CRP developments dismay conservation groups + other news

[h2ofwlr]

CRP developments dismay conservation groups
By Doug Smith, Star Tribune
Last update: February 18, 2007 – 10:47 AM

Concerned. Dismayed. Upset.
Those were the reactions last week from conservation groups to potentially drastic changes to the federal Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) -- touted as the most successful wildlife conservation program in history. Under the program, more than 36 million acres of cropland has been idled and replaced with grasslands, which have improved water quality and provided prime wildlife habitat.

But now the future of CRP is in doubt.

Here's what happened: U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns announced that his agency would offer no new CRP enrollments in 2007 or 2008. Enrollment is expected to drop by at least 3 million acres this year.

And Johanns said the Bush administration might allow farmers to cancel some existing CRP contracts to plant corn for ethanol production, meaning a potential loss of many more acres.

Both actions could have dramatic affects on wildlife.

"Every CRP acre we lose in the Prairie Pothole region of the United States will mean fewer ducks, pheasants and other game and nongame birds across the continent," Rob Olson, president of Delta Waterfowl, said in a statement.
He said the actions could have a "devastating impact" on wildlife.

Dave Nomsen, vice president for government affairs for Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever, also expressed dismay. "You have to have serious concerns about the future of the program," he said.

Pheasants Forever issued a statement last week calling the actions "unacceptable" and urging members to write to Johanns and their Congressional representatives opposing the plans.

To read Pheasants Forever's statement, see www.pheasantsforever.org.

Buck poaching

Conservation officers are working on an ugly case in Bemidji: They've found the carcasses of 14 bucks, with only the heads removed, since fall. The rest of the carcasses were left to rot.

"It started before the deer season and continued through the season and afterwards," said Lt. Brian Kuphal, a DNR enforcement supervisor. "We don't know if it's one person or a variety of people doing it."

The DNR is seeking the public's help in breaking the poaching case. The Minnesota Deer Hunters Association and Turn In Poachers (TIP) have offered $2,200 for information leading to an arrest. If you have information, call the TIP line at 1-800-652-9093.

Brook trout? Nope

It sure looked like a brook trout. A Side Lake, Minn., woman nearly had a state record for brook trout. She caught the fish recently in Larson Lake in northern Minnesota. It weighed 7.5 pounds, easily surpassing the state record brook trout, which is 6 pounds, 5 ounces. Local anglers and DNR fisheries officials thought it was a brook trout. "It had almost all the genetic traits of a brook trout. But when they dissected it, they found it was a splake," said Brian Buria, a DNR conservation officer. "That's still a real nice fish." Splake -- a hybrid cross between a lake trout and a brook trout -- are stocked in the lake.

Rally at the Capitol

Hundreds of Minnesotans will converge on the Capitol in St. Paul at noon Wednesday to rally for clean water, clean energy and land conservation. Buses will arrive from Duluth, Montevideo, Brainerd, Albert Lea and Bloomington for the gathering in the Capitol rotunda, sponsored by the Minnesota Environmental Partnership, a consortium of 80 environmental and conservation groups. More information is online at www.protectourgreatoutdoors.org.

Did you know?

• Chris Determan of Holdingford, Minn., was the big winner at the Alexandria Ice Fishing Challenge last weekend. Determan caught a 7.54-pound northern, good for the top prize of a new four-wheel-drive pickup. More than 3,000 anglers showed up for the event, despite a morning temperature of 17 below zero. For a complete list of winners, see www.icefishingchallenge.org.

• Larry Shepherd of Faribault has been named DNR Snowmobile Volunteer Instructor of the Year. Since 1983, Shepherd has taught more than 1,500 students and brought many new instructors into snowmobile safety education.


Doug Smith • dsmith@startribune.com


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Bush budget would halt some land conservation
MN Outdoor News
Wednesday, February 14, 2007 4:17 PM EST

By Dirk Lammers
AP Business Writer

Sioux Falls, S.D. (AP) — President Bush’s proposed budget would put a land conservation program that protects some 35 million acres on hold in favor of boosting corn production to meet the growing demand for ethanol.

While the proposal might help lessen the country’s dependence on oil, a pheasant hunting and conservation group was quick to criticize the trade-off and a state biologist said the loss of the program could put some farmers in a financial bind.

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said his agency would offer no new Conservation Reserve Program enrollments in 2007 and 2008.

There’s a lot of pressure to act because “the price of corn is very, very high,” putting upward pressure on ethanol prices, Johanns said last Monday during a news conference in Washington.

Dave Nomsen, vice president of governmental affairs for Pheasants Forever, said he understands that $4-a-bushel corn is a cause for concern, but he argued that putting to use land that would otherwise be set aside for conservation is not the answer.

“Clearly, we’re taking a step backward if all of the sudden we start to produce corn on very marginal acreage,” Nomsen said. “Because then you are talking about increased soil erosion, increased water quality problems and diminished wildlife. There’s been a balance here that I’m really concerned about right now.”

Nomsen said efforts to increase ethanol production should instead focus on developing alternative crops, as well as new technologies that boost crop yields.

The USDA’s 2008 fiscal year budget calls for $2 billion to be spent on the conservation program, but that money would go to existing contracts. The agency expects enrollment in the program to be about 37 million acres in 2007 and drop to about 34 million acres in 2008. About 1 million acres were added during a general signup in 2006, the agency said.

Bill Smith, a senior wildlife biologist with the South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks Department, said the Conservation Reserve Program, or CRP, is important because it has helped some farmers through continuing drought conditions. He said many farmers would choose to set aside land for conservation regardless of how much money a corn crop could bring.

“One thing we know here in the state is we’ve got landowners that are really good land stewards out there,” he said. “CRP has always been a really valuable tool for those folks.”

The United States has 110 ethanol biorefineries that can produce 5.3 billion gallons of the corn-based fuel per year, and another 63 plants and eight expansion projects are on the drawing board, according to the Renewable Fuels Association.

The ethanol boom and accompanying high corn prices have some worried that farmers with expiring contracts might leave the program and use their land for crops. CRP contracts run 10 years and 15 years, and enrolled landowners can’t pull out their acres without returning the government money.

Michael Held, administrative director of the South Dakota Farm Bureau, said he’s heard from an increasing number of farmers during the past six months who are considering planting on CRP land after their contracts expire. For some, the high corn price is just to tempting to resist, he said.

“There’s going to be lots of producers giving some thought to whether they’re going to re-enroll some of their present acres,” Held said.

The farm bureau supports continuation of the CRP program for environmentally sensitive land, but does not favor extending the acreage cap, he added.

Since its creation in 1985, the voluntary CRP program has helped reduce erosion and improve air and water quality, according to USDA officials. It also has boosted the populations of ducks, ring-necked pheasants, prairie chickens, sharp-tailed grouse and other wildlife.

A study conducted for the agency last year concluded that every 4 percent increase in CRP acreage leads to a 22 percent increase in pheasant populations in areas such as South Dakota, where pheasants are common.

Pheasant hunting in South Dakota is a $153 million industry, Smith said, and a lot of that is because of the CRP program.

“Prior to CRP, we harvested about half as many pheasants as we do now,” Smith said.
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[Bufflehead]

 Thanks for posting all that great info Alan...keep'em comming