PF Encourages Farmers &
Landowners to Enroll in Conservation Reserve Program
Sign-up in nation’s most successful conservation program begins
today
St. Paul,
Minn. – August 30, 2004
– Beginning today, interested farmers and landowners may offer
bids to enroll lands in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
(USDA) Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The sign-up period
starts today and runs through September 24, 2004. CRP is the
nation’s most successful conservation program; preventing soil
erosion, improving water quality, and creating wildlife habitat,
while providing important financial payments to farmers and
landowners.
This CRP
sign-up comes on the heels of President Bush’s August 4th
announcement at a LeSueur, Minn. farm. As part of that
announcement, President Bush reported that CRP will continue into
the future and that the USDA will reach a fully-enrolled program
of 39.2 million acres nationwide. Currently, CRP enrollment is at
34.8 million acres. Today’s sign-up is the first step toward a
fully-enrolled program and Pheasants Forever (PF) encourages
interested landowners to consider offering their environmentally
sensitive lands.
“CRP is
Pheasants Forever’s favorite program,” explained Howard Vincent,
PF president and CEO. “Not only has CRP been shown to improve
pheasant numbers, but it has been greatly beneficial for a variety
of game and non-game wildlife species, as well as helping to
create cleaner waters and prevent soil erosion. As 2.5 million
pheasant hunters set out this fall, many will experience the
tangible and the aesthetic benefits CRP has had, and will continue
to have, on our nation’s landscape.”
Originally
established in 1985, CRP offers annual payments for 10-15 year
contracts to participants who establish grass, shrub, and/or tree
cover on environmentally sensitive lands. Not only have these CRP
lands been shown to improve water quality, protect environmentally
sensitive soils from erosion, and provide critical wildlife
habitat, but CRP also helps stabilize farmer’s incomes through the
annual payments. In addition, CRP lands contribute at least $4.7
billion annually from hunting expenditures; much of which benefits
rural communities.
Enrolling land
in CRP is a competitive process. Offering only the most
environmentally-sensitive acres and agreeing to plant a
high-scoring cover-type benefiting wildlife are the most important
decisions a landowner can make when considering the CRP bid
process. PF recommends interested landowners contact their local
Farm Service Agency’s Service Center to learn about offering a
competitive bid. To find the Service Center in your area, go to:
http://oip.usda.gov/scripts/ndisapi.dll/oip_agency/index?state=us&agency=fsa
.
Pheasants
Forever is a non-profit conservation organization dedicated to the
protection and enhancement of pheasant and other wildlife
populations in North America through habitat improvement, land
management, public awareness, and education. Such efforts benefit
landowners and wildlife alike. There are more than 108,000 PF
members in over 600 local chapters across the United States and
Canada
