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The Obama Administration recently
announced plans to launch a campaign focusing
on a rural "renaissance," and
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has pledged
that the government will try new approaches to
rejuvenate rural American communities.
Patrick O'Toole, President of the Family
Farm Alliance (Alliance), today sent a letter
to President Barack Obama expressing support
for the Administration's focus on rural
America, but noting that many federal natural
resources policies "are undermining the
economic foundations of rural communities in
the arid West by making farming and ranching
increasingly difficult." In his letter, Mr.
O'Toole, a Wyoming rancher, asked the
President to ensure that federal natural
resources policies are "informed and guided by
the goals of preserving our domestic
agricultural production capacity and the
vitality of rural western communities." Mr.
O'Toole's letter is re-printed in its entirety
below.
May 10, 2010
President
Barack Obama
The White
House
1600
Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC
20500
Dear President
Obama:
On behalf of
the Family Farm Alliance (Alliance), I am
writing in strong support of your
Administration's plans to launch a campaign
focusing on a rural "renaissance". The
Alliance is a grassroots organization of
family farmers, ranchers, irrigation
districts and allied industries in 16
Western states. We are focused on one
mission: To ensure the availability of
reliable, affordable irrigation water
supplies to Western farmers and ranchers.
We are also committed to the fundamental
proposition that Western irrigated
agriculture must be preserved and protected
for a host of economic, sociological,
environmental and national security reasons
- many of which are often overlooked in the
context of other Federal policy decisions.
My family
operates a cattle and sheep ranch in the
Rocky Mountains of Wyoming. I was
heartened last week to hear Agriculture
Secretary Vilsack pledge that the government
will explore new approaches to keep young
people in rural American communities. The
Secretary was correct: rural incomes are
falling farther and farther behind our
fellow Americans who reside in urban and
suburban areas. And those expanding
residential developments are eroding our
agricultural base. According to the American
Farmland Trust, every single minute of every
day, America loses two acres of farmland.
From 1992-1997, we converted to developed
uses more than six million acres of
agricultural land-an area the size of
Maryland.
Another
growing concern for farmers and ranchers is
the increased difficulty we are encountering
when trying to access agricultural credit.
There simply are not enough resources to
quickly finance our activities in the manner
that we were able to do just two years ago.
These
observations are alarming to me and my
family. The demographic trends should also
serve as a wake-up call to the nation and
the world. A recent United Nations study
cited by Secretary Vilsack while speaking in
Toyko finds that global food production must
be increased by 70% in the next four decades
to meet escalating world hunger demands.
American family farmers and ranchers for
generations have grown food and fiber for
the world, and we will have to muster even
more innovation to meet this critical
challenge. That innovation must be
encouraged rather than stifled with new
regulations and the uncertainty.
Unfortunately,
many federal water resources policies and
regulatory practices are undermining the
economic foundations of rural communities in
the arid West by making farming and ranching
increasingly difficult. Some new policies
under consideration by your Administration
would only make the situation worse. Sadly,
many Western farmers and ranchers are
convinced that the federal government no
longer values them or their livelihoods.
In the rural
West, water is critically important to
farmers and ranchers and the communities
they have built over the past century.
However, in recent decades, we have seen
once-reliable water supplies for farmers
steadily being diverted away to meet new
needs. Rural farming and ranching
communities are being threatened because of
increased demand caused by continued
population growth, diminishing snow pack,
increasing water consumption to support
domestic energy, and emerging environmental
demands.
We urge your
Administration to adopt an overriding
national goal of remaining self-sufficient
in food production. Food security is
homeland security. Policy decisions on a
wide range of issues should then be
evaluated to be sure they are consistent
with that goal. In our own country, that
means finding ways to keep farmers and
ranchers doing what they do best, and to
further encourage young farmers to follow in
their footsteps.
Right now, it
seems that water policies are being
considered separately from those goals. At a
minimum, Administration policies on various
water-related issues (Clean Water Act, aging
water infrastructure, climate change,
regulatory reform, meeting water demands of
a growing population, land-use, to name a
few) should be informed and guided by the
goals of preserving our domestic
agricultural production capacity and the
vitality of rural western communities.
Europeans
aggressively protect their farms and food
production capability because they still
remember the hungry years during and after
World War II when they relied on other
nations, America in particular, to feed
them. The time has come - indeed, it's long
overdue - for the U.S. to similarly adopt an
overriding national goal of remaining
self-sufficient in food production.
It's hard to
imagine a simpler or more important step to
safeguard the American public.
The Alliance
has a long track record of providing
grassroots-driven, practical solutions to
the difficult resources challenges faced by
Western farmers and ranchers. We will
continue to work with your Administration
towards this end.
Sincerely,
Patrick F.
O'Toole
President
Family Farm Alliance
cc: The Honorable Tom Vilsack
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