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WASHINGTON, Jan. 17, 2008 - In a ceremony that was as much about the land itself as it was about the people who care for it, acting Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner announced today that USDA had enrolled the 1 millionth acre in its nationwide Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP).
Dozens braved a gray, snowy morning to attend the ceremony at USDA Headquarters. Television monitors at the front of the room showed footage demonstrating conservation practices and images of the first and 1 millionth acres enrolled in the program. Large, framed aerial photographs near the podium showed before-and-after photos of the first CREP project, 16.7 acres in Washington County, Md.; and the project containing the 1 millionth acre, a 60-acre plan enrolled in Pipestone County, Minn.
Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Teresa Lasseter introduced Conner. "For those of us who value conservation, we are in good hands with Acting Secretary Chuck Conner's leadership at USDA," she said.
Explaining that his own interest in conservation was formed on his Benton County, Ind., farm, Conner lauded the CREP program and its participants. "It's these farmers and local folks in villages and towns in the nation's watersheds who deserve the credit for CREP's overwhelming success," he said.
"CREP agreements address something that's easy to lose sight of," Conner said. "Nearly 70 percent of the United States is in private ownership. The care of 50 percent of the U.S. is in the hands of farmers and ranchers, who comprise about 2 percent of our citizens." He called that a "tremendous responsibility."
Conner said when the first CREP acres were enrolled in 1997, officials knew that, given real help, farmers would do their part for the health of the Chesapeake Bay and all of Maryland's waterways.
"What they didn't know then was the extent of farmers' commitment to do their part. What started on one family farm has now become more than 300,000 acres of land protected in the Chesapeake Bay watershed."
Conner honored Anna Bower, owner of the first acre enrolled in CREP; and Steve and Margaret Lange of Pipestone, Minn., whose 60-acre project enrolled in October 2007 pushed the total of CREP acres over the 1 million mark. As a memento of their commitment to the program, Conner and Lasseter presented the landowners with plaques and aerial photographs of their CREP acreages. Lange presented Conner with an authentic Native American "Four Winds Pipe", crafted from actual pipestone.
Also speaking at the event were Congressman Tim Holden (D-Penn.), vice chairman of the House Agriculture Committee; Congressman Tim Walz (D-Minn.), in whose district the 1 millionth CREP acre is located; Roy Hoagland, Vice President for Environmental Protection and Restoration at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation; and Scott Sutherland, Director of Governmental Affairs with Ducks Unlimited.
Lasseter concluded the event by thanking all who participated, saying, "Although we've come to the end of our ceremony, there are still miles to go on our collective journey when it comes to preserving and protecting the environment. Working together, we will no doubt continue to find common solutions that will benefit all who call this fragile planet home."
CREP is a community-based, results-oriented effort that focuses on local participation and leadership. A component of USDA's Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), CREP is a voluntary land set-aside program that helps agricultural producers protect environmentally sensitive land, decrease erosion, restore wildlife habitat and safeguard ground and surface water. Partnering with tribal, state and federal governments and, in some cases, private groups, USDA establishes contracts with agricultural producers to set aside highly erodible and other sensitive cropland and pastureland. During the 10- to 15-year contract period, participants convert enrolled land to grass, trees, wetlands, wildlife cover and other conservation uses.
During a ceremony at USDA Headquarters in Washington, Acting Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner presents an award to Pipestone County, Minn., landowners Margaret and Steve Lange for enrolling the 1 millionth acre in the Farm Service Agency's (FSA) Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP).
FSA Administrator Teresa Lasseter speaks at the Farm Service Agency's (FSA) Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) 1 Millionth Acre Ceremony.
USDA officials, CREP partners, farm landowners and others gathered in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the enrollment of the 1 millionth acre in the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program. From left to right are: Scott Sutherland, Ducks Unlimited; Margaret and Steve Lange, Pipestone County, Minn.; Acting Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner; Congressman Tim Walz (D-MN); Anna Bowers, Washington County, Md.; Roy Hoagland, Chesapeake Bay Foundation; and Teresa Lasseter, FSA Administrator.
When Anna Bowers enrolled some of her Washington County, Md., farmland into the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) in 1997, she never dreamed that just over ten years later it would be part of a million acres of land adding significant improvements to our environment.
The Farm Service Agency's CREP is a voluntary land retirement program that helps agricultural producers protect environmentally sensitive land, decrease erosion, restore wildlife habitat and safeguard ground and surface water.
Bowers started farming as a young girl. She was 12 years old when she began farming on her parent's land, located along the Conococheague Creek in Washington County, Md. At the farm, named Cunningham Acres, she helped raise a herd of Hereford beef cattle and assisted with the corn, wheat, barley, oats, soybeans and hay crops. Bowers became active in 4-H and showed her own baby beef projects. She continued to work on the farm after high school.
After she married, she and her husband, Junior, raised large acreages of fruit and vegetable crops; mostly sweet corn, cantaloupes and strawberries in the Washington County, Md., area. In 1994, she returned to Cunningham Acres when the couple built a new home and moved there to farm.
When Bowers' husband became ill, the couple needed to find a way to make their operation more manageable. Some of their ground was wet and swampy and presented daunting challenges. After farming on it proved difficult, they tried using it for pasture. However, after each flood, they'd have to repair the electric fence. Then Bowers heard about the CREP program.
"I heard about the program from a friend of mine who worked for the extension service," Bowers said. "My husband and I thought enrolling our land into the conservation program would be a good idea."
So Bowers enrolled 16.7 acres of the family farmland in CREP and the contract began on Dec. 1, 1997. Starting the next spring, federal and state CREP partners planted 4,000 trees along Conococheague Creek, including hardwood, walnut, oak and ash. They fenced off a buffer from the livestock and installed a watering system.
Bowers further improved the wildlife habitat that year when she enrolled 12.7 acres of cropland to plant native warm season grasses under FSA's general Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). CRP is the country's largest private-lands environmental improvement program, of which CREP is an offshoot.
Bowers said the programs have worked to foster a robust habitat.
"They said I would see at least a 75 percent growth and notice different birds and they were right," Bowers said. "I have like a wildlife resort back here, with the pond, blue heron, ducks, stocked with small fish and bass."
Her husband died in 2005, but Bowers still maintains her farm. She raises potatoes and hay crops and keeps a small herd of cattle, goats and sheep. She said maintaining the trees and grass on the CREP and CRP acres doesn't require much effort because she "just lets them grow."
Bowers is involved with helping her community in many ways. She is active with the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, the nation's oldest agricultural organization; it provides service to agriculture and rural areas on a wide variety of issues, including economic development, education, family endeavors, and legislation designed to assure a strong and viable Rural America. She is on the exec committee for the state's Grange, and holds the title, "Master," at the regional-level Pomona and the local Wacohu Granges.
In addition to farming, Bowers serves as an X-ray technician for the Robinwood Surgery Center, Hagerstown, Md., where she has worked for 48 years.
Bowers said she was glad to see a million acres of land enrolled in CREP, noting that her neighbor has enrolled.
"It's good to do something for the environment, clean water and air," Bowers said.
See below for photographs from Anna Bower's farmland in Washington County, Md. Bowers enrolled the first acre under the CREP.
See below for photographs from Steve and Margaret Lange's farmland in Pipestone, Minnesota. The Langes enrolled the millionth acre under CREP.
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