Agriculture and Conservation
The 1996 Farm Bill and Its Importance to Vermont
Wetlands Reserve Program
A program that I first championed in 1985, the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) is now an entitlement program financed through the Commodity Credit Corporation at the Department of Agriculture. The WRP is a voluntary program to restore and protect wetlands on private property. WRP is also an opportunity for landowners to receive financial incentives to enhance wetlands in exchange for retiring marginal agricultural lands.
Congress authorized WRP under the Food Security Act of 1985 as amended by the 1990 and 1996 Farm Bills. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) administers the program in consultation with other federal agencies. The benefits of WRP are numerous and include financial compensation for landowners, enhancement of wetland values, reduced problems associated with farming difficult areas, and improvement of recreational opportunities.
How does the program work? Landowners who choose to participate in WRP may sell a conservation easement or enter into a cost-share restoration agreement with USDA to restore and protect wetlands. The landowner voluntarily limits future use of the land, yet retains private ownership. The landowner and NRCS develop a plan for the restoration and maintenance of the wetland. To be eligible for a conservation easement, a landowner must have owned the land for at least one year prior to enrolling the land in the program unless the land was inherited.
To get involved in WRP, check with your local NRCS office. In Vermont, contact John Titchner, State Conservationist at 802-951-6795.
Conservation Reserve Program
The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) protects highly erodible and environmentally sensitive lands with grass, trees, and other long-term cover. The 1996 Farm Bill allowed up to 36.4 million acres to be enrolled at any one time, twice the size of the National Wildlife Refuge System.
Changes to the administration of the CRP continue to increase incentives to America's farmers to enroll their land in the CRP and encourage better farming practices. As it has always been my goal for the CRP to help farmers be better stewards of their land without losing farm income, I could not be happier with the program. The new long term policy changes the CRP to allow continuous enrollment and allowance of incentive payments for various special practices, and eligibility of certain cropped wetlands. The policy also allows for incidental harvesting of vegetative cover for small parcels of CRP lands such as filter strips and riparian buffer strips.
For more information, you can contact the Vermont office of the Farm Services Agency (FSA) at (802) 658-2803.
The Environmental Quality Incentives Program
The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) was established in the 1996 Farm Bill to provide a single, voluntary conservation program for farmers and ranchers. The key to this is that EQIP is actually an umbrella program, consolidating four important USDA conservation programs - the Agricultural Conservation Program, Water Quality Incentives Program, Great Plains Conservation Program, and the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program -- under one set of guidelines and eligibility standards. The program is broad, providing technical, financial, and educational assistance to those who are eligble. Given the many issues surrounding animal waste and waste storage, it is important to note that one-half of EQIP's funds are devoted specifically to livestock-related natural resource problems. The NRCS division of the USDA has the responsibility for implementing this program.
Eligibility in EQIP is limited to persons who are engaged in livestock or agricultural production and eligible land includes cropland, rangeland, pasture, forestland, and other farm or ranch lands.
Vermont's NRCS has had great successes with EQIP and has focused activities in four areas: the Lake Champlain Basin, the Lake Memphremagog Basin, the Connecticut River watershed, and the Hudson River Basin.
For additional information about EQIP, contact the Vermont NRCS office at (802) 951-6795.
The Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program
Another important conservation program that was created in the 1996 Farm Bill is the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP). This program, headed by the NRCS division of the USDA, helps develop and implement wildlife habitat improvement plans. This program assists landowners and others to improve habitat for rare and endangered species in Vermont and throughout the nation.
Wetland Conservation Program
The Wetland Conservation Program, or "Swampbuster," reduces the loss of wetlands due to agricultural activities by maintaining enforceable guidelines for wetland conservation compliance. Swampbuster helps preserve the environmental functions and values of wetlands by providing assistance to farmers to maintain flood control, sediment control, groundwater recharge. In addition, Swampbuster preserves water quality, wildlife habitat, recreation sites, and overall land aesthetics.
The 1996 Farm Bill changed Swampbuster to give producers greater flexibility to comply with wetland conservation requirements and to make wetlands more valuable and functional. This included making new and improved wetland determination guidelines, offsetting losses for those who mitigate their impact on wetlands, and allowing certain practices to qualify for "fast track" approval under the compliance criteria.
