Ducks Unlimited commemorates millionth acre of Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program

Joins Secretary of Agriculture in marking the conservation milestone

WASHINGTON – January 17, 2008 – Ducks Unlimited and the US Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency celebrated the enrollment of the one millionth acre into the popular Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) today.  Ducks Unlimited has been a part of many of the acres of restoration work put on the ground through CREP.

Scott Sutherland, director of the DU Governmental Affairs Office, was joined at the ceremony by Acting Secretary of Agriculture Chuck Conner, as well as Rep. Tim Holden of Pennsylvania and Rep. Tim Walz of Minnesota, whose district was home to the record breaking acre.

“The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program has been a real boon for ducks and waterfowl habitat all across the nation,” said Sutherland.  “Ducks Unlimited has been involved with many of the first million acres of CREP, and we look forward to working with the USDA to help restore the next million.”

A component of USDA’s Conservation Reserve Program, CREP is a voluntary land retirement program that helps agricultural producers protect environmentally sensitive land, decrease erosion, restore wildlife habitat and safeguard ground and surface water. Partnering with tribal, state and federal governments and groups like Ducks Unlimited, USDA establishes contracts with agricultural producers to retire highly erodible and other sensitive cropland and pastureland.

CREP’s parent program, the Conservation Reserve Program is viewed by the sportsman/conservation community as being the single most successful conservation program, adding over 2.2 million waterfowl to the fall flight each year.  In research DU conducted on nesting mallards, small wetlands scattered throughout the landscape were an essential component to duck brood survival.  The wetlands restored under CREP contribute to that success.

“Enrolling the one millionth acre is an important milestone in the history of USDA’s Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program,” said Conner.  “By collaborating with agricultural producers, state agencies and many other partners through this highly effective program, USDA is improving water quality, wildlife habitat, soil productivity and air quality throughout the country today and for the next generation.”

The milestone acres are located in Pipestone, Minn. at the home of Steve and Margaret Lange, part of 60 acres of CREP on their property.  There are more that 120,000 acres of CREP restored land in Minnesota.

With more than a million supporters, Ducks Unlimited is the world’s largest and most effective wetland and waterfowl conservation organization with over 12 million acres conserved. The United States alone has lost more than half of its original wetlands – nature’s most productive ecosystem – and continues to lose more than 80,000 wetland acres each year.