NRCS Maryland Announces 2 State Watersheds Included in Historic Expansion of the USDA National Conservation Security Program

Annapolis, Maryland (November 2, 2004) --- Two Maryland watersheds are among 202 watersheds across the Nation eligible to participate in a historic new conservation program designed to reward farmers for long-term conservation stewardship. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ann M. Veneman today announced the selected watersheds and said that sign-ups for the 2005 Conservation Security Program (CSP) would begin this winter.

Maryland's two eligible watersheds are the:

• Chester - Sassafras Watershed which includes all or part of Talbot, Queen Anne's, Kent, and Cecil Counties
• Monocacy Watershed which includes parts of Frederick, Carroll, and Montgomery Counties

CSP, part of the 2002 Farm Bill, was first introduced last summer in 18 watersheds nationwide. Maryland did not have any watersheds selected for the 2004 sign-up. The 2005 CSP sign-up marks the first opportunity for farmers from every state to participate through selected watersheds in their state. About one eighth of the Nation's eligible farmers will be given the chance to apply each year, over an eight-year period, until all eligible watersheds have participated in CSP.

"As an agency and as a Nation, we have helped farmers correct conservation problems such as soil erosion or water conservation since the Dust Bowl days of the 1930s," said David P. Doss, Maryland State Conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).   NRCS is USDA's lead conservation agency and has management responsibility for CSP.

"CSP represents a whole new direction in conservation and agricultural policy and programs. These payments for demonstrable long-term stewardship will reward many of those who undertook conservation on their own initiative and who care for the resources we all share," said Doss.

CSP is a voluntary program that provides financial and technical assistance to promote the conservation and improvement of soil, water, air, energy, plant and animal life, and other conservation purposes on Tribal and private working lands. Working lands include cropland, grassland, prairie land, improved pasture, and range land, as well as forested land that is an incidental part of an agriculture operation.  The program is available in all 50 states, the Caribbean Area and the Pacific Basin area. The program provides equitable access to benefits to all producers, regardless of size of operation, crops produced, or geographic location.

Participants may be enrolled in one of three tiers in the case of CSP, depending on the extent of the conservation treatment in place on their farm or ranch. Payments will be based in part on existing conservation treatment as well as the landowners' willingness to undertake additional environmental enhancements.

Doss said that while prior installation and planning of conservation practices serve eligibility criteria for CSP, " ...Farmers will also have opportunities to improve wildlife habitat, undertake on-farm energy conservation, participate in watershed-wide stewardship programs, and improve nutrient and pest management activities.

NRCS will offer local workshops in the selected watersheds to more fully explain the program to interested potential participants.

CSP will continue to be offered each year, on a rotational basis, in as many watersheds as funding allows. For more information on CSP and other NRCS programs, see www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs.