AmmoLand.com

Conservation Reserve Program Sign-Up Benefits Producers, Protects Sensitive Habitat

USDA Forest Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2010 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA will accept 4.3 million acres offered by landowners under the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) general sign-up.

The selections preserve and enhance environmentally sensitive lands, including wetlands, while providing payments to property owners.

“Interest in this open enrollment period was high, and I’m pleased that producers and landowners across the nation continue to realize the environmental benefits of enrolling land in the CRP,” said Secretary Vilsack.

For this 39th general sign-up more than 50,000 offers were received on more than 4.8 million acres, nationwide. Enrollment of the 4.3 million acres will keep the program enrollment close to the 32 million acre statutory cap, which will maintain and enhance the significant environmental benefits the program has already achieved. CRP’s 39th signup will bring the total enrollment in the program to 31.2 million acres, leaving sufficient room under the 32 million acre cap to continue enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, continuous signup and other CRP initiatives through FY 2011.

Under CRP, farmers and ranchers plant grasses and trees in crop fields and along streams or rivers. The plantings reduce soil and nutrients from washing into waterways, reduce soil erosion that may otherwise contribute to poor air and water quality, and provide valuable habitat for wildlife. Plant cover established on the acreage accepted into the CRP will reduce nutrient and sediment runoff in our nation’s rivers and streams. The CRP has restored more than two million acres of wetlands and associated buffers and reduced soil erosion by more than 400 million tons per year.

USDA selected offers for enrollment based on an Environmental Benefits Index (EBI) comprised of five environmental factors plus cost. The five environmental factors are: (1) wildlife enhancement, (2) water quality, (3) soil erosion, (4) enduring benefits, and (5) air quality. The minimal acceptable EBI level for this signup is 200.

The average rental rate per acre for this signup is about $46. USDA implemented a number of measures including using additional EBI point incentives for producers to submit cost-effective offers, and producer outreach activities to encourage competitive offers on the most environmentally sensitive lands. These measures will maintain the high environmental benefits while decreasing the historic cost of the program.

Under CRP, there are more than 31.3 million acres enrolled on more than 473,000 contracts. These 10 to 15 year contracts provide long term enduring conservation benefits in return for an annual rental payment.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice), or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).

Filed under: Conservation News by Ammoland 1 Comment »

TRCP Commends USDA Decision to Fund Private-Lands Conservation Programs
Agreement allocates monies for Farm Bill conservation programs that sustain fish and wildlife habitat, ensure continued sportsmen’s access.

TRCP Commends USDA Decision to Fund Private-Lands Conservation Programs

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON, DC --(Ammoland.com)-The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership today commended a move by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fund important private-lands conservation programs that help sustain valuable fish and wildlife habitat and enable access by hunters and anglers.

The USDA final draft crop insurance agreement invests billions of dollars in critical Farm Bill components such as the Conservation Reserve Program, America’s largest and most successful agricultural-lands conservation program.

The USDA decision generates $6 billion in savings, one-third of which will be dedicated toward deliverables that include increasing the enrollment acreage of the Conservation Reserve Program to the maximum authorized level of 32 million acres. The monies also will be invested in new and amended Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program initiatives and CRP monitoring.

“This far-reaching decision by the USDA marks a victory for agricultural-lands conservation and the sportsmen-conservation community,” said Tom Franklin, TRCP director of policy and government relations.

“These Farm Bill programs are crucial to our country’s ability to sustain private-lands fish and wildlife habitat – habitat that forms the bedrock of outdoor sporting traditions for millions of Americans.”

The Farm Bill is one of the nation’s most important pieces of legislation for soil and water quality and the fish and wildlife that require high-quality habitat. Its Conservation Reserve Program encourages farmers and ranchers to plant ground cover that bolsters soil, water and wildlife resources, improving habitat for waterfowl, upland birds and wild turkeys, and facilitates installation of filter strips and riparian buffers, sustaining water quality by reducing sedimentation and chemical runoff.

Through the CRP, private landowners have restored 2 million acres of wetlands and adjacent buffers and conserved 170,000 miles of streams, resulting in the annual production of 13.5 million pheasants nationwide and 2.2 million ducks in the Prairie Pothole region.

“The TRCP and our partners consistently have championed key components of the Farm Bill such as the Conservation Reserve Program,” Franklin continued, “and we appreciate the federal government’s willingness to invest in efforts that remain a priority for hunters and anglers.”

Yet the TRCP voiced continued concern about delays by the USDA’s Farm Service Agency in releasing regulations and funding for the Voluntary Access and Habitat Incentive Program, or “Open Fields,” which was authorized by Congress for the first time in the 2008 Farm Bill. Open Fields provides states $50 million in federal funds to create or enhance hunter-access programs on private lands and has been a flagship issue for the TRCP since the group’s inception.

Learn more about the TRCP’s work on the Farm Bill.

Read the TRCP report “Growing Conservation in the Farm Bill.”

Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations
and grassroots partners working together to preserve the traditions
of hunting and fishing.

Filed under: Conservation News by Ammoland No Comments »