Last week, we joined more than 140 leading farm, conservation, and wildlife groups in calling on Congress for protection of conservation program funding in the fiscal year 2020 appropriations process. The letter calls on appropriators to respect the funding decisions made in the 2018 farm bill and reject any cuts to farm bill conservation funding through the appropriations process.
Dear Chairman Bishop, Chairman Hoeven, Ranking Member Fortenberry, and Ranking Member Merkley,
The undersigned organizations urge you to protect farm bill conservation program mandatory funding as you consider agriculture appropriations legislation for fiscal year 2020. We further request that you provide robust discretionary funding and support for NRCS field staff, as technical assistance is essential for the delivery of conservation support for farmers and ranchers across the country.
In the 2018 Farm Bill, Congress reaffirmed the importance of voluntary, incentive-based conservation by maintaining level funding for the conservation title. Demand for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) consistently exceeds available dollars by at least two to one; in some years, USDA has been forced to turn away as many as three-quarters of eligible applicants. We are pleased that fiscal year 2018 and 2019 appropriations legislation included no cuts to these programs below authorized levels, and we urge you to ensure that these programs remain fully funded in the FY 2020 appropriations bill as well.
Full funding for conservation programs such as EQIP, CSP, Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), and Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) is critical to enable farmers, ranchers, and foresters across the country to conserve water, maintain their soil, protect farmland and wetlands, create and maintain fish and wildlife habitat, and produce abundant food and fiber. The funding already authorized for these programs should be protected as a vital investment in the infrastructure of rural America and in our future. Conservation support for healthy soil, clean water, and overall farm viability is essential as farmers struggle to stay afloat.
In addition to leaving farm bill conservation funding intact, we urge you to provide at least $890 million for Conservation Operations, including $790 million in critical funding for Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA). This request includes NRCS’s contribution to the Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) Business Center, and we urge appropriators to ensure that NRCS continues to receive the support it needs for Conservation Operations, even under the centralization of functions within FPAC.
NRCS field staff provide direct technical assistance and planning support for farmers and ranchers across the country, and USDA’s ability to deliver conservation programs depends heavily on onthe-ground technical assistance. CTA provides landowners with the site-specific solutions needed to implement conservation practices on their lands, while providing accountability to ensure maximum return on the public investment. On-the-ground capacity continues to be a limiting factor for conservation implementation, and we must not hamstring our investment in conservation by underfunding technical assistance. Full funding for Conservation Operations is particularly important this year as NRCS works to implement the changes in the 2018 Farm Bill.
Funding for conservation support is more important now than ever, as farmers, ranchers, and rural communities continue to endure a multiyear slump in the farm economy. Any further cuts to voluntary conservation programs would severely limit the ability of farmers to protect water quality, build soil health, create and maintain habitat for threatened, endangered, or economically important fish and wildlife, and prepare for and manage drought and flooding. Cuts to farm bill conservation programs through the FY 2020 appropriations process would severely limit the number of qualified farmers able to access the programs, leading to more pollution as well as less productive and profitable farmlands as soil erodes and nutrients are lost.
As the Subcommittees develop FY 2020 appropriations bills, we urge you to reject any cuts to conservation programs, and to provide at least $890 million in discretionary funding for Conservation Operations, including $790 million for Conservation Technical Assistance.
भवदीय,
Alabama Sustainable Agriculture Network
Alliance for the Great Lakes
अमेरिकी पक्षी संरक्षण
अमेरिकन फार्मल्याण्ड ट्रस्ट
American Forest Foundation
अमेरिकी वन
American Rivers
American Seed Trade Association
अमेरिकी कृषि एग्रोनोमी
American Sustainable Business Council
अमेरिकी जल निर्माण संघ
American Woodcock Society
माछा र वन्यजीव एजेन्सीहरूको संघ
Association of State Floodplain Managers
Broward Group of the Sierra Club
California Association of Resource Conservation Districts
California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF)
California Climate & Agriculture Network (CalCAN)
California Farm Bureau Federation
Carbon Cycle Institute
ग्रामीण मामिला केन्द्र
चेसपेक बे फाउन्डेशन
Citizens' Environmental Coalition
सफा पानी कार्य
क्लिभल्याण्ड पानी गठबन्धन
कोस्टल इन्टरप्राइजेज, इंक।
Colorado Wildlife Federation
Community Farm Alliance
Community Farm Land Trust
Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA)
Concerned Citizens of Cattaraugus County
अमेरिका को फसल विज्ञान समाज
डकोटा ग्रामीण कार्य
वन्यजीवको रक्षाकर्ता
डेल्टा ल्याण्ड एण्ड कम्युनिटी
बतख असीमित
Endangered Habitats League
वातावरणीय रक्षा कोष
पर्यावरण कानून र नीति केन्द्र
पर्यावरण कार्य समूह
Farm to Table NM
Florida Organic Growers
Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT)
For Love of Water (FLOW)
Freshwater Future
Grassworks
Great Rivers Habitat Alliance
Green Lands Blue Waters
Headwaters Chapter Izaak Walton League of America
हिप हप ककस
Illinois Council of Trout Unlimited
Illinois Division of the Izaak Walton League
Illinois Stewardship Alliance
Indiana Wildlife Federation
कृषि र व्यापार नीति को लागी संस्थान
Izaak Walton League Illinois Division
Izaak Walton League of America
Izaak Walton League of America - National Great Lakes Committee
Izaak Walton League of America - Ohio Division
Izaak Walton League of America Illinois Division
Izaak Walton League of America Pennsylvania State Division
जोन्स हप्किन्स सेन्टर फर अ लिभेबल फ्युचर
जोन्स हप्किन्स सेन्टर फर अ लिभेबल फ्युचर
Junction Coalition
Kampeska Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America
कन्सास ग्रामीण केन्द्र
राम्रोको लागि भूमि
Land Improvement Contractors of America
भूमि व्यवस्थापन परियोजना
भूमि ट्रस्ट गठबन्धन
Lorain County Ely Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America
मेन फार्मल्याण्ड ट्रस्ट
Marin Agricultural Land Trust
माइकल फिल्ड्स कृषि संस्थान
Michigan Land Improvement Contractors
Michigan Wildlife Conservancy
Milwaukee Riverkeeper
Mississippi River Network
Missouri Coalition for the Environment
MN Division - Izaak Walton League of America
Montana Wildlife Federation
Montanan Organic Association
स्वच्छ पानी एजेन्सीहरूको राष्ट्रिय संघ (NACWA)
National Association of Conservation Districts
National Association of State Conservation Agencies
राष्ट्रीय औडबोन समाज
National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative
उपयुक्त प्रविधिको लागि राष्ट्रिय केन्द्र
National Deer Alliance
राष्ट्रिय किसान संघ
National Organic Coalition
राष्ट्रिय निकुञ्ज संरक्षण संघ
राष्ट्रिय दिगो कृषि गठबन्धन
राष्ट्रिय जंगली टर्की महासंघ
राष्ट्रिय वन्यजन्तु संघ
National Young Farmers Coalition
प्राकृतिक संसाधन रक्षा परिषद
नेब्रास्का वन्यजन्तु महासंघ
New Mexico Food & Agriculture Policy Council
Northeast Organic Farming Association
Northeast Organic Farming Association - Vermont
Northeast Organic Farming Association/Massachusetts Chapter (NOFA/Mass)
पूर्वोत्तर दिगो कृषि कार्य समूह
ओहायो पारिस्थितिक खाद्य तथा कृषि संघ
Ohio Environmental Council
Onondaga Audubon
ओरेगन Tilth
अर्गानिक खेती अनुसन्धान प्रतिष्ठान
जैविक व्यापार संघ
Palouse Land Trust, Inc.
PCC Farmland Trust
पेन्सिलभेनिया चर्च परिषद्
Pennsylvania Farmers Union
कीटनाशक कार्य सञ्जाल
Pollinator Partnership
आयोवाका व्यावहारिक किसानहरू
Prairie Rivers Network
Ruffed Grouse Society
Rural & Agriculture Council of America
ग्रामीण गठबन्धन
स्लो फूड अमेरिका
दायरा व्यवस्थापन को लागी समाज
माटो तथा जल संरक्षण समाज
Soil Science Society of America
Sonoma ल्याण्ड ट्रस्ट
Superior Rivers Watershed Association
Tennessee Clean Water Network
संरक्षण कोष
The Land Improvement Contractors of America (LICA)
प्रकृति संरक्षण
वन्यजन्तु समाज
Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership
ट्राउट असीमित
युएस पीआईआरजी
Concerned वैज्ञानिकहरु को संघ
Virginia Association for Biological Farming
Virginia Conservation Network
पानी वातावरण संघ
Western Landowners Alliance
Western Reserve Chapter, Izaak Walton League of America
Wild Farm Alliance
Wisconsin Division IWLA
Wisconsin Metro Audubon Society
विश्व वन्यजन्तु कोष
Invertebrate संरक्षण को लागी Xerces समाज
Yolo Land Trust
