Iowa's Boulton: Don't kill voluntary programs that encourage land conservation

Iowans understand the mounting issues we have in water and conservation in our state. They can see that we need to address water quality and manage recurrent flooding with sustainable solutions, like expanding wetland areas that can help naturally filter our water and provide areas to take on rising flood waters that can help mitigate the devastation seen in many of our communities the past few years.Incentives and low-interest loan programs have successfully encouraged landowners to voluntarily donate or sell their land for nonprofit and public conservation efforts. The State Revolving Fund has provided a win-win approach for conservation in Iowa. It allows farmers to choose to be part of the solution in conservation and does so in a way that is the most beneficial to them and our state.This year, however, those programs have come under attack. Two bills, Senate Study Bill 1221 and House Study Bill 542 threatened these successful programs and actually sought to take us a step backwards in water quality and conservation.