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2010-02-09

2010-01-19

Agriculture

Lifestyles

Wednesday, September 16, 2009 12:25 PM

Photo by Elliot J. Sutherland/The Ottawa Herald

Elaine VanDeventer, left, Baldwin City, laughs with Robin Dunn, owner of Dunn’s Landing, Monday during a tour of Dunn’s Landing. The farm was the last stop on a day-long tour for the Kansas State Association of Resource Conservation and Development group. The tour included a stop at East Kansas Agri-Energy LLC, an ethanol plant in Garnett and a bus tour of Wolf Creek Generating Station nuclear plant in Burlington. The conservation group had its annual meeting this week at the Franklin County Office Annex, 1428 S. Main St., Ottawa.

Conservation groups worried about potential loss of federal funding

By VICKIE MOSS, Herald Public Affairs Editor

Photo by Jeanny Sharp/The Ottawa Herald

Bob Mosier, president of the Kansas State Association of Resource Conservation Development group, speaks Sunday evening during the association’s president’s reception at the Eagle’s Hall, 524 E. 15th St., Ottawa. The gathering was the start of three days of conservation-related meetings and tours.

Members of Kansas groups that help people care for natural resources were urged to contact their legislators about concerns that some of them could lose funding.

Resource Conservation and Development — commonly known as RC&D — groups across Kansas converged on Ottawa this week for their annual meeting.

A series of speakers with RC&D councils and other related agencies talked to members from across the state before the business meeting Tuesday.

State and regional officials warned Tuesday some groups could be in danger of losing funding because of a bill currently before the U.S. Senate. The bill would give funding authority over the RC&D to the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. A similar bill before the House of Representatives does not give such authority to the NRCS.

Bob Mosier, of Greensburg, president of the state RC&D association, and Marva Beck, a Texas resident who represents six states in the southwest region, urged attendees at the state meeting to call Sen. Sam Brownback, who serves on the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee considering the bill.

Anyone who calls should talk about the good projects developed by RC&D councils, Beck recommended.

Mosier and Beck also said they are concerned about standards groups must meet in order to obtain funding under the NRCS. They recommended local councils achieve the highest possible standard to guard against any future loss of funding.

“It isn’t hard work, folks,” Mosier said about the verification process. “It’s what you’re already doing.”

Beck said RC&D councils have faced similar concerns in the past, but she believes the threat to cut funding is serious. In her home state of Texas, seven RC&D councils saw their funding cut from $10,000 to $3,000 this year, she said.

RC&D councils work with people to care for natural resources in order to improve the local economy, environment and standard of living, according to literature provided by the State Association of Kansas RC&D Councils. Examples of RC&D programs include installation of dry fire hydrants in rural communitites, educating farmers and ranchers to better manage resources, recycling and recreation programs.

Franklin County is represented by the Lake Region RC&D, which also covers Anderson, Coffey, Linn, Miami and Osage counties. Don Stottlemire is president of the Lake Region RC&D.

As part of the annual state meeting, the group on Monday toured agribusinesses like Dunn’s Landing, near Wellsville; the East Kansas Agri-Energy ethanol plant in Garnett; and Wolf Creek Nuclear Power Plant in Burlington.

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Conservation groups worried about potential loss of federal funding

By VICKIE MOSS, Herald Public Affairs Editor

E-mail this story to a friend | Print this article | Enjoy the convenience of home delivery of The Ottawa Herald.

E-mail this story to a friend | Print this article |
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