Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet
Conservation program pays landowners nearly $91,000

FRANKFORT, Ky. (Aug. 26, 2005) – Landowners in four counties who contracted to set aside land and undertake other measures to protect the Green River have received $90,959 in payments under the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP).

The funds cover 50 contracts with landowners in Adair, Barren, Green and Metcalfe counties.  The federal funds are disbursed by the Kentucky Division of Conservation (DOC), an agency of the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet.

Contracted projects will protect Kentucky’s most biologically diverse river from silt and contaminated runoff. The voluntary program pays farmers to improve the control of pesticides, fertilizers and animal waste, and to return land along the river and its tributaries to forest and native grasses. Green River CREP covers 917,197 acres. Four other counties – Edmonson, Hart, Russell, and Taylor – also fall within it.

The program is an enhanced version of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Conservation Reserve Program, the federal government’s largest, most comprehensive private lands environmental improvement program. The two programs have helped save millions of acres of topsoil from erosion. They also have helped reduce runoff and sedimentation, thereby protecting surface and ground waters, while increasing wildlife habitat and improving air quality. 

CREP contracts may last from 10 to 15 years, and signup is continuous within the eight county CREP region.  Commonly used practices include riparian buffers, native grass planting, hardwood tree planting and filter strips.

Partners of the Green River CREP:

• USDA Farm Service Agency
• USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service
• Office of the Governor
• Kentucky General Assembly
• Kentucky Division of Conservation
• Mammoth Cave National Park
• The Nature Conservancy in Kentucky
• Kentucky Soil and Water Conservation Commission
• Soil and Water Conservation Districts
• Kentucky Division of Forestry
• Kentucky Division of Water
• Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission
• Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources