Re enrollment of CRP trees - 03/24/11 01:55 AM
All,
If you have land in CRP, or are thinking about enrolling land in CRP, listen up.
I just found out that in this current signup, that the USDA is not allowing people to re-enroll wildlife shelterbelts that were installed as part of a prior CRP signup. It looks like the southern US will have some type of exemption from this, but the northern states are apparently out of luck.
This all appears to be due in essence to some bureaucrat's issues with the habitat program number (ie CP number) that the trees were initially enrolled under, and the various fluctuating technical guidelines that tree plantings have been established under in the past 25 years. They are evidently trying to streamline some bean counting issues, but in true DC fashion, fail to understand the implications of their actions.
The crisis lies in the fact that these thick, dense shelterbelts are what pulls wildlife through winters like we just came through, when the grass fields and cattails are blown in with snow. Each acre of these shelterbelts cost thousands of dollars to install and maintain free of weeds, and provides not only wildlife benefits, but also slows wind erosion, and is the most permanent form of carbon sequestration we have.
These mixed species tree belts should have the highest EBI scores possible, and yet USDA doesn't want to allow them to be reenrolled. If this decision is not reversed immediately, the presidence will be set, and over the next 15 years we stand to loose thousands of acres of this most critical habitat. Moreover, future CRP enrollees will be disincentivized to put in trees belts.
Don't assume that landowners won't tear out these trees and go back to row crop production. We are seeing 50 year old shelterbelts being torn out every year in eastern SD/ND and western MN, as farmers see $6 corn and $13 beans.
I would encourage you to contact your local and state USDA offices to register complaints, and more importantly to contact your congressional delegations to put immediate pressure on USDA to reverse this misguided decision.
We are already 1/3 of the way through the CRP signup, so time is critical. Please help us get them to reverse this decision.
Bill
If you have land in CRP, or are thinking about enrolling land in CRP, listen up.
I just found out that in this current signup, that the USDA is not allowing people to re-enroll wildlife shelterbelts that were installed as part of a prior CRP signup. It looks like the southern US will have some type of exemption from this, but the northern states are apparently out of luck.
This all appears to be due in essence to some bureaucrat's issues with the habitat program number (ie CP number) that the trees were initially enrolled under, and the various fluctuating technical guidelines that tree plantings have been established under in the past 25 years. They are evidently trying to streamline some bean counting issues, but in true DC fashion, fail to understand the implications of their actions.
The crisis lies in the fact that these thick, dense shelterbelts are what pulls wildlife through winters like we just came through, when the grass fields and cattails are blown in with snow. Each acre of these shelterbelts cost thousands of dollars to install and maintain free of weeds, and provides not only wildlife benefits, but also slows wind erosion, and is the most permanent form of carbon sequestration we have.
These mixed species tree belts should have the highest EBI scores possible, and yet USDA doesn't want to allow them to be reenrolled. If this decision is not reversed immediately, the presidence will be set, and over the next 15 years we stand to loose thousands of acres of this most critical habitat. Moreover, future CRP enrollees will be disincentivized to put in trees belts.
Don't assume that landowners won't tear out these trees and go back to row crop production. We are seeing 50 year old shelterbelts being torn out every year in eastern SD/ND and western MN, as farmers see $6 corn and $13 beans.
I would encourage you to contact your local and state USDA offices to register complaints, and more importantly to contact your congressional delegations to put immediate pressure on USDA to reverse this misguided decision.
We are already 1/3 of the way through the CRP signup, so time is critical. Please help us get them to reverse this decision.
Bill