News Coverage
Groups Urge USDA Not To Release Land From Reserve
Published July 9, 2008
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Conservation groups asked the U.S. Agriculture Department on Wednesday not to allow penalty-free early release of land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve amid concerns releasing millions of acres could damage soil, water and wildlife habitat.
In a letter sent to Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer, 15 groups said releasing land from the Conservation Reserve also would waste millions of dollars in taxpayers money that has been spent restoring land.
"A penalty-free early release of the magnitude you are considering -- millions of acres -- would deliver a devastating blow to the nation's soil, water, and wildlife habitat, and significantly increase global warming," the conservation groups said.
The letter was signed by the National Wildlife Federation, the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and the Environmental Working Group, among others.
They said most Conservation Reserve land is marginal for cropping. Even if all the land was allowed for commodity production, "the impact on aggregate commodity supplies and prices would be modest."
Some 34.7 million acres are enrolled in the reserve, created in 1985, which pays landowners an annual rent to idle environmentally fragile land for 10 years or more.
Currently, if landowners want to break a Conservation Reserve contract, they have to repay with interest all money received for the idled land, including any cost-share funds for improvements, plus a penalty equal to one-fourth of one year's rent.
