Farm Bill

Sierra Club Farm Bill Conservation Priorities 2024

 

The Sierra Club has several conservation priorities for the 2024 Farm Bill. Our topline priority for this Farm Bill is protecting the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)  investments of $20 billion for agriculture and conservation technical assistance programs and $9.7 billion for rural clean energy programs. Protecting this investment and the programs it funds will make a real difference in peoples’ lives and will slash pollution, conserve our environment, boost community resilience, advance racial equity, support family-sustaining jobs, and bolster economic security. 

 

In addition, a strong forestry title is a crucial part of any Farm Bill. We would like to see the prioritization of climate-smart forestry practices, including protections for mature and old-growth trees from the impacts of climate change and commercial logging, as well as urban tree planting to mitigate the effects of climate change and pollution in urban areas. Specifically, our priorities are:
 

  • Opposing Categorical Exclusions (CEs): Oppose the inclusion of any additional CEs in the Farm Bill. The USFS already completes the vast majority of its work using a CE, and further CEs only serve to undercut our bedrock environmental laws such as NEPA and the ESA. We are specifically concerned with the inclusion of “Cottonwood,” which would pose a great threat to endangered species on forested lands.
  • Protecting Public Lands: Include a bipartisan package of wilderness designations and other lands protection bills in the Farm Bill, including the Virginia Wilderness Additions Act, the Benjamin Harrison National Recreation Area and Wilderness Establishment Act, the Flatside Wilderness Additions Act, and protections for the Shawnee National Forest in Illinois. Together, this package would designate over 23,000 acres of Wilderness, 29,000 acres of National Recreation Area, and 12,000 acres of Special Management Area,  protecting lands for their myriad of climate, habitat, watershed, and recreation benefits.
  • Elevating Urban and Community Forestry to an Office within the USFS: Many urban communities across the nation lack adequate tree cover and access to green space. Establishing the Office of Urban and Community Forestry would help prioritize programs to plant more trees in urban areas, providing clean air and heat mitigation, and closing the nature equity gap.