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History
Here's a brief history of the activities that
led to development of Landscape Conservation Solutions.
Moving from the "Panthers &
Private Lands" Project
and the "Landowner
Conceptual Plan" with its focus on Florida
To the "Resource
Conservation Agreement"
then the "Farmland Stewardship Program" with broad national application
and now, "Landscape Conservation Solutions"
For additional details, you may visit the
monthly update archives, which
contain all the monthly updates posted to this site since January 1997.
1993 - 1995
1. Project launched in 1993 with funding from
Florida Advisory Council on Environmental Education (FACEE) to find means of
protecting habitat for endangered Florida panther that respects private
property rights and is acceptable to private landowners, conservation groups
and government agencies.
2. At conclusion of project in early 1995,
original project leaders -- American Farmland Trust and Florida Game and
Fresh Water Fish Commission -- decide to produce video and publish results
of landowner meetings, but not act on recommendations.
3. Florida Stewardship Foundation (now known as
Stewardship America, Inc.) is formed in late
1995, with board comprised of members from Landowner Working Group and
Review Committee, to carry forward landowner recommendations and work on
related projects.
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1996 – 1999
4. Project funding is raised in
1996. Principal funders: FACEE, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
and Turner Foundation.
5. Workshops are held in 1997,
1998 and early 1999 to refine landowner recommendations. Workshops
attract upwards of 75 people each – 1/3 representing private
landowners, 1/3 representing conservation interests, 1/3 representing
agencies at all levels of government. Result:
a consensus document - The Resource Conservation Agreement (RCA)
6. Effort begins in 1999 to
explore possibility of using RCA on national level and to incorporate
RCA into the Florida Forever Act, Florida’s $3 billion land
acquisition program.
7. Pilot project is carried
out on 4,500-acre ranch in Central Florida with funding from U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service,
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency.
8. A similar effort is
launched in the Dakotas, Minnesota and the Canadian province of
Manitoba to address repeated and devastating flood losses. (For
details, see information on the Farmland
Stewardship Initiative).
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1999
9. U.S. Department of
Agriculture/Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA/NRCS) shows
strong interest in program. Information briefings raise level of
interest from field staff up to Deputy Secretary's Office. Glenda
Humiston becomes major advocate for program within USDA. Options
explored for implementing program administratively.
10. Very limited use of RCA
included in Florida Forever Act -- program can be used only as a
"bridge contract" to facilitate public purchase of private
lands, and to maintain land until a public management plan is created.
Florida Farm Bureau Federation and Florida Cattlemen's Association
support broader use of RCA but are unable to convince conservation
groups that RCA will not interfere with public purchase programs.
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1999 - 2000
11. Discussions begin with
Congressional staff regarding possibility of crafting legislation to
implement RCA and related tax proposals.
12. At end of 1999 the
Executive Office of the President, Council on Environmental Quality,
proposes that program be launched through series of pilot projects in
Florida.
13. Twenty landowners who
control 170,000 acres are contacted and asked if they would like to
participate. Idea is to find 3-4 landowners with 20,000-30,000 acres
who will participate. All 20 say yes.
14. Word about the program
begins to spread. Within two months landowners with more than 350,000
acres have asked to participate.
15. The U.S. Department of
Agriculture holds five regional Private Land
Conservation Forums in the fall of 1999 to discuss conservation issues
affecting America’s farm, forest and ranch lands. The forums are
held in Oregon, Colorado, California, New York and Georgia, with a
final wrap-up forum in Ames, Iowa. Each forum, hosted by a
senior USDA official, consists of an open dialogue with seven to eight
panelists representing a cross-section of interests in private land
conservation. Public comments from the audience follow the
panelists. USDA provides a complete transcript (2500+ pages)
from the forums, to ensure all major issues raised during the forums
are incorporated into the Resource Conservation Agreement concept (for
an overview, click
here).
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2000
16. March 2000 -Three funding
options for pilot projects -- use of surplus emergency fire funds in
state NRCS account, special project funding through President's
discretionary budget, supplemental appropriation to USDA/NRCA -- fail
to win approval in House committee.
