On June 13, the Senate Agriculture Committee passed the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, more commonly known as the Farm Bill, with a strong vote of 20 – 1. This bipartisan bill was introduced by Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus Members (CSC) Chairman Senator Pat Roberts (KS) and Ranking Member Senator Debbie Stabenow (MI).
Title II, also known as the Conservation Title, of the Farm Bill contains a number of pro-sportsmen’s provisions, including:
- Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) – Allows farmers to take environmentally sensitive land out of production in exchange for rental payments. The Senate version of the Farm Bill will increase the CRP acreage cap from the current cap of 24 million acres to 25 million over the life of the Farm Bill while capping rental payments at 88.5% of estimated land rental rates.
- Agriculture Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) – A voluntary, incentive-based program that provides financial and technical assistance to protect, restore, and enhance agriculture lands and wetlands through the purchase of easements. The Senate bill will increase funding to $450 million per year by 2023.
- Voluntary Public Access and Hunter Incentive Program (VPA-HIP) - A competitive grant program that provides state and tribal governments with funds to increase public access to private lands for hunting and fishing, as well as other wildlife-dependent forms of recreation. The Senate bill will authorize $25 million over the life of the bill until 2023 for VPA-HIP.
- Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) – Encourages conservation partner organizations to leverage their own funds, along with RCPP grant funds, to collaborate with producers and landowners to increase the restoration and sustainable use of soil, water, wildlife, and related natural resources on regional or watershed scales. The Senate bill will authorize RCPP at $200 million over the life of the bill through 2023.
- Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) – Provides agricultural producers with financial and technical assistance to implement conservation practices on lands in active production in order to provide cleaner water, improve air quality, healthy soil, and wildlife habitat. The Senate bill will provide $1.595 billion to EQIP by 2023.
The current Farm Bill, which includes many important conservation programs for our nation’s fish and wildlife populations, was authorized in 2014 and is set to expire in September 2018. The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation’s recommendations for the Farm Bill can be viewed here.
“The reauthorization of the Farm Bill is a critical, bipartisan priority for sportsmen and women around the country,” said Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation President Jeff Crane. “We sincerely appreciate Chairman Roberts, Ranking Member Stabenow and the other members of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus who are working to maintain and improve upon the important conservation provisions of Title II as the bill moves to the floor for consideration.”