May 21, 2003

The Honorable Ann M. Veneman
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20250

Dear Secretary Veneman:

The 2002 farm bill includes a historic commitment to conservation on
working lands, a commitment you have highlighted on numerous occasions.
With the passing last week of the one year anniversary of the signing of
the bill by President Bush, we want to re-affirm our strong support for
full funding and implementation of the Conservation Security Program.

The farm bill created the CSP as a national, comprehensive, open and
continuous enrollment program with high natural resource and
environmental standards, incentives for active management of
conservation practices and systems, and strict payment limitations, and
without arbitrary limits on enrollment. The FY 03 omnibus appropriations
bill regrettably caps the CSP at $3.77 billion, but otherwise makes no
changes to the program s status, design or scope. We believe full
funding should be restored and will work to secure legislation to do so.
In the meantime, rulemaking should be completed and the program opened
to enrollment by the end of this fiscal year.

We urge you to implement the CSP as quickly as possible, without further
delay. We also urge you to support legislative efforts to remove the cap
and restore full funding.

Thank you for your consideration of our views.

Sincerely,

American Farmland Trust
Defenders of Wildlife
Environmental Defense
Henry A. Wallace Center for Agricultural and Environmental Policy
Minnesota Project
National Association of Conservation Districts
National Audubon Society
National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture
National Wildlife Federation
Natural Resources Defense Council
Sierra Club
Soil and Water Conservation Society
Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

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