Liberty Belle
Well-known member
Game and Fish and the Tony Deans of this country sure hate to see you farmers opt out of the CRP program and earn some money off your own land. How long do you suppose it will be before they try to take your "native grass" acres away from you?
Conservation Reserve Program going up in smoke
Babe Winkelman
The Jamestown Sun
November 02, 2007
If you're taking a hunting trip this fall to any number of states in Middle America, you'll likely spy great plumes of smoke curling to the heavens.
Unfortunately, what you'll be seeing is equally great stands of grass and 20 years of unprecedented farmland conservation going up in smoke.
Indeed, hundreds of thousands of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres — contracts between landowners and the federal government — were lost as of Oct. 1, and thousands of others will be lost in the years ahead as farmers opt out of the program and put their precious acres back into agriculture production.
So now the Big Burn is on, as farmers prep their former CRP fields for spring planting.
The upshot — and this is an important point — is that hunters, perhaps for the first time this fall, are going to see the spoils of farm policy gone bad. And wildlife officials predict that we hunters will be none too pleased.
"It's going to be a bitter pill to swallow, and I wouldn't be surprised if we get a lot of calls," said George Vandel, assistant wildlife director for the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks. "Some hunters are going to go back to their favorite pheasant haunts and find out that the grass is gone and with it the birds."
South Dakota, the nation's premiere pheasant-hunting state, lost 300,000 acres on Oct. 1, reducing its total CRP acreage to well below 2 million acres. The state also could lose an additional 300,000 acres over the next few years. Translation: Less grass will mean fewer pheasants in the years ahead, impacting bird hunters across the nation, as well as the economies they support.
North Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa (among other states) — all serious hunting destinations — lost thousands of acres on Oct. 1 and will likely see thousands of other contract acres expire from now through 2010.
In fact, North Dakota, a major duck-producing state for the continental U.S., lost 250,000 acres and will likely see an additional 300,000 expire from now until 2010.
As I've written in this space in the past, the conversion of CRP lands to crop lands is being fueled by the false promises of corn ethanol production and higher across-the-board commodity prices. And politicians of all political persuasions are buying into it — hook, line and subsidy.
Our nation is drunk on corn ethanol, and I assure you the hangover of lost wildlife habitat will take more than two aspirins and a swig of water to cure the pain. This is but the first round of what will ultimately be a dramatic and disconcerting change to America's farm country. And the consequences will be felt not only by hunters and conservationists, but Main St. as well. Unless we change course and craft a more conservation-minded farm policy, we hunters could face some lean years, wildlife officials say.
The benefits of CRP are indisputable and well-documented. In fact, the combined size of new wildlife habitats established by the CRP is twice as large as the National Wildlife Refuge System and all state-administered wildlife areas in the contiguous 48 states combined. Which, of course, is why CRP is America's most successful conservation program — and it's not even close.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, among other agencies, have documented the successes of CRP. They're worth repeating:
* Studies have shown that CRP acreage in the Dakotas and parts of Montana add 2 million ducks to the fall flight every year, benefiting waterfowl hunters across the nation.
* CRP has seen increases in grasshopper sparrow, lark, bunting, and eastern meadowlark populations.
* CRP has helped spur of ring-necked pheasant populations across the Midwest. Many states like the Dakotas, Montana and Minnesota are poised for banner seasons.
* CRP has helped foster the reappearance of long-absent prairie chickens in Texas.
* CRP has spurred notable increases in populations of big game such as elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer and antelope.
* CRP has improved bobwhite quail numbers in Missouri and other states.
* CRP has promoted dramatic improvements to water quality. According to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), each acre under a CRP contract reduces erosion by an average of 19 tons of top soil per year.
This reduces sediment and the amount of nutrients and pesticides being swept into our lakes, ponds, rivers and streams.
* CRP has provided ranchers with much-needed livestock forage in drought years.
Since its official inception in 1986, CRP has improved wildlife habitat and wildlife populations, bolstered water quality for our fisheries and provided numerous other public benefits.
Now many of those benefits are going up in smoke, thanks to a spineless Congress and the well-heeled agriculture interests who have bought their support.
My advice: enjoy this year's hunting season. We may be facing some lean years ahead.
