Politics & Government

Watkinsville's J. Phil Campbell Sr. Natural Resource Conservation Center Slated for Closure

The Oconee County outpost is part of $42 million in proposed cuts from the U.S. Agricultural Research Service in President Obama's 2012 budget.

The following statement was sent to Patch today by Sandy Miller Hays, director of information for the Agricultural Research Service, in response to a question we posed earlier this week:

"The President’s budget for FY2012 proposes funding of $1.137 billion for ARS.  This is a net reduction of approximately $42 million from the estimated 2011 levels.

"In order to operate within the proposed funding level, ARS has had to carefully evaluate all of its operations nationwide and has had to make some difficult decisions regarding termination of specific research projects as well as closure of specific laboratories and locations.  The in Watkinsville is one of the locations proposed for closure.
 
"The 2012 budget must be reviewed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and appropriations bills passed and signed by the President before the budget is 'final.'  This process typically takes several months, and the final budget would not be effective until Oct. 1, 2011.  Additional information provided to Congress on ARS’ 2012 budget request can be found at http://www.obpa.usda.gov/16ars2012notes.pdf.
 
"The President and ARS share a vision for building an economy that works for all Americans. But these are challenging times, and to afford the strategic investments we need to grow the economy in the long-term while also tackling the deficit, this budget reflects some tough choices. 

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"To be able to afford to make the strategic investments that will help our economy in the long term, we have to make some cuts to programs we care about.  While the budget proposes reductions in high-performing programs and termination of good projects, it’s not because they weren’t valuable programs; it’s simply because these tough budget times call for difficult choices to be made."


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