When we lose a
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In the Home Stretch - Farm Bill nears
completion
You may recall that the House passed its version
of the 2002 Farm Bill last October. Now that the Senate has passed
its version of the 2002 Farm Bill, the bill now sits in a joint
House-Senate Conference Committee to resolve the differences in the
two versions.
"The Senate passing a bill was a positive step
because progress was made toward completion of the Farm Bill," said
Dr. Alan Wentz, Ducks Unlimited's Group Manager for Conservation,
"This brings us closer to renewal of key agriculture conservation
programs like the Conservation Reserve Program and the Wetlands
Reserve Program that are very important to wildlife and to the
nation's farmers and ranchers that participate in them. Both
programs are currently under-funded and oversubscribed."
The
Wetlands Reserve Program, which is helping farmers voluntarily
restore a small portion of the bottomland forests that have
disappeared over the last century, will be renewed with this
legislation. The Senate's bill has 250,000 acres per year for five
years. The House bill has 150,000 acres per year for ten years.
The Conservation Reserve Program, which helps protect highly
erodible land and creates wildlife friendly areas on private lands
is also renewed in this legislation. The House acreage is set at
39.2 million acres while the Senate bills acreage is set at 40
million acres.
"Our country's farmers and ranchers are
America's primary land stewards and we need to support them. We are
enthused that the Senate passed a strong conservation title that
will provide for those that protect the resource," said Dr. Wentz.
The majority of wetlands, an imperiled natural resource, are in
private hands. Dr. Wentz also said, "There are a number of positive
steps that both the House and Senate have taken in their respective
versions and we look forward to working with the House and Senate,
as well as the administration, on putting together a comprehensive
conservation title and finalizing this bill."
Both bills
going to conference are supportive of the new Grasslands Reserve
Program to help protect America's vanishing native prairie and the
Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program. Ducks Unlimited is working with
various interested parties including the agricultural sector to
achieve a final bill that will provide opportunities for wildlife
and agriculture to continue to thrive together.
"We hope for
final legislation that provides both the technical and financial
assistance farmers need to continue to provide conservation that
will protect hundreds of species of wildlife, especially the North
American waterfowl population," said Olen Zirkle, a Ducks Unlimited
Regional Agricultural Lands and Water Specialist in the western U.S.
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