Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) outlined recurring problems with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) Waterfowl Protection Area (WPA) easements with Martha Williams, nominee to be Director of the FWS, during a Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee hearing today. Yesterday, Senator Cramer met with Ms. Williams, who is currently serving as the Acting Director, to discuss the history of FWS’s heavy-handed enforcement of conservation easements and its impact on North Dakota landowners and producers.
“I’ve been through this with a Secretary, two Assistant Secretaries now, a Fish and Wildlife Service Director, and nothing has changed. Nobody has done anything about this,” said Senator Cramer. “I’m interested in doing it right and doing it a new way. That is recognizing water is water, dryland is dryland, and contracts with landowners matter. You highlighted the importance of the prairie pothole region to ducks and migratory birds, but you know who it’s really important to? The farmer that owns it. The farmer that has been making a living on it. The farmer that has been growing food for a hungry world population.”
“Our farmers have been so abused by the federal government they no longer want to enter into these easements. They no longer want to voluntarily conserve. In fact, in my state of North Dakota, many farmers are being punished because they did this before the Fish and Wildlife Service came along. I want to know why I can count on you to do something different for the landowners as well as the critters that rely on good conservation practices,” continued Senator Cramer.
Williams acknowledged this situation is a challenge and recognized its importance to Senator Cramer and North Dakotans.
“You have given me a challenge that I am looking forward to diving into and finding a more positive way forward,” responded Ms. Williams.
While there has not been a single change in any appeal, even ones under the review of the FWS Director, the new mapping and appeals process has created a beneficial administrative record for landowners and the state. Senator Cramer noted litigation may be the only solution for this situation if FWS does not change.
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