The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee reported the Agriculture

Improvement Act of 2018, also known as the Farm Bill, with a 20-1 roll call vote. The 2014 Farm Bill expires at the end of September, and members of both parties on the committee stressed the importance of passing a new five-year Farm Bill before the old one expires.

Title II of the Farm Bill authorizes the Conservation Reserve Program, Conservation Stewardship Program, Agricultural Conservation Easement Program and Environmental Quality Incentives Program. These voluntary programs provide technical and financial assistance to landowners who follow sound stewardship practices on their lands to improve wildlife habitat, reduce erosion and improve soil and water quality. The programs can help take less productive or ecologically sensitive land out of production to benefit wildlife but still allow landowners to make money.

“This bill has no overall cuts to the conservation title, which helps our farmers be more productive and protects our land and water for outdoor recreation,” said Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan.

The Senate version of the bill, which was marked up June 13, would raise the cap on the Conservation Reserve Program from 24 million to 25 million acres and sets rental rates at 88.5 percent of market rates. Many farmers have been interested in enrolling their lands in CRP due to falling commodity prices. Raising the acreage caps would allow more farmers to participate in the program.

The House version of the bill (H.R. 2) proved much more contentious in May when it failed by a vote of 198-213. That version would have eliminated the Conservation Stewardship Program and merged some of its features with the Environmental Quality Incentives Program. It would also have raised the Conservation Reserve Program acreage cap to 29 million by 2023, and it would set payment rates at 80 percent of county market value.

The House bill is expected to return to the floor on June 22.

Senators on the committee expressed optimism that their bipartisan bill would pass the chamber before July 4. Most amendments were settled by voice vote, and members pulled several they thought would prove contentious to be discussed more during a floor vote. Discrepancies between the two versions still would need to be settled with a conference committee.

On Thursday last week, the Senate Committee on Appropriations unanimously approved a $32.6 billion Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for fiscal year (FY) 2019 (S. 3073)

Only one amendment was adopted during the markup session, which included a provision that directs the Interior Department and Forest Service to maintain updated five-year deferred maintenance plans. Committee members did not offer any other new amendments to the introduced bill. The legislation also largely rejects many of the spending cuts in the president’s proposed FY2019 budget.

The spending bill will now move out of committee and onto the Senate floor for a vote. The Senate has not voted on a stand-alone Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies spending bill since 2010.

“It is time to return to regular order where we vote appropriations bills out of committee with bipartisan support and take them to the floor,” said Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) in her opening statement. “I look forward to moving the Interior bill through the process in a fashion which allows all members of the Senate to have an opportunity to debate the bill and offer amendments.”

The bill provides the Interior Department with $13 billion in overall spending, equivalent with the proposed spending level in the House appropriations bill. The National Park Service would receive $3.2 billion, an increase of $13.4 million from 2018 spending levels, with the aim of helping the agency address its $11.6 billion maintenance backlog. The Land and Water Conservation Fund would receive $425 million, which is $65 million more than the proposed spending level in the House bill. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would receive $1.6 billion in funding, $19.7 million less than FY2018 spending levels.

The bill would also provide $14 million for the Interior’s proposed reorganization, which Secretary Ryan Zinke says will better align department efforts with ecosystem and watershed boundaries. The Senate Committee’s report provides a stipulation that the funds are not to be obligated until the department provides a report detailing the reorganization plans and expected funding allocations.

The U.S. Forest Service would receive $6.3 billion for overall spending, including $4.3 billion overall to fight wildfires and prevent “fire borrowing,” or instances when the USFS must draw funds from non-fire-related budgets to pay for wildfire expenses.

The House Appropriations Committee recently passed its version of the Interior, EPA, and Related Agencies spending bill, which now moves to the House floor for a vote. The House and Senate will work together to reconcile their versions before passing a final appropriations bill for presidential approval.

The Bureau of Land Management Las Cruces District recently sponsored its first Bioblitz at the Dripping Springs Natural Area, attracting volunteers from the surrounding communities to learn about the biodiversity of the Organ Mountains. The Natural Area is part of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument and is a popular site and great source for science.

With the help of 114 citizen scientists, the BLM recorded over 130 species of plants, lizards, moths, butterflies, bats, birds and small mammals, despite the uncharacteristically cold spring day.

During the bird hikes, citizen scientists recorded 26 species of birds that are commonly seen in the area. During the process of banding birds, the team was able to record migrant birds that are not easy to see or hear. Such birds typically will not sing since they are not in their breeding grounds. Plus, they travel long distances, so the birds try to conserve their energy, only stopping to feed quickly and continue on their journey. Two of the birds recorded were the gray flycatcher (Empidonax wrightii) and the orange-crowned warbler (Oreothlypis celata).

The migration route of the two species passes through southern New Mexico, but they are more frequently found in riparian areas near the Rio Grande instead of the mountains. The gray flycatcher is especially rare. According to citizen scientist records, the last gray flycatcher sighted at the natural area was in September 2016. However, there have been other sightings in the northern portion of the Organ Mountains (the Natural Area is nestled at their base). Elsewhere in the mountains, the last sighting was in September 2017. The first record of a gray flycatcher was in October 2006. Since then, there have been only 28 sightings.

For the Bioblitz bat program, a BLM expert conducted acoustic monitoring of the bats using a SonoBat program on her Microsoft Surface tablet and a Pettersson M500 microphone. There are some limitations to this surveying method since some bat species have a lower detection rate than others, and it is difficult to quantify abundance. This method is better served to determine species composition. The upsides to it, though, are that no permit is required and it is not invasive. This has been of special concern recently since the emergence of white-nosed syndrome, as catching bats in mist nets can further spread the fungus that causes the devastating disease.

Citizen science opens the doors of scientific inquiry to anyone who has an interest. Anyone can make a meaningful contribution to science, regardless of their expertise. At this event, while the highest number of observations was made by a BLM botanist; the second highest was made by a 6th grader!

At the end of the event, everyone who volunteered came away with a sense of accomplishment and the affirmation there is so much more life in the Chihuahuan Desert and our local mountains than they realized. All they had to do was look for it.

From this Bioblitz and future ones, the BLM will be able to generate a list of flora and fauna to help the agency make management decisions and educate visitors. The BLM is also teaming up with a local geographer and poet to convert its biodiversity inventory into a “poetic inventory,” connecting art to science in order to provide a different perspective on the natural environment.

The Bureau of Land Management is a Premier Partner of The Wildlife Society.