CRP, WRP, FIP, ACR, ACP.
The alphabet soup of state and federal agricultural policy can spell H-A-B-I-T-A-T for Illinois wildlife when savvy landowners know how to maximize the benefits. Incentive programs, offering everything from technical assistance and advice to cost-sharing for specific conservation practices, are administered by both state and federal agencies. The trick is to learn which programs are applicable and how to best take advantage of them.

"We try to make landowners aware of all the programs they may qualify for," said Lyle Adams, head of the Conservation Department's Private Lands Habitat Management program. Through the private lands program, a dozen field biologists scattered throughout the state help private landowners develop and implement wildlife management plans for their property.

Acres for Wildlife, the nearly 20-year-old Conservation Department program to recognize landowners who set aside acreage for wildlife conservation, is administered under the Private Lands program. Participants receive Acres for Wildlife signs to post on their properties and can get free management advice from private lands biologists. The program is distinctive in that it encourages wildlife habitat development on rural and urban properties.

Neither program provides incentives other than technical assistance, but they can open the door to other programs, particularly U.S. Department of Agriculture programs, that do provide financial assistance for approved practices.

"We feel that's an important role for us," Adams said. "The real challenge of private lands management work is in trying to keep track of all the programs that are available."

The grand-daddy of current federal agriculture incentives is the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) authorized under the 1985 Farm Bill and administered by the Agriculture Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS). Under the program, specifically designed to take highly erodible soil out of production, landowners are eligible for annual payments of $60 to $90 per acre for land they enroll, plus a 50 percent cost-share for converting the land to wildlife cover or trees. CRP takes the land out of agriculture production for a minimum of 10 years, which means long-term benefits for wildlife.

While there has not been a sign-up for the program in more than a year, Adams said DOC private lands biologists are busy assisting the owners of previously enrolled acreage. In 12 sign-up periods since 1986, Illinois landowners have enrolled more than 822,000 acres. More than 31,000 of the state's CRP acres have been planted with trees, 10,000 acres have been planted to native grasses, and about 4,000 acres are filter strips — all of which are practices attractive to wildlife.

"We were successful this year in getting the state ASCS committee to approve an additional management practice to enhance CRP grasslands for quail and other wildlife," Adams said.

John Roseberry, a researcher with the Cooperative Wildlife Research Lab at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, determined that CRP had not lived up to expectations when it came to providing habitat for quail. The reason is that many landowners seeded their CRP acres to non-native cool season grasses that soon became too thick and dense to attract wildlife. A possible management solution, approved for CRP enrollees this year, calls for strip disking the grassland

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to open it up and make it more attractive for quail and other ground-nesting wildlife.

"CRP was targeted on retiring highly erodible land from commodity production and then promoting conservation practices such as tree planting, planting grasses, planting legumes and so forth," Adams said. "The big question for the conservation community is what happens now. We've spent millions of dollars signing up roughly 36 million acres nationwide and in 1995 the first of those 10-year contracts will begin to expire. What happens then?"

Adams said nearly 50 percent of the landowners with property enrolled in CRP say they will bring the land back into production in the absence of an incentive program. That, he said, would have almost immediate impacts on soil erosion rates and commodity prices.

"We're very much concerned about what will happen if there's not some way to continue, either by purchasing long-term easements from the landowner or extending CRP in some form," Adams said. "There should be some way to continue to provide incentives to the landowner for keeping that land out of production and keeping in permanent cover."

The new kid on the block from the USDA is a program, similar to CRP, to retire converted wetlands from agricultural production and return them to their natural states. Conservationists hold out great hope for the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP), since it could provide critically needed habitat for migrating waterfowl and for shore-birds, including endangered and threatened species.

Like the Conservation Reserve, WRP seeks to take agricultural croplands out of production while encouraging land management practices. The emphasis for WRP, however, is on wetlands protection and restoration. Illinois is among 20 states participating in the initial sign-up for WRP, which ended March 11.

"Under WRP, landowners sell a permanent easement to the Department of Agriculture in exchange for a one-time payment of up to $ 1,200 per acre or the fair market value of the land," said Marvin Hubbell, wetlands program manager for the Conservation Department. Additionally, the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, which administers the program, will provide up to 75 percent funding for wetlands restoration projects on enrolled acreage.

