Statement by NCBA in Response to USDA’s ANNOUNCEMENT OF $20 MILLION KLAMATH BASIN WATER CONSERVATION

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced today that payments to eligible landowners and producers in the Klamath River Basin will begin soon. The payments, by USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation, are estimated to range from $90 to $110 per eligible acre. Following is the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s (NCBA) response to the USDA announcement.

“Payments to landowners and producers in the Klamath River Basin is a constructive step, but further action, to mend the Endangered Species Act (ESA), is critical for America’s cattle producers. In a letter to President Bush in May 2001, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) outlined a series of actions to reform the ESA before its implementation critically injures American agriculture.

“At last week’s meeting of the NCBA Property Rights and Environmental Management Committee, a resolution was passed outlining a variety of objectives designed to mend the ESA. The action plan and resolution urge the following:

· Industry work with Congress and the White House to amend ESA to give equal or better consideration to humans and local social/economic effects when applying the ESA.

· A General Accounting Office (GAO) investigation of the money spent on threatened and endangered species along with the resulting success of species recovery.

· Industry work with government, banks and agricultural lenders to ensure appropriate loan deferrals and other financial tools to reduce or eliminate loan defaults or foreclosures as a result of lack of production.

“America’s cattle producers plan to vigorously pursue these objectives and all additional measures to improve the flawed ESA. NCBA looks forward to working with USDA and the government to achieve this goal.”

For more information on the plan and exact level of payments, the USDA contact is Ilka Gray at (202) 690-0794 or e-mail at ilka_gray@wdc.udsa.gov.

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Producer-directed and consumer-focused, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association is the trade association of America’s cattle farmers and ranchers, and the marketing organization for the largest segment of the nation’s food and fiber industry.