News & Notes April 2002

Pennsylvania Conservation Leaders Address Farm Bill,
Enjoy Successful Visit to Capitol Hill

The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) annual Spring Legislative Conference, held March 17-19, 2002, provided the backdrop for more than 300 conservation leaders to voice their support of a Farm Bill that provides full-funding for the cost of technical assistance and establishes a stand-alone conservation incentives program.

PACD Executive Director Susan Fox, NACD Director Pat Sueck, NRCS State Conservationist Robin Heard and Ernie Keller and William Lange, of the Lackawanna County Conservation District, represented Pennsylvania. According to Executive Director Fox, meetings with Pennsylvania lawmakers helped to reinforce a strong level of support for state conservation efforts.

"The visits with our senators and representatives were very positive," Fox said. "Feedback regarding the Farm Bill was very positive. We wanted to ensure that conservation districts' goals are met and we believe that our congressional leaders are supportive of these goals."

Speakers at the conference included Interior Secretary Gale Norton, USDA Undersecretary for Natural Resources and Environment Mark Rey, Deputy Agriculture Secretary Jim Moseley and NRCS Chief Pearlie Reed. Members of the senate and house agricultural committees provided conference participants with an update on the progress of their work.

As many of the conference attendees were busy making contacts with their respective legislators, NACD was made aware of a compromise between the House and Senate concerning the distribution of funding for various titles. NACD Chief Executive Officer Ernest Shea reported that the $73.5 billion of new funding for the next 10 years was allocated as follows: Commodity - $48.6 billion, Conservation - $17.1 billion, Nutrition - $6.1 billion and $3.3 billion divided among the seven other titles.

Shea said the next step toward completing the Farm Bill is to resolve the many differences between the House and Senate bills. Once the Farm Bill is approved by the Congress and signed by the President, the implementation of the new and revised conservation programs will begin. "NACD and conservation districts already are participating in several preliminary efforts to insure the improved implementation of these practices," Shea said.

Submitted by Gene Mammone, CIC, Vice President of the CommonWealth Professional Group, Ltd.

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