For more information

Publications:

Allen, A.W., 1995, Agricultural ecosystems, in LaRoe, E.T., Farris, G.S., Puckett, C.E., Doran, P.D., and Mac, M.J., eds., Our living resources: a report to the Nation on the distribution, abundance, and health of U.S. plants, animals, and ecosystems. Washington, D.C., U.S. Department of the Interior, National Biological Service, p. 423-426.

Johnson, D.H., and Igl, L.D., 1995, Contributions of the Conservation Reserve Program to populations of breeding birds in North Dakota: Wilson Bulletin, v. 107, no. 4, p. 709-718.

Conservation Reserve Program Benefits Wildlife and Farmers

For more than 10 years, many wildlife species including white-tailed deer, cottontail rabbits, songbirds, and waterfowl have found winter cover and nesting sites on farm lands set aside under the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).

USGS scientists at the Midcontinent Ecological Science Center in Fort Collins, Colorado, and Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Jamestown, North Dakota, began evaluating wildlife habitat on CRP lands in 1987, in cooperation with USDA and the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. Findings from the multi-state, 10-year study and a 1996 environmental risk assessment have helped USDA refine conservation policies in recent legislation. As a result, farmers have benefitted from increased economic opportunities and wildlife habitat has increased.

As of January 1998, 28.7 million acres of land were enrolled in the CRP. As part of the program, farmers are paid to keep highly erosive cropland from production and reclaim it with introduced and native grasses. Nearly $2 billion have been paid to farmers nationwide each year as part of the CRP.

USGS found that grassland productivity peaks early in a typical 10-year CRP contract, and the amount of vegetative cover in most fields declines during later years if it is not

Scientist identifies grass species in a Conservation Reserve Program field.

disturbed. This finding has led to further studies to determine if periodic disturbances, such as grazing, will enhance vegetative growth on CRP lands. Scientists are investigating relationships between "emergency" grazing (e.g., grazing during drought years) and long-term trends in habitat quality on CRP lands in 13 Midwestern and Southern Plains States.

Other USGS studies have documented CRP benefits to waterfowl and songbirds. In addition, a study by USGS, USDA, and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is using a geographic information system and 30 years of population data to investigate CRP effects on long-term trends in wildlife populations associated with agricultural land use.

Approximate locations of Conservation Reserve Program fields monitored periodically since 1987.