[Pollinator] Advocates urge conferees to include bee-protection measures in farm bill

[Scott Black]

Advocates urge conferees to include bee-protection measures in farm bill

 

Amanda Peterka, E&E reporter

 

Published: Wednesday, October 23, 2013 

Conservation groups and bee advocates are urging farm bill conferees to use
the five-year bill to help strengthen federal protection over pollinator
species that have experienced precipitous declines in recent years.

More than 50 organizations today wrote to Senate members of the farm bill
conference committee requesting that they retain pollinator protection
language included in the House version of the bill. The provision would
establish better coordination between federal agencies in dealing with
pollinator health, create a task force on bee health, and increase
monitoring and research of pollinator populations.

"Maintaining healthy populations of honey bees and other pollinators is
essential for the long-term success of American agriculture," the
organizations wrote to the Senate conferees, who are led by Senate
Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and ranking member Thad
Cochran (R-Miss.).

Pollinators contribute between $20 billion and $30 billion a year to the
nation's agricultural production by pollinating fruits and specialty crops
like almonds, according to the advocates.

But in recent years, pollinator populations have fallen dramatically.
Managed honeybee colonies nationwide, for example, lost 31.1 percent of
their populations last winter, according to an Agriculture Department-funded
annual survey conducted by the Bee Informed Partnership and the Apiary
Inspectors of America.

In the case of honeybees, scientists call the syndrome "colony collapse
disorder" and blame it on a variety of factors, including pesticides and
habitat loss.

Under the House farm bill provision, federal agencies like the Agriculture
Department and U.S. EPA would be required to increase their interagency
cooperation and provide guidance on pollinator health issues. USDA would
establish a task force focused solely on bee health and commercial
beekeeping.

The provision also calls for increased monitoring and reporting of the
losses of a variety of managed and native pollinators, including bees, birds
and bats. It also would require USDA to assess whether it should modernize a
bee research lab and create a new one.

Reps. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) and Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) offered the
provision in the form of an amendment during the House farm bill debate. It
passed this summer in a 273-149 vote. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) offered
a nearly identical amendment during the Senate farm bill floor debate, but
it never received a vote.

The provision "would be a significant step towards ensuring the long-term
viability of populations of honeybees," the conservation advocates said
today.

The American Bird Conservancy, American Farmland Trust, Center for
Biological Diversity, Center for Food Safety, National Farmers Union,
National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Pesticide
Action Network North America, Sierra Club and Xerces Society were among the
groups signing the letter.

Farm bill conferees will hold a public meeting next Wednesday in the first
step toward reconciling
<http://www.eenews.net/bills/113/House/110713120419.pdf> H.R. 2642and
<http://www.eenews.net/bills/113/Senate/160513133954.pdf> S. 954, the House
and Senate versions of the bill (
<http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2013/10/23/stories/1059989291> Greenwire,
Oct. 23

 

 

_______

 

Scott Hoffman Black

Executive Director

     The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

Chair

     IUCN Butterfly Specialist Group

 

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