By J. Gordon Arbuckle, Jr.
Sociologist
Iowa State University Extension
Thinking about addressing soil erosion or water quality problems, improving your grazing system or enhancing wildlife habitat on your land? Many state, federal and nongovernmental programs can help you reach your conservation goals. They include the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS), Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs), the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and private groups such as Pheasants Forever and Ducks Unlimited.
One-Stop Shop
Your local USDA Service Center should be one of the first stops for your conservation assistance needs. Located in every county, these offices house NRCS, SWCD and FSA staffs who work with private landowners to help them plan and fund their conservation activities. While each agency has its own programs, local staff are familiar with all of them and can help match programs to your unique land management needs.
The USDA’s better-known programs include the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) which is an agreement between the USDA and private landowners to establish conservation practices on environmentally-sensitive lands in exchange for cost share and incentive payments and an annual rental payment. Typical practices include establishment of native grasses or riparian (streamside) forest buffers to retain soil, capture nutrients and provide wildlife habitat.
Another major program is the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). While CRP takes land out of production, EQIP facilitates improvement of environmental performance on working lands including operations with livestock components. Typical practices that EQIP supports through technical assistance and cost-share are management-intensive grazing systems, terraces, grassed waterways, nutrient management and manure management activities. The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) helps landowners restore or establish wetlands to improve water quality and provide habitat for wildlife.
At the state level, both IDALS and IDNR - in coordination with the USDA - provide landowners financial and technical support for conservation. Through the Iowa Financial Incentives Cost-Share, the IDALS Division of Soil Conservation (DSC) can fund up to 50 percent - and sometimes more - of the overall cost of establishing erosion and runoff control structures such as terraces and buffers. The IDNR offers technical expertise through private lands biologists who assist landowners with wetland and grassland restoration efforts.
For landowners who have cropland or expiring CRP land, the IDNR, IDALS, NRCS and private organizations have teamed up to offer the State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) program. The SAFE program can fund up to 90 percent of the establishment costs (plus a sign-up bonus) of wildlife-friendly wetlands and native grasslands. The IDNR and IDALS also partner on two conservation loan programs: the Local Water Protection Program (LWPP) and the Livestock Water Quality (LWQ) program. These initiatives offer low-interest loans that can be used to fund conservation projects. Landowners can use them to fund the entire cost of conservation projects or they can cover their share of project costs when using cost-share programs.
Private Organizations
Many landowners with species-specific interests have also worked with private organizations such as Pheasants Forever and Ducks Unlimited. Staff and volunteers from these organizations can help landowners identify and access information and financial resources and help improve habitat for desired species such as pheasant, quail and waterfowl. Whether your interest is hunting or viewing, local representatives and members of these groups can help you.
What Are You Waiting For?
Every farm or acreage presents opportunities to improve environmental performance while enhancing quality of life for the owners as well as those who live downstream. Lucky for us in Iowa, there are resources available that can help us address just about any conservation goal. So why wait? Anytime is a good time for land stewardship. Contact any of the agencies and organizations to see what they can help you do for your land.
Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship
http://www.agriculture.state.ia.us
IDALS, Wallace State Office Building, 502 E. 9th Street, Des Moines
(515) 281-5321
Conservation Districts of Iowa
http://www.cdiowa.org
CDI, PO Box 801, Chariton
(641) 774-4461
Iowa Department of Natural Resources
http://www.iowadnr.gov/
IDNR, 502 E. 9th Street, Des Moines
(515) 281-5918
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service - Iowa
http://www.ia.nrcs.usda.gov/
State Conservationist, 210 Walnut Street, Room 693, Des Moines
(515) 284-6655
This article is from the June 2009 issue of Acreage Living, www.extension.iastate.edu/acreage/
Another article in this month’s issue—
Brush Management with Herbicides