By JAMES L. CUMMINS
Special to The Sun-Sentinel
Famous conservationist Aldo Leopold once stated, “Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land.”
Private landowners across the country are taking part in extensive conservation practices to conserve the natural resources that often provide or sustain their economic well-being and recreational enjoyment.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) administers a variety of programs encompassed in the Farm Bill that provide assistance, easements, conservation plans and more.
The NRCS administers the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) to private landowners to enhance the conservation practices occurring on their property, benefiting them in efficiency and productivity. The CSP offers practice enhancements to conservation conducted on cropland, grazing land and forestland.
Conservation enhancements within the CSP are for conservation-minded landowners and producers who strive to achieve greater measures of success and attain new levels of productivity goals, along with additional or improved recreational activities. These conservation practices can help boost and promote better soil health, water quality, plant health, livestock production, crop production, forest products and increased wildlife habitat.
Interested participants can visit their local USDA Service Center to enroll in the continuous sign-up available for the CSP with the NRCS. To be eligible for program participation, producers and landowners must have farm records on file with the Farm Service Agency (FSA) for their farm or land operation.
Conservation practice enhancements address resource concerns that producers and landowners must distinguish on focal points for their conservation program.
Within the CSP, there are over 200 individual conservation practice enhancements that individuals can choose from to build a conservation plan. Along with these enhancements, individuals have the option to select a “bundle” of enhancements to adapt to their conservation plan and regimen. Bundles offer enhancements for each of the land uses previously addressed and typically have a mixture of three or more enhancements included within one bundle selection.
A complete list of available conservation practices and bundles can be obtained on www.nrcs.usda.gov under Farm Bill Programs in CSP titled CSP Enhancements and Bundles.
Contracts in the CSP are valid for a total of five years; however, with the successful achievement of enhancements and agreement to add new enhancements, there will be an option for landowners to renew CSP contracts at the end of the first contract lifespan. Since the CSP is an incentive-based program, there are different scenarios for payment, and payments will be made annually over the life of the contract.
All CSP contracts will have an annual payment of at least $1,500, but the total contract amount and payments will be determined based on resource concerns met and contracted land-use acreage. Payment amounts for resource concerns met and acreage can also be found on the NRCS website under CSP payments.
James L. Cummins is executive director of Wildlife Mississippi, a nonprofit, conservation organization founded to conserve, restore and enhance fish, wildlife and plant resources.
