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<DIV>This E&E Daily story was sent to you by: hdiazsoltero@fs.fed.us<BR><BR><BR> <BR>(Embedded image moved to file: pic26661.jpg)E&E Daily <BR> An E&E Publishing Service <BR>E&E Daily -- Friday, May 25, 2007 <BR>AGRICULTURE: Harkin targets big changes to conservation programs <BR>Allison Winter, E&E Daily reporter <BR>Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) is <BR>planning a dramatic reorganization of conservation programs in the <BR>next farm bill and wants to pump $6 billion more into conservation <BR>spending. <BR>Harkin's farm bill proposal would consolidate the Agriculture <BR>Department's largest working lands programs into one new <BR>initiative called the Conservation Stewardship Incentives Program. <BR>Its annual budget would be twice that of the entire Fish and <BR>Wildlife Service. <BR>The working land stewardship program -- which would combine the <BR>Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Conservation Security <BR>Program and Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program -- would get $3 <BR>billion more over five years than current funding for those <BR>programs. The largest, EQIP, currently gets about $1 billion <BR>annually. <BR>The agriculture chairman would put another $3 billion into the <BR>other conservation programs. The money would come from the <BR>"reserve fund" given to the farm bill in the 2008 budget <BR>resolution, which requires offsets. <BR>Harkin does not have those offsets in hand yet and is basically <BR>going to "buy now, pay later," with the hopes that his colleagues <BR>will be so impressed with the conservation spending, they will <BR>help him come up with the offsets. <BR>"I am setting the stage, there will be battles later on for <BR>getting that money," Harkin said. "I want to set a dynamic so the <BR>Senate will be hard-pressed not to come up with that money." <BR>The Iowa senator is looking for his own cost-savings within the <BR>farm bill itself and wants to trim some farm subsidies and change <BR>what crops qualify for payments in the commodity title. <BR>"It is time to look ahead and think about how we can shuffle <BR>around and define what a commodity is," said Harkin, noting that <BR>cellulose, organics, conservation and specialty crops could all be <BR>considered "commodities." <BR>The conservation proposal is part of an effort to "streamline" <BR>programs, make the application process easier for farmers and keep <BR>different programs from competing against each other for funding, <BR>Harkin told reporters. <BR>Two conservation easement programs would also come under one <BR>umbrella. The two largest land retirement programs, the <BR>Conservation Reserve Program and the Wetlands Reserve Program, <BR>would stand alone. <BR>USDA has nearly a dozen different conservation programs Congress <BR>has created in different farm bills over the past 20 years. <BR>Legislators created different programs throughout the years to <BR>target certain concerns, including wildlife habitat, grasslands <BR>preservation and water quality. But farmers have complained that <BR>the resulting alphabet-soup of programs, each with its own <BR>application process and deadlines, is too difficult to navigate. <BR>The Bush administration proposed a similar consolidation for <BR>conservation easement programs earlier this year, but Harkin's <BR>plan for working lands is more ambitious. The administration's <BR>farm bill proposal kept the two largest programs on their own and <BR>folded the smaller programs into one. <BR>Some environmental groups were critical of that plan, saying it <BR>could eliminate some of the specific gains for wildlife in the <BR>other programs. But at least some of those groups are supporting <BR>Harkin's plan, which would let farmers apply for federal <BR>assistance for a one-time project, longer-term endeavors or to <BR>create wildlife habitat. <BR>"We are delighted with the new proposal ... it creates an <BR>opportunity to reform all of the programs and make sure we get the <BR>maximum environmental benefit, and it makes it so much easier on <BR>farmers," said Ferd Hoefner of the Sustainable Agriculture <BR>Coalition. <BR> <BR> <BR>Peterson to boost conservation funds <BR>Meanwhile, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson <BR>(D-Minn.) said yesterday he would restore controversial cuts he <BR>made to the Conservation Security Program in his farm bill <BR>proposal, bringing it up to baseline levels. <BR>Peterson appears to have backed away from some of the hard budget <BR>lines he drew before the conservation and energy markups earlier <BR>this week. Before this week, Peterson told members they could not <BR>tap any more of the reserve funds to try to boost funding for <BR>favorite programs. <BR>But after a meeting with House leadership last night, Peterson <BR>said that he is feeling more confident about being able to find <BR>offsets for funding and would let subcommittees tap more money in <BR>the reserve. <BR>"It was a matter of us trying to be cautious in moving ahead on <BR>the reserve funds and maybe we were too cautious," Peterson said. <BR> <BR> <BR>Buzz buzz buzz <BR>A group of 29 senators introduced a separate bill yesterday that <BR>would open all farm bill conservation programs to habitat <BR>protection for bees and other pollinators. <BR>The "Pollinator Protection Act" does not create new farm bill <BR>programs or change their funding. Rather, it directs the USDA <BR>offices that dole out conservation funds to help producers develop <BR>habitat or farming practices that could benefit pollinators. <BR>The plight of bees has come to the forefront this year, as a <BR>mysterious "colony collapse disorder" has ravaged some bee <BR>colonies. More than 25 percent of the United States' 2.4 million <BR>bee colonies have vanished, according to some estimates. Bees and <BR>other pollinators are responsible for the reproduction of 75 <BR>percent of the world's flowering plants, most of which are crop <BR>species. <BR>A report last fall from the National Academy of Sciences <BR>recommended using farm bill programs to conserve habitat for <BR>native bees. <BR>Harkin and roughly half of the Agriculture Committee have signed <BR>on as cosponsors. <BR> Want more stories like this every day? Sign up for a free trial <BR> and get the best environmental and energy policy coverage <BR> available. Go to http://www.eenews.net/trial/ </DIV>
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<DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#004000 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="12">Laurie Davies Adams<BR>Executive Director<BR>Coevolution Institute<BR>423 Washington St. 5th<BR>San Francisco, CA 94111<BR>415 362 1137<BR>LDA@coevolution.org<BR><A title=http://www.coevolution.org/ href="http://www.coevolution.org/">http://www.coevolution.org/</A></FONT><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#004000 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="12"><BR><A title=http://www.pollinator.org/ href="http://www.pollinator.org/">http://www.pollinator.org/</A></FONT><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#004000 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="12"><BR><A title=http://www.nappc.org/ href="http://www.nappc.org/">http://www.nappc.org/</A></FONT><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#004000 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="12"><BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10">Bee Ready for National Pollinator Week: June 24-30, 2007. Contact us <BR>for more information at www.pollinator.org </FONT><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#004000 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="12"><BR><BR><B><I>Our future flies on the wings of pollinators.</B></I></FONT></DIV><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">See what's free at <A title="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" href="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" target="_blank">AOL.com</A>. </FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>