Statement on Soil and
Water Conservation
Today
I am transmitting to the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate this
statement of policy on the Secretary of Agriculture's National Conservation
Program for the Department of Agriculture (USDA) between 1988 and 1997.
The
fundamental policies that guide the administration's approach to the management
of soil and water resources on nonfederal lands are the principles of
responsible stewardship and cooperative action to solve resource problems.
Those principles rely upon individual landowners being responsible caretakers
of natural resources, demonstrating concern for and willingness to maintain the
productivity of those resources and the quality of our environment.
Individual
stewardship is supported by a conservation partnership that includes private
landowners, private business, associations, the educational community, State
and local government, and the Department of Agriculture and other agencies of
the Federal Government. Our policy is to support this partnership, with the
objective that decisionmaking and responsibility for
our natural resources will continue to rest with the individual private
landowner.
Production
statistics and our resource appraisals bear out the fact that farmers and ranchers
acting on their own initiative have dutifully carried out their
responsibilities in this conservation partnership. This cooperative approach,
coupled with voluntary programs, has benefited the Nation's conservation
effort. The approaches outlined in the National Conservation Program are not a
total solution to the overall problems of agriculture and environmental
quality. Rather, they are USDA's components in the conservation partnership.
There
are some erosion and water quality problems that warrant resolution through a
continued role for the Federal Government. Focused attention should be placed
on the detection and treatment of agriculture nonpoint
source water pollution, as well as reduced erosion of croplands and wetlands.
Federal
and State Governments also need to play a major role in both research and
education. The kinds of information needed require extensive and long-term
research and data collection efforts. The private sector has little incentive
to undertake such efforts, and institutions smaller than Federal and State
Governments would be overwhelmed by such undertakings.
This
National Conservation Program updates the program developed by the Secretary of
Agriculture in 1982. It provides policy guidance for the programs of eight USDA
agencies during the period 1988 - 97. The program is based on an appraisal of
existing resource conditions and on projections of trends to identify possible
future resource conditions. It provides for focusing activities on identified
priorities, including the following: implementation of the conservation
provisions of the Food Security Act of 1985, which link conservation and
commodity programs; protection and enhancement of water quality and quantity;
assisting State and local governments with the development and implementation
of conservation programs; strengthening the USDA's role in agriculture chemical
management; and implementing other actions to increase the consistency and
cost-effectiveness of the Department's entire range of programs.
This
updated National Conservation Program for USDA is just one component of the
administration's overall prescription for fostering, protecting, and enhancing
natural resources. It describes a realistic strategy for USDA to follow in
helping landowners and land users manage, conserve, and improve soil, water,
and related resources for an environmentally sustainable agricultural
production system. I believe that implementation of this program will ensure
that the conservation programs of the Department of Agriculture will continue
to further the objectives of the Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act.
I
commend the Secretary of Agriculture for his Department's efforts in preparing
the program and for his responsiveness to the need for good stewardship and conservation
of the Nation's soil, water, and related resources.