[Riverweb] Action Alert on Farm Bill Conservation Programs

[csmith at prairierivers.org]

ACTION ALERT

URGE GREAT LAKES SENATORS NOT TO CUT BACK FARM BILL CONSERVATION
PROGRAMS

Farm Bill conservation programs are critical to restoring the Great
Lakes. They help farmers put marginal cropland to work for the health of
the Great Lakes. However many more Great Lakes farm families want to
participate in the Farm Bill conservation programs than can be
accommodated because of insufficient federal funding. Conservation
programs are woefully under-funded. Two out of three farmers willing to
take actions to help the environment are turned down due to lack of
funds.

Now, the United States Senate may cut conservation programs even
further as it rewrites a new Farm Bill within the next few weeks.

You can help prevent these damaging cuts by contacting Great Lakes
Senators today.  Here*s what to do:

Step 1) Call the Senate switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask for your
Senators* office.

Step 2) Ask for the staff person working on the farm bill (if they*re
not available, talk to whoever answers the phone).

Step 3) Tell them:
*        Ensure that at least $5 Billion in additional funding is
allocated for Conservation Programs in the Senate Farm Bill!
Conservation programs should not take a step back from the last Farm
Bill!
*        The Farm Bill Conservation Programs are critical towards
achieving the goals of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, a
group of 95 environmental and conservation organizations and
businesses.
*        The Great Lakes Regional Collaboration restoration plan,
developed by more than 1,500 people, specifically relies on Farm Bill
Conservation programs to bring much-needed improvements to water
quality, soil loss, and fish and wildlife habitat-all of which
contribute to our quality of life.

BACKGROUND: Thousands of farmers are restoring imperiled wildlife
habitat and wetlands around our Great Lakes with the assistance of
conservation programs authorized by the 2002 Farm Security and Rural
Investment Act, more commonly known as the Farm Bill. The hard work of
these local stewards is critical to protecting the Great Lakes, but
their success is at risk unless programs are fully funded and expanded
under the next Farm Bill.

Our Great Lakes are a gift from the glacial age. Spread across eight
states, the Great Lakes are the catch basin for a region nearly the size
of Texas. They are the world*s single-largest source of fresh water,
quenching the thirst of many U.S. cities and fueling everything from
transportation to recreation.

Yet, science shows that the lakes are near a tipping point of
ecological collapse. Toxic levels of phosphorus, a pollutant that is
killing Lake Erie, are increasing again. Valuable topsoil is being
washed into the lakes, clouding shallow shoreline water. Smelly algae
and high bacteria levels contaminate the water between the shoreline and
up to two miles out-closing beaches and harming fish and wildlife.

Thankfully, farmers are taking an active role in restoring the Great
Lakes. As illustrated in this report, Farm Bill conservation programs
help farmers return land to nature, farm their land wisely and protect
the health and quality of the Great Lakes, while maintaining their
family*s way of life.

Farm Bill conservation programs have ensured that once-marginal
farmland now provides millions of acres of high-quality wildlife
habitat, which supports the local $18-billion hunting, fishing and
wildlife watching industry. These farmland conservation programs also
serve to filter pesticides, fertilizers and sediment out of water that
millions of Great Lakes residents depend upon for drinking, bathing,
fishing and swimming. Conservation easements slow urban sprawl and
ensure supplies of productive farmland.

Many more families want to participate in the Farm Bill conservation
programs than can be accommodated because of insufficient federal
funding. Congress must fully fund and expand the Farm Bill conservation
programs. The health of our Great Lakes, the local farming families that
live around the lakes and our communities cannot afford to have these
programs shortchanged.

Farm Bill programs are expiring and need to be renewed.  Congress has
been working on a new bill that replaces the old version this year.  The
House passed its bill on July 27.  The House bill provided nearly $5
billion more for conservation programs (not including CSP), but did not
adequately fund them all.  The Senate Agriculture Committee is still
drafting its bill.  Senators are targeting conservation funds for other
uses leaving conservation programs at least $2 billion short of the $5
billion in additional funding needed to begin addressing unmet demand.

HOW Coalition's Cultivating Restoration Report:
http://www.healthylakes.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/final_how-r
eportcultivating-restoration.pdf

We apologize for any cross postings

***PLEASE NOTE NEW ADDRESS***

Cecily Smith
Interim Watershed Organizer
Prairie Rivers Network
1902 Fox Drive, Suite G
Champaign IL 61821
217.344.2371