8/26/04

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1. NRCS Launches Sage Grouse Conservation Effort 
2. Agribusiness Takes on California GMO Bans 
3. IUCN Announces Organic Agriculture Working Group 
4. CSP News and Action

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1. NRCS LAUNCHES SAGE GROUSE CONSERVATION EFFORT 

The USDA announced this week that $2 million in Grassland Reserve Program (GRP) funds will be available for special projects to help protect Greater sage grouse habitat in Colorado, Idaho, Utah and Washington. Each state will receive $500,000 to protect and enhance sage grouse habitat on GRP easement lands. The sage grouse, a bird native to the Great Plains and western United States, has seen a dramatic 90 percent decline in population over the past two decades. "These funds will boost existing efforts and partnerships with private landowners to improve the viability of the sage grouse," said Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman. 

2. AGRIBUSINESS TAKES ON CALIFORNIA GMO BANS 

The Sacramento Bee reported last week that the Farm Bureau, the California Cattlemen's Association and the California Rice Commission are "gearing up for a ballot-box brawl" over genetically modified crops in several counties there. Mendocino and Trinity counties have, via ballot initiative, already outlawed the planting of GMO crops, and four other counties (Humboldt, Marin, San Luis Obispo and Butte) will pose the issue to voters in November. California currently grows about 600,000 acres of biotech corn and soybeans.

The Butte county ballot initiative in particular caught the attention of the commodity groups, because rice is a major crop there and herbicide-tolerant rice "is expected to be one of the next major biotech crops." The groups are reportedly supporting state legislation that would forbid counties from regulating biotech crops. "It's inappropriate for local governments to dictate what tools may be used by agriculturalists now or in the future," cattlemen's president, Darrel Sweet, said in a statement. 

3. IUCN ANNOUNCES ORGANIC AGRICULTURE WORKING GROUP 

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a global biodiversity conservation organization, announced last week that it is teaming up with the International Federation of Organic AgricultureMovements to establish a working group to study and report the contribution of organic agriculture to enhancing the conservation of biodiversity. 

The organizations are also jointly hosting a conference on "The Role of Organic Agriculture for Biodiversity - Its Contribution Today and Its Potential Tomorrow." The Central focus of the conference will be the relationship between biodiversity, nature protection and organic agriculture including the impact of genetic engineering on biodiversity as well as on organic agriculture. The conference will be held in Nairobi, Kenya in late September. 

4. CSP NEWS AND ACTION 

USDA announced today that nearly 2,200 farmers and ranchers have been selected as the first participants in the Conservation Security Program (CSP). The contract signings with these producers will fully use the $41 million provided for this program. NRCS has accepted all eligible CSP applications, covering nearly 1.9 million privately- owned acres in the 18 watersheds in 22 states. The CSP is set to expand significantly next year from the eighteen watersheds it was offered in this year. However, since it will still not be offered as a full nationwide program, many states are currently in the process of making recommendations as to which watersheds will be eligible for CSP in 2005. 

Contact your state NRCS office and ask that they choose watersheds with high concentrations of farmers and ranchers who are practicing good stewardship -- with or without previous assistance \fs24softlinefrom USDA programs -- and have a high likelihood of working together to maximize the benefits of the CSP. Locate your state NRCS office.

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Rural Updates!
Scotty Johnson and Aimee Delach
National Rural Community Outreach Campaign
sjohnson@defenders.org