The Chesapeake Bay Foundation-PA wrote to members of the Senate Monday urging them to consider alternatives to the budget passed by House Republicans last week that does not hurt farmers and supports county conservation districts and local clean water projects. The text of the letter follows—
Dear Senator,
On behalf of The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) and its more than 200,000 members, we thank you for your continuing efforts to pass a reasonable and complete budget for the Commonwealth.
Since 1986, CBF’s Pennsylvania Office has worked to protect and restore the rivers and streams in the Commonwealth that ultimately flow to the Chesapeake Bay.
We achieve this through collaboration, education, and restoration with a broad range of stakeholders — including schools, government officials, businesses, farmers, landowners, and others.
Central to our efforts has been our nationally and regionally, multiple award-winning restoration program in Pennsylvania, which has worked with over 5,000 farmers and other stakeholders over the last 20 years.
As you deliberate House Bill 453, we wish to emphasize the importance the funds impacted by the proposed transfer of over $317 million resources would have on restoring and protecting the rivers and streams in the Commonwealth.
Programs such as the County Conservation District Fund, which helps family farmers in their efforts to keep soil and nutrients on the land instead of in the water, the Environmental Stewardship Fund (i.e., Growing Greener), which invests in community-based initiatives to restore streams, protects sources of drinking water, and reduces flooding, and the Environmental Education Fund, which supports students’ abilities to think critically and scientifically about the challenges and opportunities for conservation in the Commonwealth.
These programs have significant return on their investments in the form of cleaner sources of drinking water, reduced flooding, increased farm productivity, and increased fishing, hunting, and other recreation.
In fact, a peer reviewed 2014 commissioned report by CBF found that these investments would yield approximately $6.2 billion in economic benefits in Pennsylvania’s Chesapeake Bay watershed alone.
Clean water counts in Pennsylvania. Healthy families, vibrant farms, strong communities, and a thriving economy depend on it. We urge you to consider alternatives to HB 453.
Harry Campbell
PA Executive Director
Chesapeake Bay Foundation
A copy of the letter is available online.
For more on Chesapeake Bay-related issues in Pennsylvania, visit the Chesapeake Bay Foundation-PA webpage. Click Here to sign up for Pennsylvania updates (bottom of left column). Click Here to support their work.
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