222 



lift EMVlRONMENTAt RESEA..CH AND DEVILLOPMENT 



use of the nation's 1.6 billion acres of forest land, provides scientific and technical 

 information through its Forest Research program. The Forest Service appropriation 

 was $115 million in 1991. A network of 9 experiment stations and 18) research units 

 conduct research in timber management, forest products and harvesting, forest pro- 

 tection, resource analysis research, and forest environmental research. The Forest 

 Service research program focuses on "national problem" areas, including tropical 

 forest:)', recycling, and the ecological and social values of forest land. 



The Agricultural Research Service (AR5) provides the scientific basis for 

 the production of agricultural commodities that demonstrate wise management 

 and use of the environment; its work has undergirded the major advances in the 

 volume of food and fiber for national and international consumption. Studies of 

 soil erosion, pesticides and fertilizer, and irrigation constitute the bulk of the re- 

 search program. ARS is also a participant in the glob^ii change research program, 

 investigating potential effects of climate change on the nation's agriculture. ARS's 

 funding of ti6i million in 1991 supp>orted the eight area offices that coordinate 

 11.6 field experiment stations around the country. 



The Cooperative State Research Service (CSRS) administers the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture's grant programs for agricultural research. More than half of 

 CSRS's grants are distributed by formula to agricultural research programs at agri- 

 cultural experiment stations, approved schools of forestry under the Cooperative 

 Forestry program, 1890 land grant colleges, and Tuskegee University. Matching funds 

 are required from all but the land grant colleges and Tuskegee University. Funding 

 for formula grants has remained stable in recent years. CSRS nonformula grants 

 for enviroiuncntal R&D, including competitive grants and Special Research Grants 

 through itemized appropriatioru, increased considerably between 1990 and 1991. 

 Total CSRS fiinding for FY 1991 was an estimated $119 million.'" 



In addition to its fiinding for the Agricultural Research Service ($161 mil- 

 lion), the Cooperative Research Service ($119 million), and the Forest Service ($115 

 million), the Department's Economic Research Service spent an estimated $7 mil- 

 lion in FY 1991 on economic research related to natural resource management.'" 

 All told, the Department of Agriculture devoted an estimated $40; million to 

 enviroimient-related R&D in FY 1992- 



Following the recommendations of a repon published m 1989 by the Na- 

 tional Research Council regarding the need to strengthen the agricultural research 

 system, USDA has proposed a National Research Initiative. "> This initiative calls 

 for $500 million in new research grants over a period of ten years to focus on basic 

 rather than applied research and on agricultural productivity rather than produc- 

 tion; the grants would be made in the areas of natural resources and the environ- 

 ment, nutrition, food quality and health, animal systems, and plant sj-stems. 



The NRC has also looked more specifically at the need to study and in- 

 tegrate alternative agricultural practices."^ Citing EPA's finding that agriculture is 

 the largest nonpoint source of surface water pollution, the NRC sought to examine 

 "alternative" agricultural processes— that is, those practices that havt the goals of 

 reducing input costs, preserving the resource base, and protecting human health. 

 Alternative agriculture includes practices such as crop rotation, integrated pest man- 



