New $243 Million USDA Program To Aid Wisconsin Waterways, Grasslands

Environmental Defense today praised Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman for approving a long awaited Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (C.R.E.P.) for Wisconsin.

“This C.R.E.P. brings nearly $200 million in federal funding to Wisconsin to solve problems of polluted runoff to impaired streams and habitat loss,” said Tim Searchinger, senior attorney for Environmental Defense. “The C.R.E.P. also seeks to reduce phosphorous, nitrogen, and sediment pollution by buffering thousands of miles of streams which have been harmed by agricultural runoff. At the same time, the program will address the dramatic decline of the prairie chicken, meadowlark, and other Wisconsin grassland birds through the restoration of up to 15,000 acres of critical habitat.”

The program combines significant federal and state funds to solve environmental issues such as restoring the health of a river system, through the establishment of voluntary contracts with farmers willing to make improvements on their land. The Wisconsin C.R.E.P., which has been the focus of efforts by Environmental Defense since the late 1990’s, will merge $45 million in state and private non-governmental funding with $198 million in federal funding to restore streamside and grassland habitat and filter polluted runoff before it reaches impaired rivers and streams.

“As we have already seen with Spring Creek in Rock County, and at other sites in Wisconsin, establishing riparian buffers and adding fencing can revive ailing waterways and turn them into sparkling, self-sustaining trout streams,” said Searchinger. “The benefit of the C.R.E.P. is that it will simultaneously apply these proven measures to hundreds of streams throughout the state. In addition, it will also benefit grassland bird populations in the Midwest whose numbers have plummeted as a result of native prairie loss and conversion or intensified use of farm pastures and meadows.”