Political Quotes

“As someone who comes from an agriculture State and somebody who is concerned about the relationship of prime agricultural land to our cities, this interface, the urban-rural interface, is critical to be able to maintain some of the most productive farmland in America. Right now, we do not have the tools to help preserve it; and sadly, what we have been given from the conference committee makes this situation worse. It cuts critical conservation programs by almost $3 billion from the Senate bill and left out national conservation priorities. Even though the number of farmland acres lost to sprawl doubled, doubled over the last 6 years, the negotiators, in their wisdom, cut $1.25 billion out of the only Federal program to help farmers curb sprawl. The tension between landowners and Federal agency and conservation interests over the endangered species issues have split communities all over the country. Yet the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program was cut in half, from the Senate level of almost $1.5 billion to $700 million.”