Groups want to shift farm bill's focus Money marked for crop support should go to clean up bays, they say.(A SECTION)

Byline: CORY REISS WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON -- Environmentalists launched a campaign Thursday to shift billions of dollars in pending farm legislation from crop supports to conservation. They blamed farmers and wetlands destruction for oxygen-deprived "dead zones" in estuaries around the country.

A coalition of environmental groups released an analysis of the nation's most nutrient-rich bays, including Charlotte Harbor and Tampa Bay, that said large amounts of algal-feeding nitrogen come from farms. The nutrients lead to deadly conditions for fish and other sea life.

The report outlined a new approach for environmentalists in the debate over a …