Enhanced Farmer Incentive Program to Improve Lake Erie Water Quality Begins Enrollment Next Month

For Immediate Release

Contacts:

Larry Antosch, Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, (614) 246-8264

Todd Hesterman, Conservation Action Project, (419) 599-0653

Karl Gebhardt, Paul Werth, (614) 224-8114

Enhanced Farmer Incentive Program to Improve Lake Erie Water Quality Begins Enrollment Next Month

Program Designed to Reduce the Flow of Sediment that Degrades Fisheries and Clogs Shipping Channels at a Cost of Millions of Dollars a Year

London, Ohio – September 19, 2006 – A group of federal and state officials today at the Farm Science Review announced enhancements to a farmer-focused initiative to improve water quality and restore wildlife habitat in 27 counties in NW Ohio.

Open to farmers on a continuous basis starting in late October, the revised Lake Erie Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (LE CREP) tackles the flow of suspended  sediment and nutrients flowing into the Western Basin of Lake Erie, the shallowest, warmest and most productive lake in the Great Lakes system.  Each year the sediment and nutrients that flow off the land during rain storms and into streams and rivers, such as the Maumee River, accumulate in harbors, like Toledo Harbor, clogging shipping channels and degrading fisheries at a cost of millions of dollars a year.  Lake Erie is responsible annually for approximately $7.4 billion in tourism, $1 billion in seaport business, and hundreds of millions of dollars in sportsfishing.  High sediment loading jeopardizes these uses and costs $4-5 million a year in dredging and disposal for Toledo Harbor alone.

“This enhanced CREP will help the region continue to make real progress towards protecting and restoring water quality in the Maumee River and ultimately Lake Erie,” explained Ohio Farm Bureau Federation Director of Environmental Policy Larry Antosch.

This program represents a combined federal, state and non-profit organization investment of up to $220 million dollars in northwest Ohio.  The partnership implementing the Lake Erie Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program includes the Conservation Action Project, Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, Environmental Defense, and Pheasants Forever have partnered with U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Ohio’s Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) and Soil and Water Conservation Districts.

“This project will not only deliver critical water quality benefits, but also dramatically increase federal investment in this area of Ohio,” said Karl Gebhardt, a government relations expert at Paul Werth who is a former lobbyist for the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation and former executive director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Office of Farmland Preservation.

Farmers who participate in this program will help stem the flow of pollutants by taking such measures as planting grass and trees along side streams to slow and filter water as it flows into the streams and restoring wetlands that collect water during storms, thereby reducing the highest stream flows during storms and reducing the risk of flooding downstream. 

“The changes announced today will offer farmers more choices and better incentives,” said Todd Hesterman of the Conservation Action Project and Environmental Defense.  “Farmers will be able to choose practical conservation measures that fit on their farms, and they will receive significantly higher payments in many cases.”

Wildlife will also benefit from the restoration of native grasses, streamside habitat, wetlands, and rare prairie and oak savanna.

Farmers in eligible counties who are interested in participating in the program should contact their local Farm Service Agency or Soil and Water Conservation District office.  The Conservation Action Project and other partners will be hosting meetings to provide farmers further information about the improvements to the Lake Erie Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program.

The 27 counties eligible to participate in the Lake Erie Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program are: Allen, Ashland, Auglaize, Crawford, Defiance, Erie, Fulton, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Huron, Lucas, Lorain, Marion, Medina, Mercer, Ottawa, Paulding, Putnam, Richland, Sandusky, Seneca, Shelby, Van Wert, Williams, Wood, and Wyandot.

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