HomeMy WebLinkAboutMax BaucusMAX BAUCUS
MONTANA
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WASHINGTON, DC 20510-2602
September 12, 2000
The Honorable Charles G. Rodgers
Mayor
City of Laurel
P.O. Box 10
Laurel, Montana 59044
Dear Chuck:
WASHINGTON, DC
12021224-2651
MONTANA TOLL FREE NUMBER
1-800-332- 106
INTERNET:
max@baucus.senate.gov
Mtp:lM .senate.gov/,baucus
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CITY OF LAUREL
The Summer of 2000 has been devastating to our state with wildfires and drought. As we
begin the long process of recovery, I am writing to offer my support to your county and
community as we mobilize the restoration and rehabilitation of Montana.
First, some good news. S. 1608, the Payments to Counties bill, looks likely to pass the
Senate and be signed into law by the President. This bill will result in a dramatic increase in
funding for most of Montana's counties. During a last-minute intervention to broker a
compromise between the sponsors of the bill and Senate Democrats, I introduced a new section
into the legislation to give counties greater flexibility in how their money is spent. Counties will
now be able to use funding under the bill for fire fighting, search and rescue, and efforts to
educate homeowners about how to construct and landscape their homes to minimize the risk to
life and property from wildfires. I will continue to work for full funding for Payment In Lieu of
Taxes (PILT) -- an effort which should be successful this year -- to meet our obligations to
counties across the board.
Other projects that can now be funded include easements for conservation, non-motorized
access to public lands, forest-related after-school programs, planning to minimize the impact of
development on adjacent federal lands and efforts to decrease the vulnerability of people and
property to wildfires. I am very pleased that counties will now have both increased funding and
greater decision-making power over how their funding is distributed. This will allow counties
greater freedom to prepare for and respond to disasters.
In early August, I requested that James Lee Witt, the Director of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA), come to Montana for a personal look at the devastation. I
traveled with him to meetings in the fire areas where we met with Disaster and Emergency
Services personnel and with the firefighting teams. Mr. Witt promised that his agency would do
all they could to assist Montana's efforts, both in suppressing the fires and in the recovery
process. The following week he advanced the state $6.1 million dollars for fire suppression
efforts.
BILLINGS BOZEMAN BUTTE GREAT FALLS HELENA KALISPELL MISSOUTA
(4061657-6790 (406)566-6104 (406)782-8700 (406)761-1574 (4061449-5480 (406)756-1150 (406)329-3123
September 12, 2000
Page 2
The drought has been equally damaging to our state's economy. In that vein, I have
requested $37.5 million in emergency funding from the Senate Agriculture Appropriations
Committee to assist our producers in recovering from this disastrous year. But more needs to be
done.
I know that our communities are doing their best to cope, and I would like to assist you as
much as possible. In order to be most effective, I would like you to tell me of your county's
and/or community's needs as they relate to fire or drought damage. Please fax the enclosed form
to my Bozeman office at 406-587-9177 or email my office at max@baucus.senate.gov with
the following subject line: Disaster Recovery Response Information - [community/countvl.
There is only a short time left before the Senate goes on recess and it is imperative that
we act quickly. Your attention to this matter is appreciated.
With best personal regards, I am
Si cerely,
Enclosure
UNITED STATES
MAX
SENATOR * MONTANA
B A U C U S
September 6, 2000
BAUCUS ASKS $37.5 MILLION FOR MT FARMERS AND
RANCHERS SUFFERING THROUGH DROUGHT
Emergency Funds. Would Delp State's Economy and Ag Producers Weather Tough Times
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - U.S. Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.) today asked Congress for $37.5 million in
additional agriculture disaster spending to help Montana farmers and ranchers weather a withering drought and
raging wildfires this year.
Baucus said the money also would help boost the state's economy, which has been hurt by fires and
severe drought.
Baucus asked Senate and House conferees working on an emergency agriculture spending bill to target
the money to Montana farmers and ranchers who have been forced to haul hay and water to livestock because of
the drought and repair fences and structures damaged by wildfires.
"I'm going to get this done because this is important to our farmers and ranchers and important to our
state's economy," Baucus said. "It means jobs on the farm and ranch and means jobs on Main Street. Our
farmers and ranchers have suffered through a tough drought and wildfires and deserve our help."
Baucus noted in his letter that Montana farmers and ranchers have been hurt by a lack of feed and water
and are left without options. Others have lost their facilities because of wildfire.
"While the Administration has responded to our pleas for assistance to fight fires and opened over 26
counties to grazing and haying of the Conservation Reserve Program, far more work is required in order for the
state to respond to and recover from the worst fire season in one hundred years," Baucus wrote to U.S. Senator
'Thad Cochran, chairman of the Senate App-opriat e-s " >>_nmmittee. on Agricult+arc and Rural Development.
