Agricultural News
400 Groups Call on Deficit Reduction Group to Protect Natural Resource Spending
Tue, 21 Jun 2011 14:23:21 CDT
The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) joined with a diverse group of more than 400 organizations committed to conservation, outdoor recreation, and to the industries and rural communities these resources support, in sending a letter to the bipartisan "Biden group" supporting funding for federal natural resources programs. The groups expressed concern that current budget negotiations could result in top line cuts that, without even considering the merits of the nation's key conservation programs, will result in devastating impacts for the future of America's environment.
"Conservation programs are crucial to the health and viability of agriculture and rural America," said NACD President Gene Schmidt. "Failure to support our farmers, ranchers, foresters and natural resource base today will jeopardize our agricultural industry, drive up long term costs for environmental mitigation and threaten our nation's food security. While we certainly understand the need to balance the nation's budget, unfairly targeting conservation and agriculture will have devastating impacts reaching far beyond rural America."
The House Appropriations Committee's FY12 Agriculture and Related Agencies bill imposes severe reductions to conservation technical assistance, as well as many Farm Bill Conservation Programs which also rely on technical expertise.
"With federal spending on land, water, ocean, and wildlife programs at just 1.26% of the federal budget in 2010, it is clear that this spending is not a primary cause of the current federal budget crisis," stated the groups in the letter. "The cost-share and reserve programs of the Conservation Title of the Farm Bill, most of which fall into the category of mandatory spending, have demonstrated that government can partner with farmers, ranchers and forest land owners to protect and restore natural habitat on millions of acres and reduce soil erosion and other impacts of farming while increasing agricultural productivity."
According to USDA, farm and farm-related employment includes about 24 million jobs. Estimates by the American Forest and Paper Association are that forest management and forest-dependent industries account for approximately five percent of the total U.S. manufacturing GDP, produce about $175 billion in products annually, and employ nearly 900,000 people. Government investments in conservation have leveraged billions of dollars in non-federal capital for conservation including the personal resources of America's private landowners. These investments play an important role in ensuring clean air, clean water and productive soils, while helping decrease energy?use and reduce damage from severe weather and other natural disasters.
Click here to view a copy of the letter sent to the "Biden group."
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