Below are two LTEs of interest to EVEC and Sierra Club, in Iowa. Both
appeared in the Sunday Des Moines Register, and we know that both are Sierra
Club members,

Thanks, Eric and Ron, for great letters to the editor, successfully
published!

Lyle

Lyle Krewson
Sierra Club, Iowa Chapter
EVEC Coordinator

____________________________________________
6403 Aurora Avenue #3
Des Moines, IA 50322-2862

[log in to unmask]

515/276-8947 - Ofc/Res
515/238-7113 - Cel
____________________________________________

*****

Saving the land

The 2002 farm bill introduced a visionary new conservation program called
the Conservation Security Program. The program is designed to reward good
land stewardship and provide public environmental benefits, i.e. paying
landowners for practices that prevent soil erosion, enhance wildlife,
protect the ground and surface water, keep our air clean and conserve
energy. Additionally, this type of "green payment" is consistent with our
commitments to the World Trade Organization, and is thus the blueprint for
future farm programs.

Credit for this program goes to Sen. Tom Harkin, who authored the
legislation and ushered it through the Senate and the conference committee.
Unfortunately, enabling legislation is only part of the battle. Harkin, as
chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, is needed to make sure that the
program is implemented and that technical standards are adequate to meet
conservation goals.

Greg Ganske supported the House farm bill, which lacked both strong
conservation provisions and adequate conservation funding. He then opposed
the final farm bill, citing, in part, his opposition to the Conservation
Security Program ("Farm Bill Fails Iowa Interests," May 4).

-Eric G. Hurley,
Ames .

*****

Almost by accident, we recently found out confined-animal-feeding-operations
(CAFOs) were planned for two sites within 1.5 miles of 16 families who
opposed them. We were luckier than the folks up in Dickinson County who
didn't even get a little two-line notice in the county news.

We quickly got out a petition and started accumulating a legal defense fund
that represents the 90 percent of us who do not have a financial interest in
the CAFOs. It would deny us the pleasure of the outdoors and by all
estimates, would devalue our homes by millions of dollars.

The past several weeks have been very intense for those of us involved in
preventing this. As we have dialogue with our elected officials, we hear
that "We have to let the livestock industry do what it must do or it will
move to the Third World countries."

After visiting with the neighbors of well-established CAFOs, and having
personally visited countries such as Brazil, Belize and China, it is
regrettable to say Iowans living near a CAFO would have better lives if they
lived in a Third World country. They have seen their property become so
undesirable that it is very hard to get a buyer at any price. They can't
enjoy any outdoor activities because of odor and flies (not just from
manure, but also rotting carcasses), and their health is at risk.

Unless a whole neighborhood gets organized very quickly and finds
appropriate legal representation, it is difficult to recover damages under
Iowa's laws.

In a few years, science will come up with technology that will solve some of
the odor problems, but by that time we will already have an oversupply of
the present ones. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program now
subsidizes 75 percent of the cost of manure containment structures. On a
small CAFO, that is $81,000 of your tax money, and $500,000 subsidies are
not uncommon. These containment structures are used to hold manure for a
full year, and it is the long-term storage of manure that changes it from
something you would call unpleasant to compounds such as hydrogen sulfide
that can be lethal.

Zoning requirements for these units are the ultimate answer, and could be
worked out in a couple of years if we put some heat on our lawmakers.
Obviously, now is the time for a moratorium on construction.

Ron Kielkopf,
Iowa Master Farmer 2000,
Fremont.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
To get off the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to:
[log in to unmask]