Taxpayers Funding Grassland Destruction

Taxpayers Funding Grassland Destruction



2007 September -   Native prairie grasslands 
are being destroyed at taxpayer expense, according to a Government 
Accountability Office, GAO, report released Tuesday that links farm 
program payments to the loss of prairie grasslands. 
"The report further confirms our findings that native prairie destruction 
is rapidly increasing," said Ducks Unlimited Executive Vice President Don 
Young. "Unfortunately, taxpayer funded farm program payments are fueling 
this ecological disaster." 
The GAO prepared the report, "Impact of USDA Payments and Sodbuster on 
Grassland Conversions to Cropland," for Senate and House committees 
working on the new farm bill. 
The GAO report says farm program payments contribute to grassland loss, 
because "they reduce producers’ financial risks and, in many cases, 
increase producers’ profits over maintaining grassland." 
The study found that farm program payments are twice as high per acre in 
South Dakota counties with high rates of native grassland conversion. 
"These are drought-prone areas," said Scott Stephens, DU’s director of 
conservation planning for the Great Plains Regional Office. "Crop failures 
are the norm rather than the exception. That grass is much more valuable 
for ranchers, wildlife and protecting soil and water quality. 
Ducks Unlimited says the report justifies the need for the U.S. Senate to 
include a provision in the next farm bill to slow grassland loss. Loss 
rates of grasslands in the Prairie Pothole Region are about four times the 
rate of conversion of rainforest in the Amazon region of South America, 
Ducks Unlimited points out. The area hatches more ducks than anywhere else 
in the world. 
Every five years a farm bill must be reauthorized by Congress, and the 
current farm bill expires at the end of this month. The House of 
Representatives approved its version of the bill this summer and the 
Senate will now craft its version. The two versions will be reconciled by 
a conference committee before going to the president's desk for signature. 

Ducks Unlimited proposes a "Sodsaver" provision in the next farm bill that 
would eliminate federal subsidy support of any kind - including direct, 
counter-cyclical, loan deficiency, disaster, and crop insurance payments - 
on any new cropland acres that are put into production as a result of 
breaking grassland that had no previous cropping history. 
Farmers could still put the land into production but at their own risk, 
the group says. 
"DU’s farm bill slogan is 'Farm the best, conserve the rest.' Price 
supports and crop insurance are necessary on high quality croplands," 
Stephens said. "However, most of the native grasslands left would make 
poor cropland. It makes no sense, and the report agrees, for taxpayers to 
fund growing crops on these lands." 
Ducks Unlimited President Bruce Lewis says hunters and others who care 
about the outdoors should push for a conservation-friendly farm bill. 
Lewis said, "We are asking everyone to contact their senators, and ask 
that a strong Sodsaver provision be included in the new farm bill." 
Meanwhile, the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission has approved $18 
million in federal funding for the protection and management of 175,000 
acres of wetlands nationwide for the benefit of ducks, waterfowl and other 
wildlife under the North American Wetlands Conservation Act. 
The United States has lost more than half of its original wetlands and 
continues to lose more than 80,000 wetland acres each year. 
Composed of members of Congress and federal cabinet secretaries, and 
chaired by Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, the commission also 
approved $6.8 million to protect and manage more than 4.1 million acres of 
wetlands in Canada. 
The funds will support 13 conservation projects in 12 Canadian provinces. 
Combined with matching partner funds, these projects will secure more than 
16,500 acres of wetlands and associated uplands, enhance more than 19,000 
acres, and manage more than four million acres of wetlands. 
Nearly $10 million was approved for the purchase of 4,542 acres of 
wetlands for inclusion in the National Wildlife Refuge System. One of 
these purchases is 1,598 acres of bottomland hardwoods for Trinity River 
National Wildlife Refuge in Liberty County, Texas. 
Funding for these activities comes from Duck Stamp sales, import duties on 
firearms and ammunition, and right-of-way payments to the refuge system. 

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