Market Access Program The Northwest Horticultural Council advocates full funding for the United States Department of Agriculture's Market Access Program (MAP) as called for by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002.   For the federal government's FY 2008 budget, this means $200 million.   The Pear Bureau Northwest, the Washington Apple Commission, and the Washington State Fruit Commission each are among the nation’s active participants in the Market Access Program, a joint private-public partnership aimed at increasing export demand for U.S. agricultural products.   The Northwest Horticultural Council is a founding member of the Coalition to Promote U.S. Agricultural Exports.  Michael Wootton, a vice president of Sunkist Growers, Inc., is the 2007 chairman of the coalition, with Christian Schlect, president of the NHC, among those others serving on its governing board.  Over eighty organizations representing farmers, cooperatives, small businesses, regional trade organizations and state departments of agriculture belong to this effort, which has as its primary mission the support of both MAP and its parent agency, USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service.   3/19/07 Northwest Horticultural Council 105 South 18th Street, Suite 105 Yakima, Washington 98901, USA Voice: (509) 453-3193, Fax: (509) 457-7615 E-mail general@nwhort.org