Conservation Legislative Update

Posted: 09-Oct-2007; Updated: 10-Oct-2007

• Print
• Send to friend
• +

New legislation now before Congress offers tax incentives for landowners who volunteer to help declining wildlife. Hundreds of declining species, including the federally threatened bog turtle, could benefit.
(Photo: Andrea M. Teti)

Following its August recess, Capitol Hill set its sights on endangered species legislation, and action on Farm Bill reauthorization shifted from the House to the Senate.

Endangered species: Senate Committee approves tax incentives for landowners

On September 21, the Senate Finance Committee approved a package of tax incentives for landowners who volunteer to participate in endangered species recovery efforts on their land. These incentives were introduced as S.700, the Endangered Species Recovery Act of 2007, by Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) and now included in the Habitat and Land Conservation Act. Last week the committee again voted its support for S. 700, as it considered a package of Farm Bill programs. As of October 8, 25 Senators have signed on to the bill.

This development is highly significant, as it is the first time in years that endangered species legislation has garnered bipartisan support and been approved at the committee level without controversy. This legislation has been endorsed by diverse groups that include the American Farm Bureau Federation and several environmental groups. S. 700 offers landowners who volunteer to restore habitat for endangered wildlife and other rare species $2 billion in tax incentives over five years, as well as additional incentives.

Attention now shifts to the House of Representatives, where a counterpart bill (H.R. 1422) introduced by Mike Thompson (D-CA) has 77 cosponsors as of October 8. Conservationists are aiming to boost the number of House cosponsors, in order to improve the prospects for favorable action by the House Ways and Means Committee.

Agriculture: House bypasses Farm Bill reform; conservationists turn to Senate

The 2007 Farm Bill reauthorization is off to a rocky start. The Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (H.R. 2419), passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in July, does contain $4.5 billion in new conservation funding and provides important program improvements. However, it leaves many programs critically under-funded and missed an opportunity to modernize the farm safety net and reinvest the savings in programs that would benefit more farmers in more regions of the country. 

(Photo: USDA NRCS)

The Fairness in Farm and Food Policy amendment, offered by Reps. Ron Kind (D-WI) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) aimed to do that and fund conservation and nutrition at higher levels than the bill the House passed and do it without raising taxes. However the House voted 309-117 against the amendment.

The House failed to adopt meaningful reforms, despite criticism that these traditional subsidies reach just a fraction of the nation's food producers. H.R. 2419 would continue to give billions of dollars to producers of just five crops—cotton, wheat, rice, soybeans and corn—who get over 90% of subsidies, but offers little to the growers of “specialty crops”—commodities such as fruits, vegetables, and nuts—who produce over half of the nation's agricultural output.

Farm Bill reformers noted several shortfalls in H.R. 2419. A few examples:

• The Grassland Reserve Program received only a modest increase that would enroll an additional 1.34 million acres. Yet 2005 data—the most recent available—show that farmers who offered 5 million acres of grasslands couldn't enroll because funds weren't sufficient to reach those landowners. Under H.R. 2419, most of them would again be turned away.
• The Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program was denied increased funding. Presently just over half of the landowners who want to create habitat for at-risk species get assistance.
• Despite improvements in the structure of the Conservation Security Program, new enrollments will not be accepted until 2012.
• Insufficient resources are directed to the needs of forest owners, despite the ongoing loss of our nation's privately owned forestlands.

Notwithstanding major disappointment in H.R. 2419, conservationists applauded improvements in the bill over current legislation. Some of those gains are:

• The Wetlands Reserve Program acreage enrollment cap was raised from 2.275 to 3.605 million acres. A new Wetlands Reserve Enhancement Program—analogous to the successful Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program—was added, giving states an opportunity to address their conservation priorities.
• Though new enrollments are deferred until 2012, a redesigned Conservation Security Program promises greater environmental benefits and easier enrollment for landowners. CSP has been criticized for doing "a little for a lot" and for its problematic structure. The revised program focuses on helping farmers solve the biggest environmental challenges in the area where they farm.
• The popular Environmental Quality Incentives Program gained new funding, an increase of $1.9 billion over five years to $2 billion in 2012. Other improvements to EQIP include better ranking of funding applications and adding forest management and energy conservation to the program's goals.
• The Cooperative Conservation Program Initiative is a new provision developed by conservation groups, including Environmental Defense. Third parties could use working lands programs such as EQIP, CSP and WHIP to work with farmers and other landowners toward environmental goals in specific areas. Eligible third parties for the competitive bidding process for funding would include state and local agencies, producer groups, conservation organizations and Indian tribes.

Farm Bill reform efforts are not over. Reformers have turned to the Senate, where the Finance Committee, through a tax credit option for some conservation programs has generated an estimated $3 billion in savings for the Agriculture Committee to use in reauthorizing the Farm Bill. Since these funds are being generated from conservation programs, reformers note that it is important that the Agriculture Committee reinvest that money in conservation.

It's up to the Senate to take action to reform farm subsidies and reinvest the funds to help farmers, ranchers and forest owners who want to provide more wildlife habitat, and give more Americans healthful food choices, more sustainable fuel supplies and improved water and air quality.

After the Senate votes, the two houses of Congress will confer to resolve differences between their bills before sending a final bill to the President for signature.

Learn more about Farm Bill reform.