Ohio Pheasants Forever Recognized by USDA's Farm Service Agency
PF Ready to Take Advantage of Changes to Lake Erie CREP
Pictured: PF's Jim Inglis (right) accepts award from Ohio FSA Executive Director John Stevenson (left).
Source: Pheasants Forever
Published: Sep. 21, 2006
LONDON, OH - Earlier this week, Ohio Pheasants Forever (PF) was recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency (FSA) with a Conservation Partnership Award.
The award presentation occurred at a ceremony celebrating the Conservation Reserve Program's (CRP) 20th anniversary. PF was recognized with the award for the organization's assistance in promoting, enrolling, and establishing CRP in Ohio.
Todd Brace of the Ohio FSA explained why PF was recognized.
The Conservation Partnership Award was "awarded for innovative conservation leadership, exceptionally successful educational endeavors among conservation groups, USDA staff, and PF chapters in Ohio and the achievement of outstandingly productive contribution agreements between government agencies and non-governmental organizations all of which have resulted in enhanced CRP habitat quality and acreage achieved."
Brace is the chief agricultural program specialist, conservation for Ohio FSA. There are currently 330,000 Ohio acres enrolled in CRP.
That total is Ohio's highest in the 20-year history of CRP. Of specific importance, are the state's three Conservation Reserve Enhancement Programs (CREP).
The Lake Erie CREP was created in 2000 to target the improvement of 67,000 acres in north central Ohio.
The Upper Big Walnut CREP was established in 2002 to enroll 3,500 acres in that river's watershed. And, the Scioto River CREP was instituted in 2004 to enroll 70,000 acres in the Scioto River Watershed.
In addition to recognizing PF's efforts, the FSA also announced enhancements to Lake Erie's CREP this week. Those improvements include new conservation practices and new targeting of certain areas to further improve water quality of Lake Erie and contributing watersheds.
PF also has a habitat team and farm bill biologists located in the Lake Erie CREP focus area to help promote and implement the program. "The Lake Erie CREP has been a successful program at enrolling over 25,000 acres to date," explained Jim Inglis, PF's regional biologist for Ohio.
"However the announcement today should provide landowners in the target area with good reasons to take a new look at enrolling in the program. I believe these augmentations should make it much easier for us to hit the program's goal of 67,000 acres.
If we do hit that acre mark, all the people of Ohio will come out winners with cleaner water, more wildlife habitat, and protected natural resources." CREP is a targeted method for enrolling the state's most environmentally sensitive acres in a targeted watershed.
These CREP acres improve water quality by reducing nutrients and sediment pollution through the installation of grass filter strips, controlled drainage water management, riparian forest buffers, wetlands, and other conservation practices.
Not only do these practices help to filter the nutrients and prevent them from entering the watershed, but they also create wildlife habitat. All land must be enrolled in CREP for 15 years with an optional voluntary perpetual conservation easement.
Voluntary perpetual easements are funded through the combination of state incentives and local partner payments, including PF.
Along with funding, PF will also promote and assist with landowner sign-up in the program, as well as helping to actually perform some of the conservation practices on the land. PF currently has 35 chapters and more than 5,500 members in Ohio.
There is also a new Quail Forever chapter in Ohio as well. Collectively, those chapters have spent over $5 million on habitat and conservation education projects since the state's first PF chapter was formed in 1989. As a result of those projects, PF chapters have improved nearly 100,000 acres for wildlife in the "Buckeye State."
To learn more about PF in Ohio, please contact Jim Inglis at (419)209-0851 or via email at jinglis@pheasantsforever.org.
PF and its quail division, Quail Forever, are national non-profit conservation organizations dedicated to the protection and enhancement of pheasant, quail, and other wildlife populations in North America through habitat improvement, land management, public awareness, and education.
Such efforts benefit landowners and wildlife alike. There are more than 115,000 PF and QF members in over 670 local chapters across the U.S. and Canada.
Pheasants Forever is a non-profit conservation organization dedicated to the protection and enhancement of quail and other wildlife populations in North America through habitat improvement, land management, public awareness, and education.
Such efforts benefit landowners and wildlife alike.
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