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USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
Wisconsin Report 2001 |
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From the State Conservationist
Highlights of the Year
Technical Assistance
Farm Bill Programs
Environmental Quality Incentives Program
Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program
Conservation Reserve
Wetlands Reserve Program
Farmland Protection Program
Forestry Incentives Program
Dam Rehabilitation Projects
Emergency Watershed Protection
Soil Survey
Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative
Wisconsin Buffer Council
Plants like this purple coneflower are
part of the hundreds of acres of native prairie being established through
CRP and WHIP.
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Dear Fellow Friends of Wisconsin,
I proudly present this 2001 USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
state report to you, the shareholders in Wisconsin�s soil and water
resources.
Wisconsin�s private landowners continue to respond to the soil and water
resource challenges facing us. Each year, gains in conservation take us
closer to our goal of maintaining a productive land in harmony with a
quality environment.
This year we welcome the formation of the Wisconsin Tribal Conservation
Advisory Council. This is the first such council in the nation, dedicated to
providing a strong voice for Wisconsin tribes to advise USDA and NRCS on
tribal needs.
We are also proud to announce the 2001 American Customer Satisfaction
Index which showed that conservation technical assistance (CTA) provided by
NRCS and land conservation departments was rated very highly by customers
throughout the United States. Some key findings:
Landowners gave a satisfaction rating of 81 out of 100
points for conservation technical assistance.
On a Trust Index, customers gave conservation
assistance 90 out of 100 points.
This rating is 10 points higher than Americans rate
private sector services and more than 12 points higher than the index for
Federal government services.
Users of CTA value its convenience, usefulness,
accessibility, and clarity, as well as the courtesy and professionalism of
our employees.
NRCS and Wisconsin conservation partners met or exceeded nearly all goals
for key conservation activities for fiscal year 2001. This is the second
year NRCS has used the Performance Results Measurement System to track
progress in 15 categories, with the information publicly available on the
NRCS national website.
These strides are realized because of landowner commitment and the
efforts of a broad-based conservation partnership consisting of NRCS, county
Land Conservation Committees and Departments, DNR, DATCP, UW Extension, FSA,
and many other state and federal agencies, as well as the Native American
Tribes in Wisconsin. Private and non-profit sectors further strengthen the
conservation partnership, particularly farm and environmental groups,
Resource Conservation & Development councils, the Wisconsin Land and Water
Conservation Association, the Wisconsin Association of Land Conservation
Employees and a host of others. This partnership has reaffirmed its
commitment to locally led conservation as one of the most effective ways to
help individual landowners and communities achieve their conservation goals
through a voluntary, incentive-based approach to land stewardship.
This has been a banner year in resource conservation, but there is still
much to be accomplished. I invite you to read this report, get to know us
better, and determine your role in conserving Wisconsin�s natural resources.
Many thanks to Wisconsin�s NRCS employees, conservation partnership
members, and private landowners who are dedicated to work that is vital to
all people in Wisconsin.
Sincerely,
Patricia S. Leavenworth
State Conservationist
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Conservation Technical Assistance
For almost 70 years, NRCS has assisted Wisconsin landowners in
conserving natural resources on private land. This technical assistance is
the primary mission of the Natural Resources Conservation Service. NRCS is
committed to providing leadership, training and support to meet the
challenges of natural resource conservation.
NRCS employees work in every county in Wisconsin. They are soil
conservationists and technicians, engineers, biologists, agronomists, and
soil scientists, and a host of others, who work on the land helping people
make wise land-use decisions.
Conservation Technical Assistance helps landowners, communities, units of
state and local government, and other federal agencies in planning and
implementing conservation systems to meet their goals for resource
stewardship. These systems reduce erosion, improve soil and water quality,
improve and conserve wetlands, enhance fish and wildlife habitat, improve
air quality and reduce the potential for flooding.
Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA) in Wisconsin is carried out in
cooperation with the county Land Conservation Departments with the goal of
seamless delivery of local, state and federal conservation programs. Some
115,032 clients received some form of CTA in Wisconsin in 2001. Conservation
plans were completed for 453,797 acres, preventing 800,210 tons/acre/year of
soil erosion. Nutrient management plans were developed on 265,203 acres to
reduce runoff of nutrients to surface water and percolation of nutrients to
groundwater.
CTA provides an important source of engineering assistance to livestock
operations. Manure storage and barnyard runoff control systems are essential
for Wisconsin�s livestock operations with 246 animal waste storage
facilities planned and 155 installed in 2001. The demand for CTA continues
to grow in Wisconsin. State environmental regulations for agriculture are
pending which will significantly increase the demand for conservation
planning for erosion control, nutrient management planning and the design
and installation of animal waste storage facilities. |
Farm Bill Programs
In Wisconsin, strong interest and participation in the
Environmental Quality
Incentives Program (EQIP) continued through FY 2001. Applications
requesting Federal cost-share funds totaling over $5.2 million were
submitted by 838 landowners. The Wisconsin FY 2001 allocation for financial
assistance was about $3,503,000. There were over 500 applicants for the
funds available for Statewide Concerns. This is in spite of the fact that
the only practices eligible for cost sharing statewide were nutrient
management, residue management, prescribed grazing, well abandonment, and
barnyard clean water work.
About $3.5 million in EQIP financial assistance has been distributed in
Wisconsin through 20 Geographic Priority Areas and 4 Statewide Natural
Resource Concern projects. In addition to financial assistance, $170,000 in
EQIP education funds was awarded in grants to organizations and groups
providing education to agricultural producers on resource conservation and
environmental concerns throughout the state. Since the inception of EQIP in
Wisconsin, over 18,000 distinct conservation practices have been planned in
EQIP contracts.
Many of the most successful projects in Wisconsin have been nontraditional
in that they have benefited producers who are not normally participants in
USDA programs. Since 1997, seven EQIP priority areas have been on tribal
lands. Some have dealt with the control of invasive species to protect
significant ecosystems and areas important to tribal subsistence
agriculture. The EQIP educational assistance component has also been
involved with tribal activities, as well as working with Amish and Hmong
producers. |
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The Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program
emphasizes re-establishment of habitats for wildlife species that are on the
decline. The habitats of main concern are grasslands and oak savannas.
Special emphasis has been given to threatened and endangered species
including the federally listed Karner blue butterfly. Several miles of fish
streams, primarily coldwater trout streams, have been restored. WHIP has
provide d funding for several Native American projects including the
reestablishment of wild rice beds which not only provide harvestable food,
but also important waterfowl habitat. There are presently 250 active
contracts in our state covering 6,500 acres.
This includes over 5,000 acres
of oak savannas and native grasslands, which are in the process of being
restored, as well as 40 miles of fish stream habitat. In addition to NRCS
cost sharing of $620,000, conservation partners have contributed over
$900,000 for projects and landowners themselves have contributed over
$425,000. WHIP offers cost sharing for non-game species which is generally
overlooked in other programs designed for game species. |
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Conservation Reserve
In Wisconsin,
the Conservation Reserve Program reduces soil erosion and sedimentation in
streams and lakes, improves water quality, establishes wildlife habitat and
enhances forest and wetland resources. NRCS provides technical assistance to
develop conservation plans for lands that are accepted into the Conservation
Reserve Program. Presently there are over 629,000 acres enrolled in CRP.
Through the continuous sign-up, landowners are able to sign up for certain
high priority conservation practices any time during the year. These
practices provide protection for streams and wetlands.
