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State Representative Rick Hansen
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-6828
For more information contact: Christina Gosack 651-296-5524
NEWS COLUMN
Hansen/Peterson: Millions in Federal Funds for Conservation In Minnesota Going Unspent
In conservation, getting the job done means getting the practice implemented on the ground. David Geis, a farmer from Redwood County, knows about the benefits of conservation on his farm.
Geis raves about the success of a joint federal-state program that helped him turn environmentally sensitive acres of his farm into restored wetlands. By paying farmers a competitive price to put marginal lands into conservation, the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) has improved drinking water quality across the state, increased scarce wildlife habitat, reduced erosion of tillable land, and helped restore dwindling wetlands. These are win-win results for farmers, conservationists and the public at large.
So why are nearly $200 million in federal funds for the second stage of this popular program going unspent? In the Legislature, we passed $23 million in the bonding bill last session for CREP II to meet the state's side of the bargain. Yet so far, the program has been ineffective at getting this money implemented on the ground. The goal of CREP II is to put an additional 120,000 acres in the Red River Basin, Southwestern Minnesota and Southeastern Minnesota into conservation by the end of 2007 yet, to date, only about 3,500 acres are enrolled.
Whether the cause is political, or a weakness in the system, we are calling on the Pawlenty administration to redouble its efforts to get this good program working, or we will not even come close to meeting our goal. The Governor should increase the sign-up bonuses for CREP II, increase support to get the word out that this money is available, and improve the so-far weak federal-state-local partnership needed to get this program working. We believe the Governor could make these changes administratively, but we're willing to offer legislation, if it will help. There are thousands of acres in our state that could be converted for conservation; helping water quality, erosion control and habitat. Increased habitat means improving outdoor activities like hunting for future generations. We need to act now in order to make the best use of this program before it expires.
Aaron Peterson, Madison
State Representative District 20A
Rick Hansen, South St. Paul
State Representative District 39A
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