Baucus made specific requests for emergency agriculture f6ding for Montana farmers and ranchers.
The requests were developed from a list of needs compiled by federal and state agriculture and disaster officials
in Montana. The list includes:
• $6 million for the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) - More than 26 counties have been
approved for ECP funds. But Montana's current funds are depleted and officials estimate that an
additional $2 million of this total is needed for livestock water facilities and $4 million for agricultural
facility loss.
• $2 million for the Livestock Incentive Program (LIP) -- Baucus asked that Senate and House
conferees provide funding to reinstate this ad-hoc program that will provide assistance to producers who
have lost livestock due to natural disasters other than drought. Although the final tally for fire damage
will not be complete until all fires in the state have been extinguished, Baucus requested a minimum of
$2 million in initial funding to address these needs.
$6 million in Emergency Feed Assistance - Authority to conduct a feed assistance program was
511 Hart Senate Office Building • Washington, DC 20510 • www.senate.gov/-boucus/
Contact Bill Lombardi (406-449-5480)/Barrett Kaiser (202-224-4351)
suspended in the 1996 Farm Bill. This cost-share program should be reinitiated on an ad hoc basis to
assist producers with significant costs related to the lack of and exorbitant price of feed this year.
• $5 million for water hauling -- Baucus asked members to earmark funds for an ECP water hauling
"special practice" in Montana. The practice will provide cost-share financial assistance to livestock
producers required to haul water for their livestock because of drought and fires.
• $5 million for the American Indian Livestock Feed Program (AILFP) - The Blackfeet Tribal
Council and Fort Belknap Community Council have requested AILFP for this year. Several other tribal
councils will also request AILFP assistance due to a shortage of feed and water. This funding is critical
to our Native American producers.
• $5 million for the Emergency Watershed Protection Program (EWP) - Baucus requested an
additional $5 million to be administered through the EWP for seeding, reducing irrigation water
withdrawals from streams, lake and rivers and mitigating the effects of drought and fires as deemed
necessary. In addition, this funding will be used to enhance soil water and other related resources to
Montana.
• $2 million for Deferred Grazing Assistance -- This is another "special practices" program that will be
administered in conjunction with the Natural Resource and Conservation Service's Emergency
Watershed Protection Program. This program provides cost-share financial assistance to private
landowners required to defer grazing under the EWP program..
• $2 million for Noxious Weed Control -- Another critical fire control need requires an earmark for ECP
noxious weed control "special practice" in Montana to be administered in conjunction with the NRCS
Emergency Watershed Protection program.
• $4 million for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) --Additional funding is
needed to fully fund EQUIP contracts with private landowners to address long-term drought and fire
recovery.
• $500,000 for community watershed development -- This program is integral to rural Montana counties
that are facing the long-term effects of drought and fire conditions. Additional funding is needed to
provide technical assistance to communities for drought related activities in Montana's watersheds.
Baucus also asked for significant increased funding for the national livestock assistance and crop
disaster program.
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511 Hart Senate Office Building • Washington, DC 20510 • www.senate.gov/-baucus/
CONGRESSIONAL
Update
September 12, 2000
DISASTER INFORMATIO CENTERS SCHEDULED
The Disaster Information Center is up and running. As you know, the center in Sula was open
Monday and Tuesday of this week. The center troves to the VFW Hall in Darby on Wednesday and
Thursday and then to the old high school vo-tech building in Hamilton on Friday and Saturday.
Missoula has been added to the schedule. The Disaster Information Center will be adjacent to
Bob Ward's Old Fabric Land Building is the Southgate Mall Monday and Tuesday. Sept 18 - 19.
Center hours are 10 am. to 7 pm.
Before visiting the center, individuals should first register by calling 1 800 745-0243. If they
haven't already registered, center staff will make a telephone available for them to make the call.
Applicants ate not required to go to the center. If they want to talk to someone face to face, the
center is the place to go but information also is available by calling 1-800 745-0243.
DISASTER FIELD OFFICE OPEN IN HELENA
The Montana Disaster and Emergency Services Division (DES) and the Federal Bmorgcncy
Management Agency (FEMA) have opmed a Disaster Field Office in Helena to administer recovery
operations for the recent wildfires.
The Disaster Field Office (DFO) is in the National Guard Armory, 1100 N. Main St You may
reach the Congressional Liaison Len DeCarlo by calling 406 457-3050 (Cellular - 406 949-9482).
Note that the cell phone number has changed since the recent visits.
Members of Congress, as well as district staff, are welcome to visit the DFO. Just give me a
call and we'll arrange to show you around.
