Contact: Mark Schultz, LSP, 612-722-6377; marks@landstewardshipproject.org

3/19/05
Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns announced on March 17 that farmer sign-up for the Conservation Security Program (CSP) will begin for 220 watersheds across the country on March 28 and run for two months through May 27 (see USDA press release below). The 2005 CSP sign-up includes the 202 watersheds announced by USDA on Nov. 2, 2004, and the 18 pioneer watersheds from the fiscal year 2004 sign-up. Five watersheds in Minnesota are included in the new watersheds named for sign-up, plus the Blue Earth watershed, which was part of the first CSP sign-up in 2004.

The new watersheds in Minnesota are the Red Lake watershed in northwest Minnesota, the Sauk and Redeye watersheds in central Minnesota, the Redwood watershed in southwest Minnesota, and the Root River watershed in southeast Minnesota. A small portion of the Upper Wapsipinicon watershed of Iowa also falls into southeast Minnesota.

The rules for program sign-up and operation will be released soon by USDA, and will be based on the interim final rule that USDA used in the last sign-up.

The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) encourages farmers in selected watersheds to take steps to sign up for the program, starting with the self-assessment workbook which is available from local Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) offices, or on the NRCS website at http://www.mn.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/csp/csp.html. LSP also has copies of the workbook available, as well as CSP fact sheets and tips for sign-up. For more information on CSP, call LSP's Policy Program at 612-722-6377.

"LSP is glad to see this second CSP sign-up getting on track," said Mark Schultz, LSP’s Policy Program Director. "We encourage farmers to sign up for the program. We also want to encourage farmers to call their members of Congress and urge them to fully fund CSP beyond this year. President Bush has proposed severe cuts to CSP in his budget for 2006, and southern Senators like Senate Ag Committee chair Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) have made references to severely cutting or eliminating CSP. Calls are needed."

To get the telephone numbers for your U.S. Senators and Representatives, call the Capitol switchboard at 202-225-3121.

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