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State Representative Rick Hansen
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-6828
For more information contact: Matt Swenson 651-297-8406
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MINNESOTA LAWMAKERS WEIGH IN ON CHANGES TO CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM
ST. PAUL, MN - As the Agriculture Department (USDA) considers changes to the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), a bipartisan group of 16 Minnesota lawmakers delivered a letter today to US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. The letter reiterated the importance of CRP, described the positive outcomes it has produced in Minnesota, and offered constructive recommendations for how the program can be improved.
“Over the life of the program, CRP has helped improve water quality in Minnesota’s abundant freshwater streams, lakes and rivers," said State Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL - South St. Paul) who serves on several key environmental committees in the legislature. “Land conservation made possible through the CRP program has preserved wildlife habitat, and prevented soil erosion and flooding. In many ways it has been the last line of defense for many of Minnesota’s most treasured natural resources.”
Still, Rep. Hansen and his colleagues in the Minnesota Legislature have pinpointed several areas where the program could be improved to provide an even greater benefit to conservation efforts throughout the state. The letter Hansen and others sent to Secretary Vilsack today described those potential areas of improvement, including:
• The USDA should fully utilize its authority to enroll 32 million acres of marginal farmland in the program, and seek the authority to enroll additional acres in CRP
• A periodic adjustment of reimbursement rates should be considered to ensure continued enrollment of marginal farmland, especially when owners may feel increased economic pressures to farm it
• The rule preventing the enrollment of no more than 25 percent of a county should be repealed, where the conservation need is the greatest and it provides multiple benefits
In addition to these specific policy recommendations, Minnesota lawmakers offered more general recommendations for how USDA should consider potential changes to the CRP program. Legislators advised the USDA to: 1) give priority to policies and lands that achieve the most multiple conservation benefits; 2) as Minnesota has done, work with science for successful implementation; and 3) make better use of the expertise of various government and non-government groups in the conservation field.
You can find out more about CRP on the USDA website at: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/CRP/.
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