New CRP Practice and December 15th Workshop in Limon

November 19, 2004

Local Landowners may be eligible for the new USDA – Farm Service Agency (FSA), Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Wetlands Restoration Initiative, Conservation Practice 23a (CP23a). The initiative will benefit landowners by providing cost share, annual rental payments and other financial incentives to restore and conserve playas and other wetlands outside the 100-year floodplain. To be eligible, playas or other wetlands must have been farmed four out of the past six years. Habitat adjacent to playas, up to four times the wetland acreage, will also be eligible for enrollment. This new initiative has no maximum wetland size. Open counties include Yuma, Kit Carson, Cheyenne, Otero, Bent, Elbert and El Paso.

Playas, commonly called lagoons or buffalo wallows, are shallow seasonal wetlands that are generally round and small, with clay-lined basins, and periodically fill with rainfall and runoff. They are the most numerous wetlands in the western Great Plains and provide many important functions including storing surface water and recharging aquifers including the Ogallala. Not only do playas benefit humans but they also provide important habitat for wildlife, especially migration habitat for waterfowl and shorebirds.

If folks are interested in finding out whether their playa is eligible for enrollment in CRP or learning more about playas please contact your local NRCS/FSA office or consider attending the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory/Playa Lakes Joint Venture workshop scheduled for December 15, 2004 at the Limon Community Building. For more information or to RSVP for the workshop please contact Kelly Hutton, Tammy VerCauteren or Seth Gallagher at (970) 482-1707 or seth.gallagher@rmbo.org.

The Playa Lakes Joint Venture (PLJV) and Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory (RMBO) are working together to promote this initiative and encourage enrollment. The Playa Lakes Joint Venture’s mission is to conserve playa lakes, other wetlands and associated landscapes through partnerships for the benefit of birds, other wildlife and people. RMBO is a non-profit organization whose mission is the conservation of Rocky Mountains and Great Plains birds and their habitats through research, monitoring, outreach, and education. The observatory promotes a broad, balanced approach to bird conservation and accomplishes its work through daily cooperation with other non-profits, schools, private landowners, and federal and state land and wildlife agencies.