WASHINGTON (AP) - Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer is winning praise from environmental groups for deciding not to allow farmers and ranchers to withdraw their land from a popular conservation program penalty-free.

Some farmers and ranchers had hoped to withdraw their land from the Conservation Reserve Program, which pays producers to set their land aside, after severe floods hit the Midwest last month. But Schafer said Tuesday that the damage to corn and soybean crops was less than originally feared.

Schafer says those who do withdraw from the program will still have to pay a penalty.

The Environmental Working Group and the Izaak Walton League of America immediately praised Schafer's decision, as did Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat.