For immediate release For more information: Monday, August 6, 2001 Joe Shannahan, 515-281-0173 Vilsack releases private lands conservation report at National Governors Association meeting PROVIDENCE, RI - Governor Tom Vilsack released a new National Governors Association (NGA) report at the NGA summer meeting that emphasizes the importance of conserving the nation's natural resources on our working lands - our farms, forests, and ranches - through streamlined, coordinated, and better funded policies. Vilsack is attending the National Governors Association summer meeting in Providence, Rhode Island. "We need to think of private lands conservation in terms of rural economic development," Vilsack said. "Landowners cannot be expected to shoulder the full cost of implementing conservation practices or taking land out of production without compensation. By working in public/private partnerships, we can provide financial support to private landowners - in a simple, flexible way - to protect our natural resources and achieve tremendous public benefit." Vilsack explained to fellow governors the need for greater incentives for landowners to employ the best conservation practices to be successful. A coordinated, flexible and adequately funded program would offer landowners a number of opportunities to plant buffer strips, restore wetlands, preserve wildlife habitat, reduce air and water pollution and combat urban sprawl. Vilsack has been a leader in this area with passage of the Clean Water Initiative during the 2000 legislative session, and Iowa also leads the nation with the most acres enrolled in the federal Conservation Buffer Initiative. "Private lands conservation provides the stewards of our nation's working lands the tools to produce public 'environmental goods' in conjunction with food and fiber commodities," Vilsack said. "All Americans benefit from improved air and water quality, enhanced fish and wildlife habitat, more fertile and productive soil, expanded recreational opportunities and the overall increased quality of life." Approximately 1.4 billion acres of our nation are in agricultural production, 98 million acres are developed, and 402 million acres are federally owned. Working lands conservation provides a third approach to environmental protection alternative to the traditional approaches of regulation or public acquisition of land. "States have a unique opportunity to provide leadership in forming a state/federal partnership that can produce a simple, flexible program to help our farmers, forest landowners and ranchers in producing these 'conservation commodities'," Vilsack said. Vilsack is a working with Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, to expand the role of private lands conservation programs in the next federal farm bill. Vilsack chairs the NGA's Natural Resources Committee and is a national leader on private lands conservation. The NGA report "Private Lands, Public Benefits: Principles for Advancing Working Lands Conservation" is the result of the NGA's national conference that Vilsack chaired in March of this year. It is available at www.nga.org <http://www.nga.org> #### - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To get off the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask]