Since 1985, the Conservation Reserve has paid landowners an annual rent to idle environmentally fragile land under contracts that last for 10 or 15 years. Now a pilot program, opening for enrollment this summer, will offer a 30-year contract in the Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay regions — but only to landowners with expiring Conservation Reserve contracts for water-quality practices to reduce runoff and help prevent algal blooms.
“This pilot allows us to work with farmers and landowners to maintain conservation practices for 30 years, underscoring farmers’ commitments to sound long-term conservation stewardship on agricultural land,” said administrator Richard Fordyce of the Farm Service Agency.
Water-quality practices typically include riparian buffers, wetland buffers, and wildlife habitat buffers. The pilot is available in Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin for landowners with expiring Clean Lakes, Estuaries, and Rivers (CLEAR) contracts. Enrollment will run from July 6 to Aug. 21.