CRP: Here today, gone tomorrow
Hundreds of thousands of acres of Conservation Reserve Program land are being converted back to farmland to the detriment of wildlife habitat.
By Doug Smith, Mpls Star Tribune
Last update: October 10, 2007 – 12:17 AM
It's been called the most successful wildlife conservation program in history.
The federal Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) -- which pays landowners to idle marginal cropland -- has helped boost pheasant, waterfowl and other wildlife populations and is credited with helping clean the nation's waterways.
And now its future is in question.
Today, fueled by soaring crop prices and land values and demand for ethanol, hundreds of thousands of acres of grasslands once enrolled in the program in Minnesota, Iowa and North and South Dakota are being plowed under and converted back to cropland.
It's a dramatic and disconcerting change to the landscape unprecedented since CRP began in 1985. Contracts between landowners and the government on hundreds of thousands of acres expired Oct. 1, and contracts covering many more acres are set to expire between now and 2010.
Some examples:
Minnesota: Lost about 80,000 acres of CRP on Oct. 1, including about 40,000 acres in the state's pheasant range; it could lose an additional 270,000 acres by 2010.
North Dakota: Lost about 250,000 acres of CRP on Oct. 1; it could lose another 300,000 acres by 2010.
South Dakota: Lost about 300,000 acres Oct. 1; it could lose another 300,000 acres by 2010.
Iowa: Lost about 128,000 acres Oct. 1; it could lose another 256,000 acres by 2010.
"They are burning and plowing and haying [those grasslands] right now," said Kevin Kading of the North Dakota Game and Fish Department. "There's definitely a change coming."
Until now, about 36 million acres nationwide were enrolled in CRP under the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Ironically, the loss of thousands of acres of critical habitat comes on the eve of another pheasant hunting season in the Midwest buoyed by record or near-record numbers of ringnecks -- populations boosted by CRP acres.
The question, given the loss of habitat, is whether hunters will ever see such numbers again.
"We're telling people these are the good ol' days," Kading said. "Our pheasant numbers are going to drop off."
South Dakota, the nation's No. 1 pheasant state, also warned hunters of what could be coming.
"Our bird counts are at a 40-year high, and we're reaping the benefits of good habitat and favorable weather conditions," said Jeff Vonk, South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks secretary. "Losing habitat is going to have an impact. I'm seriously concerned."
In Minnesota, hunters are experiencing some of the best hunting in decades. They are expected to shoot a half-million ringnecks for the third consecutive year -- something they haven't done since the 1960s.
Mild weather has helped boost pheasant numbers.
"But it's not just a function of weather," said Kurt Haroldson, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist. Grasslands are crucial for pheasant nesting. "The next Farm Bill will determine the future. If we put all the land in corn for ethanol, that will have serious consequences for pheasants."
Ducks also are at stake. One study from 1992-1997 showed that the CRP acreage in North and South Dakota added two million ducks to the fall flight those years.
Conservation groups such as Ducks Unlimited and Pheasants Forever are lobbing Congress to pass a farm bill with a strong conservation component -- one that would continue CRP and increase payments to make them more attractive to farmers.
"I believe every single landowner enrolled in CRP is interested in keeping it, and would if we could match the economic return they could get through farming the land," said Tabor Hoek of Marshall, conservationist with the Minnesota Board of Water & Soil Resources.
Currently, there is no general CRP signup scheduled for 2008 -- meaning without changes CRP acreage will continue to decline.
Some say the public, including hunters, seem to be unaware of what is occurring -- and what is at stake.
"Unfortunately, once it's too late, once the land is back into crop production, habitat is lost and water-quality benefits are lost, that's when it's finally going to sink in," Hoek said.
The federal Farm Bill holds the key.
"Ninety percent of the habitat and water-quality equation in Minnesota is the farm bill," he said. "No other factor is even remotely close."
Doug Smith • dsmith@startribune.com
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Topic: CRP: Here today, gone tomorrow (Read 1811 times)
