NEWS

USDA Announces Sign-up for 2008 Conservation Security Program

Three Pennsylvania Watersheds Selected

Harrisburg, March 21, 2008- USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) State Conservationist Craig Derickson today announced that the 2008 Conservation Security Program (CSP) sign-up will be held April 18 to May 16, 2008 in three Pennsylvania watersheds: the Lower Juniata, Lower Delaware, and Gunpowder-Patapsco. Eligible producers in portions of Bedford, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Mifflin, Montgomery, Perry, Philadelphia, Snyder, and York counties are encouraged to apply.

"Since the first sign-up in 2004, CSP has offered payments for enhancing natural resources, rewarding those farmers who are model conservationists, and providing incentives for other producers to achieve those same high standards of conservation in agriculture," Derickson said.

Payments can include three components: 1) an annual stewardship component for the base level of conservation treatment, 2) an annual component for maintenance of existing conservation practices, and 3) an enhancement component for exceptional conservation effort. Enhancement activities could include limited pesticide applications, renewable energy generation, and widening existing riparian forest buffers for restoring critical stream habitat.

To be eligible for CSP, most of a producer's agricultural operation must fall within the boundaries of the selected watershed.

To apply for CSP, NRCS asks potential participants to complete a CSP self-assessment workbook—available on the Web or from local NRCS offices—to find out if their operation meets the requirements of the program and qualifies for program participation. The self-assessment process is completed using a self-screening questionnaire for each land use to be enrolled. When this process is completed, the producer submits the CSP workbook to the local NRCS office during the sign-up period and meets with NRCS personnel to go over any additional needed documentation. NRCS will then determine if eligibility requirements are met and provide options for the producer's decision on enrollment category placement.

The sign-up announcement and specific program requirements are being published in the Federal Register. For additional information, please visit us on the web at www.pa.nrcs.usda.gov, or contact your local USDA Service Center.