June 2013

On June 10, the Senate passed their version of the new Farm Bill by a vote of 66 to 27, according to the Wildlife Management Institute. The conservation portions of the legislation appear to be similar to the bill the Senate passed last year with two notable exceptions. The first is a requirement for producers to apply basic conservation measures on highly erodible land and wetlands in order to qualify for federal subsidies on crop insurance. Secondly, a sodsaver provision is included that limits subsidies on land recently converted from native grasslands to crops.

The next step...

The North American moose (Alces alces) is the largest member of the deer family (Cervidae) and is distributed throughout northern North America. Along the southern edge of their range, moose can be found in the parts of the Pacific Northwest, down the Rocky Mountains, around the upper Great Lakes region, and into New England and New York. Moose habitat covers a wide array of vegetation types and environmental conditions, but two aspects characterize where moose live: woody plants and cold temperatures. Up to 90 percent of moose diet is comprised of woody browse (twigs, buds, stems...