CREP Final Report

FY1999 – FY2003

June 30, 2004

 

Executive Summary

 

On March 1, 1999, Secretary Dan Glickman and Governor James B. Hunt signed the Memorandum of Agreement establishing the North Carolina Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP).  The goal of the NC CREP is to enroll 100,000 acres of environmentally sensitive land within the Chowan, Neuse, and Tar-Pamlico river basins as well as the Jordan Lake Watershed area.  Establishment of the program provides a voluntary initiative encouraging the enrollment of farmland and marginal pastureland into riparian area.  Practices are designed to reduce nutrient and sediment impacts to stream courses within the targeted area.  The end result will have a positive impact with in the targeted CREP area.

 

North Carolina Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices began accepting offers on land for the CREP on March 15, 1999.  The strong partnership between the FSA, Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), and the North Carolina Division of Soil and Water Conservation (DSWC), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) provides an efficient mechanism for program delivery and implementation.

 

The United States Department of Agriculture has committed $187.5 million over the next 15 years for rental payments, as well as over $33.5 million for cost share payments.  The State of North Carolina will spend approximately $29,250,000 for easement acquisition to extend the protection of Federal contracts for 30-years or permanently.  Over $17 million will be expended for practice implementation.  Funding for the State’s 20% match requirement is coming from the North Carolina Clean Water Management Trust Fund, the North Carolina Wetlands Restoration Fund, and the North Carolina Agriculture Cost Share Program.  North Carolina continues to explore additional partners for its CREP. 

 

The program changes adopted in 2002 have allowed the State of North Carolina to continue increasing the number of easement closings.  The number of easements processed during 2003 increased from 65 in 2002 to 146, which represents a 125% increase. While pleased with the increase, the state is committed to continued growth in this area of our program.

 

The following tables provide information illustrating program accomplishment and federal and state contributions.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 1.  Current Enrollment by County, Stream Miles Protected and USDA Rent Payments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

County

1999- 2004

 

Number of Contracts

Number of Acres

Miles of Buffer*

Average USDA Rental Payments

Total USDA Annual Rent

Life of Contract Total USDA Payments

 

Alamance

 

 

 

 

$0.00

$0.00

 

Beaufort

30

896.2

24.7

$121.00

$108,440.20

$1,626,603.00

 

Bertie

1

31.0

0.9

$109.00

$3,379.00

$50,685.00

 

Caswell

 

 

 

$65.00

$0.00

$0.00

 

Chowan

17

176.8

4.9

$127.00

$22,453.60

$336,804.00

 

Craven

35

974.2

26.8

$95.00

$92,549.00

$1,388,235.00

 

Edgecombe

103

2072.9

57.1

$93.00

$192,779.70

$2,891,695.50

 

Gates

109

1579.5

43.4

$125.00

$197,437.50

$2,961,562.50

 

Granville

4

118.0

3.3

$95.00

$11,210.00

$168,150.00

 

Greene

35

347.6

9.6

$104.00

$36,150.40

$542,256.00

 

Halifax

226

4322.5

118.9

$107.00

$462,507.50

$6,937,612.50

 

Hertford

75

1045.2

28.8

$114.00

$119,152.80

$1,787,292.00

 

Hyde

62

3033.9

83.4

$117.00

$354,966.30

$5,324,494.50

 

Johnston

38

465.7

12.8

$103.00

$47,967.10

$719,506.50

 

Jones

6

135.3

3.7

$105.00

$14,206.50

$213,097.50

 

Lenoir

48

587.8

16.2

$99.00

$58,192.20

$872,883.00

 

Martin

32

829.5

22.8

$115.00

$95,392.50

$1,430,887.50

 

Nash

38

959.3

26.4

$102.00

$97,848.60

$1,467,729.00

 

Northampton

159

1906.8

52.4

$104.00

$198,307.20

$2,974,608.00

 

Pamlico

6

103.4

2.9

$117.00

$12,097.80

$181,467.00

 

Pitt

15

250.9

6.9

$100.00

$25,090.00

$376,350.00

 

Pearson

1

2.3

0.1

$90.00

$207.00

$3,105.00

 

Rockingham

4

33.3

0.9

$75.00

$2,497.50

$37,462.50

 

Vance

20

140.0

3.9

$86.00

$12,040.00

$180,600.00

 

Wake

3

120.0

3.3

$50.00

$6,000.00

$90,000.00

 

Warren

27

1012.4

27.9

$101.00

$102,252.40

$1,533,786.00

 

Washington

7

478.5

13.2

$131.00

$62,683.50

$940,252.50

 

Wayne

11

133.0

3.7

$106.00

$14,098.00

$211,470.00

 

Wilson

16

177.7

4.9

$106.00

$18,836.20

$282,543.00

 

Total

1,128

21,933.7

603.8

 

$2,368,742.50

$35,531,137.50

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 2.  Statistics of Enrollments/Offer by Practice

 

Practice

FY-1999- 2004

Cumulative to Date
USDA Total Enrollment

Number of Contracts

Number of Acres

Number of Acres

CP3A – Hardwood Trees

21

330.6

446.9

CP21 – Grass Filter Strips

45

711.5

2,033.3

CP22 – Riparian Forest Buffers

1042

19,523.2

   21,511.3

CP23 – Wetland Restoration

 20

1,253.8

1,295.2

Total

1,128

21,819.1

25,286.7

 

Table 3. Statistics of Easements Secured 1999 – 2004

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

County

Practice

Number of Easements by Term/Practice

Sum of Acres

Total Number of Enrollments by Practice

Total Easements