U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary, Tom Vilsack, recently announced that USDA will offer an opportunity for general enrollment of lands in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) later this year. This is the first general sign-up for CRP offered since 2006, according to the Wildlife Management Institute. The announcement and sign up are very timely from conservation standpoints, inasmuch as contracts on 4.4 million acres of CRP are due to expire on September 30, 2010.

USDA must complete an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the program before the general sign-up can be offered. It is anticipated that the EIS process will be completed by late spring or early summer. The ability to enroll lands in CRP through general sign-ups will be critical over the next several years because contracts on an additional 14.2 million acres are scheduled to expire between 2011 and 2013.

The 2008 Farm Bill placed a cap of 32 million acres on CRP, down from 39 million acres in the 2002 Farm Bill.

Secretary Vilsack also announced that, in addition to the general enrollment opportunity, USDA would be increasing acreage allocations for three other programs important to grassland-dependent wildlife. An additional 100,000 acres (from 250,000 to 350,000) will be allocated to the USDA's CP 33 Program?Upland Game Bird (Bobwhite Quail) Habitat Buffers. The allocation for CP 37?Prairie Pothole Duck Nesting Habitat?will be increased by 50,000 acres (from 100,000 to 150,000). And, CP 38?State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE)?will be allotted an additional 150,000 acres (from 500,000 to 650,000). Enrollment in these three programs can be done at any time and the new allotments will be available beginning March 15.

Acres permitted to be enrolled in CP 33, 37 and 38 are allotted on a state-by-state basis. Some states have enrolled all the lands available to them in the various programs, whereas others have not. So far, 219,000 of the initial 250,000 acres of CP 33 (quail buffers) have been enrolled. USDA indicated that allocations to the states for CP 33 probably will need to be adjusted to match enrollment opportunities with agricultural producers' interest in the program. The new acres for CP 33 will be distributed among southern and midwestern states. (pmr)