Sodsaver Protects Ducks, Farms, and Tax Dollars

My Monday post encouraging Governor Rounds to sign South Dakota on to Sodsaver drew some insightful comments. It also elicited an e-mail from the Izaak Walton League to remind me that they are totally on board with this program to preserve some of the last native sod in the country. The Ikes offer a good summary of why Sodsaver is a good idea. Main points:

• Prairie habitat is a "duck factory." You want mallards to shoot, you need to keep that native sod out of agricultural production.
• Preserved grasslands do more good for grazing livestock (not to mention water quality and soil erosion).
• Sodsaver costs South Dakota state government nothing and saves federal tax dollars (you know, our money) from being thrown at failed ag practices.

The Izaak Walton League offers some letters to send to Governor Rounds and the other governors in our region who have to decide whether to opt into Sodsaver. Now you may not want to bother the governor while he's busy rewriting the budget, but as Senator Heidepriem says, Governor Rounds isn't coming up with any new programs or initiatives, so the budget won't take up that much of his time. So why wait? Give Mike Rounds your shout today, tell him to sign Sodsaver!