Land Trust Alliance responds to House Farm Bill draft
Initial draft increases funding for private land conservation and reduces barriers for historically underserved landowners.
Washington — Today, House Agriculture Committee Chair GT Thompson (R-Pa.) released discussion draft text of the Farm Bill. The following statement can be attributed to Lori Faeth, senior director of government relations at the Land Trust Alliance:
The Land Trust Alliance commends House Agriculture Committee Chair GT Thompson (R-Pa.) for releasing Farm Bill text that reflects many of the Land Trust Alliance’s highest priorities, including a historic investment in the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program through increased annual funding as well as provisions that would allow more landowners to participate in ACEP by increasing the federal share to 65% for most transactions and reducing barriers for historically underserved landowners. The text also recognizes land trusts’ expertise by granting certified land trusts a streamlined path to administer easements and minimize administrative burdens on the Secretary. Together, these and other inclusions constitute a huge step toward providing consistency and certainty for landowners to leverage limited agency resources and grant flexibility that allows for the long-term care of easements.
We applaud the Committee for including a stand-alone Forest Conservation Easement Program with mandatory funding. This program will fill a critical gap in conserving working forested lands and help keep them intact and sustainably managed, providing numerous economic and environmental benefits to rural and urban communities.
The Land Trust Alliance and its nearly 1,000 member land trusts recognize the importance of the Farm Bill in helping farmers, ranchers and foresters conserve and enhance their working lands, and we look forward to continuing to work with both the House and Senate to pass a bipartisan Farm Bill this year for the benefit of all Americans.
Read the full text of the discussion draft here.
About the Land Trust Alliance
Founded in 1982, the Land Trust Alliance is a national land conservation organization working to save the places people need and love by empowering and mobilizing land trusts in communities across America to conserve land for the benefit of all. The Alliance represents approximately 1,000 member land trusts and affiliates supported by more than 250,000 volunteers and 6.3 million members nationwide. The Alliance is based in Washington, D.C., with staff working in communities across the U.S.