**************************************************************************

1. Immediate Action Needed - Stop the Dorr Appointment
2. 250,00 Acres of Wetlands Face Death By Under funding
3. Bill Moyers Trading Democracy Video
4. Novartis GMO Study Shut Down in England and Scotland

**************************************************************************

1. IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED - STOP THE DORR APPOINTMENT

Two weeks ago the Senate Agriculture committee firmly rejected President Bush's appointment of Thomas Dorr to the position of the USDA's Undersecretary for Rural Development.

The committee rejected Dorr's appointment saying he was unfit for the USDA job, both "because of his violations of farm subsidy rules as well as evidence that he was insensitive to the needs of rural areas and minorities." 

Rural Advocates have called Dorr, "the poster boy for corporate agribusiness." Then, last week as the Senate was away on summer recess, President Bush defied the Senate Ag Committee and pushed the appointment negating the Senate's year long investigation. In doing so the President has ignited the ire of family farmers everywhere. 

In response, the National Family Farm Coalition is asking GROUPS and ORGANIZATIONS to immediately sign on in protest. See the letter and sign on! 

2. 250,000 ACRES OF WETLANDS FACE DEATH BY UNDER FUNDING

During the Farm Bill debate President Bush said unabashedly, "I support - strongly support - a strong conservation effort in the Farm Bill before the Congress. With more funding and incentives for conservation, we can help our farmers preserve wetlands and wildlife habitat, and better protect water quality." Now that the farm bill has passed, the White House has changed their tune. Now the Office of Budget and Management (OMB) are denying "technical support" payments to help the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) enroll thousands of acres of wetlands under the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP). According to inside sources these "technical support" funds are absolutely essential if NRCS is to provide the agency manpower to protect wetlands.

Without these funds an estimated 250,000 of wetlands will not find relief. In an apparent obfuscation, the OMB argues that "technical funds" can not come from the already approved "program funds" of WRP. What the OMB is remiss to say is that they have allowed such a funding strategy for other conservation programs including the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) which drew fire for its massive payoffs to corporate factory farming.

Apparently, this is a case of the rich getting richer and the wetlands dying by under funding.

3. BILL MOYERS "TRADING DEMOCRACY" VIDEO

Last week Rural UPdates! published an offer giving away Defenders of Wildlife's supply of Bill Moyers "Trading Democracy" videos on a first come, first served basis.

Unbelievably, our 30 copies were gone within ten minutes of the email posting. Not only is this a testament to the concern rural America has for corporate driven trade rules, it's also a tribute to how connected and informed we are all becoming through the internet. Such "informed connectivity" can truly revitalize our lagging, money-driven representative government. In the meantime, we want to help you stay informed and are trying to locate more copies to send out. To all that did not receive a copy, we thank you for your interest in this important subject. We are keeping your email request and will let you know if we can find additional videos.

4. NOVARTIS GMO PROJECT SHUT DOWN IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND

In Europe the debate over the long term safety of GMO crops has recently hit the news. As reported by the "The Independent"

European Ministers "ordered the suspension of the final phase of the farm-scale trials, which had been scheduled to begin next week, after a variety of unauthorized genetically modified oilseed rape was grown in 14 fields in England and Scotland." It seems the "unauthorized" plants contained an extra gene which has been modified to make it resistant to at least two types of antibiotics.

The European Union has called for all GM plants containing this antibiotic-resistant marker gene to be phased out because of fears that animals and humans eating such GM food could eventually develop immunity to drugs. The incident was called "a very serious breach" of GM standards by the agro-chemical giant Novarits. The company could face prosecution with unlimited fines or five-year prison sentences if found guilty of breaching the rules.