1/29/04
Dear LSP member:

We are at another critical point in the national grassroots effort to win the Conservation Security Program.

The good news:
With the passage of the omnibus spending bill in the Senate on Jan. 22, CSP is now funded as an uncapped national entitlement program, starting in FY 2005 (which starts 10/1/04). There is also $41 million allocated for FY 2004. So good news on the funding front! Congress has now funded CSP in a way that follows what they passed as CSP in the Farm Bill. Properly implemented, CSP will deliver literally billions of much needed dollars to family farms over the next ten years for environmental stewardship. That’s why it has been a top priority of the Land Stewardship Project since we helped to form the idea for the CSP in 1999. Thanks to all of you who have called, e-mailed, faxed, talked and worked to make this happen!

Where things are now:
The passage of the funding bill means that the proposed rule issued earlier this month by USDA is totally off base. USDA's draft rules simply are not for the Conservation Security Program as passed and funded by Congress. They are much too restrictive, drastically reducing the number of farmers who would be able to use the program by requiring that a farmer needs to farm in a "selected watershed" in order to be eligible. The rules are also much too restrictive on funding, severely gutting all payment mechanisms in the program. Furthermore, the rules penalize farmers using some important sustainable farming practices -- like not recognizing and rewarding resource conserving crop rotations and rotational grazing, as the law requires. The remedy: USDA must issue revised proposed rules immediately, that are designed to implement a fully funded, nationwide Conservation Security Program as passed and funded by Congress.

The other factor is that President Bush is presenting his proposed budget for fiscal year 2005 on Monday, Feb. 2. Last year, President Bush seriously cut the CSP in his proposed budget for 2004 in an attempt to severely limit the program’s scope and impact. President Bush may be planning to do the same thing again, despite Congress’ approval of full funding, which would lead to another round of fighting on our part to keep CSP fully funded in 2005. The remedy: The President should keep CSP at full funding as appropriated by Congress. This program is too important for America to fall to the budget axe, especially since Congress is very clear on the issue.

Two actions to take – by Friday, Jan. 30 at 4 p.m.

1. Contact the office of Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman and tell the person answering the phone that you are calling to urge Secretary Veneman to issue a revised proposed rule for the Conservation Security Program that is consistent with the law. The Secretary should get this done right away. Call the Secretary’s office at 202-720-3631 or e-mail a brief message to the Secretary at agsec@usda.gov, or fax to 202-720-2166.

2. Call the White House public comment line to leave a message for President Bush. Tell the President to keep the Conservation Security Program fully funded in his proposed budget for 2005. Tell him it is an important program for family farms and the environment. Congress has fully funded CSP. The President should not propose to cut it. Call the President’s comment line at 202-456-1111. This call must be made by Friday, January 30.

NOTE: All LSP members will receive in the mail (and e-mail, for those who have it) a fact sheet and sample comments to make regarding USDA’s proposed CSP rules. This is for the public comment period, which ends March 2. We want to get in as many written comments as possible, so look for communication on that in the next week or 10 days. Thanks! The actions noted above (to do by Jan. 30) are different than the comments on the rule – they are about getting USDA to actually issue revised rules right away for public comment, and to prevent the Bush Administration from gutting CSP funding again.

For more information or to let us know how your calls went, call the LSP Policy Office at 612-722-6377, or e-mail Mark Schultz at marks@landstewardshipproject.org.

Thank you!