Growing Conservation in the Farm Bill

GUEST EDITORIAL

Wyoming Livestock Roundup—March 24, 2007—Here’s a quiz: What’s red and blue on the outside and green on the inside? The answer is the Farm Bill, a hefty piece of federal legislation that’s looked at closely by Republicans and Democrats alike and contains some very important conservation funding programs. In the next several weeks, lawmakers across the nation will be hashing out the final details of the 2007 Farm Bill.

Here in Wyoming, the Farm Bill is a powerful conservation tool that’s sparking collaboration between groups that sometimes show up on different sides of the proverbial fence. As it turns out, ag and conservation interests do see eye-to-eye on key components of the Farm Bill. That’s because, while the Farm Bill is mostly known for putting food on our tables, many people don’t realize that it also contains programs that continue and strengthen Wyoming’s farming and ranching lifestyles, economies, wildlife habitat, clean water, and our cultures and natural resources.

The Farm Bill matters for fish and wildlife. It also matters for ranchers and farmers. Most agricultural operations in Wyoming cover large areas and contribute substantially to maintaining open spaces on private ranch and farm lands. Conservation practices carried out on agricultural lands can produce significant ecological benefits including wildlife migration corridors and winter ranges, water quality treatment, flood prevention and carbon offsets. Keeping large ranches intact, while managing residential development, controlling invasive species, and enhancing water resources, are things both ag and conservation can agree on.

Never before this Farm Bill has such a broad and diverse coalition, with such a compelling and proactive vision for growing conservation, come together. Here in Wyoming, collective momentum building up to the new Farm Bill is what will bring funding directed at conservation on agricultural lands, which account for 91% of the private lands in Wyoming and up to 90% of crucial winter habitat for many species of our wildlife.

Farm Bill programs like the Grasslands Reserve Program (GRP), Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), and Farm and Ranchland Protection Program (FRPP) are all used by Wyoming's agricultural community and are energetically supported by conservation and sportsmen’s groups as well. The Administration has proposed increasing conservation funding for these programs by $7.8 billion nationwide.

But without making our voices heard, our state could get the short end of the stick on conservation programs, many of which offer leveraging options for further funding and put even more dollars on the ground that benefit Wyoming’s natural heritage.

Why does funding matter? According to the American Farmland Trust, three out of four ag producers who apply for conservation assistance nation-wide are turned away. Many more simply don’t bother to apply due to the lack of funds and the confusing and often redundant application process.

Here are some of the Farm Bill programs we believe are most important to the West’s working landscapes:

Grassland Reserve Program
The ratio of habitat loss to habitat protection on grasslands is 10 to 1, the highest of any major habitat type on Earth. Grasslands make up the largest land cover on America's private lands. In Wyoming, privately-owned grasslands cover more than 8 million acres, or 75% of the state’s grasslands.
The Grassland Reserve Program (GRP) is a voluntary program offering landowners the opportunity to protect, restore, and enhance grasslands on their property. The program conserves vulnerable grasslands from conversion to cropland or other uses and helps maintain viable ranching operations.

Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program
The Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program (FRPP) provides matching funds to help purchase development rights to keep productive farm and ranchland in agricultural uses. USDA partners with state, tribal, or local governments and non-governmental organizations to acquire conservation easements or other interests in land from landowners. USDA provides up to 50% of the fair market easement value of the conservation easement.

Environmental Quality Incentives Program
The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) provides a voluntary conservation program for livestock and agricultural producers that offers financial and technical help to install or implement structural and management practices on eligible agricultural land. EQIP may cost-share up to 75% of the costs of certain conservation practices.

A carefully crafted 2007 Farm Bill has the potential to grow conservation for every person in Wyoming. If conservation is important to you, now is the time! Contact congress and ensure that programs that benefit Wyoming producers who steward the lands our state depends on for both agricultural production as well as some of our most crucial wildlife habitat come our way… this is an opportunity Wyoming just can’t afford to miss.

Sincerely,

Jim Magagna
Executive Vice President
Wyoming Stock Growers Association

Glenn Pauley
Executive Director
Wyoming Stock Growers Association Land Trust

Bryce Reece
Executive Vice President
Wyoming Wool Growers Association

Andrea Erickson Quiroz
State Director
The Nature Conservancy in Wyoming

Printed with permission from the Wyoming Livestock Roundup.