Wisconsin Ag Connection - New CRP Enrollment Sign-Up Begins May 1

Wisconsin Ag News Headlines

New CRP Enrollment Sign-Up Begins May 1
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 04/22/2008

Wisconsin landowners in five environmentally sensitive areas will soon have the opportunity to enroll up to 13,000 acres of land in a new Conservation Reserve Program practice called SAFE, which stands for State Acres For Wildlife Enhancement. Sign-up begins May 1.

SAFE is a wildlife management tool that helps state and regional agencies, non-profit organizations, and others to address local wildlife objectives through habitat restoration. SAFE gives conservation partners the flexibility to create projects and install conservation practices that target the specific needs of high-value wildlife species.

"Under SAFE, participating landowners will receive rental and incentive payments in return for improving habitat for important species including ring-necked pheasants, bobolinks and other grassland birds, and the Karner Blue butterfly," said State FSA Director Ben Brancel. "SAFE offers a unique opportunity to enhance critical habitat for species important to Wisconsin."

According to Brancel, there is no competition for enrollment, and land need not meet any erodibility criteria. Land is eligible to be enrolled if it meets crop history requirements and can support the type of habitat needed for the species of concern.

Land entering the CRP for the first time will be eligible for a signing incentive payment of $100 per acre and a practice incentive payment of 40 percent of the cost of practice installation, on top of the normal CRP annual rental payment and 50 percent cost-sharing for practice installation.

Under SAFE, project partners Wisconsin DNR and West Wisconsin Land Trust determined geographic areas where enrollment of farmland in CRP would benefit threatened, endangered or other high priority species. These project partners then developed conservation proposals that included enrolling land in the designated geographic areas in CRP using existing CRP practices for the benefit of specific wildlife.