Letter to The Honorable Herb Kohl, Chairman, Subcommittee on Agriculture, Committee on Appropriations and The Honorable Sam Brownback, Ranking Member

Letter

Senator Boxer Leads Call to Fund Research to Protect America's Pollinators

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) led a bipartisan group of 20 Senators in sending a letter to a key appropriations subcommittee requesting funding for research to examine the decline in honeybees and other native pollinators and find ways to protect the nation's food supply and the stability of our agricultural economy.

The text of the letter follows:
May 07, 2009

The Honorable Herb Kohl, Chairman
Subcommittee on Agriculture
Committee on Appropriations
SD-13l Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Sam Brownback, Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Agriculture
Committee on Appropriations
SD-13l Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Chairman Kohl and Ranking Member Brownback:

We are writing to request that the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee allocate $20 million in Fiscal Year 2010 funding for pollinator research projects as authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill. These funds will increase the resilience and security of our farming systems by supporting vital research into Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) in managed honeybees and native bee ecology.

The USDA starkly warned in June 2007 that the continued decline in bees and emergence of CCD "has the potential to cause a $15 billion direct loss of crop production and $75 billion in indirect losses." Pollinators are responsible for the production of one-third of the nation's food supply, yet Federal support of pollinator and honeybee research has been historically unreflective of the importance of animal pollinators in agriculture.

We often take for granted the indispensable services honeybees and other pollinators provide. The number of managed honeybee colonies in the U.S. has dropped in half since 1940, while demand for pollination services in agriculture has continued to grow. Ninety percent of the nation's existing hives are predicted to be needed to pollinate California's 2012 almond crop alone. In other states, farmers who produce apples, berries, peaches, squash, and many other fruits and vegetables depend on healthy pollinators.

Because of the importance of pollinators in the production of the nation's food supply and their impact on the stability of our agricultural economy, it is essential that the Federal government help establish sustainable, long-term, research initiatives dedicated to protecting the health of both honeybees and other native bees.

With broad consensus from farmers, beekeepers, scientists and legislators on the need to fund pollinator research, this investment will allow our scientific community to pursue vital investigations into the complex natural systems on which our nation's agricultural activities are dependant.

We thank you for your time and consideration of this important matter.

Sincerely,

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator

Orrin Hatch
United States Senator

Jack Reed
United States Senator

Daniel K. Akaka
United States Senator

Max Baucus
United States Senator

Kristen Gillibrand
United States Senator

Tim Johnson
United States Senator

Robert Menendez
United States Senator

Bernie Sanders
United States Senator

Debbie Stabenow
United States Senator

Ron Wyden
United States Senator

Mike Crapo
United States Senator

James E. Risch
United States Senator

Maria Cantwell
United States Senator

Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator

Sherrod Brown
United States Senator

Russell D. Feingold
United States Senator

Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator

Patrick Leahy
United States Senator

Kent Conrad
United States Senator

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