January 20, 2017
CapitalPress.com
7
Memo from Vilsack awaits next ag secretary
When
President-elect
Trump gets around to nom-
inating a secretary of agri-
culture — the last unfilled
Cabinet position, to the irrita-
tion of many in farming and
ranching — that person will
find a memo waiting from
Tom Vilsack, who held the
job for eight years under Pres-
ident Obama.
Some excerpts:
“I have made it my priori-
ty to ensure USDA embraces
all forms of production and
producers of all sizes — from
organics to conventional, from
the smallest to the largest
farms and ranches across the
nation,” Vilsack wrote.
The good,
the odd and
the stern: A
sample of
AFBF policy
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
PHOENIX — The signa-
ture event of the annual Amer-
ican Farm Bureau Federation
convention is the final day,
when delegates vote on a 350-
page book that states what the
nation’s farmers and ranchers
favor and what they oppose.
It is grass-roots democracy
in action. Quick, efficient and
simple “yes” or “no” votes.
No grandstanding allowed,
no long speeches. Courtesy
is the rule. The votes are tak-
en and then it’s on to the next
issue.
Here’s a sampling of the
Jan. 10 voting:
• Delegates favored a uni-
fied Farm Bill that includes
nutrition programs and farm
programs together. The vote
is significant because some in
Congress would just as soon
remove SNAP food stamp
programs, for example, from
the Farm Bill.
• They want to rewrite the
Antiquities Act, revoke a pres-
ident’s ability to designate
national monuments and give
that authority to Congress. In
Oregon, people are worried
President Barack Obama will
designate an Owyhee Can-
yonlands monument before he
leaves office.
• Farm Bureau members
favor transferring public lands
from federal to state manage-
ment, and administer them for
multiple use such as logging
and grazing in addition to rec-
reation. That’s a big issue in
the West, where the govern-
ment manages vast swaths of
forest and rangeland.
• The policy book says
humans’ need for food, fiber,
shelter and energy shall have
priority over endangered and
threatened species. Take that,
spotted owl, gray wolves, sage
grouse and more.
• Somewhat oddly, AFBF
policy officially opposes any
attempt by USDA to substitute
yogurt for red meat in school
lunches.
• Delegates oppose legaliz-
ing recreational marijuana use
and believe there should be a
quarantine on wildlife in Yel-
lowstone National Park until
they are cleared of tuberculo-
sis and brucellosis.
“Our support has empow-
ered an explosion in the local
food movement and significant
growth in farmers’ markets
and direct sales by farmers to
schools, hospitals and other
institutions. We have also fo-
cused on expanding access to
healthier food, implementing
the most significant updates
to school meals in decades for
our nation’s youth, making
changes to our programs that
ensure mothers and newborns
have access to more nutritious
food, and helping to reduce
child hunger to the lowest lev-
el on record.”
Vilsack goes on to say ag
exports topped $1 trillion since
2009, “far and away the best
stretch in our nation’s history.”
He said exports make up 20
percent of U.S. farmers’ cash
receipts, support more than 1
million U.S. jobs and have de-
livered a trade surplus every
year since the 1960s.
Vilsack said USDA grants
and investment programs im-
proved life in rural America.
He said median rural house-
hold income increased 3.4
percent in 2015, poverty rates
dropped, rural counties add-
ed jobs and rural populations
have stabilized and are begin-
ning to grow.
The continued absence of
an ag secretary nominee clear-
ly bothered some producers
attending the Jan. 7-11 Amer-
ican Farm Bureau Federation
convention in Phoenix.
“It concerns us,” AFBF
President Zippy Duvall of
Georgia said at a news confer-
ence. He said some produc-
ers interpreted the delay as a
sign that “Mr. Trump does not
have a whole lot of interest.”
Duvall said it might be
there are many good candi-
dates and Trump was trying to
find the right person.
“I hope that’s it,” he said.
“We’ve got to trust our new
president.”
Duvall said he and rep-
resentatives of more than 20
other producer groups met
with six to eight members of
the Trump transition team for
90 minutes the week prior to
the AFBF convention. He said
the meeting was held at Farm
Bureau’s building in Wash-
ington, D.C., and resulted in
good discussions.
