In Wednesday's Morning Hot Dish, Strib political reporter J. Patrick threw a bit of shade on the Governor's announcement of $350 million in federal funding for CREP land:
$500 million in state and federal cash to idle farmland in southwest Minnesota, turning it into native plants and grasses to help the region’s waterways. 60K acres, or roughly 100 square miles to clean up the Minnesota River, one of the most polluted in the country and a key factor in the so-called dead zone of the Gulf of Mexico. Strong demand expected with commodity prices in the tank. Betting Dayton wished he’d taken this approach the first time around instead of the contentious buffer regulations. [emphasis added]
Oh really?
Truth is, the state's request for CREP funding was part of an overall plan that included enforcement of existing buffer laws and other water quality initiatives.
Moreover, the application for the funds were well-covered and discussed in Greater Minnesota media. Take, for instance, commentary by Ian Cunningham, president, Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts; Ruth Hubbard, executive director, Minnesota Rural Water Association; and Howard Vincent, president and CEO, Pheasants Forever, that was distributed across the state and published in the St. Cloud Times' op-ed section as CREP plan will help state's water, wildlife:
Gov. Mark Dayton has proposed an initial $30 million bonding investment for the Reinvest in Minnesota/Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program partnership as a key component of his water quality initiative. This funding is in addition to supplemental aid from the Outdoor Heritage Fund and Clean Water Fund.
This CREP proposal is needed now. It provides strategic, long-term, voluntary solutions to protect drinking water supplies, improve the health of streams, rivers and lakes, and enhance wildlife habitat.
Minnesotans were surprised and deeply concerned when Minnesota Pollution Control Agency officials deemed nearly all lakes, rivers and streams in a region of southwest Minnesota unfit for swimming and fishing. A subsequent MPCA report this year highlighted groundwater contamination from nitrates, worrisome because groundwater is the source of most of our drinking water. These reports magnify statewide water quality and habitat trends and show that some problems are far from being solved.
Knowledge of the problem is best channeled toward solutions, which is why, on the heels of the water quality Buffers Initiative he championed, Dayton submitted a CREP application to the U.S. Department of Agriculture late last year. The state is seeking federal matching dollars to restore and conserve up to 100,000 acres of grassland and wetland habitat targeted to achieve water quality improvements. . . .
"Last year" would be 2015, and no, this wasn't a secret plan on the part of the Governor's office. Agri-News' Janet Kubat Willette reported in the December 22, 2015 article Learn about Minnesota's CREP proposal:
Gov. Mark Dayton submitted Minnesota's third Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program proposal to USDA on Dec. 15.
The nearly 50-page proposal was emailed to Washington, D.C., around noon, said John Jaschke, executive director of the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources, which has been working on the proposal for more than a year.
The CREP proposal targets a triangular area stretching from Clay and Becker counties in northwestern Minnesota down the Dakota border and to the Iowa border over to Houston County in far southeastern Minnesota.
Landowners in the target area would be able to install buffer filter strips, complete wetland restoration projects and implement wellhead protection efforts.
This is a very targeted proposal, Jaschke said, targeting areas with the most environmental sensitivity. . .
Jaschke said they expect to hear from USDA sometime in 2016.
Dayton, who has made water quality a centerpiece of his second term, said the CREP proposal would provide additional financial support for landowners as they begin to implement the buffer legislation. . . .
"This CREP funding would help tremendously, as Minnesotans work together to be even better stewards of our land and water," Dayton said. "We have begun to reverse the serious deterioration in the quality of water in parts of our state. But much more remains to be done. This is everyone's challenge and everyone's responsibility."
Jaschke said this doesn't replace other programs available for landowners who will need to install buffer strips. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Conservation Reserve Program and continuous Conservation Reserve Program are other options. If approved, CREP will be another option. . . .
Read the rest at Agri-News.
Moreover, at Tuesday's presser, BWSR director John Jaschke opened his remarks by talking about how the proposal had been in "the works for a couple years." Here's the relevant statement via a YouTube we've created using the audio archive of the event:
Speaking just after Jaschke, Minnesota ag commissioner Dave Frederickson drew a laugh praising the BWSR director for being "an ankle-biting dog" who reminded the commissioner to lobbying for the proposal whenever he called Washington about any matter:
While it might serve some folks' political agenda--or need for campaign whining points--to suggest to reporters that the CREP announcement was Dayton's third or fourth pass at establishing water quality practices after bickering about buffers, the truth is that the state's CREP application has long been in the works, with the Dayton administration working to secure various sources of funding to help ease property owners' efforts at soil and water conservation.
Photo: The CREP agreement presser.
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