County, Fla.; Summit County, Utah and many others already have extensive information about their wildfire programs. All kinds of programs are featured at the new site, including regulatory, educational, homeowner assistance, hazard assessment and community-recognition programs. Use the index button at the top of the home page to find all the info you’ll need to get Smoky the Bear up to snuff in your neighborhood.
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• L.A. County launches site to find missing children
In response to a new report stating that 990 local foster children are missing, Los Angeles County has just launched a Web site to display the children’s photos and vital statistics. The site, www.missingkidsla.org, is expected to help both officers and citizens in finding runaway and abducted foster children in the county.
Along with good information about the missing children, the site offers links for safety tips, child-finding tips, a list of “Most Wanted Delinquent Parents,” and a link to the county’s Department of Children and Family Services.
The thorough resource is a progressive use of the Web by Los Angeles County, especially with the problem of missing foster children becoming greater. There were 740 missing in the county as of August. Steps, like the Web site, to improve the problem are helping, as the number of missing children who have been found increased from 64 during August to 238 during the month of the latest report.
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• Thirty-five million people can’t be wrong
The Hispanic community in the United States now includes 35 million people and has become the country’s largest ethnic minority, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
And, in hopes of better accommodating the country’s 1.2 million Hispanic business owners, the U.S. Department of Commerce has launched its Spanish-language Web site at www.commerce.gov/index_spanish.htm.
The site is designed to inform the Hispanic community of changes in the economy, upcoming trade development missions, high-tech issues and trade opportunities. It also allows users to access information about minority development, export assistance, grant opportunities, and contracting and career opportunities. In addition, the site includes key departmental contacts.
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(Paul Mackie, staff writer, compiles Web Watch. If you have a site you would like featured, please e-mail pmackie@naco.org.)
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