Watch Live: President's Remarks at Conservation Conference, Farm Bill Hearings
President Obama to Speak at White House Conference on Conservation
UPDATE: View the video archive of Friday's conference at www.livestream.com/interior. President Obama's remarks are in the 4th segment. Interior also put together a video with highlights and interviews (none with land trusts).
Today, about two dozen land trust leaders will be in attendance as the White House hosts a follow-up to the 2010 Conference on America's Great Outdoors. We've just heard the exciting news that President Obama himself plans to speak at the event -- sometime around 5:00 pm eastern. You can tune in to and comment on a live broadcast of the conference starting right now, at noon eastern:
- Webcast of Today's Event
- USDA Press Release on the Conference
- Land Trust Alliance Page on America's Great Outdoors
- Official America's Great Outdoors Homepage
Other speakers will include Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson, Council on Environmental Quality chair Nancy Sutley, secretary of Interior Ken Salazar, assistant secretary of the Army (Civil Works) Jo-Ellen Darcy, secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, and many others.
It is our hope that today's event will be a good opportunity for land trust leaders to promote partnerships with land trusts as a great way to move conservation forward and to celebrate our recent success in reversing some cuts to conservation funding.
Farm Bill Easement Programs Promoted at Senate Hearing
On Tuesday, the Senate Agriculture Committee hosted a hearing on conservation programs in the 2012 Farm Bill. We were pleased that Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Michael Bennet (D-CO), among others, prominently featured the importance of the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP) and Grassland Reserve Program (GRP) in their remarks.
- Watch Video of the Hearing (key mentions at 12:50 & 74:50)
You'll notice that most of the "Related Files" on the hearing page are letters organized by land trusts:
- A letter from 643 organizations, including 185 land trusts
- A letter from the Partnership of Rangeland Trusts, National Cattlemen's Beef Association, state cattlemen's associations and many individual ranchers
- Testimony on FRPP & GRP from several Michigan land conservation organizations
- Letter supporting FRPP & GRP from the Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts
- Formal testimony from the Land Trust Alliance
Want to participate in a hearing without coming to Washington? House Agriculture Committee chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) recently announced a series of field hearings in New York, Illinois, Arkansas and Kansas. Read more.
Stay up-to-date on all our farm bill work at: www.lta.org/farmbill.
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