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February 17, 2009
Congress, President Approve Economic Stimulus
Late last week, Congress approved the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009, with final passage in the House
by a margin of 246-183 and the Senate by a margin of 60-38.
President Obama signed the measure into law today in
Denver, Colo. With the President’s approval of the measure,
agencies can begin the process of reviewing projects ready
for implementation and making allocations to states.
Final supplemental spending levels in the economic stimulus
for programs related to NACD’s stimulus proposal include $290 million for Natural Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS) Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations;
$50 million for the NRCS Watershed Rehabilitation Program;
$500 million for Forest Service Wildland Fire Management on
federal, state and private lands; $125 million for Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) Lands and Resources Management
activities; and $15 million for BLM Wildland Fire Management
activities.
NACD will continue to provide updates as more information
becomes known about supplemental spending under the
economic stimulus.
Groups Voice Support for CTA and Conservation Program
Funding
Last week, twenty conservation and environmental
organizations joined NACD in sending USDA Secretary Tom
Vilsack a letter supporting conservation funding. The
letter asked Vilsack to fully support funding of
conservation programs as outlined in the 2008 Farm Bill,
technical assistance to implement those programs, as well
as support for funding of the Conservation Technical
Assistance (CTA) Program. To read the full text of letter,
click here.
The Obama Administration is currently in the process of
working with agencies, including the Department of
Agriculture, to finalize a budget proposal for fiscal year
2010 (FY10), which will be transmitted to Capitol Hill later
this month. Congress will then take action on the
Administration’s proposal through their annual budget and
appropriations processes.
For additional information on NACD’s FY10 appropriations
priorities see the article below, “Congress to Focus on
FY09 Spending after Recess.”
Congress to Focus on FY09 Spending after Recess
With the work on the economic stimulus completed last week,
Congress is now in recess in observance of the President’s
Day holiday. Upon their return next week, members of
Congress will focus work on finishing fiscal year 2009
(FY09) appropriations to fund federal agency operations for
the remainder of the fiscal year. Work on FY09 must be
completed by March 6, when the current continuing
resolution is set to expire.
The lingering work on FY09 was pushed back with the focus
on passing the economic stimulus, which has also delayed
preliminary work on FY10 appropriations bills. Once Congress
finalizes FY09 spending, focus will immediately turn to FY10.
The NACD Board of Directors voted at its recent meeting in
New Orleans to continue to support the following priority
programs in FY10 appropriations with a four percent increase
over FY09 requests: Conservation Technical Assistance, State
and Private Forestry and 319 Nonpoint Source Grants. NACD
will be working with Congress to support these programs as
attention shifts to FY10 funding.
NACD, Partners Recommend Wildfire Suppression Funding
Changes
NACD joined a number of forestry-related groups in the Fire
Suppression Funding Solutions Coalition (Coalition). The
Coalition was organized in early January 2009 when 50
organizations, including NACD, met and agreed to work
together to develop and support a legislative change to the
way wildfire suppression activities are currently funded by
the USDA-Forest Service (USFS).
Currently, USFS uses funds allocated to non-emergency
programs for fire suppression when wildfire suppression
costs exceed budgeted amounts. As a result, programs that
are important to conservation districts and private forest
landowners, such as State and Private Forestry, become
under-funded. NACD has previously reported on this issue to
its members
and provided related testimony to Congress in April 2008.
The Coalition’s issue statement recommends establishing a
separate funding account that is not coupled with other USFS
non-emergency budget items and a better means to predict
year-to-year wildland fire and costs of suppression. If you
are interested in reading a full copy of the Coalition’s
issue statement, contact NACD Western Issues Specialist Ralph
Thier at ralph-thier@nacdnet.org. NACD will continue to
represent districts interests regarding the issue of fire
borrowing.
USDA Reports Census of Agriculture Results
The results to the 2007 Census of Agriculture were recently
released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National
Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS). The agriculture
census is conducted every five years and provides
comprehensive agricultural data for every county in the
nation.
The 2007 Census of Agriculture revealed a 4 percent
increase in the number of farms since the 2002 census. It
also reflected greater diversity among operators with a 30
percent increase in women, over 10 percent increase in
Hispanic farmers and additional increases among American
Indian, Asian and Black operators. Nationwide, the census
demonstrated an upward trend in more small and very large
farms, of which more than 36 percent were classified as
residential/lifestyle farms and 21 percent were retirement
farms. The census also revealed trends in technology, with
57 percent of all farms having internet access, over half of
which have a high-speed connection.
The full results of the 2007 Census of Agriculture is
available online at http://www.agcensus.usda.gov.
EPA Offers Free Technical Assistance for Smart Growth
Implementation Assistance
The Development, Community and Environment Division of the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking applicants
for the Smart Growth Implementation Assistance (SGIA)
program. The program provides technical assistance to
qualified states, regions, and communities that want to
develop in ways that reflect the principles of smart growth
to meet environmental and other community goals.
EPA has identified some key areas in which communities are
likely to benefit from this assistance: climate change (both
mitigation of and adaptation to); green job development;
corridor redevelopment; green building development; suburban
retrofitting; and disaster resiliency. Other topics for
assistance are welcome, provided they demonstrate
cutting-edge challenges and the possibility of replicable
solutions.
EPA plans to assist three to five communities over a period
of twelve months by providing a multi-day visit from a team
of experts organized by EPA and other national partners. The
deadline to apply is April 23, 2009. Details about the
program and the application for assistance can be found on
EPA’s website at http://epa.gov/smartgrowth/2009_sgia_rfa.htm.
Minority Landowner Magazine Offers Edition on Urban
Forestry
Copies of a special edition of the Minority Landowner magazine were distributed at the NACD Annual Meeting in
New Orleans in early February. This issue is filled with articles
and advertisements to educate and inform minority urban
dwellers, absentee landowners and others about urban and
community forestry programs and services. Done in
coordination with the US Forest Service’s Urban and
Community Forestry Program in the Southern Region,
complimentary copies of the magazine are still available
while supplies last. Conservation districts interested
and/or actively working in developed and developing areas
can order copies by contacting Iris Magaly Zayas at izayas@fs.fed.us or (404) 347-1650.
Minority Landowner is a quarterly magazine with an audience
of minority and underserved farmers and forest landowners,
providing information on how to increase productivity of
their land, and maintain ownership. It helps to increase
the landowners’ awareness and knowledge of state and
federal programs and services by working with state and
federal partners, as well as nonprofits and other
nongovernmental organizations. For more information on the
magazine, please contact Victor Harris at (919) 215-1632 or
email at ccpublishing@earthlink.net.
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