Courtesy USDA
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack left office Jan. 13 after eight
years of service. He’s left a memo for the next ag secretary, who
has not yet been appointed by President-elect Trump.
Public lands transfer advocates seeking
convention of states to amend Constitution
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
SALT LAKE CITY — A
leader of the effort to force
the transfer of Western federal
lands to state control believes
calling a convention of states
to change the U.S. Constitu-
tion is the best path forward.
Utah state Rep. Ken Ivory,
R-West Jordan, said states’
rights advocates are already
laying the groundwork for a
convention.
The federal government
owns nearly half of the land
in the West, which Ivory be-
lieves has tied up resources
and put the region’s states at
an economic disadvantage.
He contends public lands are
also in poor health due to fed-
eral neglect.
Under Article 5 of the Con-
stitution, two-thirds of states
may call a convention, and
proposed amendments must
be ratified by three-fourths of
state legislatures.
Eight states have already
passed resolutions calling for
a convention. Idaho has a bill
in the works to join the list.
Thus far, the constitution has
been revised only through
congressional action.
“Now millions of peo-
ple are working to convene
a convention of states,” said
Ivory, who is a lawyer and
was picked as the first senior
legislative adviser to the Con-
vention of States Project.
The project has volunteers
working in all 50 states to “re-
store the checks and balances
that were put in place on our
federal government.”
Ivory and Idaho Rep.
Tom Loertscher, R-Iona,
participated in a simulat-
ed convention of states last
September in Virginia, ad-
dressing a host of perceived
Capital Press File
Utah state Rep. Ken Ivory is working toward a convention of states to amend the U.S. Constitution and force the U.S. government to turn
over federal land to the states.
federal overreaches.
Loertscher said the bill
he’s drafting to codify Ida-
ho’s support of a convention
should easily pass the House
of Representatives, and he’s
seeking help in the Senate. He
said the bill endorses a con-
vention to address “fiscal mat-
ters, overreach of the federal
government and term limits,”
and it could encompass public
lands transfer.
“With all of the federal
lands in Idaho, we’re operat-
ing with one hand tied behind
our back,” Loertscher said.
“We don’t have the tax base
for all of that land.”
Ivory’s home state is also
pursuing litigation and con-
gressional action to force land
transfers. Utah has conducted
a legal analysis and set aside
$5 million for a federal court
battle, and Ivory hopes to “see
a much more constitutionally
focused Supreme Court.”
Ivory believes Presi-
dent-elect Donald Trump’s
LEGAL
Request for Proposal (RFP)
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community recreation, local farmers, strengthens the local
food system, and increases the local community’s awareness
of and engagement with local agriculture. Additionally
include the potential opportunities for an agricultural or
livestock incubator located on the property, and/or other
roles for the property to play in local economic development
with particular focus on and around agriculture.
For a complete proposal description go to
www.siviewpark.org/contracting-process.html.
Proposals are due no later than 12:00 Noon on Friday,
January 27th, 2017. Questions regarding the proposal should
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1900 tstombaugh@siviewpark.org.
selection of Ryan Zinke,
R-Mont., for Secretary of In-
terior signifies a roadblock
toward a congressional solu-
tion. Zinke, an avid hunter,
has publicly opposed transfer-
ring federal lands.
“(Zinke) walked out on the
Republican National Commit-
tee and declined to become a
delegate because the transfer
of public land was part of the
GOP platform,” Ivory said.
Brian Brooks, executive
director of Idaho Wildlife
Federation, believes Idaho
sportsmen overwhelmingly
oppose public lands transfer,
due to the threat of lost pub-
lic access and the potential for
states to sell the land. Idaho
has sold 41 percent of its for-
mer state lands, he said.
Brooks believes any ave-
nue toward forcing a public
lands sale is a long shot, but
he’s taking the threat serious-
ly, as advocates of the concept
are well financed.
“I feel like there are inter-
ests who do not represent the
majority of Americans who
are going to surround Zinke,”
Brooks said.
LEGAL
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By ERIC MORTENSON