PA Environment Digest

Plain sect farmers in watersheds draining to the Susquehanna River in Lancaster and Chester counties can now take advantage of a special bonus program for installing forested stream buffers to reduce nutrient and sediment runoff.

For every acre of buffer enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, or restored privately, a farmer can receive up to a $4,000 bonus for each acre of forest buffer in the form of a “BMP Voucher.” These funds can be used to reimburse farmer’s costs of installing eligible conservation practices elsewhere on the farm.

This bonus is in addition to the cost-share (typically 75 to 100 percent of the cost of installing the buffer), incentive payments and annual rents for the buffer under the CREP program. CREP annual rental payments vary from county to county, but are typically $150-$350 per acre in the region.

A current whole farm conservation plan is needed to qualify. If the farm has no up-to-date plan, this project will pay up to an additional $2,000 for conservation plan preparation, plus a small incentive $2,000 per farm to jumpstart plan implementation.
On streams with multiple farms participating, CBF would like to assess water quality and stream habitat before and after BMPs are installed. As an incentive to groups of participating farmers along the same stream, CBF will restore fish habitat with structures that also provide stream bank stabilization.

Partners in this initiative include: Lancaster and Chester County Conservation Districts, Comprehensive Land Services, Lancaster Co Agricultural Preserve Board, Lancaster Farmland Trust, Red Barn, Inc., TeamAg, Inc., and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

Funding for the three year project is provided by the National Fish and Wildlife Federation.

Download a program brochure. A farmer checklist is also available along with a more detailed summary that includes an example of how the program would work for an individual farm.

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