[Pollinator] Pollinator Research: Ask your Senator to sign on to Ag appropriations letter

[Mace Vaughan]

Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Mike Crapo (R-ID),
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY), Tim Johnson (D-SD),
Robert Menendez (D-NJ), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) are circulating the following
letter to the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairmen and
Ranking Member in support of $20 million for Pollinator Research at the U.S.
Department of Agriculture in FY2011.
 
The funding, which was authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill, would go toward
vital research to combat Colony Collapse Disorder in honey bees and further
our scientific understanding of the fundamental services pollinators provide
our agricultural economy. Please read the attached letter for additional
information.

 

Senators especially need to hear from the agricultural community: farmers,
bee keepers, crop advisors, organic certifiers, and others who work directly
with farmers. So, please spread the word to your contacts in this community.

 

The deadline for Senators to sign on is COB Wednesday March 24th. If
Senators or their staff have any questions or would like to sign on, they
can contact Senator Boxer's office.

 

To find the phone number for your Senator's office, go to:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Thank you,
 
Scott Hoffman Black, Executive Director
Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
 

 

March XX, 2010
 
The Honorable Herb Kohl
Chairman
Subcommittee on Agriculture
Committee on Appropriations
SD-131 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
 
The Honorable Sam Brownback
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Agriculture
Committee on Appropriations
SD-131 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 2051

 
Dear Chairman Kohl and Ranking Member Brownback:
 
We are writing to request that the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee
allocate $20 million in Fiscal Year 2011 funding for pollinator research
projects as authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill. These funds will increase the
resilience and security of our farming systems by supporting vital research
into Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) in managed honeybees and native bee
ecology.
 
The USDA starkly warned in June 2007 that the continued decline in bees and
emergence of CCD "has the potential to cause a $15 billion direct loss of
crop production and $75 billion in indirect losses." Pollinators are
responsible for the production of one-third of the nation's food supply, yet
Federal support of pollinator and honeybee research has been historically
irreflective of the importance of animal pollinators in agriculture.
 
We often take for granted the indispensable services honeybees and other
pollinators provide. The number of managed honeybee colonies in the U.S. has
dropped in half since 1940, while demand for pollination services in
agriculture has continued to grow. This year over 1.5 million managed honey
bee hives are expected to be needed for California almond crop alone, over
half the hives in the entire nation. In other states, farmers who produce
other nuts, apples, berries, peaches, squash, and many fruits and vegetables
depend on healthy pollinators.
 
Because of the importance of pollinators in the production of the nation's
food supply and their impact on the stability of our agricultural economy,
it is essential that the Federal government help establish sustainable,
long-term, research initiatives dedicated to protecting the health of both
honeybees and other native bees.
 
With broad consensus from farmers, beekeepers, scientists and legislators on
the need to fund pollinator research, this investment will allow our
scientific community to pursue vital investigations into the complex natural
systems on which our nation's agricultural activities are dependant.
 
We thank you for your time and consideration of this important matter.

 

Sincerely,

 
Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Mike Crapo (R-ID),
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY), Tim Johnson (D-SD),
Robert Menendez (D-NJ), and Ron Wyden (D-OR)

 

_______________________________________________
Mace Vaughan
Pollinator Program Director, Entomologist/Educator 
Joint Pollinator Conservation Specialist for the
     USDA-NRCS West National Technology Support Center

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
4828 SE Hawthorne Blvd., Portland, OR  97215-3252 USA
office: 503-232-6639  fax: 503-233-6794  

mobile: 503-753-6000  NRCS: 503-273-2442
email:  mace at xerces.org  

Find all the information you need to conserve pollinator habitat at:

http://www.xerces.org/pollinator-resource-center/


The Xerces Society is an international, nonprofit organization that 

protects wildlife through the conservation of invertebrates and their 

habitat. To join the Society, make a contribution, or read about our 

work, please visit http://www.xerces.org/ <http://www.xerces.org/> 
_______________________________________________ 

 



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