Conservation program funding may be slashed

Another "bright idea" from the Bush administration.

From the Union of Concerned Scientists:

The president's proposed budget would prevent new enrollments in 2007 and 2008 in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), which pays farmers to keep environmentally sensitive lands out of production. The CRP is part of the food and farm bill, the sprawling bundle of legislation currently being debated in Congress that, among many other provisions, subsidizes commodity crops like corn and soy and maintains the food stamp program. According to the Washington Post, CRP funding was cut to encourage farmers to plant corn for ethanol production—despite concerns from environmental and hunting groups that cultivation of these marginal lands will increase erosion, damage water quality, and reduce wildlife habitat. A University of Tennessee analysis found that eliminating CRP contracts as they expire would cost taxpayers an additional $32.6 billion by 2015 in subsidies to prop up commodity crops if the land was converted to crop production. By contrast, expanding the CRP from its current 34 million to 45 million acres would save $12.7 billion. Read the Post article, or the University of Tennessee study (pdf).