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Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns Archive
Contact:
Bethany Shively,
The Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns (CCC) is a weekly report from Washington, D.C., giving an up-to-date summary of top policy initiatives concerning the cattle industry; direct from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA). Please feel free to reprint in full or in part. If you would like to include NCBA's logo, contact us at 303-694-0305. | |
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NCBA Works to Stop Congress from Granting Massive Land Grab
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) and the Public Lands Council (PLC) are actively working to prevent passage of the Clean Water Restoration Act (CWRA). The bill, which is scheduled for markup in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on May 7th, would significantly expand federal jurisdiction over private farms and ranches.
"This bill is a dangerous infringement on private property rights and amounts to nothing less than a giant land grab on the part of the federal government," said Tamara Thies, NCBA chief environmental counsel.
Currently, waters under the jurisdiction of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) are defined as "navigable waters of the United States." Other waters are subject to regulation by individual states, which are better equipped to manage their own unique geographical concerns. The Clean Water Restoration Act would remove the word "navigable" from the definition, expanding federal regulatory control to unprecedented levels- putting road ditches, drainage ditches, and other wet areas on private farms and ranches under the regulatory strong-arm of the federal government. Farmers and ranchers could be required to obtain permits for common, everyday operations, like driving a tractor near an irrigation ditch or grazing cattle near a mud hole.
"All waters are not equal in terms of their environmental function and value, and they should not be regulated the same," continued Thies. "At a time when our resources are already stretched thin, it's ridiculous to expand the government's responsibility to mud holes and other wet areas with little to no environmental value to the public. Needlessly imposing additional financial burdens on an already struggling farm economy makes no sense."
Cattlemen rely on clean sources of water to maintain healthy animals and land, and the current Clean Water Act has been highly successful in achieving those goals-thanks to the strong partnership that exists between the federal and state governments which allows states flexibility to manage their own land and water in a way that makes sense. States must be allowed to maintain this flexibility.
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NCBA Continues to Call for Death Tax Reform
U.S. House and Senate conferees yesterday did not have family farms and ranches in mind when they stripped an important provision from the FY2010 Budget Resolution. The provision--sponsored by Senators Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Jon Kyl of Arizona--passed as an amendment during Senate consideration of the Budget resolution, and was an historic vote calling attention to the onerous estate tax. While the amendment provided for further estate tax reform within the Budget, it did not have the force of law. NCBA was pleased with the support of the many Senators--including 10 Democrats--who voted for the Lincoln/Kyl amendment, but is disappointed that the amendment did not survive in the final Budget Resolution.
"The death tax is placing an extraordinary burden on ranchers and farmers trying to pass on their operations to their children," said Jill Davidsaver, NCBA manager legislative affairs. "By passing the Lincoln-Kyl amendment during the budget debate, the majority of U.S. Senators demonstrated that they realize the importance of reforming this tax; it's extremely disappointing that this call for reform has been ignored."
The Lincoln-Kyl budget amendment would have raised the death tax exemption to $5 million per individual and $10 million per couple, indexed for inflation, at a reduced rate of 35%. Instead, under the Budget conference report, the tax will be frozen at its current levels ($3.5 million exemption at a 45% rate) through 2010, and allowed to revert back to its staggering pre-2001 levels (55% of estates worth more than $1 million) in 2011, unless Congress takes further action.
"While NCBA continues to support a full repeal of the estate tax, we realize that may not be realistic in the current political and economic climate,' said Davidsaver. "In the meantime, we hope Congress will address this issue with meaningful and permanent reform that allows farmers and ranchers to plan their estates more effectively."
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New Horse and Burro Provisions Set Dangerous Precedent for America's Public Lands
The Public Lands Council (PLC) sent a letter to the House Committee on Natural Resources yesterday opposing H.R. 1018; also known as the Restoring Our American Mustangs (ROAM) Act.
"The ROAM Act is a drastic departure from our country's proud tradition of allowing public access to federally-owned lands, and permitting multiple uses of those lands," says Skye Krebs, President of PLC and rancher from Ione, Ore. "Western ranchers rely on public lands to graze their cattle. The ROAM Act would prevent that by setting aside land exclusively for wild horses."
Public lands are utilized by diverse groups including ranchers, sportsmen, and nature enthusiasts. The ROAM Act would prohibit any access to lands designated as horse sanctuaries. Additionally, the ROAM Act would make it more difficult for the Secretary of the Interior to appropriately manage wild horse populations on public lands by making it more costly to do so.
The text of the letter-sent to Committee Chairman Nick Rahall and Ranking Member Doc Hastings-follows:
"HR 1018, Restoring Our American Mustangs (ROAM) Act, would radically restructure public land management, allowing for multiple use to be set aside, therefore, PLC strongly opposes the legislation. It sets a dangerous precedent to move away from a balanced multiple use management of our public lands.
The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 (HBA) called for the management of horses in the places where they then existed. HBA anticipated that horse populations would be coordinated with other multiple uses by requiring the Secretary to manage horse populations to the appropriate management level.
HR 1018 overturns this effort to balance competing uses of public lands. It authorizes the Secretary to designate additional range on public lands as sanctuaries exclusively for horses following consultation with the wildlife agency of the affected state. Multiple use would be displaced in these newly designated areas.