TOTAL REGISTRATIONS TOP 13,000
A total of 1,020 Montanans have registered for state and federal disaster assistance for losses
resulting from the fires. The table below lists the registrations by county. These totals are gross figures
and include businesses. Some of the applicants may qualify for more than one form or assistance. As a
result, when we begin reporting the assistance delivered, the totals may not match.
The registration totals:
County Total County Total County Tow County Total
Beaverhead 14 Glacier Lincoln 40 Ravalli 231
Broadwater 19 Granite 22 M son 23 Sanders 41
Carbon 11 Granite 22 Meagher 8 Sliver Bow 26
Cascade 21 Jefferson 0 Mineral 21 Stillwater 6
Deer Lodge 21 udith Basin 2 MtssouIa 727 Sweet Grass 7
Flathead 130 Lake 32 P 26 Teton 2
Gallatin 62 Lewis & Clark 64 Powell 19 Wheatland
09/12/00 TUE 15:50 ITS/RS NO 82231
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
September 12, 2000
USDA Farm Service Agency
PO Box 670
Bozeman, MT 59771-0670
For More Information:
Glenn Patrick 406/587-6R80
Val Bickwermert 406/587-6881
FSA Announces CRP Emergency Grazing Deadline Extension
Bozeman-The Montana Farm Service Agency (FSA) today announced the deadline extension for
emergency grazing Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres from September 30, 2000 through
November 30, 2000. More than 2,168,860 CRP acres are eligible for emergency CRP grazing.
CRP participants in 28 Montana counties are authorized to graze CRP acres based on the
ongoing severe weather conditions, prolonged drought, and lack of available grazing. PSA county
committees will continually monitor these conditions and discontinue a wt arizatio!t to grrize when,
conditions no longer warrant emergency grazing of CRP acres.
Those counties previously approved for emergency CRP grazing are: Beaverhead, Broadwater,
Cascade, Chouteatt, Dawson, Fallon, a portion of Fergus, Garfield, Glacier, Crol den Valley, Hill,
Jefferson, Lewis and Clark; Liberty, McCone, a portion of Meagher, a portion of Musselshell,
Petroleum, Panderrt, Prairie, Richland, Roosevelt, a portion of Stillwater, a portion of Sweet Grass,
Teton, Toole, a portion of Wheatland, and a portion of Yellowstone.
Provisions for gruzing CRP acres include: 1) approval must be received by the CRP participant
from the local FSA county committee prior to grazing eligible acreage after the September 30, 2000
deadline, 2) a modified conservation plan including grazing requirements determined by NRCS must be
obtained by the CRP participants prior to grazing, 3) at least 25 percent of each field or contiguous
fields must be left ungri zed for wildlife, or no more than 75 percent of the stacking rate determined by
NRCS shall be grazed, 4) CRP participants who do not own or lease livestock, may rent or lease the
grazing privilege to an eligible livestock producer located in an approved county. CRP participants who
rent or lease the grazing privilege to an eligible livestock producer need to inform the local county FSA
oilice of the producer's name, 5) fencing, watering or other equipment may be established at the
producer's expense.
Before grazing, eligible livestock producers who are renting or leasing eligible acreage from a
CRP participant miist receive prior written approval from the local FSA county committee and sign a
statement that he or she will Lot sublease CRP acreage. CRP participants who fail to comply with these
provisions or graze CRP acres without written approval from the local FSA county committee are
subject to noncompliance.
The CRP participant will incur a 25 percent payment reduction on FY 2002 annual rental
payments made after October 1, 2001. Payments will be calculated by multiplying the number of acres
actually graced in FY 2001, times the CRP per acre annual rental payment, times 25 percent.
Fur further details, contact your local county FSA office located in the USDA Service Center
listed under government in the telephone directory.
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Thu Unity! Straus Dcpnrimunt of Agrienirurc (USDA) prohlhlis digurimination in its prusmms on the hems of rasa. color, national origin, gender, religion,
ugu, disability, political belief;, smnuui oriontatimi, and prarital or family slaws- (Nor all prahlhhed bases apply m all prumm's.l Persons with disabilim"
whn require altornarivu mean% for communiewiun of program infumtation (Braille, iurge print, audiaispc, ow.) should eonrncufSDA's TARGET Ccntcr at
2021720-260t) (voice or MD.)
To file a complain, ofd iscrirninaiinn, writs USDA, nirecmr, Office of Civil Rights, Ruorn 326•W. W hluen Building. l4f1U independence Avenuc, SW,
Washington. DC. 30250.9410. or call 2021720-5964 (voice or TDB.) USDA is an cqunl oppnnunity provider and employoc
09/12/00 TEIE 15:17 (T%/R% NO 82221