Posted: 04.01.2011
Wisconsin’s state conservationist Pat Leavenworth will be joined by
Duke Welter of Trout Unlimited’s Driftless Area Restoration Effort as part of a public discussion about the benefits of the 2012 Farm Bill with all Wisconsinites from farmers to hunters and business owners.
The 10 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. April 14 event will be at Beaver Creek Reserve in Fall Creek, WI. and is sponsored by the Izaak Walton League of America, Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, and Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service.
The Izaak Walton League of America (IWLA) is coordinating a series of events in five Midwest states to discuss the needs and opportunities for the 2012 Farm Bill. The goal is to gain public input from all types of citizens on the effective role of the Farm Bill in supporting an agricultural system that achieves stewardship, prosperity, and fairness.
“That means federal farm policies should support agricultural practices that are good for farmers, good for the environment, and good for America,” said Brad Redlin, Agriculture Program Director for the IWLA.
Approximately every five years, the U.S. Congress passes a Farm Bill that sets federal policy for agriculture, energy, conservation, nutrition, and rural development. The last bill, passed in 2008, was called the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 and carried a price tag of $288 billion. In today’s tough economic times, funding for the Farm Bill will be under increased scrutiny, which underscores the importance of public involvement at these initial stages, event organizers explained.
“The conservation community has not done a sufficient job convincing the general public and policymakers that the need to protect natural resources is tightly stitched to identifiable economic rewards,” said Bill Berry, regular columnist for The Capital Times of Madison, who will lead one of the discussion sessions at the April 14 forum.
To register for the Beaver Creek Forum, contact Gwen Steel at gsteel@iwla.org or (651) 649-1446. Registration deadline is April 8. Lunch is included in this free event.
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