DU hosts U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee staff

DU staff hosted five members of the Senate Agriculture Committee staff on a tour in Michigan to demonstrate DU projects that utilize both Farm Bill conservation programs and other federal programs, such as the North American Wetlands Conservation Act and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

During the 112th Congress, many important conservation programs will be due for reauthorization. The funding of several of those programs, including Conservation Reserve Programs and Wetlands Reserve Programs, are funded through the Farm Bill. In order to highlight the importance of these programs, DU's Great Lakes/Atlantic Regional Office staffers Mike Sertle and Gildo Tori hosted five members of Senate Agriculture Committee staff on a tour in Michigan to demonstrate DU projects that utilize both Farm Bill conservation programs and other federal programs, such as the North American Wetlands Conservation Act and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

The intent of the tour was to educate congressional staff on how Farm Bill programs are being used to benefit water quality, wildlife and local economies. Tori, DU director of public policy for GLARO, noted the tour provided a great way to discuss the importance of continuing to fund these programs during the next Farm Bill reauthorization.

"Programs like CRP, WRP, GLRI and NAWCA are crucial to Ducks Unlimited's conservation efforts," Tori said. "These tours allow DU and its partners to show congressional staffers' first-hand how these programs create on-the-ground conservation projects in their districts and states."

Also partnering with DU on this tour included representatives from the Mona Lake Watershed Council, West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Council and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.