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Coalition: farm bill reading

Hello,

I've just lost all my bookmarks.  Could someone please send me the bookmark for the Farm Bill?

Before disaster struck my computer, I was just perusing the first section of that info web site  about the current  USDA 1996 Farm Bill.  The section is called "Digest of the Law."  I thought it  might be an easy place to start.  Ha.  It ain't easy reading to the uninitiated, BUT towards the bottom there was a summary about the purchase of conservation  easements that caught my eyes, especially since Cindy has mentioned easements in her emails.

Sec. 388. Farmland protection program
Under the farmland protection program, the Secretary is directed to
purchase conservation easements or other interests in between 170,000 and
340,000 acres of land with prime, unique or other productive soil that is
subject to a pending offer from a state or local government to limit
non-agricultural uses of the land. Funding for the program, from the
Commodity Credit Corporation, shall not exceed $35 million.

In the next section, which is a lot easier to read, it seems like prairies could
be included if they are occasionally grazed, since the website says "Under the interagency Wetlands Memorandum of Agreement, the definition of
agricultural land was expanded to include not only cropland and pastureland,
but also rangeland, native pastureland, other land used to support livestock
production, and tree farms."  So, did this section of the law actually get funded, or what?

Foundation Money
I got all excited reading about the "National Natural Resources Conservation
Foundation, created as a nonprofit corporation to fund research, education and demonstration projects related to conservation. "  MONEY? Sniff, sniff!  I
did a search for it and came up with this nice, but ultimately disappointing
description:

"A nonprofit private organization established by the FAIR Act of 1996 to
promote and fund innovative solutions to conservation problems through
effective partnerships.  The Foundation can accept gifts and raise money.
The NNRCF will conduct research, undertake educational activities, support
demonstration projects, and make grants to state and local governments and
nonprofit organizations.  Appropriations are authorized at $1 million per year
for 1997-99, but no appropriations have been provided and the Foundation
is not yet operational.  Similar foundations have been created for
several other natural resource areas."

Sounds like an opportunity for a letter to our representative:  asking Congress to allocate the $1 million/yr for this Foundation would be a good  idea.  Make that $4 million:  $3 million for the unfunded back years, and $1  million for the year 2000.

lee stone
Austin,TX

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