Obama's Budget: $500 Million+ Cut to USDA Conservation Programs

Environmental Defense Fund urged Congress to reject a proposal in President Obama's Fiscal Year 2011 budget to cut more than half billion dollars from USDA conservation programs below funding levels mandated in the 2008 Farm Bill. "We recognize that the administration faces tough choices to cut the deficit, but these conservation programs help drive private investment in public benefits – including cleaner water, cleaner air and improved habitat for wildlife – so they are a great deal for taxpayers," said Sara Hopper, director of agricultural policy for Environmental Defense Fund and a former staff member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. "USDA conservation programs assist farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners who offer to spend their own time and money to improve the management of their land to benefit the environment." These conservation programs reward producers for improving the management of farms, ranches and private forest land to benefit water resources, air quality and wildlife; restoring and protecting wetlands; preserving and restoring grasslands; and maintaining farmland, ranchland and private forestland in the face of development pressures...read more