Administration increases CRP

By Staff
November 5, 2004
On behalf of the Administration, Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman announced recently that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has enrolled nearly 1.2 million acres of some of the country's most environmentally sensitive lands into the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). A portion of these conserved acres will greatly benefit ducks.
This is CRP's 29th general sign-up, and USDA has set a precedent by accepting 76 percent of the nearly 1.7 million acres that were offered for the program. This brings the total acres enrolled in CRP up to 35.6 million, ever-closer to the 39.2 million acres authorized in the 2002 Farm Bill.
DU has a lead role in Washington, D.C. working with the Administration and Congress to make sure that the conservation provisions of the Farm Bill like CRP are carried out. "This is great that the Administration is responsive to the concerns of the conservation community, as well as farmers. CRP is a vital program to all DU members and is critical in our wetland and waterfowl conservation mission, especially in the Prairie Pothole Region of the Great Plains," said DU Executive Vice President, Don Young. "All five of the states in this region were among the top recipients of acres in this sign-up. This is important, because this region, also known as the Duck Factory, represents the best of the best nesting habitat in North America."
The Conservation Reserve Program is a USDA program established in the 1985 Farm Bill that offers a per-acre rental payment for retiring previously farmed, marginal lands under 10-15 year contracts. According to federal and state researchers, in just 5 years, more than 12 million additional ducks were added to the fall flight as a result of CRP in the prairies. Moreover, CRP has accomplished more than any other USDA program for landscape-level conservation of soil, water and wildlife habitat while providing working farms and ranches with more money.
With more than a million supporters, Ducks Unlimited is the world's largest and most effective wetlands and waterfowl conservation group. The United States alone has lost more than half of its original wetlands nature's most productive ecosystems and continues to lose more than 100,000 wetland acres every year.
Look for Ducks Unlimited on the World Wide Web, at Tune in to The World of Ducks Unlimited Radio Network, and starting in July, watch Ducks Unlimited Television on the Outdoor Life Network (OLN).