Landslides are a component of those agents of nature that transport rock and soil from mountains or hillsides to streams, lakes and seas, where new sedimentary rocks begin to form. Therefore, as well as destructive forces that can be induced by human activity, landslides are part of the earth's natural cyclic process of uplift, erosion, and sedimentation. With the growth of human population and the increasing habitation of ever-steeper slopes and higher altitudes, Man is both experiencing the effects of landslides and causing landslides with increasing frequency. These adverse effects include loss of life, injury, and damage to public and private works, as well as environmental damage. Accordingly, it is an opportune time to address the hazard posed by landslides, and to assess strategies to mitigate that hazard. Assessment of Proposed Partnerships to Implement a National Landslide Hazards Mitigation Strategy: Interim Reports is an interim statement addressing the U.S. Geological Survey's proposal for a national landslide hazards mitigation strategy. The scope of this interim report is constrained to assessing whether all the partners necessary for such a national strategy have been identified by the proposal-conclusions and recommendations to address the remainder of the statement of task will be presented in the committee's final report (e.g., will include comments regarding effective partnership implementation; funding strategies required for an effective mitigation program; and the balance between different components of a national strategy). In addition, in this interim report the committee offers a number of comments intended as interim guidance for the U.S. Geological Survey as it continues to plan a national strategy.

In 1989, Congress established the Nat. Comm. on Severely Distressed Public Housing to explore the problems of troubled public housing developments and to establish a plan to address those problems by the year 2000. Following several years of research and public hearings, the Comm.'s 1992 final report identified the key factors that defined severely distressed housing: extensive physical deterioration of the property; a considerable proportion of residents living below the poverty level; a high incidence of serious crime; and management problems as evidenced by a large number of vacancies, high unit turnover, and low-rent collection rates. The Comm. members agreed that existing approaches for improving public housing were inadequate to address the needs of severely distressed developments and proposed the creation of a new program to address comprehensively the social and physical problems of distressed public housing communities. Originally called the Urban Revitalization Demonstration Program, this public housing revitalization program soon became known by the acronym HOPE VI (Homeownership and Opportunity for People Everywhere). In 1998, under the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), a 5-year evaluation of the HOPE VI program was begun. The Interim Assessment of the HOPE VI Program was designed to study program outcomes by collecting and analyzing data about 15 HOPE VI sites once redevelopment was completed and units were reoccupied. This report presents the study findings. Figures and tables. This is a print on demand report.