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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contacts:
Bill Bobier, Earthscape Resource Management, (517) 484-4928
Terry Noto, for Environmental Defense, (585) 383-0358, or 585-455-7671 (mobile)
Scott Piggott, Michigan Farm Bureau, (517) 323-7000, ext 2021
Stephen May, Lenawee County Drain Commissioner Office, (517) 264-4696

(Michigan – May 1, 2007) – The Michigan Department of Agriculture and the US Department of Agriculture Farm Services Agency announced today a significant expansion of a key Michigan farmer-focused initiative to improve water quality and restore wildlife habitat in Michigan and benefit Lake Erie. The expansion opens up the program to farmers in critical portions of the Lake Erie Watershed in the southern Michigan counties of Branch, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe. In addition to expanding the program geographically, the recent revisions will enable the Michigan Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (MI CREP) to assist farmers in tackling the flow of suspended sediment and nutrients into more of southern Michigan’s rivers and streams and ultimately into the Western Basin of Lake Erie, the shallowest, warmest and most productive lake in the Great Lakes system. This change comes at a critical time – as Congress is deciding whether to provide additional funding for conservation programs in the 2007 farm bill. View map here [pdf].

“This enhanced Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program will provide farmers in the region with a voluntary, incentive-driven opportunity to implement practices that make real progress towards improving water quality in southern Michigan and ultimately Lake Erie,” explained Scott Piggott, manager of the Michigan Farm Bureau Agricultural Ecology Department. “This effort demonstrates Michigan’s and USDA’s strong commitment to working cooperatively toward improving water quality.”

This program could represent a combined federal, state and non-profit organizational investment of over $200 million dollars in Michigan. The public-private partnership implementing the MI CREP includes the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Michigan’s Department of Agriculture (MDA), the Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Michigan Farm Bureau Federation, Environmental Defense, Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited, the land conservancies, and The Nature Conservancy.

“This project will not only deliver critical water quality benefits, but also dramatically increase federal investment in this area of Michigan,” said Bill Bobier, a farmer and former Republican member of the Michigan House of Representatives who owns a conservation consulting firm, Earthscape Resource Management, in Hisperia. “It demonstrates just how important federal farm bill conservation programs are to Michigan’s farmers and our environment.”

Congress will reauthorize the federal farm bill later this year. Two bills have been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that would expand funding for farm bill conservation programs and target more resources toward the MI CREP and similar projects in other states. These bills, the Healthy Farms, Foods and Fuels Act and the EAT Healthy America Act, have over 140 cosponsors, including Michigan Reps John Dingell, Thaddeus McCotter and five other Michigan members of Congress.

“The changes announced today will offer farmers more and better options and financial incentives to help improve water quality and wildlife in the region, as well as helping combat climate change,” said Terry Noto, a conservation consultant for Environmental Defense.

Farmers who participate in this program will help stem the flow of pollutants by implementing key water quality practices such as planting grass and trees along side streams to slow and filter water and restoring wetlands that collect water during storms, thereby reducing the highest stream flows during storms and reducing the risk of flooding downstream. These practices can help water quality in local rivers and streams, such as the St. Joseph River, improve drinking water quality, improve fisheries and benefit Lake Erie itself. Wildlife will also benefit, and the program will help address climate change, potentially sequestering almost one million metric tons of carbon over 15 years.

“These changes announced today will not only benefit water quality and wildlife, they will also help reduce the need for maintenance of drainage ways and improve structural integrity of drainage ditches and stream bank stability,” said Stephen May, Lenawee County Drain Commissioner.

“The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program has been a fantastic demonstration of partners working together to get conservation on the land,” said Steve Shine, Conservation Programs Manager, Michigan Department of Agriculture. “This new relationship with Environmental Defense and the Joyce Foundation will help us take this success farther by expanding our partnerships, resources on the ground and watersheds.”

Through generous support from the Joyce Foundation, Environmental Defense will provide additional funding for outreach and implementation in the new target area.

Click here for more information about the revised MI CREP, practices and incentives, and eligible counties.