Late in 2001, the State of Wisconsin and USDA launched the
long awaited Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP). It is a
voluntary program offering financial incentives to help farmers protect and
improve water quality and wildlife habitat in high priority areas. CREP is a
federal-state-local partnership among USDA agencies, the State of Wisconsin,
and county land conservation committees. Up to 100,000 acres may be enrolled
in the program in Wisconsin through the end of 2002. CREP will protect water
quality through the installation of 85,000 acres of riparian buffers and
filter strips. The program will also enhance 15,000 acres of wildlife
habitat in two designated geographic areas known as "grassland areas". The
restoration of native grasses and wetlands in these areas will increase the
population of many species of grassland birds, including the greater prairie
chicken. |
Farmland Protection Program
The
Farmland
Protection Program keeps productive farmland in agricultural use by
assisting States, Tribes, non-profit, and local governmental entities in the
purchase of conservation easements or development rights on prime, unique,
or other productive farmland. Through a cooperative agreement, NRCS provides
up to 50 percent of the purchase cost for easements of 30 years or longer on
eligible farmland. Since the FPP was established in 1996, Congress has
authorized $52.5 million to assist local farmland protection programs
purchase conservation easements on working farms. In 2001, $17.5 million was
obligated nationwide, to protect 44 square miles of productive farmland in
28 states. In Wisconsin a total of $496,700 was approved: $282,200 for the
Kinnickinnic River Land Trust for a farm in Pierce County, $37,500 for the
Jefferson County Land Trust, and $177,000 for the Town of Dunn in Dane
County. Two easements totaling 299 acres have been purchased in the Town of
Dunn. Purchase of the remaining easements is pending.
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Wetlands Reserve Program
Wisconsin has over 30,000 acres in WRP easements and over half those acres
are already fully restored. Wisconsin was one of the first states to
establish a monitoring system and hire a full time monitoring biologist to
responsibly manage the acres under easement. We currently have a backlog of
over 8,000 acres waiting for funding with more applications arriving in
daily. We have developed a strong partnership with other state and federal
agencies as well as non-profit organizations in an effort to regain some of
the crucial wetlands lost over the years. Wisconsin has restored a range of
wetland types from pothole restorations to open water areas where organic
soils once were drained to grow vegetables. The monitoring effort has
detected the reappearance of forbs and fauna once thought to be destroyed,
now returning.
In 2001, we funded over 6,100 acres and 41 contracts. The most obvious
benefit from wetland restoration is increase in wildlife habitat, but also
benefiting is floodwater retention, groundwater recharge and filtration of
runoff from neighboring farms. Many farmers deciding to retire or cease
farming would often have to sell their farms, in many cases to developers.
With this program, they can give back to conservation while keeping their
land in the family, a "win-win" situation for all. |
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Dam Rehabilitation Projects
Wisconsin was chosen as one of four states in the nation to receive
nearly $4 million for a pilot project to rehabilitate aging watershed dams.
Several projects are now underway in Buffalo, Vernon, St. Croix and Pierce
Counties.
Rehabilitation of the dams can include:
v Extending the life of the dam
v Addressing the deterioration of dam
components
v Repairs from catastrophic storms
v Decommissioning or removal of the
dam
v Upgrades to meet federal and state
dam safety laws.
Project planning and engineering design for dams in Pepin, Iowa, Sauk and
Vernon Counties will begin in 2002.
The Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) program purchases floodplain
easements to reduce risk to lives and property from floods within a
watershed. The program can assist sponsors and individuals to plan and carry
out emergency measures to safeguard life and property threatened by a
natural disaster. The program offers help in removing debris from streams,
stabilizing stream banks, establishing cover on eroding lands, repairing
conservation practices, and purchasing floodplain easements.
In 2001, Wisconsin received $500,000 to repair damage caused by the
floods in the spring of 2000. Of this amount, $418,000 was spent to acquire
five permanent easements in Dane, Green Lake and Iowa County to restore 286
acres of wetlands which will reduce flood damages in the future.
Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative
NRCS provides funds through the Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI)
to support demonstration projects and educational programs, as well as
technical assistance to graziers in Wisconsin. Managed grazing plans were
developed for 177 producers this year in Wisconsin. Over 17,000 acres of
managed grazing, and 11,000 acres of grazing land were protected from
erosion, runoff, poor plant and soil health, and loss of animal performance.
