I saw a report a while back and since can not lay my hands on it so I thought I would ask here.

The report was on a Ducks Unlimited or Delta Waterfowl type website and reported that an alarming increase in the practice of plowing under existing wetlands in the Prarie Pot Hole Region for the purpose of growing MORE corn for ethanol.

Is there anybody in this region that can confirm this and relay any other stories about it? This kind of story that is adversly effecting the waterfowl population is needles to say NOT going to get any press in the NBC/CNN/FOX/ABC... outlets because is will be precieved as a "Hunter's" story. This is alot bigger than Hunters.

Many acres have been set aside as "conservation easments" and are supposed to be protected and removed from farm production, stricktly for the purpose of wildlife habitat. The report sighted Many thousands of acres being used POSSIBLY ilegaly for the production of corn for ethanol.

Will the KJers and others up there please add some input to this story?

I aint no Tree Hugger. Just a guy who likes his ducks and geese. I do not see why the so-called "Tree-Huggers" and enviormentalists are not up in arms about this, unless they are deciding to turn the other cheek and ignor something they have been fighting for for a very long time.

Thanks

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No Net Loss

In 1987, the National Wetlands Policy Forum was sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to advance protection of wetlands in the United States and to address major policy concerns relative to wetlands protection and management. The end result was a series of recommendations for improving wetlands protection that were agreed upon by the lawmakers, farmers, environmentalists, business leaders, and academics who participated in the forum. The major goal articulated by this group was "to achieve no net loss of the nation's overall wetlands base" and "to increase the quantity and quality of the nation's wetlands resource base" through voluntary and regulatory efforts in the long term. The federal government and many states have since adopted this goal. Former President Bush raised the profile of this philosophy when he made it a theme of his 1988 presidential campaign. The goal has been supported by the Clinton administration, and it is now an accepted guiding principle of EPA philosophy.

To sum it up, you destroy an acre of wetlands, you'd better create an acre of wetlands.

http://www.water.ncsu.edu/watershedss/i ... html#intro

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You mean to Sum it up...

You destroy an acre of wetlands, then you destroy as much a 5 years of breading grounds and habitat for waterfowl and other animals, some of which are endangered. That is what you mean to say, right?

Also the reports i have read clearly illustrate that this policy is being overlooked. and that there is NOT an acre for acre exchange going on. all under the "Alternative fuel benefit" lie.

So the policy is stated and I am aware of it. but it is not being practiced or adheared to. Meanwhile waterfowl and other species are being harmed for a fuel that has no net gain. Poorer performance, higher food prices.

Doesn't seem fair to me.

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Being very familiar with farming (I own a farm) and farmland drainage regarding wetlands, what is missing from this discussion is the realities as they are "on the ground".

Land set asides, also known as CRP, are for a predetermined period of time with payments for each acre being made from the taxpayers to the farmer. Once the contract is complete, the farmer then may return the land to production. These are not wet lands. They are production acres taken out of production to reduce overabundance of crops and soil restoration.

There is no such thing as "plowing" wetlands into crop production. Not sure of anyone's experience, but I wouldn't want to "bury" a $200K tractor in a mud bog. If the land is wetland, then it is wetland. The only way to farm it would be to install drainage tile to lower the water table and "dry" out the ground. This has to be done at the approval of the Soil Conservation Service. Farmers can't just turn wetland into farmland on a whim. Most lands that farmers contract to the Government for establishing wetlands are already a problem for the farmer. The choice would be to drain the land at a substantial cost for crop production or contract with the Government to have annual payments made to the farmer on a per acre basis to keep the land as wetland habitat.

If one wants to complain about wildlife habitat, then focus on the real problems. The lack of conservation "buffer" strips along rivers, creeks, and streams. The close cutting of waterway grasses that control erosion thereby causing a lack of nesting habitat for pheasants. Or even the lack of proper erosion control terraces and waterway grasses that would provide a vast amount of habitat for nesting birds and small mammals. But with land costs what they are, it is not a difficult choice for most farmers...... Pay $3500 or more per acre and let it sit idle or turn it into productive land.

I have definate ideas on how current production practices are "raping" the land. I try to follow sound conservation practices. But it is at a cost financially. I can absorb some of it because of having revenue outside of the farm. Many do not have that luxury. So..... unless Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, and other wildlife groups are not going to "pay the piper" for the tune they want to play, they need to shut up and deal with it. Many farmers would go along with set asides and extended conservation practices, but they do not have the financial luxury to not have the land in production. There are the "mega" farm operations that are another story, but they do not make up the bulk of farm land ownership in America.

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