Using a pamphlet format, the Ad Hoc Rural Development Committee of the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development formulated a working agenda that addresses the challenges and opportunities of rural development research and extension programming. The agenda establishes the need for emphasizing rural development in the Northeast, and presents four issues: (1) constructively using the natural environment in an urbanizing region; (2) enhancing rural economic productivity and adaptability; (3) enhancing institutions that contribute to the well-being of individuals, families, and communities; and (4) enhancing policy leadership, management capacity, and strategic planning to support rural community viability. The land-grant university cooperative extension system should continue to deliver educational programs that address the needs of rural residents, but should consider: (1) establishing interdisciplinary teams created to fit the nature of the particular problem it seeks to resolve; (2) coordinating efforts in rural development with various organizations within and outside a single state's land-grant university; and (3) strengthening its leadership role in rural development. The pamphlet contains a table listing the metro and nonmetro populations for each of the states in the Northeast and the change in population between 1980 and 1990. (KS)