1.1 	A resolution
1.2 	memorializing the United States Congress to reauthorize the Conservation Reserve 
1.3 	Program and the Wetlands Reserve Program as part of the 2007 Farm Bill.
1.4 	WHEREAS, the Conservation Reserve Program is a voluntary federal program that 
1.5 	protects millions of acres of American topsoil from erosion, thereby safeguarding our nation's 
1.6 	soil and water resources while at the same time benefiting our nation's farmers and farming 
1.7 	communities; and
1.8 	WHEREAS, some 33,000 Minnesota farms participate in the Conservation Reserve 
1.9 	Program, committing to take 1,800,000 of our state's most environmentally sensitive acres out 
1.10 	of agricultural production for a period of ten to 15 years; and
1.11 	WHEREAS, Minnesota farmers have instituted conservation and erosion control measures 
1.12 	on these acres, including planting trees and native grasses, installing filter strips and riparian 
1.13 	buffers, and restoring wetlands important to wildlife including native and migrating waterfowl; 
1.14 	and
1.15 	WHEREAS, through the Conservation Reserve Program, Minnesota farmers remove 
1.16 	environmentally sensitive acres from agricultural production and plant them with cover crops, 
1.17 	thereby contributing to a reduction in price-depressing crop surpluses and lowering the federal 
1.18 	government's price support expenditures for covered crops like corn, soybeans, and wheat; and
1.19 	WHEREAS, the Wetlands Reserve Program is a voluntary federal program in which 
1.20 	Minnesota landowners protect, restore, and enhance wetlands on their property, thereby improving 
1.21 	wetland values and functions and providing valuable wildlife habitat; and
2.1 	WHEREAS, in 2006 there were 14,500 acres enrolled in the Wetlands Reserve Program 
2.2 	in Minnesota, representing nearly ten percent of program acreage nationwide and trailing only 
2.3 	Arkansas and Nebraska in the number of acres enrolled; and 
2.4 	WHEREAS, as successful and equitable conservation programs, the Conservation Reserve 
2.5 	Program and the Wetlands Reserve Program enjoy broad support in Minnesota from farming, 
2.6 	hunting, wildlife, and environmental communities; NOW, THEREFORE,  
2.7 	BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges the Congress 
2.8 	of the United States to reauthorize the Conservation Reserve Program and the Wetlands Reserve 
2.9 	Program as part of the 2007 Farm Bill.
2.10 	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is 
2.11 	directed to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the Speaker and the Clerk of 
2.12 	the United States House of Representatives, the President and the Secretary of the United States 
2.13 	Senate, the chairs of congressional committees with jurisdiction over agriculture, and Minnesota's 
2.14 	Senators and Representatives in Congress.