WARWICK, R.I. — The Rhode Island State Conservation Committee looks like countless other public bodies that meet under the state’s open meeting laws: representatives gathered around a conference table to discuss challenges facing the communities they serve.

Tucked into the July 8 agenda was a piece of federal legislation with far-reaching implications: federal tools that could help Rhode Island protect its forests and support its farmers.

One of those tools is the farm bill, which has shaped the nation’s food system and natural resource programs since Congress first passed it in 1933.

Renewed every five years, each version carries new stakes as farmers and conservation leaders confront growing challenges from extreme weather to rising costs.

The legislation has grown beyond its New Deal roots since President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed it into law during the Great Depression.

During the recent committee meeting, Dick Went, a member, recalled a 2008 milestone: the inclusion of forestry in the legislation.

That expansion is one reason Thomas Morgart, acting Rhode Island conservationist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, is closely watching Congress.

Among the proposals under consideration is a forest conservation easement program, which Morgart told the committee Rhode Island “desperately” needs.

Modeled after the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program’s Agricultural Land Easement (ACEP-ALE), it would provide a similar tool for protecting forests.

“Hopefully, that will pass,” said Morgart, noting that while the proposal carries little funding, it would still be a “big win” for New England, where forests are more common than prime farmland.

The House passed its version in April. The Senate has not yet voted on its version.

The committee also discussed another proposal, though it’s not part of the farm bill.

The Small Farms Establishment Act, reintroduced by Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., would create an Office of Small Farms within the USDA to provide grants and direct assistance to small farms.

The bill defines small farms as those with less than 180 acres, a category that includes about 70% of farmers nationwide. In Rhode Island, more than 70% of farmers are smaller than 10 acres, ecoRI News once reported.

Although Went said he was still learning about the proposal and planned to research it further, he told the committee it was “not a bad thing for small farmers.”