FISCAL YEAR 2004 CONSERVATION SECURITY PROGRAM

CONTRACTS MODIFIED

Payments Added For Enhanced Conservation

WASHINGTON, June 27, 2006—USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service Chief Bruce Knight today announced the results of Conservation Security Program (CSP) Fiscal Year (FY) 2004 contract modifications to include payments for additional conservation enhancements not included in the original contracts.

             “CSP was designed to reward the best land stewards and encourage them to do even more. Our 2004 participants have demonstrated their interest in completing additional practices, proving that voluntary, incentive-based programs on working lands do encourage landowners to move toward the highest standards of conservation stewardship,” said Knight.

             FY 2004 payments to FY 2004 CSP contract holders totaled $19.8 million compared to $32.5 million in FY 2006 representing a 64 percent increase. This increase is due to modifications such as advancing to a higher CSP tier, adding enhancements for improvements in environmental performance above the CSP minimums, and in some cases adding eligible acreage.

             When initial contracts were developed in FY 2004, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the landowners worked together to develop a CSP Stewardship Plan. In many cases, the stewardship plan included new enhancements and/or additional acres for coverage in future years. The stewardship plans may also have a provision to allow advancement from one tier to another. Once the basic conservation practices for a tier are met, the participant has the opportunity to modify their contract to add additional conservation practices to advance to the next tier and receive increased funds associated with the tier advancement and/or additional acres covered. These additional improvements must be completed and operational before payments are awarded.

             CSP payments can go as high as $20,000 per year for Tier I, $35,000 for Tier II and $45,000 for Tier III.  Tier I contracts run up to 5 years; Tier II and Tier III contracts  last 5 to 10 years. Payments can include four components: 1) an annual stewardship component for the base level of conservation treatment, 2) an annual component for maintenance of existing conservation practices, 3) a one-time new practice component for additional needed practices, and 4) an enhancement component for exceptional conservation effort.

             Stewardship payments increased by 32 percent to $7.1 million for FY 2004 contracts this year.  Enhancement payments for habitat management increased to $2.6 million, representing an increase in acreage of 174 percent.  Others areas of conservation receiving significant payments include nutrient and pest management, grazing management, and air resources management; each increasing conservation practices by more than 65 percent. 
 

CSP is an innovative, voluntary conservation program that supports ongoing stewardship of private, agricultural working lands and rewards those producers who are meeting the highest standards of conservation and environmental management on their operations. Begun in 2004 in 18 watersheds, CSP today is available in 280 watersheds nationwide.
 

Congress capped CSP funding at $41 million in FY 2004, $202 million in FY 2005, and $259 million in FY 2006. To date, over 19,300 CSP contracts cover more than 14.6 million acres, and receive annual payments of nearly $220 million for superior conservation efforts. 

FY 2004 CSP Contract Modification Payments:

Contract Payments by Tier

Number of Contracts by Tier

Payments by Enhancement Type

 
Additional information on CSP is available at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/csp.

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