Boone and Crockett Club Supports Senate Draft Farm Bill Framework Including New Forest Easement Program

The Boone and Crockett Club supports the draft of the Farm Bill reauthorization framework released by Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Senator John Boozman. Following is a statement by Boone and Crockett Club president James L. Cummins.

“We strongly support Senator Boozman’s draft Farm Bill reauthorization framework, which includes all the key conservation and forestry legislative priorities of the Boone and Crockett Club. The Farm Bill is essential federal policy, providing support for the voluntary, incentive-based working lands programs that are a win-win for our nation’s natural resources and for producers’ bottom line. I am particularly appreciative that the Senator’s draft includes provisions to create a new Forest Conservation Easement Program, which will fill a major gap in conservation of private working forests.

“The Farm Bill is already overdue for reauthorization. With the House Agriculture Committee passing its reauthorization bill, and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow also releasing a framework, we now have the opportunity for Congress to negotiate a bipartisan bill. Passage of a new Farm Bill is a top priority for the Boone and Crockett Club and our conservation partners. We ask House and Senate leaders to work together to ensure strong conservation and forestry provisions are maintained so that a final bill can be enacted before the end of this Congress.”