NEWS
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Office of Communications News Room 460-A
Washington, DC 20250-1300
Internet: News@usda.gov   Phone: 202-720-9035
World Wide Web Home Page: http://www.usda.gov

Release No.0464.02
                       Matt Lloyd (202) 720-4623
                      Dann Stuart (202) 690-0474
                                                

     USDA AND FLORIDA ANNOUNCE $153 MILLION
 CONSERVATION PROGRAM FOR FLORIDA, INCLUDING THE
                   EVERGLADES

     ORLANDO, Oct. 28, 2002--Agriculture Secretary
Ann M. Veneman announced today that the U.S.
Department of Agriculture and the state of Florida
are launching a $153 million voluntary program to
restore up to 30,000 acres of environmentally
sensitive Florida land, including the Everglades. 
Through the Florida Conservation Reserve
Enhancement Program (CREP), USDA, farmers and
Florida will work together to protect Florida's
diverse ecosystem by providing financial
incentives to farmers to retire cropland and
marginal pastureland.
     
     "This partnership is an example of federal
and state resources coming together to enhance our
natural resources," said Veneman.  "This
partnership means cleaner water and healthier
wildlife habitat for an array of threatened and
endangered species like the woodstork and indigo
snake. "

     The Florida CREP aims to reduce phosphorus
runoff through constructing wetland treatment
systems and riparian buffer strips.  CREP will
increase water storage capacity in the Lake
Okeechobee watershed through wetland restoration. 
Also, the program will reduce agricultural
pollutants in the lower St. Johns River and the
Ocklawaha and Indian River Basin.  Overall, the
program will help improve lands from the northeast
corner to the southern tip of the state.
 "This CREP will reduce sediment and
pollutants and encourage farmers to plant
vegetative cover, " said James Moseley, deputy
secretary of agriculture, who participated in the
announcement here with Florida Department of
Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner
Charles H. Bronson. "Florida's natural resources
and the communities around them will greatly
benefit from this program."

     The estimated program cost is $153 million
over 15 years, with $96 million coming from USDA's
Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) and $57 million
from Florida.  The state of Florida will also pay
farmers to extend CREP contracts and will seek to
enroll land in voluntary permanent conservation
easements.


     CREP uses federal and state resources to help
correct environmental problems.  CREP combines an
existing USDA program, the Conservation Reserve
Program (CRP), with state programs to provide a
framework for partnerships that meet specific
state and national environmental objectives.  The
program provides for voluntary agreements to
convert cropland to native grasses, trees and
other vegetation, in return for rental payments
and other incentives.

     The Bush administration is committed to
providing the tools and resources for
environmental stewardship and conservation of
working lands to ensure that the land remains both
healthy and productive.  The Farm Security and
Rural Investment Act of 2002 represents an
unprecedented investment in conservation on
America's private lands, nearly $40 billion over
the next decade in funding for conservation
programs that will protect millions of acres of
wetlands and other sensitive lands on working
farms and ranches.  
      
     On Oct. 1, 2002, USDA began issuing payments
of nearly $1.6 billion to eligible producers under
the CRP, which was reauthorized in the 2002 Farm
Bill, for producers to voluntarily retire
environmentally sensitive cropland for 10 to 15
years.  In return, USDA makes annual rental
payments to producers and shares the cost of
establishing approved conservation practices. 
Land to be enrolled must either be highly
erodible, contribute to a serious water quality
problem, provide important wildlife habitat, or
provide substantial environmental benefits if
devoted to certain specific conservation uses.

     For more information about the CRP or CREP,
producers should contact their local FSA office or
visit FSA's website at http://www.fsa.usda.gov .

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