17. May 2000 - Farmland
Protection Program is added to Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA
- H.R. 701). USDA staff suggests that options be explored for amending
CARA in Senate to add RCA. Sen. Bob Graham (D-FL) reacts favorably to
suggestion. Draft language for amendment is prepared and shared with
all major groups supporting CARA - International Association of Fish
and Wildlife Agencies, Wildlife Management Institute, Defenders of
Wildlife, National Wildlife Federation, Isaak Walton League, etc. -
and staff for all members of Senate Environment and Public Works
Committee and Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
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2000 - 2001
18. CARA is overwhelmed with
amendments in Senate. Sen. Graham does not introduce amendment. Sen.
Mike Crapo (R-ID) vows to amend CARA on Senate floor. Bill never comes
up on floor.
19. Effort started in early
2001 to build support for introducing stand-alone legislation in U.S.
Congress to implement RCA on national basis. House and Senate Ag
Committee staff supportive of concept for stand-alone legislation and
of strategy for attracting sponsors and co-sponsors.
20. Meeting is held in
California at California Department of Food and Agriculture to explore
possibility of launching pilot projects in the state. Planning
committee is formed representing 5 ag groups, 5 conservation
organizations, 2 state agencies, local conservation districts and NRCS
to work on RCA in California.
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2001
21. Florida Farm Bureau
Federation and Florida Audubon jointly develop "Rural and Family
Lands Protection Act," with a section which includes the RCA. The
bill is incorporated into Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer
Services departmental bill, which passes Florida House and Senate in
May 2001.
22. Defenders of Wildlife
takes lead in Oregon to champion legislation to create a
landowners-incentive program based on the RCA. Legislation passes in
June 2001,
setting up planning committee.
23. Rep. Adam Putman (R-FL)
introduces the "American Farmland Stewardship Act of 2001,"
H.R. 2542, in the House of Representatives on July 18,
2001. The term "Resource Conservation Agreement
(RCA)," is replaced by the term "Farmland Stewardship
Program (FSP)."
24. The House Agriculture
Committee includes the Farmland Stewardship Program in the Conservation Title in
its farm bill proposal, "The Farm Security Act of 2001", H.R.
2646. Approved
and passed by voice vote on July 27, 2001, the bill includes only two new
conservation programs -- out of more than two dozen proposed -- the
Farmland Stewardship Program and a new Grassland Easement Program.
25.
HR 2646 passes the House by a wide margin on October 5, 2001.
26.
Expanded language for the Farmland Stewardship Program, which reflects
input received from more than 30 organizations after introduction of
HR 2646, is included in Sec. 256, S. 1673, a bi-partisan Farm Bill
introduced in the U.S. Senate on November 9, 2001. The bill is
sponsored by Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Sen. Tim Hutchinson
(R-AR), along with six co-sponsors -- Sen. Zell Miller (D-GA), Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC),
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Sen. John Breaux (D-LA), Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), and
Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-SC),
27. After an intense week
of late-night committee sessions, the Farm Bill (designated as
S. 1731) is reported out by the Senate Committee on Agriculture,
Nutrition and Forestry. The Farmland Stewardship Program is NOT
included in the the bill.
28. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
directs his staff to work with the agriculture committee staff to
craft a "manager's amendment" to include the Farmland
Stewardship Program in S. 1731. No agreement is reached on
specific wording, since the proposed amendments would have greatly
abbreviated the language from Sec. 256 of S. 1673. Instead, Senate
Majority Leader Tom Daschle's staff agrees to support the expanded
language contained in Sec. 256 of S. 1673 when the Farm Bill reaches
conference committee.
29. The Office of Management
and Budget issues a Statement of Administration Position that is
highly critical of the Senate Farm Bill. The White House voices
support for the Farmland Stewardship Program and urges the Senate to
vote for a farm bill amendment offered by Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) and
Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS), both of whom pledge to support the Farmland
Stewardship Program in conference committee.
30. On December 19, after
both the Cochran-Roberts amendment and S. 1673 are voted down as
alternatives to the committee-passed farm bill, the Senate fails for
the third time to invoke cloture to limit debate, effectively killing
the Farm Bill for 2001.
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2002
31. On February 13, the U.S.
Senate approves a 1,334-page Farm Bill on a 58-40 vote after 7 days of
additional debate in which the Senate considers 33 amendments --
including a 392-page "managers' amendment" that is offered
just hours before the vote on the final bill, and which almost derails
the vote with threats of filibusters from Senators who object to not
having a chance to read the amendment.
