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Source: USDA, 1/19/21 The U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) is making available $12 million for use in
making payments to forest landowners with land enrolled in the Conservation
Reserve Program (CRP) in exchange for their implementing healthy forest
management practices. Existing CRP participants can now sign up for the Forest
Management Incentive (FMI), which provides financial incentives to landowners
with land in CRP to encourage proper tree thinning and other practices.“We are offering CRP landowners an opportunity to use forestry practices for a more targeted approach to improve forest health and wildlife habitat on their land,” said Richard Fordyce, administrator for USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA). “The Forest Management Incentive enables landowners to maximize the conservation outcomes on their land, such as supporting wildlife, conserving soil and improving water quality.” Right now, less than 10% of land currently enrolled in
CRP is dedicated to forestland. But, these nearly 2 million acres of CRP
forestland, if properly managed, can have enormous benefits for natural
resources by reducing soil erosion, protecting water quality, increasing water
quantity, and diversifying local farm operations and rural economies. Only landowners and agricultural producers with active
CRP contracts involving forest cover can enroll. However, this does not include
active CRP contracts that expire within two years. Existing CRP participants
interested in tree thinning and prescribed burning must comply with the
standards and specifications established in their CRP contract. CRP participants will receive the incentive payment once
tree thinning and/or other authorized forest management practices are
completed. The incentive payment is the lower of:
- The actual cost
of completing the practice; or
- 75% of the payment rate offered by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) if the practice is offered through NRCS conservation programs.
More about CRP Signed into law in 1985, CRP is one of the largest
private-lands conservation programs in the United States. It was originally
intended primarily to control soil erosion and potentially stabilize commodity
prices by taking marginal lands out of production. The program has evolved over
the years, providing many conservation and economic benefits. The program marks
its 35-year anniversary this month. Program successes include:
- Preventing more
than 9 billion tons of soil from eroding, which is enough soil to fill 600
million dump trucks.
- Reducing nitrogen
and phosphorous runoff relative to annually tilled cropland by 95% and
85%, respectively.
- Sequestering an
annual average of 49 million tons of greenhouse gases, equal to taking 9
million cars off the road.
- Creating more
than 3 million acres of restored wetlands while protecting more than
175,000 stream miles with riparian forest and grass buffers, which is
enough to go around the world seven times.
- Benefiting bees
and other pollinators and increasing populations of ducks, pheasants,
turkey, bobwhite quail, prairie chickens, grasshopper sparrows and many
other birds.
More Information CRP signup begins today, Jan. 19, 2021. FSA will announce deadline later this year. Interested producers should contact their local FSA county office. USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and
lender.
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