Elect Ron Kind for Congress - Wisconsin Third Congressional District

With the Mississippi River as the backdrop for television news cameras Monday, U.S. Rep. Ron Kind talked about a way he and the U.S. Department of Agriculture can clean up the Mississippi River.

Here's what the USDA is doing: As part of the last farm bill, the USDA, through its National Resources Conservation Service, will help farmers in selected watersheds begin conservation practices to avoid or prevent nutrient and sediment runoff - and improve wildlife habitat.

NRCS will spend about $80 million each year for the next four years to work in Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee and Wisconsin to reduce runoff and improve water quality.

That's a big deal, Kind said, in part because sediment and nutrient runoff help contribute to the huge "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico. (For city slickers, "nutrient" is a euphemism for animal waste.)

While the NRCS works with individuals on runoff and habitat issues, Kind hopes to turn loose the creative power of the U.S. Geological Survey to set up monitoring stations and use computer models to pinpoint pollution "hot spots" on the river.

Kind has introduced the Upper Mississippi River Basin Protection Act, which with its water quality monitoring system and computer modeling programs could dovetail with the efforts of the USDA's conservation service.

This isn't the first time Kind has introduced this proposal. In 2002, the House passed the same bill, introduced by Kind, but it was defeated in the Senate.

This time, he's hoping the existence of the conservation service's programs will help both House and Senate members see the value of both approaches.

Kind said we've spent millions of dollars on efforts to rehabilitate the Everglades and ocean coastal areas.

Now it's time to help clean up the Mississippi River, he said.

Back to the visual: While the cameras rolled, he intoned, "We're here next to one of the largest and most beautiful national wildlife refuges in the entire United States - the Upper Mississippi Wildlife Refuge - and it has incalculable value for our area economically. From commercial navigation to tourism to outdoor recreation, it is a part of our being and quality of life that we enjoy in western Wisconsin."

As he spoke, a pair of ducks swam in close to shore - probably trying to hear the latest news.