WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today called on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to clarify how it is making offsite wetland determinations on farmers’ land in North Dakota and across the country, and improve certainty for farmers and their operations for the upcoming growing season.

 The Natural Resources Conservation Service’s (NRCS) State Offsite Methods allow it to make wetland determinations without being physically present on farmers’ land. However, its new proposed methods have not provided additional clarity for farmers in how the NRCS conducts this process. Heitkamp pressed USDA Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Robert Bonnie to improve how the NRCS communicates with farmers relating to wetland determinations and conservation compliance, which impact what farmers may do with their land.

“North Dakota’s farmers face a number of challenges as they put in the hard work and long hours to help feed our state and folks around the world,” said Heitkamp. “Particularly in the prairie pothole region, farmers have to contend with standing water and on top of this, need to wait for wetland determinations to find out what steps they may take to mitigate this water, which reduces farmers’ productivity. While offsite wetland determinations are an important tool in reducing the current backlog of 791 determinations, the process needs to be clarified so farmers can understand how these decisions are being made, and I’ll continue to push USDA to help improve certainty for growers across North Dakota.”

To view a copy of Heitkamp’s letter to USDA Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Robert Bonnie, click here.

Last August, Heitkamp brought Bonnie to North Dakota, calling on him to improve consistency and predictability on wetland determinations and to have him hear firsthand how uncertainty surrounding wetland regulations affects farmers in the state. In addition to removing the most harmful provisions in the 2014 Farm Bill – which she worked tirelessly to draft, negotiate, and pass – associated with tying conservation compliance to crop insurance, Heitkamp also made several improvements to the conservation compliance requirement. Specifically, she worked to make sure the law is forward-looking; confirmed that it doesn’t hurt growers who unintentionally violate the rules of the program, but instead helps them comply with the law; and guaranteed that it provides a realistic timeframe for growers to reach compliance before they are penalized in the event that a violation is found on the farm.

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