A New York congressman has introduced bipartisan legislation to bring more accountability to federal conservation programs.
Republican Congressman John Faso has joined with Democratic Congresswoman Marcia Fudge of Ohio to introduce legislation to improve conservation programs for farmers and increase accountability to taxpayers. The Healthy Fields and Farm Economies Act would give the U.S. Department of Agriculture the tools and authority to measure, evaluate and report on the environmental benefits of the nation’s federal conservation programs. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition says the bill would enable the USDA to use hard data to show the successfulness of conservation efforts.