CONGRESSMAN
COLLIN C. PETERSON
Minnesota - 7th District http://www.house.gov/collinpeterson/
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 19, 2001
CONTACT: Allison Myhre/218-847-5056
Farm Bill Conference Settles Important Conservation Issues
Biomass and Wind Energy Programs to Become Part of Farm Bill
(Washington, D.C.) Congressman Collin C. Peterson (D-7th District) says that the farm bill conference committee has agreed on important conservation measures in their negotiations this week.
"As the conference committee has been making its way through the farm bill, there has been strong support for conservation," Peterson said. "I think farmers, sportsmen and conservationists agree that we share common ground on increasing these programs."
The conference committee agreed to increase acreage in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) from 36.4 million to 39.2 million acres. A popular land idling program among producers and sportsmen alike, CRP provides more wildlife and soil benefit than any other farm program.
The committee also agreed to fix the problems with conservation priority areas in CRP, and further, to encourage use of CRP land for developing wind energy and biomass, including hybrid poplar.
"I'm also pleased to see wildlife habitat elevated as one of the stated priorities of the CRP program. In Minnesota, we have always known habitat restoration was a positive side effect of the program, and now we are assured it will continue to be so."
"Thanks to groups like Pheasants Forever, sportsmen, and producers, we've been able to create widespread support for important conservation measures, resulting in a several fold increase in overall conservation spending," Peterson said.
The Wetland Reserve Program will also see a significant increase, more than doubling in acreage enrollment in order to alleviate a large backlog of applications. Although a few details still need to be worked out, conferees agreed to increase the program by 1.35 million acres.
The conferees also agreed to fund the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) at $700 million over the life of the bill, providing cost share assistance to landowners for improving habitat on working land.
Agreement was also reached to establish a two million acre Grassland Reserve Program, although a few details still need to be finalized.
Work continues on the remaining programs in the conservation title, including the creation of a new incentive based Conservation Security Program, as well as strengthening existing programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).
-30-