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Dear
Wetland Enthusiast,
The
future of the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) remains uncertain as
legislators in Washington
DC continue to iron out
details in the 2007 Farm Bill Conservation Title. Wisconsin
legislators hold leadership positions on several of the agricultural and
appropriations committees that hold the power to fund and fix the program
(see sidebar).
WWA
partners in Washington D.C.
have repeatedly told us that the actions by Wisconsin citizens are having a
tremendous influence on the WRP debate, and that it's more important now
than ever that Wisconsin's
elected officials hear from their constituents.
Please
help us protect and improve Wisconsin's
largest wetland restoration program by calling or writing your legislators
about the Wetlands Reserve Program today. More details are provided below.
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The Wetlands Reserve Program is in Trouble
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Two
major problems hinder the continued implementation of WRP in Wisconsin and
beyond:
- There is no baseline
funding in the federal budget for the program beyond this year.
- The new yellow-book
appraisal method does not work in Wisconsin
and other key Mid-western and Mississippi River
basin states.
Legislators need to hear from Wisconsin farmers, hunters,
anglers, bird-watchers, paddlers and other conservation-minded citizens
that Wisconsin's
farms, lakes and rivers need the support of wetlands restored under the
Wetlands Reserve Program.
Since
1990, more than 600 Wisconsin farmers
have enrolled in WRP to restore wetlands on more than 47,000 acres of
marginally productive cropland across the state.
Please
ask your legislators to fully fund WRP and to get rid of the
yellow-book appraisal process. Read on for more information on both of
these problems.
Click here for
more information about Wisconsin's Wetlands Reserve Program.
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More About WRP Funding
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Currently
there is NO funding for WRP in the 2007 Farm Bill. Unless the House and
Senate Budget Committees act to ensure that the WRP program is fully
funded, the entire program will be eliminated after this year!
Appropriations of $1.9 billion are needed to fund the program at
recommended levels. Funding at this level will allow restoration of
300,000 acres of wetlands per year, including between
3,000-5,000 in Wisconsin
alone.
Ask
your legislators to support full-funding for the Wetlands Reserve Program
at $1.9 billion annually through 2012.
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More About the WRP Appraisal Problem
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Enrollment
in Wisconsin's WRP program plummeted
when NRCS officials in Washington
enacted a policy requiring use of the yellow-book appraisal method to
determine payments to farmers for WRP contracts. Wisconsin formerly compensated
landowners between $1,500-$2,000 an acre for WRP
easements; however under yellow-book appraisal, farmers are only
being offered $200- $300/acre. Farmers cannot afford to accept contracts
at those rates and Wisconsin
restored fewer than 500 acres of wetlands under WRP in 2006.
Tell
your legislators that yellow-book appraisal does not work in Wisconsin and ask
them to reinstate the appraisal method in place in January, 2003.
Click here for
an article from WWA's newsletter about the WRP
appraisal problem.
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Other Ways You Can Help
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Forward
this message to your friends and neighbors.
Calls
from farmers are particularly important. If you farm or have friends or
family who farm, please brief them on this important issue and ask them
to contact their legislators in support of the WRP program.
Please
copy Wisconsin Wetlands Association on your correspondence so that we can
keep track of the number of calls made by WWA members. This information
will help us secure future meetings with our elected officials on issues
of concern to you!
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Key Wisconsin
Legislators
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We need
calls from constituents in all Wisconsin
legislative districts, but if you're served by any of the following
legislators, your contacts may be particularly important.
Congressman
Dave Obey serves as the Chairman of the House Committee on
Appropriations, which makes funding decisions on every discretionary
program in the federal budget.
Representative
Steve Kagen is the only
member of Wisconsin's
delegation serving on the House Committee on Agriculture and he has a
seat on the influential Conservation sub-committee.
Representative
Paul Ryan serves as the ranking member of the House Committee on the
Budget.
Senator
Herb Kohl serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Click here for
contact information for other Wisconsin legislators.
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