The Westmoreland County Conservation District will hold an open house March 29 in Greensburg to answer questions about funding available to landowners to create or maintain wildlife habitat and forested stream buffers on their lands. 

Anyone interested in learning about the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, as well as landowners already in the program, are invited to stop in to discuss how the program can benefit them.

CREP provides financial and technical assistance to landowners for creating wildlife habitat while addressing soil erosion and water quality issues on their properties.  Landowners are paid an annual rental payment and other incentive payments to take marginal land out of production and installing approved conservation practices.

CREP is administered by the USDA Farm Service Agency in partnership with other government agencies and private organizations.

This free Open House event will be held at the Westmoreland Conservation District,  218 Donohoe Road, Greensburg from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. 

A light lunch will be available from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.  Landowners should stop anytime during the day to talk about their specific situation with CREP experts.

An informal presentation on “CREP Eligibility, Payments and Responsibilities” will start at 9:30 a.m. and repeat again at 1:00 p.m.; another on “Conservation Practice Maintenance Issues and Solutions” will held at 10:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

To learn more about CREP and this event visit the PA Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program website or contact Terry Fisher by sending email to: tfisher@pacd.org or call 717-238-7223.

The CREP Program is available to landowners in the Ohio and Susquehanna River Watersheds and will be coming soon to the Delaware River Watershed.

3/21/2016