Kristi Noem Archives - The National Wildlife Federation Blog

Congress Fails Farmers and Wildlife (Updated)

Lara Bryant — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 14:47:12 +0000

The 2012 Farm Bill, or lack thereof, has been ubiquitous in news media over the last few months. Opinions and perspectives on the House and Senate versions of the Farm Bill are diverse and complicated; that isn’t surprising, considering that this legislation will impact a broad range of agricultural policies, from drought assistance to crop insurance to food stamps.

My job is to update you on the wildlife impacts of Farm Bill developments from the past few months and give you an idea of what conservation’s future might look like, if the Farm Bill doesn’t pass by September, 21st (Please see my previous blog for a basic explanation of what the Farm Bill is and how it affects wildlife).

Recap: Senate and House Bills

On September 12, 2012, farm groups gathered in front of the Capitol to urge Congress to pass the Farm Bill now. National Wildlife Federation staff attended.

In June, the Senate passed the Agriculture, Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2012 (S.3240). National Wildlife Federation supports the Senate version of the Farm Bill because it addresses our major Farm Bill priorities:

It maintains an adequate level of funding for conservation programs;
It contains a national Sodsaver provision to protect native grasslands;
And it requires that farmers receiving taxpayer-funded crop insurance premium subsidies protect the public good by following a soil conservation plan on highly erodible land and refrain from draining wetlands (known as conservation compliance).

After the Senate bill passed, it was the House’s turn to pass their own version. The House Agriculture Committee moved quickly to pass H.R. 6830, the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2012. Although the House version maintained a similar level of funding to conservation in comparison to the Senate bill, it lacked important protection for wildlife. The House bill’s version of Sodsaver only applied to the Prairie Pothole Region, despite efforts by Reps. Timothy Walz (D-Minn.) and Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) to extend Sodsaver nationally and protect native grasslands nationwide. The House version also lacked conservation compliance provisions in exchange for crop insurance premium subsidies. However, if brought to the House floor, members of Congress will have the chance to apply Sodsaver to the entire nation, and apply important soil and water conservation provisions, as Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) did on the Senate floor.

Unfortunately, the Farm Bill is stalled. There are only 3 days left on the Congressional calendar before the 2008 Farm Bill expires on September 30th, 2012, and the House leadership still hasn’t allowed the Farm Bill to go to the floor. Although Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA) filed a discharge petition to force the House to a vote, it is unlikely the petition will get enough signatures before the Farm Bill expires.

What will happen if the 2008 Farm Bill expires?

The longer it takes to pass a farm bill, the worse things will be for conservation. According to the Congressional Research Service, funding for some conservation programs, including the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), and Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) was extended beyond the Farm Bill until September 2014, by the FY2012 Agriculture Appropriations Act (P.L. 112-55); however, that appropriation contains significant cuts to all those programs.

But the Farm Bill expiration isn’t the only thing affecting conservation funding right now. In an effort to keep the government running until March 2013, the House has passed a continuing resolution which would cap some conservation programs and cut others. If the House votes on a Farm Bill in the lame duck session after the November election, there is still another chance to restore vital conservation funding. If Congress waits until next year to vote on the Farm Bill, the process will have to start all over again and conservation will continue to be a target for disproportionate budget cuts.

Will the agricultural world as we know it come to an end?

Old barns might still be pretty, but old farm laws are not. The Farm Bill has to keep moving forward to keep up with the times. Photo credit: flickr, cwwycoff1

For those of you curious about how the expiration will affect other aspects of the Farm Bill, it gets complicated. You may have heard that if the Farm Bill expires, we will have to go back to old laws from the 1930s. This refers to permanent law, a set of outdated rules dating as far back as 1938, which are designed to control the market price of agricultural products. Permanent law is superseded by the 2008 Farm Bill. When the 2008 Farm Bill expires September 30th, theoretically, these outdated rules go back into effect, resulting in wackiness and mayhem that could cost taxpayers a lot of money for no good reason. However, since it takes some time to enact laws, I don’t think permanent law is really going to have much of an impact before some extension or new version of the Farm Bill goes on the books.

