1 he Washington game is pinned to the 2007

1 he Washington game is pinned to the 2007 Federal Farm Bill. The bill is important for two reasons. First it provides for billions of dollars go to for tasks such as restoring and preserving wetlands, environmentally friendly land use, and improving water quality. Second, farm bills such as this are considered every five years.

“We see this as a golden opportunity,” Chesapeake Bay Foundation Federal Affairs Director Doug Siglin told the Times Community Newspapers’ Editorial Board at its February meeting.

So golden the CBF and other bay advocates have kicked off an intense effort to make sure both media and politicians understand how important both poker games are to state agriculture operations.

“We have known for years that one of the biggest sources of bay pollution was agricultural runoff,” said Charles Epes, the CBF’s Virginia communications coordinator. “We used to stand downstream and talk about these problems that were coming from upriver. Now we’re going upriver, to the source.”

As part of its campaign, CBF wants to make sure Virginia farmers get their share of the federal farm bill aid money. In so doing they hope to help farmers, who constantly battle higher costs and smaller profit margins, with practices that can be cheaper and better for the environment.

The CBF also wants to make sure counties and municipalities consider the runoff damage created bv helter-skelter pavement projects that won’t allow water runoff to seep into the ground that helps filter it before it dumps into streams and rivers.

If successful on both fronts, the CBF will have moved Virginia that much closer to making the 2010 deadline of its Chesapeake Bay Agreement.

We should support the CBF and similar environmental groups. Each of us depends on clean water and a healthy food chain.

Each of U3 has chips in both high-stakes games.