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| Release No. 0431.98 Backgrounder Washington Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program Questions and Answers What is the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program? The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) is a joint federal and state land retirement conservation program that targets significant environmental effects related to agriculture. It is a voluntary program that uses financial incentives to encourage farmers and ranchers to enroll in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) in contracts of 10 to 15 years duration to remove lands from agricultural production. What is the Washington State CREP? The Washington CREP, developed to assist in the restoration of habitats for salmon listed under the Federal Endangered Species Act, will restore freshwater riparian habitat along as many as 3,000 miles of salmon streams throughout Washington State. It is a federal and state agreement to retire environmentally sensitive agricultural land through the Conservation Reserve Program. What are the goals of the Washington State CREP? Washington State and USDA have jointly developed several goals for the program, including –
Washington State will conduct monitoring throughout the project to evaluate and record progress in achieving these goals. What areas in Washington State are included in the program? The project area consists of all streams in Washington across agricultural crop and marginal pasture lands that provide spawning habitat for salmon species that have been listed under the Federal Endangered Species Act. It is estimated that there are several thousand miles of such streams. The program provides for enrollment of up to 100,000 acres that will generally consist of riparian buffers up to 150 feet in width. What are the benefits of the Washington State CREP? CREP will provide a number of significant environmental benefits to Washington State and to its salmon. The establishment of forested riparian buffers will help restructure streams and increase the availability of insects and other salmon food. Trees along streams will provide shade and reduce the rate of solar water heating. And riparian buffers will reduce pollution and improve stream water quality. What is the cost? For enrollment of 100,000 acres, the total financial obligation will be approximately $250 million over 15 years, with $210 million coming from the USDA, and the balance from the State and producers. Which conservation practice will be used? Riparian buffers, an area of trees and/or shrubs adjacent to and up-gradient from water bodies, will be planted. Who can signup for the Washington State CREP and when? Enrollment for the Washington State CREP will be on a continuous basis beginning this winter. In addition to offering acreage along salmon spawning streams, the applicant must satisfy the basic eligibility criteria for CRP. Land must be either cropland or marginal pasture land. Cropland must have been planted to crops two of the past five years and be physically and legally capable of being cropped. Marginal pasture land can be enrolled provided it is suitable for use as a riparian buffer planted to trees. Producers are eligible if the land has been owned or operated for at least one year prior to enrollment. Lands that have an existing CRP contract or an approved offer with a contract pending are not eligible for CREP until that contract expires. What are the payments under CREP? There are three types of payments for which participants in the Washington State CREP will be eligible: annual rental payments, financial assistance in the installation of the conservation practices, and annual maintenance payments. The annual rental payment will be based on the soil rental rate, as calculated by USDA’s Farm Service Agency. Producers will receive an incentive payment above the mean annual per acre rental rate of 50 percent for the installation of the riparian buffer. Additionally, producers will receive a 10 percent incentive payment for lands protected as agricultural lands under the Washington Growth Management Act. USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation will pay 50 percent of the cost of installing conservation practices (installing new vegetation, fencing, etc.) and the State will pay 37.5 percent of the cost of the conservation practices. Participants will receive $5 per acre for an annual maintenance incentive payment. Where can people get more information about the Washington CREP? They should contact their local USDA Service Center, Soil and Water Conservation District, or the State of Washington’s Conservation Commission. Information can also be obtained from the FSA web site at # October 19, 1998 |
