The flute-like melody of the Western Meadowlark is a familiar and iconic sound across the grasslands of the American West and Midwest. These vibrantly-colored songbirds build their nests and forage for food in native grasslands, meadows, and farm fields during the winter, and in the spring males can often be spotted perched on fence posts, singing out across the grasslands.

Unfortunately, as large-scale agricultural land development destroys and degrades native grasslands, Western Meadowlark populations continue to decline. Right now, crucial conservation programs — including those that protect native grasslands on which Western Meadowlarks depend — are at risk of being cut in the re-authorization of the Federal Farm Bill.

Even worse, federal farm subsidies that lead to the destruction of native grasslands are continuing to expand. Special interests are fighting efforts to conserve and recover some of America’s most crucial wildlife habitat, and that’s why our decision-makers need to hear from you! 

Help Protect the Western Meadowlark

Tweet like a meadowlark. Congress can’t hear the song of the meadowlarks in DC, so we have to tweet for them! Listed below are Senators on the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee. Simply find your Senator(s), and click “Tweet” to speak up for the Western Meadowlark.

Arkansas

Tweet Senator John Boozman: @JohnBoozman Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Colorado

Tweet Senator Michael Bennet: @SenBennetCO Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Georgia

Tweet Senator Saxby Chambliss: @SaxbyChambliss Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Indiana

Tweet Senator Richard Lugar @dicklugar Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Iowa

Tweet Senator Charles Grassley @ChuckGrassley Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Tweet Senator Tom Harkin @SenatorHarkin Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Kansas

Tweet Senator Pat Roberts: @SenPatRoberts Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Kentucky

Tweet Senator Mitch McConnell: @McConnellPress Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Michigan

Tweet Senator Debbie Stabenow: @stabenow Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Minnesota

Tweet Senator Amy Klobuchar: @amyklobuchar Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Nebraska

Tweet Senator E. Benjamin Nelson: @SenBenNelson Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Tweet Senator Mike Johanns: @Mike_Johanns Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

New York

Tweet Senator Kirsten Gillibrand: @SenGillibrand Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

North Dakota

Tweet Senator John Hoeven @SenJohnHoeven Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Ohio

Tweet Senator Sherrod Brown @SenSherrodBrown Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Pennsylvania

Tweet Senator Robert Casey, Jr. @SenBobCasey Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

South Dakota

Tweet Senator John Thune: @SenJohnThune Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Vermont

Tweet Senator Patrick Leahy: @SenatorLeahy Please support conservation programs in the 2012 #FarmBill that protect our soil, water, and wildlife.

Not on Twitter? Click here to send a message urging your Senator to support crucial conservation programs in the re-authorization of the 2012 Farm Bill.

Don’t have a Senator on the committee? You can still help the Western Meadowlark by sharing this post with friends in states that do.

Sodsaver is a proposed provision for the 2012 Farm Bill that makes land that has never been cropped ineligible for farm bill benefits. Sodsaver is particularly important because it would help protect America’s remaining native grasslands.

Under conservation compliance, landowners who receive farm bill benefits must follow a conservation plan on highly erodible land and refrain from draining wetlands. Compliance is already part of the farm bill, but it doesn’t apply to crop insurance,  which is now the largest federal subsidy to farmers.  Unless conservation compliance is connected to crop insurance in the next Farm Bill, millions of  acres of wetlands could be drained, and soil erosion will increase.

 3 Reasons Why Compliance and Sodsaver Make Sense

Western Meadowlark, Photo Credit John and Karen Hollingsworth

1. Declining grasslands, wetlands, and native ecosystems are valuable public resources that need protection. Native prairie and grasslands are extremely valuable habitat for wildlife species, such as the Western Meadowlark, pictured right. A 2010 NWF article states that “40% of the entire continent’s declining bird species are those that depend on grasslands.” Wetlands are crucial wildlife habitats that also need protection; in Iowa alone, 99% of native wetlands have been lost over time, according to North Carolina State University. In addition to providing food and habitat for thousands of migratory birds and other animals, wetlands benefit the public by filtering nutrients and contaminants from water and absorbing excess water during floods.
2. High crop prices are tempting farmers and landowners to grow crops on marginal or previously uncropped land. Last year was a record year for agriculture, with high exports and projected net farm incomes reaching a 10-year high according to USDA’s Economic Research Service. High crop prices encourage investors to get into the market while the getting is good; this means that more land gets converted to agricultural use, and valuable wetlands and grasslands are lost.
3. It is not fiscally responsible to use taxpayer dollars to decrease the risk of farming marginal land. Uncropped land has been left that way for a reason—it’s not worth the effort. Marginal lands produce low crop yields and they are often susceptible to floods and erosion. Subsidized crop insurance reduces the risk so that farming marginal lands is more attractive, but this comes at the expense of taxpayers. Since our nation does not have a food shortage, and costs of insuring such land are often high, this means we foot the bill but don’t get much of a return for our money.

All of these are common sense reasons to include Sodsaver and conservation compliance in the next Farm Bill.  Protecting wildlife habitat and saving taxpayer dollars makes sense for everyone.  Stay tuned to this blog for important updates on the farm bill and how your money is spent.  In the meantime, check out this article in NWF magazine on Farm Bill conservation.

Click here to view the embedded video.

America’s prairies, iconic grasslands that conjure up images of cowboys, Native Americans, wild horses and bison, are some of the most endangered ecosystems in the world. As they disappear, so does an American way of life, a western spirit of freedom, wilderness and connecting with nature.

The National Wildlife Federation and South Dakota State University hosted a landmark event, America’s Grasslands: Status, Threats and Opportunities, in South Dakota to raise the national profile of  our declining prairies. Participants came from all over the country, even representatives from South Africa, Mexico and  Canada, to discuss the challenges for grasslands in North America.

As  prairies vanish, often sacrificed to expand agricultural development, especially corn ethanol production, wildlife habitat also disappears across the Great Plains and other regions.  “Plowing up our nation’s last remnants of native grasslands to grow more corn for ethanol is like burning the Mona Lisa for firewood,” said Julie Sibbing, director of agriculture programs for the National Wildlife Federation. Western Meadowlarks, black-tailed prairie dogs, tall grasses and wild prairie flowers are just some the important species that are trying to survive in this shrinking ecosystem.

Protecting America’s prairies also protects an essential part of America’s western outdoor and ranching heritage. The National Wildlife Federation is working on policies for the upcoming Farm Bill to make sure grasslands are protected.