Officials from Ducks Unlimited recently welcomed an announcement by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack regarding an additional 800,000 acres that will be eligible for enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Vilsack announced the additional CRP acreage during the Ducks Unlimited annual convention in Milwaukee on May 29.
“These additional CRP acres are great news for ducks and hundreds of other wildlife species that benefit from habitat the program creates,” said DU President Paul Bonderson. “The Conservation Reserve Program has been one of the most successful wildlife conservation programs in history, and we are thrilled to hear that additional environmentally sensitive lands will be enrolled.”
Lands enrolled in CRP help reduce erosion and also provide habitat for many species of wildlife across the country. Established in 1985, the program has been especially important where cropland has replaced grassland on marginal soils. Across the plains of the central United States, grassland loss continues at alarming rates. These grasslands are vital habitat for nesting ducks. A 2013 South Dakota State University study found that more than 1.3 million acres of grassland were converted to cropland across the Northern Great Plains from 2006 to 2011.
“For 30 years, the Conservation Reserve Program has been a critical tool in conserving and maintaining North America’s waterfowl populations,” said DU CEO Dale Hall. “At the same time, it has been an important tool for our farming and ranching partners as they continue to be good stewards of the land and our wildlife. On behalf of the members and volunteers of Ducks Unlimited, we thank Secretary Vilsack and our agricultural partners for their participation and expansion of this program.”
A general sign-up period for CRP will be conducted Dec. 1, 2015, through Feb. 26, 2016. For more information about CRP, read the USDA news release.
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