May 2019: Western Landowners Alliance visits Washington D.C.

Last week, several of our members and staff had the opportunity to visit with Congressional staff, federal agencies and national partners in Washington, D.C. This trip was an opportunity to bring the voice of western landowners to the Capital: your stories and experiences are compelling and it is important that lawmakers and agencies hear your perspective.

We advocated for improving the 2018 Farm Bill’s working lands programs for the West. Programs such as the Conservation Stewardship Program, the Conservation Reserve Program and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program must be accessible to landowners and applicable to western lands. We also advocated for restoration on federally managed lands and for policies that improve economics for rural communities.

Importantly, the Western Landowners Alliance staff and members spent time on this Washington D.C. building relationships with partners and policy makers. We gained insight on the diverse policy work occurring at a national level and had many conversations about the potential impact of those policies on landowners, conservation and rural economies. It was encouraging to see so many partners working together to find common ground and advance policies.

If you have any questions about this latest WLA trip to D.C., or would like to discuss any of these topics with our policy director, please contact Jessica Crowder directly: Jessica@westernlandowners.org.

Western Landowners meets with Senator Udall. From left: Cole Mannix, Nelson Shirley, Sen. Udall, Lesli Allison.