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![Gene Bracegirdle was relieved to get his first dose vaccine shot recently in rural Colorado.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/vax-matt-c4fd973a3b06ddc9cdec763bc9835d95bc66e376-e1610129093773-900x422.jpg)
COVID-19 Vaccinations Are Off To A Slow Start — But Not In Some Rural Areas
By: Kirk Siegler | NPR
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Some rural areas, where healthcare is usually harder to get, appear to be leading the nation in delivery of coronavirus vaccine. But health leaders are cautioning there are caveats.
!["There's this sense that decisions about the pandemic are being made in cities and kind of imposed on rural spaces," said Kathy Cramer, an expert on the rural-urban divide at the University of Wisconsin.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/gettyimages-542587466-9a0c80319850cb5d589566b4b50e07add1ed441f-scaled-e1605710592248-900x422.jpg)
Biden’s Win Shows Rural-Urban Divide Has Grown Since 2016
By: Kirk Siegler | NPR
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In the 2020 election, the rural-urban divide sharpened even further from 2016, with Republicans consolidating power in rural America which could help them hold onto the U.S. Senate.
![A hallway leads to a makeshift isolation ward for COVID-19 patients.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/img_5719-e9e571c4b916e745277359a87621021e4db274fa-scaled-e1593789155244-900x422.jpg)
Rural Hospitals Brace For New Surge In COVID-19 Cases
By: Kirk Siegler | NPR
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Rural “critical access” hospitals, often some of the largest employers in small towns, have been operating on razor-thin margins throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
![In recent years, former coal miners were retrained to work with fiber optics, expanding high-speed Internet — and possible economic opportunities — to rural areas.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/hotchkiss-4-24a937c9a912afc0d37818771669938caef9194d-e1587749563770-900x422.jpg)
Even In Crisis Times, There Is A Push To Wire Rural America
By: Kirk Siegler | NPR
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The COVID-19 crisis has forced us to move almost everything online. But more than one-third of the U.S. population in rural areas has little or no access to the Internet.
![A logger cuts a large fir tree in the Umpqua National Forest near Oakridge, Ore. Federal land managers are proposing a sweeping rule change that could expand commercial logging on Forest Service land.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/ap_17129603541648-a0ed3763e4f5673fa10d98dd93e83e9e7f4a516f-e1560374356240-900x422.jpg)
Trump Administration Seeking To Overhaul Forest Management Rules
By: Kirk Siegler | NPR
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The U.S. Forest Service is proposing changes to a landmark environmental law that would allow it to fast-track some forest management projects, including logging and prescribed burning.
![John Wentworth, a Mammoth Lakes Town Council Member, started a local nonprofit a few years ago to promote better access to public lands and more cooperation between local and federal agencies.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/image-from-ios-9-f3cd3b8f08933978c49e89368f991de082e6f828-e1554048806204-900x422.jpg)
On Public Lands, Visitors Surge While Federal Management Funds Decline
By: Kirk Siegler | NPR
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Western towns surrounded by and dependent upon public lands are forced to get creative as federal recreation budgets continue a slow decline. They are boosting local efforts to maintain public access.
![Houses lie at the base of Colorado National Monument. The school district in Grand Junction knows it could take years to see whether their efforts towards suicide prevention have worked.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/grand-junction-2-559c799fff1c39a84fd2c4f8845ad6c2b2dcba3c-e1540328023136-900x422.jpg)
How One Colorado Town Is Tackling Suicide Prevention — Starting With The Kids
By: Kirk Siegler | NPR
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Eight of the top ten states with the highest suicide rates are in the Mountain West. Grand Junction, Colo. has launched an ambitious effort starting in the schools to try and address the problem.
![In recent years, Delta County, Colo., has been attracting new residents from urban areas who want to live the small-town lifestyle.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/hotchkiss-5_enl-731f397ba187069d127a6142aa5142080208f7b2-e1539960038869-900x422.jpg)
A Rural Colorado Coal County Was Struggling. Then A Tech Company Brought New Jobs
By: Kirk Siegler | NPR
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For the first time in years, Delta County in western Colorado is experiencing population growth, one indicator that rural Americans are increasingly feeling optimistic about their economic future.