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Show Page 14 THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Volume II, Issue XX October 15, 2000 CONSERVATION cont. from page 13 environmental improvement. By idling highly erodible and environmentally sensitive cropland, the program has produced a wide range of economic benefits. The program emphasizes costeffectiveness and voluntary partnerships with farmers and ranchers. Farmers must bid competitively for CRP contracts, maximizing the power of each dollar spent. Only the most environmentally sensitive cropland is accepted, while less vulnerable farmland remains in production. The result is an effort that targets the most sensitive land and helps farmers while it keeps productive farmland growing food and fiber at a competitive cost. The economic benefits provided by the CRP total an estimated $8 billion or more per year. Some of these annual benefits include: Increases in net farm income $5.1 billion Value of future timber resources .3 billion Preservation of soil productivity .2 billion Improved surface water quality .5 billion Reductions in damage from windblown dust .1 billion Increased uses of wildlife 2.0 billion History of CRP The Conservation Reserve Program has its roots in the soil Bank Act of 1956. At that time, with memories of the Dust Bowl devastation of the 1930’s still fresh, the nation sought to prevent repeating the mistakes that had helped cause that great disaster. Recognizing that eroding cropland had to be protected, and seeking to head off the destructive effects of overproduction of major crops, Congress authorized the USDA to enter into long-term conservation contracts with farmers and ranchers. The Department shared the cost of converting cropland to protective vegetative cover. Over its 10-year life, the 1956 Soil Bank Program diverted 28.7 million acres to conservation practices on 306,000 farms. It was followed by two similar long-term contract programs, the Copland Conservation Program in 1962 and the Cropland Adjustment Program in 1965. In the early and mid-1970’s, the prices of farm commodities rose significantly, due to diminished stocks and increased export demand. U.S. producers responded by planting on marginal cropland and by breaking out and planting crops on range and pasturelands. This activity continued until the early 1980’s, when overproduction and a strengthening U.S. dollar depressed prices, causing farm income to fall to its lowest level since the 1930’s. By this time, also, public concern had begun to grow over the damage caused by agricultural erosion and runoff water carrying sediment, nutrients, and chemicals into streams, rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water. The USDA released studies at that time reporting that the nation’s cropland was eroding and suffering soil losses at a rate exceeding 3 billion tons per year. Wildlife was also affected. Intensive farming and the widespread conversion of fallow land to produc- tion had destroyed vital habitats for many species, lading to declining populations. In 1985 Congress passed the Food Security Act (1985 Act) establishing the Conservation Reserve Program, or CRP. A voluntary long-term land retirement program, the CRP provides farm and ranch owners, operators, and tenants with an annual per-acre rent, plus up to half the cost of establishing a permanent land cover (usually grass or trees) on highly erodible or environmentally sensitive cropland. CRP contracts are for terms of 10 to 15 years. The enrollment authorized in the 1985 Act was 40-45 million acres. By the end of the 1990 crop year, USDA had enrolled 33.9 million acres. Initially, the CRP emphasized reducing soil erosion. However, the public was becoming more sensitive to other environmental issues such as the condition of streams, lakes, and rivers, and the need to preserve threatened wildlife species. In the Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act of 1990 (1990 Act), Congress extended the CRP enrollment period through 1995 and broadened the program’s focus. The program’s objectives expanded to include improving water quality, turning marginal pastureland into riparian areas, increasing wildlife habitat, and other environmental goals. From 1991 to 1995, an additional 2.5 million acres were enrolled, bringing total enrollment to 36.4 million acres in 1993. Subsequent appropriations legislation and budget reconciliation vehicles prohibited further enrollment or reduced the authorized enrollment level, effectively capping CRP enrollment at 38 million acres through 1995. In April 1996, President Clinton signed into law the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act (1996 Act), further amending the 1985 Act and confirming the CRP’s new focus. The new law continued the CRP at a maximum enrollment of 36.4 million acres at any one time through 2002. The CRP Today Today, the CRP accepts only the most environmentally sensitive land, yielding the greatest environmental benefits. The Environmental Benefits Index (EBI) is used to classify and rank land offered for enrollment in the CRP during a general sign-up. Scores are based on the expected environmental improvement in soil resources, water quality, wildlife habitat, and other resource concerns during the time the land is to be enrolled in the program. Each offer submitted by a producer is assigned a point score based on its relative environmental benefits, and is compared nationally with all other offers. Offers are accepted or rejected CONSERVATION cont. on page 18 “Dave Gladwell has helped to “raise the IQ of the Utah House significantly.” Deseret News, April 1998 “Gladwell...will be an up-and-comer. He knows the system and will be a force.” Deseret News, April 30, 2000 Combining Conservative Principles with the Energy and Experience To Get Things Done. FIVE STEPS TO UTAH’S ROBUST NEW CENTURY Step #1 Reduce the Tax Burden - You decide how to use your hard earned money. Step #2 Improve Education - Invest more. Expect more. Step #3 Revitalize Law Enforcement - Tougher punishment for the offender, less intrusion into the life of the law abiding citizen. Step #4 Strengthen the Family - Empower families and individuals, not government bureaucracies. Step #5 Return Power to the State - It’s the people’s business, not the White House’s business. Two-term member, Utah House of Representatives Vice-Chair, House Rules Committee Select Member, House Leadership Team Legislative Awards/Designations “Friend of the Taxpayer” Utah Taxpayer’s Association “Friend of Business” Utah 2000 Business Coalition “Defender of Free Enterprise” Utah Manufacturer’s Association “Your success as a family - as a society - depends not on what happens at the White House, but on what happens inside your house.” Barbara Bush “Society’s problems arise, almost without exception, out of the homes of the people. If there is to be a reformation...a return to old and sacred values, it must begin in the home.” Gordon B. Hinkley Standing For Something www.gladwellforsenate.com |