BROWNSBURG — Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman recently visited Starkey Farms here to announce that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has granted an expansion of Indiana’s Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), a partnership between the USDA and the State of Indiana to address agriculture-related environmental concerns.
The expansion nearly quadruples the number of acres eligible for conservation.
”There is certainly nowhere that I would rather be than on a farm with so many partners as we celebrate progress in our state,” Skillman said. “Agriculture and our soil and water conservation get a tremendous boost from this announcement.”
The announcement will include 65 counties, including Hendricks, Marion, Boone, and Morgan. The previous version of CREP only covered 29 counties.
CREP will also cover 11 watersheds and more than 26,250 acres. The program addresses water quality and wildlife concerns by incentivizing reduced sediment and nutrient runoff and enhanced wildlife habitat. Participants in the program will receive financial incentives to agree to 14- or 15-year contracts.
The total cost is estimated at $85 million, with the USDA contributing $67.5 million and Indiana contributing the remaining $17.5 million through the Clean Water Indiana Fund and through in-kind services.
The announcement allowed Skillman to reflect on the past of the program and conservation in Indiana.
”I think back to 2005, when I signed the state’s first ever CREP program,” Skillman said. “Our original goal for this program was to address the water quality and wildlife issues on about 7,000 acres. We are very proud to announce that today we will be able to include four times that amount with this expansion. In the last five years, Indiana has been able to protect more land than any other comparable period.”
In addition to the hard work of the state officials, the USDA also contributed heavily to the program’s expansion.
Julia Wickard, USDA-Farm Service Agency executive director, added, “Today I’m excited to stand before all of you with conservation leaders from across the state to announce the expansion of the Indiana Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program. This program verifies the uniqueness of the strong federal-state, public-private partnership in Indiana natural resources management.”
Wickard said that the program has been responsible for reducing more than 61,000 pounds of nitrogen, almost 15,000 pounds of phosphorus since 2005.
Joe Kelsay, Indiana Agriculture director, said he was pleased with the announcement.
”We have over 4,000 acres of conservation practices protected over 5,000 linear miles of streams,” Kelsay said. “There are lots of different options for landowners to choose and we think this is going to be a great asset for Indianato help move us forward.”
Earlier this year, Gov. Mitch Daniels announced two conservation projects --Muscatatuck Bottoms and Wabash River/Sugar Creek --totaling more than 68,000 acres.
To view a map of the area impacted, visit the website at www.in.gov/isda/files/2010_CREP_Watersheds.pdf.
ryan.palencer@flyergroup.com
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