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prairie-saving Grassland Reserve in peril

I just posted the message below to an Iowa listserve.  It was written for Iowans, but senators in other states also need to hear the same message.  

Thanks very much to those who have been using and forwarding my previous email about prairies and the next Farm Bill.   You are helping a lot of prairies!

Cindy Hildebrand

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Please pardon a request for phone calls on this listserve.   I'm asking because we Iowans can play an unusual key(stone) role for prairies in the next few days.

The U.S. Senate will begin work on the new Farm Bill this week, and I heard today that Senator Harkin, who heads the Senate Ag Committee, has not heard from Iowans that the proposed Grassland Reserve Program is important.   That puts virgin (old-growth original) prairies in danger.  

The current Farm Bill gives landowners many incentives to destroy virgin prairies, including eligibility for the Conservation Reserve Program.  Prairies are being lost, in Iowa and elsewhere.  The proposed new Grassland Reserve Program would (finally!) give landowners an incentive to save prairies, by providing payments to landowners who protect virgin prairie remnants.     

But the federal budget is getting tighter.  Unless members of the Senate hear from their constituents that the Grassland Reserve Program is important, it is likely to be dropped.  Senator Harkin will play a critical role in the fate of the Grassland Reserve Program.

If you want to help save virgin prairies in Iowa and elsewhere, please call Senator Harkin's office and tell him that you support the creation of a Grassland Reserve Program under the new Farm Bill to help protect America's last prairies and their wildlife.   You could also point out that the Reserve will help not only landowners and prairies, but also soil and water, and that the Reserve could save important prairies here in Iowa, including prairies in the Loess Hills.

From what I heard, calls, rather than emails, are needed at this point.   Senator Harkin's office phone number is:  202-224-3254.   

Please feel free to pass on this information to other appropriate people and listserves.  Thanks very much!

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Cindy Hildebrand
grantridge@aol.com
57439 250th St.
Ames, IA  50010
515-232-3807

"One way to open your eyes to unnoticed beauty is to ask yourself, 'What if I had never seen this before?  What if I knew I would never see it again?'"  (Rachel Carson)
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