Biden's rural infrastructure tour will publicize "Rural Playbook"

Here's a key paragraph from the White House's "Rural Playbook," which was publicized in a press release with a very unwieldy headline, "Biden Administration Releases Rural Playbook, Launches Building A Better America Rural Infrastructure Tour to Highlight Impact of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law on Rural America."  A key paragraph--listing lots of states that will benefit, all with significant rural populations--follows:   

Across the month of April, the Biden-Harris administration will announce billions for rural areas including rural water projects, flood mitigation, transportation, healthcare, and tribal community grants, along with new technical assistance programs for rural and tribal communities. Earlier this month, the Department of the Interior announced $420 million for rural water systems across six states: Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota and South Dakota. Today, the President is also announcing a $1 billion America the Beautiful Challenge that will leverage Federal conservation and restoration investments with private and philanthropic contributions to accelerate land, water, and wildlife conservation efforts across the country. The America the Beautiful Challenge is anchored by an initial commitment of $440 million of Federal resources over the next five years to a new public-private grant program, administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), that will support locally led ecosystem restoration projects that invest in watershed restoration, resilience, equitable access, workforce development, corridors and connectivity, and collaborative conservation, consistent with the America the Beautiful Initiative. The America the Beautiful Challenge will offer states, Tribes, territories, local groups, non-governmental organizations, and others the opportunity to apply for multiple grant programs through a single application that is managed by NFWF.

Note the key role of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, among many federal agencies with a footprint in rural America.  Interesting.   

Meanwhile, Biden was in Iowa today to announce the relaxation of rules regarding production and sale of "E15," ethanol-infused gasoline, in light of sky-rocketing fuel prices due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  Here's what that looked like in White House publicity in advance of the trip (as picked up by a New Orleans news source because former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu is involved in this initiative as infrastructure coordinator: 

The president will travel to Menlo, Iowa, on Tuesday, a small town about 40 miles west of Des Moines, to discuss the infrastructure law's impact on rural communities, as well as efforts to lower costs for working families and combat inflation.

Other officials participating in the rural tour include Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, EPA Administrator Michael Regan, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Infrastructure Coordinator Mitch Landrieu.

Biden said that the tour will "double down on our unwavering commitment to building a better America where rural communities thrive."

And here's how the Washington Post and Des Moines Register covered the story today.  Here's the NPR coverage.  

Postscript:  Here is the Daily Yonder's coverage of the Rural Playbook, written by Bryce Oates.