Episode 16: Why the Farm Bill Matters to Conservation
May 10, 2018
The Farm Bill is one of the most important federal policies affecting conservation and wildlife habitat. It offers the single largest source of funding for conservation on private lands.
Through its voluntary conservation programs, farmers, ranchers, and forest owners work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to create habitat for wildlife and pollinators, conserve sensitive grasslands and wetlands, improve soil health, sequester carbon, and address water quantity and quality concerns. With pressures on the landscape ever increasing, a Farm Bill with strong conservation provisions is more important now than ever.
In Episode 16 of the Conservation Federation Podcast, host Brandon Butler talks with Carol Davit and Dale Blevins to discuss why the Farm Bill matters so much to conservation in Missouri.
Dale Blevins is the Board President of the Missouri Prairie Foundation. He worked 31 years for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as a Hydrologist and Supervisory Hydrologist, mostly in Missouri. Blevins is now a Scientist Emeritus with the USGS and manages about 1,000 acres of farmland, some of which has been converted to native grasses and forbs.
Carol Davit is the Executive Director of the Missouri Prairie Foundation. Davit has worked for more than 20 years in the conservation and environmental fields in communications, development, administration, and leadership capacities.
For more information on the Farm Bill visit the NWF Farm Bill page.