HR 1018 makes it harder for the Secretary to maintain a sustainable population of horses both by imposing additional costs on administration and by limiting tools needed to manage populations. Examples include a bar on the use of helicopters or any other airborne device to gather horses. It is cost-prohibitive to gather horses solely by people working on the ground. The bill also bars keeping horses in holding facilities for more than 6 months. This is a laudable goal that simply departs from the period of time BLM is often forced to keep horses in holding facilities. The cost of alternative arrangements to holding facilities is both unknown and undoubtedly greater than would be the cost of continuing to use holding facilities in the present manner. The bill also imposes additional hurdles on the adoption of horses, increasing the cost of an already underutilized means of caring for the horses.
HR 1018 allows for limitless expansion of wild horse and burro range and the designation of exclusive use areas for the animals. The bill removes the ability to remove excess animals by destruction or sale and makes the adoption process very time consuming. Additionally, it makes any transportation for processing criminal.
The current horse and burro program is underfunded and much of the range is overpopulated with little demand for adoption of excess animals. It is inhumane to allow overpopulation on designated range and HR 1018 is not the solution. The bill radically overturns longstanding management of public lands.
We thank you for your consideration of Western Ranchers and of a balanced multiple use management approach to our Nation's public lands."
The ROAM Act passed out of Committee yesterday, and will now head to the House floor for full consideration. PLC will continue to actively oppose this legislation.
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NCBA Shares Recommendations on Promoting Consumer Awareness of Food Safety Practices
On April 26, National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) President Gary Voogt submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) regarding the agency's plans to test consumer public health messages related to the safety of meat, poultry, and egg products. The FSIS' request for comment was published in the Federal Register on February 20th (Docket No. FSIS 2007-0038).
Each year, NCBA and The Beef Checkoff manage a variety of consumer research projects in order to assess the knowledge of beef safety among consumers. NCBA looks forward to using this expertise as we continue to work closely with FSIS towards the goal of ensuring the U.S. remains a world-leader in food safety.
The following is an excerpt from the comments:
"Consumers will always play an important role to ensure that their food is safe. The beef industry has numerous resources for consumers to learn more about proper storage, handling and cooking of beef products. Consumers can find tips and tools about safe food storage, handling and preparation, instructional videos and new burger recipes online at www.safeandsavory160.com. Beef producers realize their responsibility to produce the most nutritious, safest and affordable food supply in the world. It is just as important for consumers to understand and be knowledgeable of proper handling, storage and preparation of their beef and beef products. It is within FSIS' jurisdiction to continue efforts to educate consumers about their role in keeping their food safe for their families.
"With the proposed methodology noticed in Docket Number FSIS-2007-0038 NCBA encourages FSIS to use in-home ethnographic or one-on-one sessions as respondents are less likely to discuss their lack of understanding proper food safety techniques in a group setting. Consumers may also be unlikely to state that they do not understand the current test message or that they do not take the essential steps to ensure their food is safe when other consumers are present. It is important to test new messages in a real-life environment, by age group. There will be large differences with the success of a new message when tested in a group versus in a crowded, message-filled meat case.
"Also with regards to message delivery, age groups play a significant role in how the messages should be delivered or will be considered. Younger groups may be more receptive to a short-hand message in the store that directs them to the Internet to learn more. Lastly, we recommend that the content of a new message be tested by the use of a mixture of technologies."
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PLC, NCBA Disappointed by Overturn of Key ESA Provision
On Tuesday, April 28, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke announced that the two agencies were overturning the Endangered Species Act (ESA) regulation--passed during the previous administration (December 2008)--regarding consultations for possible listing of species. The Secretaries were given the authority to review and overturn the rule through language contained in the Omnibus Appropriations Act passed in March. The Public Lands Council (PLC) and National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) are disappointed that the Secretaries overturned this key rule that would have made the consultation process more efficient.
Under the recently overturned regulation, proposed federal actions that are determined to have no effect on a species listed under the ESA would no longer be required to be approved through consultation with the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Relieving the FWS of the duty to be involved in actions unlikely to impact a listed species would free-up its scarce resources to address more of the actions that are likely to harm species.
In October 2008, PLC and NCBA submitted comments to the Federal Register in support for the original ESA rule. PLC and NCBA also supported an April 1st bipartisan letter from 19 Representatives to Secretary Salazar urging him to leave the rule in place. On April 24, PLC and NCBA, along with 33 other organizations, also sent a letter to President Obama, asking that the rule be left in place.
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Don't Miss NCBA's Cattlemen to Cattlemen!
Don't miss NCBA's Cattlemen to Cattlemen, May 5 - 9, when we'll hear from NCBA CEO Forrest Roberts. We'll also have tips on treating flies on your operation this summer, and we'll spend a day in the life of a Colorado cattleman.
NCBA'S Cattlemen to Cattlemen is now an hour long! The show debuts Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m. and airs again Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. and Saturdays at 9 a.m. (All times are Eastern). Don't forget, you can watch NCBA's Cattlemen to Cattlemen online anytime by visiting www.CattlemenToCattlemen.org.
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NATIONAL CATTLEMEN'S BEEF ASSOCIATION
1301 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 300
Washington, D.C. 20004 | |
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