The easement amounts to a legal agreement between the landowner and USDA under which the landowner maintains private ownership of the property but agrees to set limits on its use to protect its integrity as a wetland. The fact that the landowner retains control over access to the land is one of the most attractive features of the program, according to supporters. Acceptable uses for the land can include hunting, fishing, timber harvest, and haying or grazing, depending upon the situation.

DOC Private Lands Habitat Management biologists can maximize the benefits landowners realize from WRP by providing technical advice on low-level water control structures and by obtaining native plant materials for wetland restorations, according to Adams.

Total enrollment for 1994, the first year of WRP, is limited to 75,000 acres nationwide. USDA hopes to protect and restore 330,000 acres of wetlands by the end of 1995.

Another federal program that may work in concert with WRP is the Department of the Interior's Partners in Wildlife program. Through Partners in Wildlife, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provides technical assistance to the USDA and to private landowners enrolled in USDA incentive programs. The program is concerned with all wildlife species, but focuses in particular on waterfowl and endangered and threatened species.

Through its waterfowl stamp, furbearer stamp and non-game Wildlife Preservation funds, the Conservation Department supplements the cost-share money allotted by the USFWS for Partners in Wildlife. That cooperative cost-share arrangement between the state and federal governments means the program can provide "essentially 100 percent funding for wetland restoration," Adams said.

Private Lands Habitat Management biologists figure into the program by identifying landowners with potentially eligible sites and getting them signed up. Last year in Illinois, Partners in Wildlife was responsible for restoring 42 wetland basins, totalling 280 acres, at a cost of about $98,000.

"It's a very attractive program focused on wetlands," Adams said. "It could conceivably work in concert with the Wetland Reserve."

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The Acreage Conservation Reserve Program (ACR) is another federal USDA ag program than can benefit wildlife, according to Adams. Known to many farmers as the "annual set-aside," the program pays landowners subsidies for idling acreage that otherwise would be used to produce specific commodities.

The disadvantage of ACR from the standpoint of wildlife management is its transitory nature. The amount of land idled under ACR varies from year to year. This year, in fact, there is no set-aside for Illinois.

"In the time I've watched it, it has varied from about five to 15 percent a year," Adams said. "In Illinois, we could be talking about 3 million acres at the upper end of that range. That's a substantial amount of land being retired on an annual basis that has some, limited benefit for wildlife."

Because set-asides under ACR are short-term, DOC private lands biologists focus the Department's food and cover plot program on ACR acreage. Under that program, DOC, Quail Unlimited and Pheasants Forever cooperate to provide free seed packets to cooperating landowners for planting food and cover plots. The seed packets contain corn, milo, sunflowers and other vegetation selected to provide food and cover for ground-nesting wildlife.

In 1992, Adams noted, ACR acreage accounted for 19,000 such food plots in Illinois, compared to 708 on CRP lands.

Nearly half the 30 conservation practices authorized by the USDA for implementation on ACP (Agriculture Conservation Program) acreage have residual benefits for Illinois wildlife. ACP provides funds for a 75 percent cost-share on approved projects. Total payment is limited to $3,500 per year per landowner.

Among the practices ACP encourages that also benefit wildlife are: woodland management, planned grazing systems, farm pond construction, upland wildlife habitat development, wildlife food plots, filter strip construction, grade control structures, critical area planting, contour stripcropping, diversion, grassed waterways, contour buffer strips, contour fanning, field borders, windbreaks, pasture planting, stream protection, tree planting, crop residue management, wetland enhancement, crop rotation, sediment control basins, terracing, and cover cropping.

Two federal programs that are directed at promoting timber stand improvement also can benefit wildlife, according to Adams. The Forest Incentive Program (FIP), administered by ASCS, and the Stewardship Incentive Program (SIP), administered at the state level by the Conservation Department's Division of Forest Resources, provide cost-sharing for landowners to implement approved forest management practices. Many of those practices, Adams noted, are beneficial for wildlife.

"Management practices done in the name of forestry improvement often enhance wildlife values as well," he said.

FIP provides eligible landowners with 65 percent funding for approved timber stand improvement practices. Up to $ 10,000 per year may be granted to help cover the cost of tree planting, site preparation, vegetation control and forest stand improvement.

