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Hunting, Fishing, Conservation Groups Commend Senate for Passing Farm Bill, Sturdy Conservation Title

News for Immediate Release

December 14, 2007

Contact: Geoff Mullins, 202-654-4609, gmullins@trcp.org

Tim Zink, 202-654-4625, tzink@trcp.org

 

Hunting, Fishing, Conservation Groups Commend Senate for Passing Farm Bill, Sturdy Conservation Title

Coalition applauds funding for Wetlands, Grassland and Conservation Reserve Programs, along with new Sodsaver and Open Fields provisions  

WASHINGTON – Upon Senate passage of the country’s largest package of agricultural policies, a coalition of organizations dedicated to growing conservation in the Farm Bill commended the body’s leaders for getting the job done.

“The leadership of both parties deserves credit for artfully applying the paint of compromise,” said Barton James of Ducks Unlimited, a co-chair of the Agriculture and Wildlife Working Group, a coalition of the nation’s leading hunting, fishing and conservation organizations. The working group met for the last two years to analyze the effectiveness of Farm Bill conservation programs and to issue recommendations for their future. Those recommendations were encapsulated in a report entitled Growing Conservation in the Farm Bill.

While noting that the coalition was dissecting the details of legislation that spans almost two thousand pages, the working group praised many aspects of the bill passed today.

“For the first time ever, Open Fields and Sodsaver programs are in both Senate and House versions of the Farm Bill,” noted the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership’s Geoff Mullins. Open Fields, originally introduced in the Senate by Sens. Kent Conrad and Pat Roberts, will boost state programs that expand sportsmen’s access and the use of best management practices for fish and wildlife. Sodsaver discourages the destruction of native prairie lands by eliminating crop insurance and disaster payments on grasslands converted to cropland. “We need Open Fields and Sodsaver to be as strong as possible, and our coalition is looking forward to working with the conference committee to ensure that they are,” said Mullins.  

Another key component of the Senate package is the expansion and reconfiguration of the Conservation Security Program. Renaming the program the “Conservation Stewardship Program,” the Senate proposes to raise the program’s budget to $2 billion over five years, while enrolling 13 million acres per year.

“Bolstering CSP has been a priority for Chairman Harkin, and it looks like he’s managed to improve more than the name, including the way it works on the ground,” said Jen Mock Schaeffer of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, a working group co-chair.

Other groups saw positive signs in the refinements made to the largest Farm Bill conservation program, the Conservation Reserve Program. “Overall, CRP will be able to continue improving habitat on 39.2 million acres,” said Dave Nomsen of Pheasants Forever, the working group’s final co-chair. He continued, “It also includes a new ‘Wildlife Habitat Program’ from Ranking Member Saxby Chambliss that by improving stands of pine will stand to improve the success of species like quail and turkeys.”

Two additional initiatives of key importance to fish and wildlife, the Wetlands Reserve Program and Grassland Reserve Programs, also receive votes of confidence in the Senate Farm Bill. “The Senate’s reauthorization of both WRP and GRP continues our national commitment to preserving two fragile ecosystem types,” said Brad Redlin of the Izaak Walton League of America. “The community of American conservationists applauds them.”

The energy title of the bill includes several new incentive programs to help advance "next generation" biomass energy. "If done right, biomass energy holds great promise of not only producing more fuel per acre than corn ethanol, but also of being better for wildlife and the environment," said Julie Sibbing of the National Wildlife Federation.  "We are thankful to Senators Wyden, Harkin and Chambliss for forging a last-minute compromise to add protections for wildlife and habitat to the Biomass Crop Transition Program." 

A final bit of welcome news for the coalition was the inclusion of a permanent extension of expanded tax incentives for conservation easements that had been approved by Congress on a two-year basis in August 2006. “With the temporary extension nearing its end, it was imperative that the Senate kept this incredibly valuable tool in the conservationist’s toolbox,” said Russ Shay of the Land Trust Alliance. “We greatly appreciate the efforts of Senators Max Baucus and Chuck Grassley to introduce this measure and move it forward.”  

Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the traditions of hunting and fishing.