32. The Senate Bill differs
significantly from the House version passed in October 2001 -- with
major disputes looming over duration of the farm bill (5 years vs. 10
years), "front-loading" (where 65% of the money allotted for
farm and conservation programs over the next 10 years is slated to be
spent in the first 5 years through the Senate bill), and payment
limits that would impose a $275,000 per year cap (down from the
current cap of $460,000 per year) on all payments to producers,
irrespective of where they are located in the country and irrespective
of which crop they raise. Other contentious issues included in
the Senate bill are a ban on meatpackers raising the hogs and cattle
they slaughter, dairy aid, crop support rates and water rights in
Western states.
33. Staff-level meetings
begin Feb. 21 to begin resolving these differences.
34. Retaining the Farmland
Stewardship Program, which is included in the House version of the
Farm Bill, but not the Senate version, appears likely. Several
conferees indicate that they favor using expanded language for the
program, introduced in the Senate as Sec. 256 of S. 1673, in lieu of
the House language.
35. Politics intervenes.
Senate democrats decide that they want full credit for all of the
conservation initiatives in the farm bill, and adamantly oppose
inclusion of any conservation initiatives from the House farm bill.
The sole exception to this is Sen. Tom Daschle, who supports the
program, but accedes to opposition from Ag Committee Chairman, Sen.
Tom Harkin.
36. All four conservation
priorities supported by Stewardship America are included in
the 2002 Farm Bill after conference committee negotiations are
completed April 26 (see
Conservation Programs
Now Address Needs of More Producers).
Only limited language is included in Sec. 2003, "Partnerships and
Cooperation" to implement the Farmland Stewardship Program through
"stewardship agreements." However, the most important statutory
authority required by the Secretary of Agriculture to implement the
program -- the ability to "adapt" existing programs to accommodate
unique local conditions -- is contained in Sec. 2003.
37. The final farm bill is
approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on May 2 by a vote of
280 to 141. The U.S. Senate approves the bill May 8 by a vote of
64 to 35.
38. President George W. Bush
signs the 2002 Farm Bill, "The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act
of 2002" in a White House ceremony May 13.
39. Stewardship America
submits extensive comments to USDA Secretary Ann Veneman for
consideration in rule making (see usda
comments).
40. Stewardship America
brings together a series of companies, organizations and individuals
to create a nationwide network of conservation professionals.
The Conservation Delivery Team is launched with 5 core companies who,
together, have more than 500 people located in 15 states with
expertise in all types of agricultural production and 70 different
scientific disciplines.
41. Landowners with more than
1,000,000 acres of land indicate an interest in working with
Stewardship America to use conservation programs to reduce expenses
and generate new, ongoing, stable sources of revenue from their lands.
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2003
42. Stewardship America
begins working with farmers, business owners, local groups and state
and federal agencies in the Klamath Basin of Oregon and California to
explore ways of using existing programs to address water use, Indian
rights and endangered species issues in the region.
43. State budget deficits and
Washington DC politics stall efforts.
44. Ideas gained at
a research and policy
conference presented by the University of California, Davis,
"Compensatory Options for Conserving Agricultural Land," lead to a
major expansion of the Farmland Stewardship Program concept.
45. A business plan, to
harness the market economy and private enterprise, is developed to
launch a
new, multi-program, multi-level approach, which is dubbed "Landscape Conservation Solutions."
46.
CH2M Hill, Inc. joins Stewardship America's
Conservation Delivery Team to help in launching "Landscape Conservation Solutions"
(see
announcement).
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2004
47. Landscape Conservation Solutions, made up of over 30 tools, techniques and programs,
are organized into five principle areas of focus: (1) rural land
planning, (2) rural revitalization, (3) rural enterprise
profitability, (4) private lands stewardship, and (5) community
stewardship and vitalization. See overview
and focus.
48. The Florida Legislature
approves a bill on April 30, 2004 amending Rural Lands Stewardship Program (section
163.3177(11)(d), Florida Statutes), making it a specifically "encouraged" designation on future land use maps for all
counties. For details, click
here.
49. An effort is launched
to develop a variety of approaches to "generate a cash flow from
open space" and new sources of revenue for agriculture operations --
including payments for environmental services.
50. By October 2004,
several
new Rural Lands Stewardship Program projects are being started in
Florida.
For additional details, visit the monthly
update archives, which contain
all the monthly updates posted to this site since January 1997.
Additional
information also is available at the original
Project Web Site:
http://privatelands.org/panther/index.htm.
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