Mississippi River Network Sign-On Letter
March XX, 2011
Dear Member of Mississippi River State Congressional Delegations,
As you continue the debate on deficit reduction measures in the Fiscal Year 2011 (FY 11) Appropriations legislation and the Fiscal Year 2012 (FY 12) Budget, the ___ undersigned organizations urge Members of Mississippi River state Congressional delegations to consider the vital importance of agricultural conservation programs in protecting the environment and in providing critical wildlife habitat throughout the Mississippi River Basin and the Gulf of Mexico.
While we recognize the need to bring the nation’s fiscal house in order, agricultural conservation programs such as the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) and the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) have a proven track record of providing efficient and cost effective conservation and environmental benefits, which, we believe, must be factored into deficit reduction decision-making processes. Yet, with the exception of CRP, these agricultural conservation programs face $500 million in cuts in the House-passed Continuing Resolution (CR) for FY 11 and approximately $800 million in permanent reductions from spending levels authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill in the Obama Administration’s proposed FY 12 Budget.
These agricultural conservation programs are vital to the protection and management of agricultural and environmental resources in the Mississippi River Basin.In 2009 alone, 10,686 EQIP contracts were entered into with farmers in the ten Mississippi River states to implement conservation practices designed to improve water quality, conserve ground and surface water, improve air quality, reduce soil erosion and improve or create new areas of wildlife habitat. Nearly $155 million of federal funds was obligated in that year for EQIP in those states with the cost of implementing those conservation measures ranging from $.37/acre to $1.79/acre, which clearly demonstrates the cost effectiveness of EQIP conservation practice implementation in the Mississippi River valley.
Similarly, in Fiscal Year 2010, 8,362 Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) contracts were negotiated with Mississippi River state agricultural and forestry producers to improve performance of existing conservation practices. More than $100 million was obligated in Mississippi River states to producers to implement conservation enhancing practices resulting in 4.8 million acres being treated.
Additionally, since inception more than 8 million acres of Mississippi River farmland has been enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) saving countless tons of valuable topsoil, reducing polluted runoff, improving water quality and creating vital sources of wildlife habitat by taking highly erodible, less productive farmland out of production. More than 1.1 million acres has been enrolled in the Wetland Protection Program (WRP), creating habitat for ducks and wildlife and reducing flood potential for all Mississippi River citizens.
These agricultural conservation programs are not only efficient in their ability to deliver cost effective environmental benefits, but are also necessary to offset the increasing stress being placed on the land to produce vital food, fiber and fuel for the nation. Farmers have recognized the need for this balance in order to maintain the long term productivity of their farming operations.
Demand for enrollment in agricultural conservation programs often eclipses available funding. Nationally, over 1 million acres are waiting to be enrolled in the WRP and Grasslands Reserve Program (GRP), with the vast majority of the unfunded WRP acreage in the Mississippi River Basin. In 2009, more than 30,000 applications by Mississippi River farmers for participation in EQIP alone went unfunded, nearly 3 times the amount of contracts negotiated and approved in those states.
Additionally, the targeted approaches of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed program, Great Lakes and Sage Grouse Initiatives have demonstrated an ability to obtain conservation goals and increase cost effectiveness by utilizing funding from across programs to meet specific resource needs and problems and by providing credible, peer reviewed scientific data upon which to base program performance. The targeted approach utilized in the Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI) holds great promise in significantly reducing nutrients and improving water quality on the River and in the Gulf of Mexico. While still in its infancy, 41 watersheds covering 42 million acres in the ten Mississippi River states plus Indiana and Ohio have been selected to participate in MRBI programs. These science-based, targeted resource management initiatives represent an evolution in performance driven program development at NRCS and must be afforded ample time to demonstrate their ability to deliver cost effective environmental programs and benefits.
The targeted initiatives are also providing a new context for innovation in addressing other resource management challenges along the Mississippi River. More frequent and intense storms have resulted in larger annual flooding events, creating the need for new approaches to floodplain management and to address the costs associated with restoring property damaged by those floods. Mississippi River groups are exploring the feasibility of utilizing agricultural conservation programs to remove critically flood prone farmland from agricultural production and restoring those areas to store excess floodwaters and to provide critical safeguards to communities, agricultural lands and wildlife habitats. New innovations in resource management can only be achieved if the commitment and funding to NRCS conservation programs is maintained.
While we recognize the need to spend taxpayer dollars wisely and to reduce the budget, the agricultural conservation programs deliver multiple environmental and resource benefits while providing farmers with the financial resources to implement the practices necessary to meet the environmental and conservation goals along the Mississippi River. The benefits of balancing agricultural production with environmental protection and restoration are not only cost effective, but also extremely cheap in the long run.
The existing proposals for debt reduction make significant cuts to agricultural conservation programs that are vital to the long-term health of the Mississippi River and the farmers who produce food, fuel and fiber in those states. In making your decisions on where to cut the federal deficit, we ask that you carefully consider the tremendous value that the agricultural conservation programs provide to the citizens of Mississippi River states and to the investment this nation has made in the Mississippi River Basin.
Thank you for your attention to the agricultural conservation programs and to the Mississippi River states. If you have any questions, please contact Bill Wenzel, Policy Manager of the Mississippi River Network (MRN), at bwenzel2@aol.com or (608) 444-0292.
Sincerely,
