Continuous Signup CRP Buffer Strips Offer a Haven for a Variety of Wildlife Species

Contact: Jasper Parker, 405-742-1243

Stillwater, Oklahoma Dec. 5, 2005—When it comes to providing benefits for wildlife, buffer strips are a perfect case-in-point on how a little bit can add up to a lot. "The acres may seem small — maybe just one or two acres — on a farm-to-farm basis. But when you add them all together, you start talking about really making a change in the landscape," said M. Darrel Dominick, state conservationist, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

In some parts of Oklahoma counties, buffers can be more than just important parcels of habitat. In some locations, buffers offer the only wildlife habitat where extensive continuous cropping takes place. In some cases, buffer strips offer the only undisturbed nesting cover available to wildlife, Dominick said. "Buffer strips and shelter belts are the most important and positive improvements a landowner can do on a farm. Both buffer strips and shelter belts can provide winter food, cover, and migration routes for wildlife. Adequate winter cover is a limiting factor for wildlife populations in many parts of Oklahoma counties," Dominick said. “It is important that buffer strips be left as undisturbed as possible to allow wildlife to thrive. I encourage the use of diverse, warm season native perennial grasses to provide nesting and thermal cover," says Dominick.

The value of buffer strips to wildlife goes beyond giving animals a place to settle. The buffer strips provide "migration corridors" for wildlife to move between larger pieces of contiguous habitat. Buffer strips around streams are proven havens for a number of bird species. Buffer strips along streams are also important habitat for aquatic fur bearing species. Fish are also benefactors of improved water quality from buffers. "Just cleaning up the water improves the overall health of the stream meaning there are more organisms for fish. Reducing sediment can lead to improved stream habitat and water quality," says Dominick.

Landowners have many options available for assistance in establishing buffers for wildlife habit and water quality protection, one of which is the Continuous signup Conservation Reserve Program (Continuous CRP). Establishing buffers through the Continuous CRP is a simple, fairly lucrative and cost-efficient way to protect water quality and provide wildlife habitat. Continuous CRP is simple because the signup is always open and the rules are streamlined compared to traditional CRP.

To be eligible, you must have owned the land for the previous year. Cropland is eligible if it was planted or considered planted to an agricultural commodity in two of the last five crop years. It also must be physically and legally capable of being cropped. The land does not have to be highly erodible. Marginal pasture suitable for use as a riparian buffer is also eligible. This includes any land along streams or rivers that is grazed, whether previously seeded to grass or not. Most land covered by an expiring CRP contract determined suitable for a CRP buffer practice is likewise eligible. As long as your offer meets these requirements and includes eligible buffer practices, it will be approved.

Financial incentives for installing buffers include signing bonuses and more money for installing and maintaining conservation practices. The incentives are enhancements designed by USDA to protect more environmentally sensitive land. The incentives include:

1. An up-front signing bonus incentive of $10 per acre for every full year the contract covers. This amounts to $100 to $150 per acre at the start of the contract to help defray up-front installation costs for filter strips, riparian buffers, grassed waterways, field windbreaks, shelter belts, and living snow fences;

2. A payment incentive equal to 40 percent of the practice installation cost of all continuous CRP practices, including contour buffer strips and shallow water areas for wildlife. This is in addition to the 50 percent cost-share paid by USDA for establishing certain approved practices;

3. Increases in maintenance rate incentives for certain practices involving tree planting, fencing, or water development, and updated marginal pastureland rental rates nationwide to better reflect the market value of these lands; and,

4. An increase of 20 percent on the average widths of filter strips and riparian buffers to allow farmers to square off field and buffer boundaries for more efficient farming.

"We're pleased to have more incentives to attract more farmers to the program. Unlike the regular CRP program, the continuous signup program allows producers to enroll eligible highly environmentally sensitive land at any time, without waiting for a signup period or competing against other offers," says Dominick, "and we're encouraging landowners to consider buffers as part of their conservation system."

Conservation buffers protect streams and rivers by keeping sediment and nutrients from entering the water, providing cleaner drinking water, enhancing recreation, and improving wildlife habitats. "When all the potential buffer strips are added up, you start talking about miles of continuous ribbons of wildlife cover which is bound to have a positive impact," Dominick said. Landowners with questions and/or an interest in establishing buffers should contact their local NRCS Field Service Center, Conservation District, or Farm Service Agency (FSA) office at their local USDA Service Center.

All programs and services of the Natural Resources Conservation Service are provided in a nondiscriminatory manner.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or a part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

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