For nearly four decades, the federal government has protected environmentally sensitive farmland through a simple bargain with farmers known as “conservation compliance.” If they want to receive farm program benefits, growers can’t plow up wetlands, and they must take steps to protect highly erodible acreage.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Farmer Jim Conlan seeks permission from a federal judge to plant crops on nine acres he owns but can’t use because the government claims it as wetlands.
The government's decision to force landowners to comply with a ideological "wetlands" campaign, under the threat of the loss of their rights and benefits, is being challenged in court as unconstitutional.
The Agriculture Department violates the Constitution by barring farmers from its support programs if they plant crops on wetlands, said an Iowa lawsuit that challenges the four-decade-old Swampbuster rule.
Lawsuit challenges federal swampbuster law that protects wetlands yahoo.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from yahoo.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.