-
> Five national groups have formed a coalition to try
> to get funding back in
> the federal budget for the Wetlands Reserve (WRP),
> Wildlife
> Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP), and Farmland
> Protection Program (a program
> that helps protect farms from sprawl).  The 5 groups
> include Defenders of
> Wildlife, Natural Resources Defense Council, PIRG,
> Sierra Club and National
> Environmental Trust.
>
> A press conference will be held this Thursday and
> will feature some farmers
> and others speaking in favor of these programs,
> which incidentally all
> protect or restore habitat.
>
> The press conference will be held Thursday, the
> 19th, at 10 a.m. at the
> Capitol, room 118.  Anyone is welcome to attend to
> show support.
>
> If you are interested in more details, let me know.
> We'd like to have the
> room full of people.
>
> Thanks,
> Jane Clark
>
>
> "ZERO FUNDING" FOR AG CONSERVATION
> From Defenders of Wildlife
> While the huge federal budget surplus has sparked
> record tax cuts, a House
> subcommittee on agriculture recommended "ZERO
> FUNDING" for three key
> agricultural conservation programs: the Wetlands
> Reserve Program (WRP), the
> Wildlife Habitats Incentive Programs (WHIP) and the
> Farmland Protection
> Program (FPP). These three voluntary, incentive
> based programs protect
> hundreds of thousands of acres of habitat and the
> wildlife that depend on
> it. They also often provide the only means family
> farmers and ranchers have
> to properly steward the land. While cutting the
> funding for such programs is
> a theme of the Bush Administration, a coalition of
> over 100 national and
> local farming, church, conservation and hunting and
> fishing groups take the
> position that incentive based ag conservation should
> be supported.
>
> The next farm bill re-authorization is slated to
> occur in 2002, though a
> great deal of work is currently going on behind the
> scenes. This bill will
> have tremendous impact on family farmers, consumers
> and the environment. It'
> s time we put aside our differences and join efforts
> in demanding safe food
> that sustains our farm families and replenishes and
> heals our biodiversity,
> water and land. Future generations will thank us
> proudly.
>
> We have all the understanding and tools we need to
> create a world where
> agriculture becomes a healing force in re-generating
> habitats, biodiversity
> and human communities. We have everything we need to
> turn this vast
> liability into an incredible asset. What is stopping
> us? Nothing but our own
> inaction
>
**************************************************************************
> Zero Funding means farmers will lose the ability to:
>
> Enroll more land in the Wetlands Reserve Program
> Further protect wildlife with the Wildlife Habitat
> Incentives Program
> Protect additional Farmland from urban sprawl with
> the Farmland Protection
> Program
>
> We are deeply concerned that three key agriculture
> conservation incentive
> programs - the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP), the
> Farmland Protection
> Program (FPP), and the Wildlife Habitat Incentives
> Program (WHIP) - have
> been zero-funded in the Agriculture Appropriations
> bill by the House of
> Representatives. Many American agricultural
> producers need these programs to
> assist them in being good stewards of the land. The
> Farmland Protection
> Program has leveraged $230 million in state and
> local funding and protected
> 127,000 acres of farmland from sprawling
> development. WHIP cost-share
> programs have improve nearly 1.4 million acres of
> habitat for Atlantic
> salmon, northern bobwhite, Karner blue butterfly and
> other species. WRP
> enrollments have helped protect and restore nearly a
> million acres of
> wetlands. However, tremendous needs still exist.
> FPP, for instance,
> currently has a backlog of over 4,000 farmers. While
> we recognize that these
> programs have expended authorized acreage or dollar
> amounts, we estimate
> that demand for WRP is more than $578 million, FPP
> more than $200 million,
> and WHIP more than $150 million.
>
> We believe that funding to address existing demand
> for WRP, FPP, and WHIP
> can and should be accomplished within a
> fiscally-responsible appropriations
> bill and will help farmers and all Americans alike.
> Funds to restore these
> three programs should come out of programs that do
> not provide benefits to
> family farmers.
>
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