The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), administered by the USDA-Farm Service agency, is the Federal Governments single largest environmental improvement program on privately owned farms. The purpose of the CRP is to retire the most environmentally sensitive row cropped land and marginal pastureland from production. The retired acreage is converted to permanent covers. As of October 1, 2000, South Carolina will have over 200,000 acres under active CRP contracts.

Most of the acreage is devoted to trees.  Although CRP originally was designed to prevent soil erosion, it has been expanded throughout the years to address water quality and wildlife concerns. South Carolina is the top state in the Southeast for installing riparian buffers adjacent to waterbodies through CRP for water quality protection. In 1998 a Longleaf Pine National Priority Area was designated for CRP to protect the Longleaf Pine Ecosystem. In 1994, only 3.4 percent of the original Longleaf Pine forests were still existing. The Longleaf Pine ecosystem involves one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world that includes 36 species of mammals, 86 species of birds, 34 species of amphibians, 38 species of reptiles, 4,500 species of anthropods, and over 1,200 species of plants. In South Carolina, over 25,000 acres of Longleaf pine plantations will be established though the Conservation Reserve Program.

Producers selected for participation in the Conservation Reserve Program receive annual rental payments for a 10 to 15 year period and cost-share assistance to establish the permanent cover. Each year South Carolina Farm Service Agency issues CRP rental payments in excess of $7 million and CRP cost share assistance of approximately $500,000.

But how do landowners feel about the program?

"The CRP has been an invaluable management tool for my wildlife goals at Sunset Farm in Spartanburg County.  It has enabled me to plant 38 food plots each year totaling over 60 acres over 1000 acre farm, thus increasing the carrying capacity of the land for all wildlife.  This is especially important as private landowners have the brunt of responsibility for wildlife management in this state.  With the displacement of wildlife because of large clear-cut areas, the CRP enables the private landowner to improve habitat above its norm by cost sharing the creation of new openings in wooded areas for planting annual planting of existing food plots, and other options.  In my opinion the CRP has done more for wildlife as a whole than any program I have encountered.  For all wildlife and sake, I hope it continues."