The Iowa Senate has approved a spending bill that would allocate $43 million to the state's agriculture and natural resources departments. However, Democrats are concerned about a provision in the bill that could limit public land acquisition. The provision removes language from the Iowa Code on open-space lands and directs the state to prioritize maintaining public lands and trails already held over acquiring new open-space lands and recreational trails.
Democrats argue that this provision could make it more difficult for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to acquire public lands and limit their ability to expand the state's public land offerings. Republicans, on the other hand, claim that the provision is intended to ensure that existing public lands in Iowa are well-maintained.
The Iowa Farm Bureau Federation supported the bill's attempts to limit public land acquisition, with many cattle farmers speaking in support of the measure. They cited competition over private lands with the DNR and argued that low-cost land that is not suitable for row cropping could be pastureland sold to beginning cattle farmers. However, the potential impact on farmers was not brought up in the spending bill discussion.
The bill allocates over $11.9m to the DNR administration, $1m for state park operations, and $1.51m for the floodplain management program. But Democrats have criticized it for underfunding the DNR and diverting one-third of the funding that currently goes towards the water quality measurement program. The amendment will now go to the Iowa House of Representatives for consideration.
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Categories: Iowa, Government & Policy