http://www.nola.com/sports/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-30/1177220884253990.xml&coll=1Just when you think things can't get any worse for the future of the Conservation Reserve Program . . . they don't.
After months of concern by sportsmen that the nation's rush to corn-based ethanol production might punch a big hole in CRP, the crisis seems to be easing. In fact, there are growing hopes that biofuels may actually end up being a net gain for wildlife and humans.
CRP is a feature of the Farm Bill that pays farmers to forgo planting marginal acres, allowing them to revert to natural grasses and shrubs. It has become the single most successful fish and wildlife conservation measure in the nation's history, its 39 million acres responsible for a wide array of improvements from increased waterfowl production to cleaner aquifers and better fish habitat.
But President Bush's announcement last year of a drive to increase corn-based ethanol production as a way to reduce our dependence on imported energy supplies set off a chain reaction that wildlife advocates feared: The price of corn doubled, leading to record corn planting; the farm lobby began pushing for reduction in CRP so landowners could switch to more profitable corn; the administration announced it was considering allowing early release from the 10-year CRP contracts as well as freezing enrollments for the next two years.
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