Grazing networks held educational meetings for agricultural lenders and
agribusiness professionals about the benefits of managed grazing so they can
adequately respond to the needs of graziers. The GLCI Steering Committee
helped promote two NRCS cost sharing programs, the Environmental Quality
Incentives Program and the Soil and Water Conservation Assistance Program,
to implement managed grazing on farms in Wisconsin. The total amount of cost
sharing to grazing state-wide through these two programs was $563,000. NRCS
produced a new publication and display "Greener Pastures: Is Managed Grazing
Right for You?" available at NRCS offices and online at www.wi.nrcs.usda.gov.
Wisconsin Buffer Initiative
The Wisconsin Buffer Council, with representatives from private industry,
farm and environmental groups, and agencies, are working to coordinate
efforts and promote buffers in Wisconsin. Through the efforts of the
Wisconsin Buffer Council, $68,000 was raised to fund 17 internships in 2001.
The interns worked over 5,000 hours, contacting 1,296 landowners and
reviewing over 6,700 acres of cropland/pasture for buffer eligibility. In
2001, Wisconsin landowners applied 14,203 acres of buffers benefiting
riparian streams. Funding partners included: Pheasants Forever, National
Wild Turkey Federation, Wisconsin Electric Power Company, Calumet County
Land Conservation Department, Manitowoc County Land Conservation Department,
The Nature Conservancy, Department of Natural Resources, and the Natural
Resources Conservation Service. The goal for 2002 is to secure $160,000 for
the placement of 40 interns, primarily focused in the counties eligible for
the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program. Interns help promote buffers
with landowners and provide technical assistance to install buffers.
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Forestry Incentives
Program
Almost half of Wisconsin is forested. Approximately 60 percent of the
forestlands are owned by non-industrial private forest landowners. The
Forestry Incentives Program is the only national program that provides
financial assistance to those who provide many of the forest products and
other environmental benefits that are so critical to the state�s economic
and environmental health. The Forestry Incentives Program (FIP) in Wisconsin
funded 132 applications covering 6,742 acres of private forest land.
Cost-share assistance totaled $264,967 in 2001.
Over the last three years, the Forestry Incentives Program has been a good
partner for the Wisconsin Forest Landowner Grant Program funded by the state
at $2 million biannually.
Soil SurveyThe Soil Survey Program provides a field-based scientific
inventory of soil resources, including soil maps, data describing physical
and chemical properties of soils, and information on the potentials and
limitations of soils for a wide variety of land uses. The NRCS is the lead
Federal agency responsible for soil mapping on private lands. The National
Cooperative Soil Survey program includes many other state and local
partners, who also contribute staff, expertise, and funding for the program.
The year 2001 was productive with significant progress made towards our goal
of mapping and digitizing all Wisconsin counties by 2006. Progress includes:
� 480,000 initial acres mapped
� 306,000 update acres mapped
� 4 surveys digitized.
Current Activities:
Because the digitized soil maps are a
foundational layer for the Wisconsin Land Information Program, the state is
contributing significant funds to accelerate completion of mapping and
digitizing for all Wisconsin soil surveys. Soil scientists are also working
to update several older soil surveys to meet current needs.
In Dane County, a national pilot project is underway to utilize existing
Geographic Information System (GIS) data and techniques to update soil
survey information more efficiently and with better quality. NRCS Resource
Soil Scientists continue to provide valuable assistance for the public, and
state and local governments, in acquiring and using soil maps and data.
New Initiatives:
Several pilot projects are underway to deliver soil maps and
data in a user-friendly format on CD and on the internet. In partnership
with the University of Wisconsin, the state, and other soil survey
cooperators, the most promising initiatives will be developed for more
widespread application.
As the initial soil survey is completed, soil scientists will accelerate
activities to update older soil surveys to meet the growing demand for more
detailed, complete, and current soil maps and data. Research activities with
the University of Wisconsin and other soil survey partners, in progress and
planned, will continue. Soils research helps develop improved techniques for
collecting, analyzing, and using soil information. Data on soil properties
and potentials such as wetland hydrology, pesticide movement, carbon
sequestration potential, or crop yields is needed for many applications.
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