Funding for FIP often is limited and the program is not offered in all Illinois counties. Landowners should check with their local ASCS office to determine whether FIP benefits are available in their county. Nonindustrial forest landowners with a DOC-approved forest management plan and a minimum of 10 acres of woodland property are eligible to participate.

SIP, a relatively new program, offers incentives for a wider array of management practices.

"Nearly all the other incentive programs focus on forest products," Adams said. "SIP deals with all the values of the forestland, including wildlife."

Authorized under the 1990 federal Farm Bill, SIP shares the cost of nine approved management practices: tree planting, site preparation, vegetation control, forest stand improvement, wildlife habitat enhancement, windbreaks, riparian and wetland enhancement, trail construction and vista creation. Nonindustrial forest landowners with a DOC-approved Forest Stewardship Plan and a minimum of five acres of timber (or two acres protected by a windbreak) are eligible to enroll.

SIP, administered at the state level by the Conservation Department's Division of Forest Resources, is available in all Illinois counties. Eligible landowners can enroll through their Soil and Water Conservation District, ASCS or SCS office, or by contacting their district forester.

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The Illinois Forestry Development Act, also administered by the Division of Forest Resources, is one of the few state programs that offers cash incentives for management practices beneficial to wildlife. About $400,000 is appropriated for cost-sharing with landowners for such practices as tree planting, site preparation, vegetation control, firebreak construction, fencing and forest stand improvement. In addition to direct cash incentives, enrolled acreage is eligible for a reduced property tax rate.

A major advantage of the program is that its benefits can be combined with incentives from other cost-share programs to further reduce the cost of implementing management practices.

Under the Forestry Development Act, one of the landowner's primary goals must be timber production. To be eligible, the landowner must have an approved forest management plan and own a minimum of five acres of forestland. Participants can enroll in the program through their nearest district forester.

"The value of the program to us (Private Lands program) is that it provides the types of incentives we can't offer," Adams said. "Our program provides no direct cost-share payment. What we offer is free technical assistance, which can be worth a lot."

Private Lands biologists also can provide access to specialized equipment landowners may need to implement Forest Development management practices such as tree planters, root plows and special seed drills for warm season grasses.

The Conservation Department's Division of Natural Heritage administers two programs to help landowners preserve natural areas, including those that provide habitat for non-game wildlife species. The Natural Heritage Landmark Program, a joint program of the Conservation Department and Illinois Nature Preserves Commission, recognizes landowners who voluntarily protect natural areas or the habitats of endangered or threatened species on their properties. While the program provides no direct cash incentive, DOC Natural Heritage biologists will work with landowners, providing management recommendations and advice.

Occasionally, privately owned lands may be designated as Illinois Nature Preserves by the Nature Preserves Commission. Like the Natural Heritage Landmark program, Nature Preserve designation makes the owners eligible for technical assistance for managing the area. Again, there is no direct cash incentive, but the property tax assessment on rural lands dedicated as Nature Preserves is reduced to one dollar per acre.

With the multitude and complexity of incentives and programs available, the Conservation Department's Private Lands Habitat Management program can be a "one-stop" source of information.

"A lot of landowners don't know about the programs they qualify for," Adams said. "Just letting the landowner know what is available is an important part of what we do."

Making landowners aware of their options and getting them to set aside a portion of their land for wildlife is critically important, according to Adams. Loss of habitat is the primary cause of wildlife declines in the last 50 years. Reestablishing areas of high quality habitat on private lands is the only meaningful way to address the habitat problem.

Illinois has about 90,000 landowners who own more than 95 percent of the state's total of 36 million acres. That's roughly 34 million acres in private ownership, compared to the less than 250,000 acres the Conservation Department owns and manages.

Conservation Department biologists manage the state's publicly owned lands to maximize its benefits to wildlife. But no matter how successful they are, the effort pales when compared to the potential represented by private lands.

"On private lands, we have an opportunity to make a major impact on wildlife numbers," Adams said.

Landowners wanting more information about the Private Lands Habitat Management program or any of the incentive programs for which they might qualify should contact their district private lands biologist.

Dave Ambrose is the managing editor for the Department of Conservation's magazine, Outdoor Illinois. This article originally appeared in the April issue of the publication. •

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