President's Budget Calls for Deep Cuts in Conservation Progr

[SilverMallard]

17% CUT PROPOSED FOR AG-LAND CONSERVATION EFFORTS

Although spending for most subsidy and conservation programs were set in the 2002 Farm Bill, the Administration's budget proposes significant changes and reductions to these politically popular programs. Agricultural land conservation programs bear the brunt of the cuts. Conservation programs would be cut by more than $800 million, a reduction of 17%. Funding for research and rural development are likewise targeted for major cuts. The budget also calls for reducing several crop subsidies and lowering the overall cap on aid to individual farmers.

The recommendations will sail into a strong political headwind with several key leaders in Congress already noting their opposition. The Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) all but ruled out the changes in comments yesterday. Sen. Cochran objected to reopening farm programs before the next Farm Bill reauthorization.

Like virtually all domestic programs, the Forest Service budget would also be cut under the President's proposal. Overall, the Forest Service would lose $721 million. The Urban and Community Forestry program is slated for a $4.4 million cut.


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Fishing the Ozarks

[SilverMallard]

I haven't seen any specifics regarding which programs are getting the axe, but anglers should be aware that programs like WRP and CRP protect stream banks and waterways in farmland across the country. Programs like EQIP provide assistance to on-farm livestock feeding operations to help them dispose of animal waste without contaminating the watershed. Cuts in the Forestry Service budget are likely to curtail some stream restoration projects on USFS and BLM land.


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Fishing the Ozarks

[Farmer Bob]

I did not vote for Bush, I saw this coming. Food processers and exporters had been pushing the administration to scrap CRP to get more crop on the market and lower prices to processers at the expence of growers like me. Our rivers will suffer in the end. There has never been a better time to expand CRP and related conservation programs than now...FB.

[Gardenfish]

I will never understand this kind of thing. Water is to the Earth like blood is to the body. I ache. Give me one day, just me and PResident Bush on the water.

[Spud]

If they cut CRP and WRP, I'm going to be mad!

I haven't heard specifics though.

We had a post like this over on the VFS board (dare I mention it?). I live on a dairy farm in Upstate, NY...so I feel very strongly about this sort of thing. There is some good information on that other post, along with just idiotic remarks to read though, but I feel there are some good points made that are worth looking at, especially later on in the thread. I'm Outdoorsman, btw.
[url=http://outdoorsbest.zeroforum.com/zerothread?id=306560:73195]http://outdoorsbest.zeroforum.com/zerothread?id=306560[/url:73195]

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"If firearms cause crimes and kill people, all of the ones I have must be defective."

[SilverMallard]

It bears pointing out that conservation spending was increased by a good bit more than 17% under the 2002 Farm Bill. So, even with a 17% cut, we still have a net gain under this Administration. However, we'll have to wait and see WHICH PROGRAMS are cut and by HOW MUCH before we'll really know about net gains/losses.

The single biggest reason the ag lobby will rant and rave about this proposal is that the Bush Administration, in the 2002 Farm Bill, increased the total subsidy cap per farm from $250,000 to $300,000 and this plan contains a provision to reduce it back down to $250,000 per year. This impacts large-scale farmers pretty significantly, and they control the ag lobby.

But you can expect the environmental and wildlife conservation communities to also raise a lot of cane about these cuts as well. Nobody likes to get handed a big setback right after a major victory. And we were really just starting to get programs and funding that made good sense and restored some balance.

But...there's an expensive war going on. We've all got to be willing to tighten our belts somewhat I suspect. We all screamed about budget deficits, we all screamed about terrorism, and now we'll all scream when our favorite projects get scaled back in order to fight the war on terrorism, reduce the federal budget deficit by 50%, and still try to be all things to all people.

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Fishing the Ozarks

[SilverMallard]

I'd encourage everyone to write their Congressmen and tell them that 17% cut needs to come from crop-related subsidies and that they should leave the conservation subsidies alone. Wildlife and clean water can't vote or even complain. WE have to be their voices.

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Fishing the Ozarks

[Spud]

CRP are often crop-related.

What sort of crop subsidies are you referring to? Across the country there are different types of agriculture, all with different needs.

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"If firearms cause crimes and kill people, all of the ones I have must be defective."

[SilverMallard]

Spud,

CRP is not a crop subsidy. It is a conservation land subsidy. It is a subsidy paid for restoring crop land to more wildlife-friendly habitat. It began as a soil conservation subsidy but has evolved over the past 3 Farm Bills into a wildlife habitat subsidy.

Crop subsidies are paid by the production acre of land in corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, and rice...that's it. The vast majority of these subsidies go to farming operations that do not need welfare.

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Fishing the Ozarks

[SilverMallard]

Here's an excellent overview of the farm subsidies contained in the Farm Bill and who gets what.

[url=http://www.heritage.org/Research/Budget/bg1763.cfm:cc019]http://www.heritage.org/Research/Budget/bg1763.cfm[/url:cc019]

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Fishing the Ozarks