So, no, the world isn’t going to end if the Farm Bill doesn’t pass by September 30th. That being said, I am hugely disappointed in this turn of events. I would like to believe that our elected officials can work together and get things done. A Farm Bill that pleases everyone may not exist. But I believe that with hard, bipartisan work, Congress can pass a Farm Bill we can stand behind. There is still time left, and a bill is so close. Yet so far.

What can you do to make sure mayhem doesn’t ensue and wildlife is protected?

Follow the link to ask your representative to extend the important wildlife protection provisions from the Senate version to the House version of the Bill, whenever it comes to the floor.

UPDATE: September 20th: House Speaker John Boehner announced that the Farm Bill will not go to the House floor until after November elections.

The post Congress Fails Farmers and Wildlife (Updated) appeared first on The National Wildlife Federation Blog.

Calling on Wildlife Fans in Texas and Oklahoma

Lara Bryant — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 14:23:04 +0000

On July 11th, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) and member K. Michael Conaway (R-TX) tried to make the argument that the states of Texas and Oklahoma should be exempt from a provision that would limit federal subsidies to landowners who convert valuable wildlife habitat into cropland. By their logic, Texas and Oklahoma landowners deserve to receive taxpayer funds with no strings attached, even if they choose to destroy wildlife with that money.

The black-tailed prairie dog is a species of conservation need in Texas. Photo Credit: Bureau of Land Management

What Happened

Wednesday, July 11th, the House Agriculture Committee sat for nearly 13 hours working through amendments to the Farm Bill. While the House bill maintained the same overall level of funding for conservation as the Senate’s version of the bill, it failed to protect grasslands across the country.

Sodsaver limits federal subsidies for native grasslands that are broken out for farming. Although the House bill includes a sodsaver provision, it only applies to the Prairie Pothole Region. While the Prairie Potholes are an extremely important and imperiled region, especially for migratory birds, native grasslands are important habitat nationwide. Reps. Timothy Walz (D-Minn.) and Kristi Noem (R-S.D.), along with Representative Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.), offered an amendment that would extend this provision to the entire nation, protecting prairies throughout the country. However, the sponsoring members were forced to withdraw the amendment before the Committee could vote, due to strong opposition from Lucas and Conaway, who wished to exempt Texas and Oklahoma from sodsaver.

I am troubled most by the following arguments from Conaway and Lucas: they didn’t seem to think conversion of grassland into farmland is a problem in their states, and they argued farmers have a right to subsidies without holding any responsibility to taxpayers. Chairman Lucas stated, “for me in Oklahoma, and my friend in Texas, this is a private property issue.”

Why Sodsaver is not a Private Property Issue

To quote the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, “Wildlife in Oklahoma belongs to the people of Oklahoma even though 95 percent of Oklahoma is privately-owned.” In other words, private landowners have a responsibility to everyone when it comes to wildlife conservation.

Receiving federal funds is not a landowner’s right. My family owns farmland in Tennessee, and we don’t want anyone to tell us how we have to use it. But we also don’t expect the government to subsidize any initiative we undertake. Sodsaver does not take away the rights of landowners to convert grassland into cropland. It merely ensures that they do not receive taxpayer dollars for practices that harm the public. Yet Sodsaver ensures farmers are free to do whatever they wish with their land.

Why Texas and Oklahoma Grasslands Need Protection

Unbroken land is not in use because it is not the most productive cropland. Without federal incentives combined with high crop prices, it would not be put into use. However, when taxpayers subsidize the risk, landowners convert valuable wildlife habitat and rangeland into crops . According to the USDA, total cropland acreage increased across the US in 2012. In Texas, cropland increased by about 1.6 million acres from 2011 to 2012 – the second highest increase of any state.

Texas and Oklahoma are both home to many grassland species. The Texas Parks & Wildlife has classified many grassland mammals, insects, birds, and plants as “species of greatest conservation need,” including the black-tailed prairie dog.

Oklahoma crop acreage also increased in 2012 by approximately 600,000 acres. A national sodsaver provision is critical for protecting the habitat of grassland wildlife such as the Lesser Prairie Chicken, which is in danger of being listed as an endangered species and is part of conservation efforts in Oklahoma.

Lesser Prairie Chicken. Photo Credit: Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation

What You Can Do

Let Congress know you want the best wildlife protections included in the House Farm Bill.

The post Calling on Wildlife Fans in Texas and Oklahoma appeared first on The National Wildlife Federation Blog.