Promoting and Advocating For Soil Health Management Systems

Number: 2017-04

 

WHEREAS, building soil health is fundamental to life on earth by sustaining soil, plant, animal, and human health; and

WHEREAS, with rising world populations, only by building soil health can we address the world’s increasing demands for fuel, food, and fiber; and

WHEREAS, the soil health principles include: keeping the soil covered as much as possible, disturbing the soil as little as possible, keeping plants growing throughout the year to feed the soil, and diversifying as much as possible using crop rotation and cover crops; and

WHEREAS, tillage results in soil disturbance causing bare and compact soil that lacks microbes and increases runoff and erosion; and

WHEREAS, no-till or never till reduces runoff and erosion, while protecting the soil and reducing costs for farmers, creating an economic solution to water quality issues; and

WHEREAS, cover crops reduce nitrogen and phosphorous pollution by as much as 50% and prevent up to 90% of erosion, improving water quality of streams, lakes, rivers, and groundwater sources for wildlife and humans, while also providing cover, food, and habitat for wildlife; and

WHEREAS, biological approaches such as building soil health help reduce our dependence on pesticides that put at risk pollinators, water, and air quality; and

WHEREAS, soil health management systems increase the economic returns on the land by reducing inputs and increasing crop productivity; and

WHEREAS, building soil health increases resiliency of the soil and crops to weather extremes; and

WHEREAS, increasing soil organic matter, by sequestering an overabundance of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, provides a landscape scale solution to climate change while increasing soil productivity; and

WHEREAS, there is a need for coordinated statewide, regional, and national nutrient reduction strategies to address hypoxic dead zones in waterways such as the Great Lakes, the Chesapeake Bay, and the Gulf of Mexico through watershed management; and

WHEREAS, there is a need for increased awareness and advancement of rural and urban soil health practices for agriculture and silviculture; and

WHEREAS, locally-led soil conservation efforts should be showcased at the national level to increase public awareness.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, in its Annual Meeting assembled June 8-10, 2017 in Stevenson, Washington, supports soil health principles as the fundamentals for building a better planet; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in doing so, we ask that NWF advocate for advancing soil health partnerships that build a network of support essential for resource conservation; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that NWF calls on state and federal agencies to advance soil health by promoting policies and programs that encourage farmers and landowners to adopt soil health practices; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that NWF calls on soil health partners to end policies that inhibit or discourage the adoption of soil health practices; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that NWF calls on increased collection and analysis of data on carbon sequestration in soils and the economic benefits of the adoption of soil health practices and its ecological benefits to wildlife; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that NWF supports a proactive systems approach for the advancement of soil health principles.