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[Fwd: [prairies] prairie listserve background]

To:  Members of the national prairie listserve at prairie@mallorn.com

From:  Lee Stone, Austin, TX

The information below was sent in to a new listserve set up to handle email
traffic related to the new prairie coalition (North American Prairie Coalition).
This coalition was voted on by the 800+ attendees of the last North American
Prairie Conference.  Cindy Hildebrand of Iowa summarizes why the group formed and
gives information about problems for prairies in the current Farm Bill.

I have sent a copy of this email to that new listserve, to Cindy Hildebrand, and
to the chairwoman of the coalition Tina Lorentzen at prairies-owner@egroups.com.

I will note here that there have been several requests from the
prairie@mallorn.com members to please coalesce with them, so that we will have
only one national prairie listserve.  It will reduce the number of duplicate
messages and help keep our prairie groups together.  I have also heard from Chris
Lindsey (lindsey@mallorn.com), moderator for the prairie@mallorn.com listserve.
He set up the mallorn.com listserve in 1997 "with the intent of helping with
everything prairie-related."  He thinks the coalition discussions could be a
great addition.

Until such time as the coalition might, in some future years, become a formal
organization with dues and that exclude non-dues paying prairie people, it just
makes sense to have one national prairie listserve.

lee stone
Austin, TX

Grantridge@aol.com wrote:

> Background of the New Prairie Listserve
>
> What's below is based mostly on my memory.  Corrections, additions, and
> comments are welcome.   I will read through my notes and post additional
> information in the next couple of days, including a resolution passed at the
> North American Prairie Conference (NAPC).
>
> I am also in the process of notifying some interested people that this
> listserve now exists.   I apologize for the delay, and hope we will soon have
> more participants.
>
> Background -- I'm an Iowa prairie enthusiast.   It's been apparent for
> several years, to me and many other prairie enthusiasts, that some United
> States Department of Agriculture conservation programs are causing unintended
> but serious problems for prairie remnants.
>
> A few of us organized a facilitated discussion on this topic at the recent
> North American Prairie Conference in Mason City, Iowa.   The title of the
> discussion, a description, and an edited version of the background sheet
> provided at the discussion are below:
>
> ***
> USDA CONSERVATION PROGRAMS AND PRAIRIES:  Ecological, Financial, and
> Regulatory Challenges
>
> Some USDA programs and rules are unintentionally causing serious problems for
> native prairie remnants.   Improved programs and rules could offer new
> opportunities for prairie protection.   This facilitated discussion will
> provide an opportunity for constructive dialogue on how to solve the prairie
> problems without harming other conservation goals.   We'll work to generate
> information and energy for specific, positive changes.
>
> Background Information -- The problems below are not universal, but are being
> reported from various states in the prairie region.   Solutions might
> potentially be found on the federal, regional, state, or local levels, and
> could involve changes in laws, rules, funding levels, programs, or policies.
>
>
> Some Prairie Problems
>
> Landowners are plowing up native prairie areas and planting them to rowcrops
> in order to qualify for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).   In some
> cases, landowners are reportedly putting cropland into CRP, and then plowing
> native prairie to put into rowcrops.
>
> There is a federal requirement that woody species be planted on marginal
> riparian pastures enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program.   This
> requirement is causing the destruction of native prairie remnants and is
> creating unnecessary costs for landowners and agencies.
>
> On some CRP land, invasive exotic plant species are being planted, including
> exotics that invade native prairie areas.   Some agency staff have not had
> opportunities to learn which species are native, and are recommending exotics.
>
> There is concern that the planting of commercial prairie cultivars near
> native prairie remnants, and near source-identified prairie nursery
> plantings, may cause the genetic contamination of those remnants and
> plantings.   Some USDA program participants want to plant local-origin
> prairie seed.   But some program requirements make local-origin plantings
> difficult, including high grass/forb seed ratios, all-at-once planting
> requirements, and lack of incentives and program flexibility.
>
> Some programs require that money be spent in ways that provide little public
> benefit.   That money could potentially be used instead for prairie
> conservation and better plantings.   For example, fertilizer has been
> required for native plantings on sites where the fertilizer helped only
> weeds, and new plantings have been required on already-vegetated areas where
> soil conservation, water quality, and wildlife habitat already existed.
>
> Local USDA staff have had to follow rules that are not flexible enough to fit
> local landscapes and situations.   Local staff sometimes don't have time or
> opportunity to learn about prairies, evaluate planting sites with prairie
> remnants, or to become familiar with program rules that could help protect
> prairie remnants and encourage good prairie plantings.
>
> Native prairie, especially tallgrass prairie, is a globally endangered
> landscape.  It provides public benefits, including water quality protection,
> soil conservation, biodiversity, wildlife habitat, and carbon storage.   But
> while there are incentive programs within the USDA to protect wetlands and
> riparian areas, there is no incentive program to protect native prairies or
> to offset the financial incentive to convert native prairie to CRP.   This
> problem could also be an opportunity.
>
> ***
>
> The USDA discussion was well attended and lively.  Among those who attended
> were representatives of two Congressmen and a Senator, video commentary from
> a Senator, and an Iowa representative of the Natural Resources and
> Conservation Service.
>
> A number of other issues were brought up besides those discussed in the
> background sheet.   They included the problem of landowners being "punished"
> financially for being quick to enroll in USDA conservation programs, and the
> fact that all USDA conservation programs are likely to have a very hard time
> getting funding in the next national Farm Bill.   The roles of livestock and
> ranching in prairie issues were discussed.   One issue raised is that there
> is currently no national organization or coalition that focuses solely on
> prairies and prairie issues.
>
> Some of these problems were also eloquently discussed by Frank Oberle in his
> featured presentation at the conference.   He showed devastating photos of
> one beautiful virgin prairie being plowed up and turned into a soybean field.
>
>
> As a result of the USDA discussion, Frank Oberle's talk, a followup breakfast
> discussion, and the general concern of conference participants, it was
> decided that we should establish a listserve so that we could start to
> discuss how to address these prairie issues.   Tina Lorentzen generously
> offered to set up the listserve for us.
>
> Special interest was expressed in trying to work for more
> prairie-friendliness in the next Farm Bill, since the Farm Bill has such a
> powerful impact on prairies.   We did not definitely decide whether to form a
> national prairie organization, though that was discussed as a possibility.
> Other possibilities that were raised were to try to work with an existing
> organization or organizations that are already working on the Farm Bill and
> have concern for prairies, and/or to arrange for individuals and
> organizations concerned with prairies to be provided with up-to-date
> information on Farm Bill provisions that may affect prairies, so we could
> write informed letters and emails to policy-makers about prairie issues.
>
> More information will follow.   Thanks for your concern for prairies!
>
> Cindy Hildebrand
> grantridge@aol.com
> 57439 250th St.
> Ames, IA  50010
> 515-232-3807
>
> "It burned deep into our memories, this wide, sunny, windy country.  The sky
> so big, and the horizon line so low and so far away...The grasses and many of
> the flowers were also new to us...in the swales the wild oat shook its quiver
> of barbed and twisted arrows, and the crow's foot, tall and sere, bowed
> softly under the feet of the wind..."   (Hamlin Garland)
>
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