Top stories for Sept. 21, 2010
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CRP enrollment brings 4.3 million acres, but too few in duck factory
The CRP protects the valuable grasslands and wetlands of the Prairie Pothole Region |
Following up on U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s announcement that the agency would allow new enrollments in the
Conservation Reserve Program in 2010 - the first since 2006 - the agency reported that approximately 4.3 million acres of farmland has been accepted. The program pays farmers to temporarily retire crops in order to create wildlife habitat and improve water quality.
USDA said the acreage will ensure that CRP remains near its allocated acreage cap of 32 million acres through 2010. Farm Service Agency Administrator Jonathan Coppess said that 4.45 million acres was set to cycle out of the program. Unfortunately, the enrollment opportunity did not prove as popular with farmers in the Northern Great Plains as was hoped.
CRP - which some consider the “holy grail” of conservation programs - provides critically important upland nesting cover for ducks in the United States portion of the Prairie Pothole Region, one of DU’s highest conservation priority areas. Both native grassland and CRP enrolled lands continue to decline at alarming rates across the PPR. More than 1.5 million acres of CRP have disappeared from the PPR since 2007. Another 3.5 million, or 35 percent of the current CRP acres in the PPR, will expire in 2011-2012.
Conservation groups like Ducks Unlimited praised Secretary Vilsack for keeping the program near capacity and urged additional sign-ups in the near future.
"Holding sign-ups in the upcoming months is going to be critical, because hundreds of thousands of acres will be expiring in the Prairie Pothole Region, the number-one- waterfowl-producing area in the country," said Dan Wrinn, director of public policy at DU’s Governmental Affairs Office in Washington, D.C. "We hope that farmers in that area will demonstrate increased interest in participating in CRP going forward."
The program, which began as a soil erosion and crop supply control program, gained popularity for its environmental benefits. The most recent enrollment targeted cropland whose retirement would restore wildlife habitat, improve water quality in nearby waterways, restore natural beauty to the landscape and improve air quality, USDA said.
2010 Federal Duck Stamp Contest coming up Oct. 15-16
It's that time of year again. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's
Federal Duck Stamp Contest is coming up Oct. 15 and 16 at the David Brower Center in Berkeley, Calif., marking the first time the contest has been held on the West Coast.
The contest is open to the public and judging will take place over two days, as a panel of experts in art, waterfowl identification and philately will decide which painting will become the 2011-2012 federal duck stamp. Only five species of waterfowl are allowed each year for consideration in the contest. Eligible species for artists to render in 2010 include the brant, northern shoveler, ruddy duck, Canada goose and greater white-fronted goose.
Every U.S. state has at least one national wildlife refuge that has benefited from duck stamp sales. More than 5.3 million total acres in the National Wildlife Refuge System have been protected using duck stamp dollars.
"This contest always proves to be an outstanding blending of artistic talent with the spirit of wildlife conservation," said Scott Sutherland, director of DU's Governmental Affairs Office in Washington, D.C. "The proceeds from federal duck stamp sales translate into conserved, protected and/or restored waterfowl production areas and national wildlife refuges across the country. Every outdoor enthusiast, from the waterfowl hunter to the occasional hiker, benefits from the federal duck stamp, and we urge everyone to purchase one or more."
Learn more about DU's celebration of Duck Stamp Week
Minnesota lake to benefit from DU work thanks to MN Outdoor Heritage Fund
Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen (left) and Jim Cox, vice-chair of the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council, at the Lake Christina project kickoff celebration |
Last week, DU and its partners marked the start of a long-awaited enhancement project at the Lake Christina public access area in Ashby, Minn. Local advocates for the project discussed the history of the lake and expressed their passion for improving water quality and seeing ducks return to this once-vibrant waterfowl migration habitat.
"We are very excited to begin work at Lake Christina and to bring it back to the ecological sanctuary it once was," said Ryan Heiniger, DU's manager of conservation programs for Minnesota and Iowa. "The Outdoor Heritage Fund was created for projects just like this one, and it is wonderful to be a part of executing that mission."
The 4,000-acre project, and seven others like it, was made possible by a 2009 grant to DU from the first year of Minnesota's Outdoor Heritage Fund, as recommended by the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council. Each speaker praised Minnesota voters for passing the legacy amendment in 2008 that established the dedicated funding measure. With the passing of the measure, the legislature created the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council. The Council is charged with recommending projects and expenditures from the fund to the legislature that restore, enhance or protect wetlands, prairies, forests and other fish and wildlife habitat in Minnesota.
"Lake Christina is an example of what we want to do with the Outdoor Heritage Fund money, and when this project is done, people will have a tangible result for their investment," said Jim Cox, vice-chair of the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council.
The project is part of DU's Living Lakes Initiative and the Minnesota DNR's Duck Recovery Plan. These cooperative efforts call for the enhancement, restoration and protection of shallow lakes and large marshes for both waterfowl migration and brood-rearing habitat.
Read more about the Lake Christina enhancement project