Conservation Reserve Program Longleaf Forest Funding Available In Nine Southern States

EMBARGOED UNTIL: 3pm ET, October 18, 2006

Contact:
Sharyn Stein, 202-572-3396, sstein@environmentaldefense.org
Meg Little, 202-572-3387, mlittle@environmentaldefense.org

(Moultrie, GA - October 18, 2006) Environmental Defense praised the announcement today of a new Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) initiative to restore up to a quarter million acres of longleaf forests in nine southern states. The announcement was made by U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency Administrator Teresa Lasseter and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) during a 3pm news conference in Moultrie, GA (see media advisory below).

Longleaf pine forests play an important role in the overall environmental and financial health of the South. Longleaf once covered 70-90 million acres in a great arc from Virginia to Texas, but only about 3 million acres remain today. Producers in the states of the natural range of longleaf pine forests may sign up without delay to participate starting December 1 in the CRP Longleaf Pine Initiative. They include: Alabama (37,000 acres), Florida (42,750 acres), Georgia (44,750 acres), Louisiana (36,250 acres), Mississippi (21,500 acres), North Carolina (32,250 acres), South Carolina (21,000 acres), Texas (10,750 acres) and Virginia (3,750 acres).

“Administrator Lasseter and Chairman Chambliss’ announcement today is a great boost for longleaf pine, landowners, and wildlife,” said Robert Bonnie, Co-Director of the Land, Water and Wildlife Program for Environmental Defense, a non-profit group which lobbied for CRP Longleaf Pine Initiative. “The Farm Service Agency’s action today provides landowners with powerful incentives to restore up to 250,000 acres of longleaf pine on farmland. These future forests will restore rare wildlife habitat, boost bob white quail and turkey populations, and produce valuable forest products for decades to come.”

The CRP provides technical and financial assistance to eligible farmers and ranchers to reduce soil erosion, protect the nation’s ability to produce food and fiber, reduce sedimentation in streams and lakes, improve water quality, establish wildlife habitat, and enhance forest and wetland resources.

“This announcement demonstrates that Farm Service Agency conservation incentive programs are vitally important to helping landowners help the environment,” concluded Bonnie. “We applaud Chairman Chambliss’ leadership in promoting this effort and the Farm Service Agency for its commitment to longleaf pine conservation.”