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Outdoors: National conservation official praises Wisconsin's farming practices

Tim Eisele
Correspondent for The Capital Times  —  6/07/2008 10:19 pm

COON VALLEY -- After noting that two-thirds of the land in the United States is in hand of private landowners, Arlen Lancaster segued into a quote from legendary conservationist Aldo Leopold, who once said that the "oldest task of human history is to live on a piece of land without spoiling it."

For his part, Lancaster believes that people in Wisconsin are faring well in that challenge.

Lancaster is the chief of the National Resources Conservation Service, which was borne of the Coon Creek Watershed Demonstration Project in the western part of the state in the 1930s. The agency, which started out with seven employees, now has 13,000. It works with farmers and ranchers to achieve the shared vision of productive agricultural lands and a healthy environment.

"In every state, producers are voluntarily implementing an impressive array of conservation practices on private working lands where the public yields the benefits of cleaner air, cleaner water, more abundant water, improved soils and increased wildlife," Lancaster said.

He noted that it is here in Wisconsin where the giants of conservation, Hugh H. Bennett and Aldo Leopold, came together with other dedicated scientists and citizens to change the course of the nation.

"It formed the basis of conservation practices we still use today and continues to form a modern stewardship ethic across the country," Lancaster said.

The success of the Coon Creek project was influential in the government's decision to make the Soil Erosion Service a permanent agency that was later renamed the NRCS.

Lancaster said that he first visited Coon Valley in April. On his trip through Wisconsin, what stood out to him is the breadth of the adoption of conservation practices.

"I've not seen a farm that is not implementing conservation measures and I've talked to producers and they have conservation plans which take into consideration wildlife and conservation," he said. "To me that is striking. Elsewhere in the country conservation is not as apparent, but here producers seem to take pride in their stewardship efforts."

Going forward, Lancaster believes the biggest threat is conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural uses. Although he did not see evidence of tremendous sprawl in western Wisconsin, he realizes that policies such as Wisconsin's tax incentives to reduce forest land may lead to more grazing of woodlands.

"To me the bottom line is the economic sustainability of the farmer," he said. "Yes, that is their retirement. But if the land is profitable for agriculture that will be its use.

Lancaster is also concerned about decreasing numbers of hunters and fishermen who fund many conservation efforts. He said that many people don't make that connection.

"One of the biggest challenges we have is educating the public that they should want that land to be in farming," he said.

Tim Eisele
Correspondent for The Capital Times  —  6/07/2008 10:19 pm