Frank Lucas

The USDA Small Watershed Program changed the face of western Oklahoma and when it did . . . it also changed our future.

Congress needs to reinvest in this important conservation program.

I introduced legislation to rehabilitate many of our watershed projects through the Small Watershed Rehabilitation Act.

This rural infrastructure may be largely out of sight, but it is of critical importance to those communities affected.

I am confident that a modest investment now will pay off greatly over the next 70 years, across rural America.

If we take no action to rehabilitate, we will be left with the cost of removing these structures or faced with constant threats to life and property as these dams continue to age.

By the end of 2017, nearly 5,500 structures will have reached the end of their intended life-span.

This hearing of the Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry entitled, Small Watershed Infrastructure: Continuing the Mission, Building Upon Success, will come to order.

I encourage you to support and provide adequate funding for new watershed projects and for the rehabilitation of aging watershed dams.

Maintaining and updating these structures is often unaffordable for the communities that have benefited from the P.L. 83-566 program.

This institution has continued to fulfill its' Congressional mission, as directed by this Committee, for nearly 30 years.

The biggest challenge... is when the revenue numbers, the new budget process, what is available to us...

I appreciate those comments about the virtues of choice.

He ran the Committee with authority. He conducted himself in a very dignified fashion.

Congressman de la Garza was a great champion for American agriculture, and I enjoyed serving with him.

I believe the U.S. Forest Service...should return to its original purpose of conserving natural resources through sustainable use.

As the recent rangeland wildfires in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Colorado remind us, wildfires can wreak incredible havoc, destroying livelihoods all along the way.

I believe the U.S. Forest Service... should return to its original purpose of conserving natural resources through sustainable use.

Our nation's forests are a great natural resource, and today we will examine farm bill provisions that work to ensure our National and private forests remain healthy and productive.

As a Committee, we need to do everything in our power to give the Forest Service the flexibility to act to reduce fuel loads.

We should continue to support the voluntary conservation efforts that our forest owners make on their lands.

We write farm bills for the bad times--not the good times--and our nation's farmers and ranchers are certainly struggling right now.

I take conservation policy very seriously.

We write farm bills for the bad times, not the good times, and our nation's farmers and ranchers currently are struggling with that as we speak.

I offer today a manager's amendment on behalf of Chair Comstock that makes a few changes in the bill.