Stearns County reaches land protection milestone

By Carol Stender
cstender@agrinews.com

Date Modified: 09/09/2010 9:23 AM

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WAITE PARK, Minn. — Stearns County has reached an important conservation milestone: The county has enrolled more than 20,000 acres in the Conservation Reserve Program.

In fact, some Soil and Water Conservation district technicians say the actual figure is closer to 32,000 acres.

It's been a group effort to achieve the conservation goal, said Pheasants Forever farm bill wildlife biologist Jason Selvog. The Stearns County FSA and SWCD, Pheasants Forever, the Sauk River Watershed District, North Fork Crow River Watershed District, Clearwater Watershed District and the Rice Lake and Kronois Lake associations have all been involved.

We can attribute the success of this initiative to the partnerships that were created," Selvog said. "This gave us the opportunity to reach more people and implement more conservation."

The agencies and organizations have a common goal, he said. All are trying to "put more conservation on the ground to improve the quality of the environment with cleaner waters, to protect vulnerable soils and create more wildlife habitat in Stearns County.

At a time when some counties faced an exodus of acres from the program as contracts ended, Stearns County kept more than 67 percent of its enrolled acres in the CRP program, said Stearns County FSA executive director Phyllis Framstad.

The CRP initiative involved more than 5,300 landowner contracts and about 13,000 hours of conservation staff time working directly with landowners, Selvog said.

Buffer strips and filter strips make up a portion of the land enrolled in the program, said Vince Manderfeld, a 30-year SWCD technician. Some parcels are odd-shaped fields that are more difficult to farm with big machinery.

Manderfeld ha seen a push in the last 10 to 15 years for more native plant plantings on CRP land. When the program started, some grass species were introduced to the area. Those grasses had a tendency to go down, he said. The native grasses, however, are hardy and handle the wind and weather conditions.

CRP and other conservation programs have resulted in improved water quality and better wildlife habitat, Selvog said.

"Reaching a goal like this just doesn't happen overnight," said Framstad. "We have been working on this for some time. People don't just come into our office. We visit with them and tell them about the programs that they may apply to their land."

They work in cooperation with other Service Center offices including the SWCD, she said. When the landowner may have technical questions about the programs, FSA employees call SWCD technicians next door. The technicians meet with landowners to answer questions.

The CRP contract also involves maintenance, which could include a prescribed burn or cutting.

Selvog likens himself to someone in public relations. He talks to others about the conservation programs, including CRP.

One employee spends part of her work on the promotion of conservation programs. She produces mailings informing farmers about conservation practices.

The agencies are working on a new goal. They are hoping to add another 20,000 acres through the upcoming general CRP sign-up.