Bush pledges more land conservation

LeSUEUR, Minn. – Campaigning in Minnesota on Wednesday, President Bush told several hundred farmers, ranchers and sportsmen that he plans to expand a program that pays them to keep environmentally sensitive lands out of production.

Standing in a field on a farm, Bush said the government initiatives to conserve sensitive farmlands help “the best stewards of the land become better stewards of the land.”

The president lost Minnesota in 2000 with 45.5 percent of the vote to Gore’s 47.9 percent.

The administration is strongly committed to expanding the nearly two-decade-old federal payments program to cover grasslands and additional wetlands, Bush said. Some 16 million acres of contracts under the Agriculture Department program would expire in 2007, and another 6 million acres would expire in 2008.

Bush’s announcement “is a grand slam for wildlife and conservationists,” said Howard Vincent, who heads the nonprofit group Pheasants Forever.

The president told the farmers in LeSueur that the program would protect habitats for hundreds of thousands of quail.

The 2002 farm bill Bush signed would provide $40 billion over the next decade to restore millions of acres of wetlands, protect sensitive habitats, conserve water and improve streams and waterways near farms and ranches.

“This program has helped reduce soil erosion by more than 40 percent since 1986,” Bush said.

The Kerry campaign, however, issued a statement saying Bush has not been a friend of the American sportsman and when choosing between the oil and gas, mining, and logging corporations and sportsmen, the administration has consistently sided with industry.

“He’s pursued policies that take direct aim at the laws that protect America’s hunting havens and fishing holes instead of working to strengthen them,” Kerry spokesman Phil Singer said.

“The one way to make sure the farm economy is strong is to open up markets for Minnesota farm products,” Bush said. “We want you selling your soybeans all around the world. We want you selling your corn all around the world. We want to be selling that Minnesota beef and hogs all over the world.”