Political Quotes

“I offer this amendment, and I will talk more about it later. But it is a limitation on the amount of acres that one landowner could put into CRP. The CRP is a well-intentioned program, but it has been changed. I guess it evolved. It has been done mostly through Executive order rather than through legislation. I think it is about time that we get the Conservation Reserve Program back to its original intent. The intent was to set aside those undesirable or highly erodible acres, and the Government would reimburse the farmer for good conservation practices. It was very successful. I don't know of a time in Montana when we have had a better habitat for our upland game birds--grouse and pheasant. We had the situation where some people under farm programs were plowing from fence row to fence row. Lands that should have never ever been broken were going into cropland. We kind of killed two birds with one stone. We said: OK. Let us set some of those lands aside. Maybe that will cut back a little bit on production. That will give us a better market. But those highly erodible and marginal lands could also be used for a very good use--for the environment and the maintenance of our habitat for our wildlife.”