Babe Winkelman is a nationally-known outdoorsman who has taught people to fish and hunt for more than 25 years.
http://www.jamestownsun.com/articles/index.cfm?id=56377&freebie_check&CFID=64116357&CFTOKEN=62493441&jsessionid=8830ee8c87f267791659#
Conservation Reserve Program going up in smoke
Babe Winkelman
The Jamestown Sun
November 02, 2007
If you're taking a hunting trip this fall to any number of states in Middle America, you'll likely spy great plumes of smoke curling to the heavens.
Unfortunately, what you'll be seeing is equally great stands of grass and 20 years of unprecedented farmland conservation going up in smoke.
Indeed, hundreds of thousands of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres — contracts between landowners and the federal government — were lost as of Oct. 1, and thousands of others will be lost in the years ahead as farmers opt out of the program and put their precious acres back into agriculture production.
So now the Big Burn is on, as farmers prep their former CRP fields for spring planting.
The upshot — and this is an important point — is that hunters, perhaps for the first time this fall, are going to see the spoils of farm policy gone bad. And wildlife officials predict that we hunters will be none too pleased.
"It's going to be a bitter pill to swallow, and I wouldn't be surprised if we get a lot of calls," said George Vandel, assistant wildlife director for the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks. "Some hunters are going to go back to their favorite pheasant haunts and find out that the grass is gone and with it the birds."
South Dakota, the nation's premiere pheasant-hunting state, lost 300,000 acres on Oct. 1, reducing its total CRP acreage to well below 2 million acres. The state also could lose an additional 300,000 acres over the next few years. Translation: Less grass will mean fewer pheasants in the years ahead, impacting bird hunters across the nation, as well as the economies they support.
North Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa (among other states) — all serious hunting destinations — lost thousands of acres on Oct. 1 and will likely see thousands of other contract acres expire from now through 2010.
In fact, North Dakota, a major duck-producing state for the continental U.S., lost 250,000 acres and will likely see an additional 300,000 expire from now until 2010.
As I've written in this space in the past, the conversion of CRP lands to crop lands is being fueled by the false promises of corn ethanol production and higher across-the-board commodity prices. And politicians of all political persuasions are buying into it — hook, line and subsidy.
Our nation is drunk on corn ethanol, and I assure you the hangover of lost wildlife habitat will take more than two aspirins and a swig of water to cure the pain. This is but the first round of what will ultimately be a dramatic and disconcerting change to America's farm country. And the consequences will be felt not only by hunters and conservationists, but Main St. as well. Unless we change course and craft a more conservation-minded farm policy, we hunters could face some lean years, wildlife officials say.
The benefits of CRP are indisputable and well-documented. In fact, the combined size of new wildlife habitats established by the CRP is twice as large as the National Wildlife Refuge System and all state-administered wildlife areas in the contiguous 48 states combined. Which, of course, is why CRP is America's most successful conservation program — and it's not even close.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, among other agencies, have documented the successes of CRP. They're worth repeating:
* Studies have shown that CRP acreage in the Dakotas and parts of Montana add 2 million ducks to the fall flight every year, benefiting waterfowl hunters across the nation.
* CRP has seen increases in grasshopper sparrow, lark, bunting, and eastern meadowlark populations.
* CRP has helped spur of ring-necked pheasant populations across the Midwest. Many states like the Dakotas, Montana and Minnesota are poised for banner seasons.
* CRP has helped foster the reappearance of long-absent prairie chickens in Texas.
* CRP has spurred notable increases in populations of big game such as elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer and antelope.
* CRP has improved bobwhite quail numbers in Missouri and other states.
* CRP has promoted dramatic improvements to water quality. According to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), each acre under a CRP contract reduces erosion by an average of 19 tons of top soil per year.
This reduces sediment and the amount of nutrients and pesticides being swept into our lakes, ponds, rivers and streams.
* CRP has provided ranchers with much-needed livestock forage in drought years.
Since its official inception in 1986, CRP has improved wildlife habitat and wildlife populations, bolstered water quality for our fisheries and provided numerous other public benefits.
Now many of those benefits are going up in smoke, thanks to a spineless Congress and the well-heeled agriculture interests who have bought their support.
My advice: enjoy this year's hunting season. We may be facing some lean years ahead.
Babe Winkelman is a nationally-known outdoorsman who has taught people to fish and hunt for more than 25 years.
http://www.jamestownsun.com/articles/index.cfm?id=56377&freebie_check&CFID=64116357&CFTOKEN=62493441&jsessionid=8830ee8c87f267791659#
