Pickens is an encyclopedia of facts and figures. At 80, he can still tick off oil reserves in Russia, the water-to-oil ratio in Saudi Arabia’s Ghawar oil field, and a whole list of other key indices. Yet to hear him tell it, Dole had a pretty good grasp of higher math as well, and it went something like this: 21 farm states = 42 senators, and they were all for ethanol. His conclusion? “We’re going to have ethanol.”

That was about 20 years ago, and Bob Dole was right. Yellow ethanol – the fuel made from corn – has come on in a big way. Between 2000 and 2006, the amount of corn used for ethanol surged 400 percent from 600 million bushels to more than 2.4 billion according to the USDA. As you might imagine, the price of Iowa farm land has also skyrocketed to more than $4,000 an acre last year. But those days are numbered.

Rising food costs and a sluggish economy are turning the tide against corn ethanol. Last month it was mainstream media: this TIME cover story titled “The Clean Energy Myth.” Today it was the business press: this Wall Street Journal op-ed titled “The Biofuels Backlash.” With millions of consumers up in arms about the rising costs of fuel and food and all three presidential candidates looking for answers, how long can Bob Dole’s 42 senators hold the line?

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I can’t say for sure that the discussion in Congress was about the Conservation Reserve Program, but it’s hard to imagine any other program that could have fit the bill the lawmakers were talking about. The debate centered on when food prices – specifically corn, grain, and rice – would start dropping. Whoever was speaking kept highlighting that land that would be coming out of contracts would undoubtedly be used for farming as demand has increased for food.

Growing corn pays more now than it used to, and it sure pays more than growing dirt with land enrolled in the CRP.

From the moment I began reporting for The Land Report, I became a witness to this debate. Last year I saw it first-hand as the demand for ethanol sent corn prices through the roof to $4 a bushel. More and more land was being converted from farming and expiring CRP contracts to produce ethanol. Now it has become clear that our love affair with this wonder fuel has failed. Not only does it not solve our fuel problems, but it has sent our food prices shooting skyward.

So what we’ve got is a obsession with an idea that won’t work (see: ethanol) causing food prices to further strain the economy (see: your local grocery store) pushing some to rethink their efforts to preserve land (see: CRP) because of a need to generate different sources of income (see: recession).

So what say you? Do you have CRP land that you’re rethinking the contract on? What are your options and how much do you stand to gain from it should you pull land out?

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Maine’s North Woods is a national treasure. It boasts more than 3,000 lakes and ponds interspersed among 10+ million acres of timber. Several top Land Report 100ers – including the Irving family (No. 3), the Pingree heirs (No. 6), and the Huber family (No. 10) - have substantial holdings in the region known as the Unorganized Territory. Needless to say, a long list of interested parties will want to have a say: landowners, timber industry representatives, conservationists, and developers.

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Much of the country faced a harsher than normal winter this year, and the Yellowstone area was no different. According to this report, 700 bison died as a result of starvation while 1,600 more were killed as a result of efforts to control brucellosis.

Montana’s cattlemen are at the center of the slaughter. Even the smallest trace of brucellosis could spell doom for the industry.

Montana has spent millions of dollars over the years to get brucellosis eradicated from our livestock,” said Martin Davis, who has a cattle ranch within roaming distance north of the park. “And to put that in jeopardy – no one wants that to happen.”

Control of the bison population is essential, Davis said.

“Bottom line is, there’s too many of them. They’ve got to be managed. They ran out of pasture. They’re eating themselves out of house and home.”

Obviously cattle ranchers in the area are interested in protecting their valuable invesment as well as herds belonging to fellow ranchers. But with brucellosis transfer so difficult to document, are the efforts overly protective? The program to bring the bison back has worked and herd numbers have been strong in recent years.

The article goes on to point out that private property and grazing rights are an issue as well. If a harsh winter forces bison to seek out other sources of food, bison will inevitably travel onto private land searching for grass.

So how do we balance preservation of this natural resource with protecting the rights of property owners and the cattle industry?

Weigh in using the comment form below.

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