Mississippi
Conservation Security Program (CSP)
The
Conservation Security Program (CSP) is a voluntary
program that goes beyond the past approach of repairing
on-farm conservation problems. Instead, CSP offers
rewards to those who have been good stewards of the soil
and water resources on their working agricultural land.
CSP provides financial and technical assistance to
landowners to further enhance the conservation and
improvement of soil, water, air, energy, plant and
animal life, and other conservation purposes on Tribal
and private working lands. Working lands include
cropland, grassland, improved pasture, as well as
forested land that is an incidental part of an
agriculture operation.
CSP also offers incentives for those who wish to exceed
the minimum levels of resource protection and enhance
the natural resources on the land they manage. By
providing financial and technical assistance to those
who currently practice conservation stewardship within
selected watersheds these stewards will be examples for
others to follow for future CSP sign-ups.
Furthermore, by rewarding land stewardship, CSP will
ensure that our Nations' private agricultural lands
remain viable working enterprises.
The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002(2002
Farm Bill) (Pub.L. 107-171) amended the Food Security
Act of 1985 to authorize the program. CSP is
administered by USDA's Natural Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS).
2008 Conservation Security Program (CSP)
CSP Watersheds that include Mississippi counties:
Tickfaw Watershed
The Town Creek Watershed is selected as the
2008 CSP Watershed for Mississippi
Hydrologic Unit Code:
03160102
The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has
selected the Town Creek Watershed in Mississippi for the Conservation Security Program (CSP). What does
the CSP watershed designation mean for landowners and
operators with private agricultural lands within this
watershed? It means that they may be eligible for
financial and technical assistance through qualification
in CSP in the selected watershed. Sign-up for the
program will begin April 18 and close on May16.
Introduction
The Town Creek 8- Digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) watershed
is 435,638 acres in Northeast Mississippi. Most of
the Town Creek watershed is in Lee and Pontotoc counties
with smaller portions in Union, Chickasaw, Monroe and
Itawamba counties. There are 999 farms in the
watershed. Average farm size is 187 acres.
Conservation assistance is provided by six NRCS
service centers, two Resource Conservation and
Development (RC&D) offices, one Soil Survey office, and
six Soil and Water Conservation Districts.
Physical Description
The Town Creek watershed is located in northeast
Mississippi in portions of 6 counties (Lee, Pontotoc,
Union, Monroe, Chickasaw, and Itawamba) and contains
approximately 444, 519 acres. It contains tow
major land resource areas that contain four Common
Resources Areas (CRA). These CRA's are the
Southern Hilly Gulf Coastal Plain (12%), Blackland
Prairie (67%), Southern Coastal Plain Flood Plains and
Terraces (5%), and Prairie Margins (16%). The
predominant land uses are forest (171,000 ac.),
pasture/grasslands (72, 100 ac. ), and cropland (136,900
ac.). Major cultivated crops produced are
soybeans, corn, and cotton. There a small number
of active dairies and poultry operations in the
watershed. Participation and enrollment in the
Conservation Reserve Program is high in portions of the
watershed, especially the Blackland Prairie.
Average farm operation size for cropland is very large
with primarily white operators. Grazing operations
are numerous as are smaller hobby farms for horses.
There are a significant number of smaller black farm
operations particularly in the southwest part of Lee
County. Conservation System Guides (CSG) have been
developed that primarily address soil erosion on
cropland, grazing land management, and riparian zone
establishment for all CRA's in the watershed.
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