IECA has sent the below letter to key legislators explaining why it is important that the United States continue to research wind erosion, and expressing the association’s support for continued funding of wind erosion research.

If you are a U.S. citizen, you can write directly to your members of Congress expressing your views on this topic. You can find contact information for your two Senators at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm and you can find contact info for your Representative at http://www.house.gov/writerep/.

The Letter

The International Erosion Control Association (IECA) has learned that the administration’s FY 2007 budget proposes elimination of the Agricultural Research Service’s Wind Erosion Research Unit (WERU) in Manhattan, Kansas. Should Congress agree with this proposal, wind erosion research in Manhattan will cease as early as October 1, 2006. IECA believes this is a serious mistake by the administration, and urges you and your colleagues to ensure funding for this wind erosion research work is continued in the FY 2007 budget. Wind erosion is a major problem in many parts of the world. Each year approximately 5 million acres of U.S. cropland are damaged by wind erosion. This is a natural resource issue that also impacts national and homeland security in the form of our continued ability to produce the agricultural products needed by our population.

The Wind Erosion Research Unit has been located in Manhattan since 1947 and collaborates closely with Kansas State University. This laboratory was started in response to the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s. WERU responds to the needs of customers through basic research, improving control strategies, transferring science-based knowledge to land managers, and developing erosion prediction technology like the Wind Erosion Prediction System (WEPS). This state-of-the-art wind erosion model, developed exclusively at WERU, allows farmers and other land managers to develop best management practices for controlling soil erosion by wind and is the only model to give estimates of fine particulates, which play an important role in air quality standards. Wind erosion accounts for almost half of all erosion, and costs estimates of the damage caused by wind erosion exceed $20 billion annually in the U.S. alone. The Wind Erosion Research Unit is an integral part of a national strategy for combating wind erosion both nationally and internationally. We do not want another “dust bowl” period such as the U.S. experienced in the 1930’s.

IECA is the world’s premier organization serving the erosion control industry. We have members in 43 countries that look to the U.S. for erosion control leadership. Since erosion and the resulting sedimentation is one of the most significant factors in degrading water quality and agricultural production, we find the administration’s proposal to be most unfortunate and ill-advised. We urge continued funding of the ARS Wind Erosion Research Unit in Kansas. Thank you for your assistance.

Sincerely,

Doug Wimble, CPESC
IECA President