Request To Lift Gray Wolf Protections & FSA County Committee Elections

I'm Lacy Gray with Washington Ag Today.

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings and 74 members of Congress recently sent a letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service supporting the proposed rule to nationally delist gray wolves as a protected species under the Endangered Species Act. Fish and Wildlife proposed lifting gray wolf protections this past June, and scheduled four public hearings on the issue - the first in Denver , today in Albuquerque, Sacramento November 22, and December 3 in Pinetop, Arizona.

FSA County Committee Elections are something that Judy Olson, Washington Farm Service Agency Executive Director, says is unique in the federal government.

OLSON: We have the ability for producers to elect 3 to 5 person county committees to ensure fair and equitable administration of our FSA programs.

County Committee elections start with the nomination process and end with the balloting that is done at this time of year.

OLSON: We are encouraging folks when your ballot arrives in the mail to please vote and participate. This is a wonderful opportunity to have input into FSA and to represent the producers of your county and area.

Olson says there was a slight hiccup with the ballots this year which changes the December 2 due date.

OLSON: There was a misprint on the ballots and the name was mistakenly printed on the backside of the ballot. So producers have received information regarding how to dispose of those misprinted ballots. The good news is is that the ballots are being reprinted so that it will be a secret ballot and we anticipate that the new ballots will be mailed out sometime in December with the new date of when they are actually due.

That's Washington Ag Today.

I'm Lacy Gray on the Ag Information Network.