Staff Writer
BANGOR — On January 30, 2009, officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced that they are seeking public comments on many of the conservation programs authorized in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Farm Bill) which became law during the summer 2008. “Since the new Farm Bill was passed, NRCS has been busy developing proposed rules for the majority of the programs under the Conservation title of the bill,” said Joyce Swartzendruber, State Conservationist for NRCS in Maine. “They have now been published in the Federal Register and we encourage written comments from individuals as well as governmental agencies and nongovernmental organizations.”
“I would encourage people to comment, or to read the rules available online if they had any questions; anyone can make a comment,” said District Conservationist Joe Webber. “With Aroostook County, farming is a business and conservation has a tendency to cost the farmer money as oppose to paying off dividends in the short term; these programs provide a little additional financial incentive to offset the cost of conservation. If the programs weren’t here, it would probably be more difficult for farmers to put conservation practices into play,” he added.
According to Webber, anywhere between 50 and 60 residents of Aroostook County participate in the programs during any given year, the most popular programs being the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP).
“The WHIP program for Aroostook County has been used to maintain and improve habitat for grassland birds; the EQUIP program has had a lot of variability and has been used to improve wood lots, potato growers have used it to increase productivity, and to help livestock producers,” he said.
“These programs require local input,” Webber stated. “These programs are written on a national basis and it takes adaptation and local input to make them work locally. The key to the success of these programs is having local input towards making these programs work for Aroostook County,” he added.
Proposed rules available for public comment include the Healthy Forests Reserve Program (HFRP), established for the purpose of restoring and enhancing forest ecosystems to promote the recovery of threatened and endangered species, improve biodiversity and enhance carbon sequestration; the Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program (FRPP) which helps farmers and ranchers keep their land in agriculture and prevents conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural uses; the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), which provides assistance to farmers and ranchers who face threats to soil, water, air, and related natural resources on their land; the Wetland Reserve Program (WRP), which provides assistance to eligible landowners to restore, enhance, and protect wetlands; the Grassland Reserve Program (GRP), which offers landowners the opportunity to protect, restore, and enhance grasslands on their property; the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP), which encourages creation of high quality wildlife habitats that support wildlife populations of national, state, tribal, and local significance.
Comments for HFRP must be received by Feb. 13, 2009; Comments for FRPP must be received by March 17, 2009; Comments for EQIP must be received by March 16, 2009; comments for WRP must be received by March 6, 2009; comments for GRP need to be received by March 22, 2009; and comments for WHIP must be received by March 17, 2009.
NRCS is also seeking public comments on changes to the Technical Service Provider (TSP) process and Regional Equity. TSPs are individuals, private businesses, non-profit organizations or public agencies outside of USDA that help agricultural producers apply conservation practices on their land. Comments on the proposed rule must be received by March 17, 2009.
The purpose of the Regional Equity Provision is to give priority to certain states for certain conservation program funding. States eligible to receive funding through the Regional Equity provision are those that have not received, for a given fiscal year, an aggregate allocation of at least $15 million from programs specified in the provision. Maine is usually one of those states. Comments on this provision must be received by March 16, 2009.
The proposed rules can be viewed at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/ or http://www.me.nrcs.usda.gov; information about making a comment can be accessed in the proposed rule text on the Web page.