Quotes on the Conservation Security Program

"We're here to celebrate conservation and those who demonstrate the conservation ethic across the landscape and the people that make it happen," USDA Deputy Secretary Jim Moseley (at the 8/26/04 Minnesota CSP signing event).

"This is an extraordinary opportunity to get it right," USDA Deputy Secretary Jim Moseley (at the 8/26/04 Minnesota CSP signing event).

"Ten, twenty, thirty years from now, people will remember this signing and this historic moment when this program came into being," USDA Deputy Secretary Jim Moseley (at the 8/26/04 Minnesota CSP signing event).

"The Conservation Security Program helps farmers and ranchers meet their objectives in taking care of the land and water that they are responsible for," USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Conservation Mack Gray (at the 8/26/04 Oregon CSP signing event).

"CSP is a program with great potential for farmers and ranchers," USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Conservation Mack Gray (at the 8/26/04 Oregon CSP signing event).

"I believe (CSP) will grow as we demonstrate the good environmental results that can come from this type of program," Senator Gordon Smith (at the 8/26/04 Oregon CSP signing event).

"We want to develop CSP for the future because this program is about the future," Senator Gordon Smith (at the 8/26/04 Oregon CSP signing event).

"(CSP) is a great program for rural America and our producers," Senator Gordon Smith (at the 8/26/04 Oregon CSP signing event).

"Farmers have always been the first and best stewards of the land. Farmers in my state of Oregon are eager to balance their needs with the needs of the environment. The Conservation Security Program provides them with incentive-based tools to achieve both goals." — Sen. Gordon Smith, in a press release (appeared in the High Plains Journal, July 2, 2003).

"The CSP creates a new system for rewarding producers who implement and maintain high levels of conservation on agricultural land in production. There is strong bipartisan support for the CSP and producers across the nation are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to participate in the program." — Sen. Tom Harkin in a press release (appeared in the High Plains Journal, July 2, 2003).

"We are also making steady progress toward the proposed rule for the Conservation Security Program ensuring that this newest policy initiative is implemented properly." — Ann M. Veneman Secretary of Agriculture before the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry United States Senate September 17, 2002

"As we look ahead, we are also making steady progress toward the proposed rule for the Conservation Security Program (CSP). The Farm Bill authorized this new program and granted the Secretary broad discretion to establish program requirements. In order to determine how best to design and implement CSP, the Department issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) in the Federal Register on February 18, 2003, to solicit public input on a number of key issues. The comment period closed on April 3, and nearly 4,500 comments from more than 700 individuals were received. We are now involved in reviewing and evaluating these comments, as well as working on the rule." — Ann M. Veneman Secretary of Agriculture before the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry United States Senate May 14, 2003

"There are a number of proposals in the Administration's budget to increase conservation incentives to landowners. We support those proposals, including $600 million for the new Conservation Security Program as a major way of shoring up the farm safety net for all of the owners of our nation's working land rather than just those growing specific commodities." — Craig Cox, Executive Vice-President, Soil and Water Conservation Society in a March 9, 2000 letter to The Honorable Thad Cochran, Chairman, Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Related Agencies

"We are concerned that the Conservation Security Program was left unfunded during the subcommittee markup. The CSP is a nationwide conservation program available to all producers and all crops on all working lands – an innovative approach to conservation on private lands and should be fully funded." — Gary Mast, President, NACD in a June 24, 2003, letter to Rep. Bill Young and David Obey, of the House Committee on Appropriations.

"It's fair, its just, and it's long overdue….The Conservation Security Program is total conservation on the land, something a lot of us have been working on for many years.". Bill Richards, Chairman of the Board, CTIC, and past chief of SCS under the senior President Bush in the early 1990s. The Minnesota Project, June 16, 2003.

"The Conservation Security Program (CSP) will assist farmers to achieve environmental goals and reward them for improved environmental performance. We believe CSP must be available to all producers nationwide. We continue to believe that this program is extremely important. The program should be fully funded and should be implemented as a nationwide program." — Statement of The American Farm Bureau Federation to the House Agriculture Conservation, Credit, Rural Development and Research Subcommittee on June 4, 2003.

"CSP gives us the opportunity to reward that class of conservationist who's trying to do leading-edge conservation, going beyond the minimum of the regulation and really trying to reach for the stars in terms of what you can do with conservation," — NRCS Chief Bruce Knight, Ag Web, March 22, 2003.

"The new Conservation Security Program will provide payments for producers who have historically practiced good stewardship on their agricultural lands and incentives to do more….First, adjusting to the increased emphasis placed on conservation on working lands. Until now, conservation programs for private lands have focused mainly on taking marginal lands out of production. Now, with major investments in EQIP and the new Conservation Security Program, we will be able to help many more farmers and ranchers implement conservation practices on working lands." — NRCS Chief Bruce Knight speaking at the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference, in Winston-Salem, NC on March 27, 2003.

"During the 2002 reauthorization of the Farm Bill, Congress should establish a Conservation Security Program to reward environmental stewardship on working agricultural lands that serves as a complement to existing set-aside conservation programs. Farmers and ranchers who are undertaking or are willing to undertake land management practices that enhance the environment should be given the financial and technical assistance necessary to carry out these activities." — National Wildlife Federation, homepage regarding their recommendation for the 2002 Farm Bill.

"Our organizations represent a significant majority of cotton, wheat and feed grain producers that supported the CSP during the farm bill debate and believe it can be an effective program for rewarding producers for achieving environmental benefits on their lands. We support implementation of this as a "working lands" program. It should compensate producers for achieving, maintaining and enhancing environmental benefits including, but not limited to, enhanced air, water, and soil quality, as well as wildlife habitat." — Joint Comments on CSP by The National Cotton Council, National Corn Growers Association and National Association of Wheat Growers (Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published in the Federal Register on February 19, 2003).

"Overall, I'd say it's a plus for the environment over where we were…I think there's a lot for the environmental community to like about this farm bill…And there are new, important programs, such as the Conservation Security Program and the Grasslands Program." — Stephen Lovejoy, professor of agricultural economics, Purdue University in the Purdue News, June 5, 2002.

"On the first anniversary of the 2002 farm bill, we want to express our strong support for the full implementation of the Conservation Security Program. The legislation created an open, national CSP without an arbitrary limitation, which for the first time would allow all farmers who meet conservation standards to participate. CSP also provided a new direction in conservation by rewarding good stewards of the land for continuing and maintaining conservation practices". — May 13 letter to Secretary Ann Veneman from the National Corn Growers Association, American Farm Bureau Federation, American Soybean Association, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Grain Sorghum Producers, National Farmers Union, National Cotton Council, United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association, USA Rice Federation, and the US Rice Producers Association.

"The public has spoken and hands-down it wants this innovative program now. Our analysis shows overwhelming support for the CSP and remarkably unified positions on its implementation." — Ferd Hoefner, Washington Representative of the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. Successful Farming Agriculture online news of May 13, 2003.

"The Conservation Security Program is a new way of doing things. Previously, for a property owner to qualify for a program, there had to be problems to be corrected…lands were taken out of production, wetlands restored." The new CSP was a 180-degree flip from the way things previously were handled." — Wayne Edgerton, MN Department of Natural Resources' agricultural policies director in the Mankato Free Press, February 20, 2003.

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