Michigan CREP and DU
Restoring Michigan’s Wetlands
By Jason Hill
Ducks Unlimited, Inc
Program Biologist
The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) is off and running in Michigan! CREP was created to address the important environmental issues of water quality, soil erosion, and wildlife habitat within the Saginaw Bay, River Raisin and Lake Macatawa watersheds. The newly formed effort between federal, state, and private partners aims to enroll 80,000 acres into conservation practices. Active production agriculture takes place on over 10 million acres in Michigan. In less than a year's time, over 25,000 acres have been enrolled into the Michigan CREP. Wetland practices (Wetland Restorations and Shallow-Water Wildlife Areas) account for approximately 10% of this total. As in other CREP states across the country, Michigan CREP is already proving to be a great success.
On April 26th, 2001, Ducks Unlimited (DU) finalized an agreement with MDA under CREP. Through this agreement, DU has committed up to $500,000 to pay for 10% of implementation costs for wetland practices and provide additional technical assistance to the landowners. A landowner can voluntarily choose to have DU assist with their wetland practice installation. When DU is involved in delivering a wetland practice, a landowner may experience reduced or no out of pocket expenses. In addition, DU will serve as an agent to the landowner by hiring contractors and supervising construction activities to ensure that quality wetland practices are constructed to United States Department of Agriculture - Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS) standards and specifications.
CREP's coalition of federal, state and private conservation partners is committed to assisting landowners improve water quality, reduce sediment loading and provide wildlife habitat. DU’s expertise and involvement with CREP will ultimately aid in the restoration of numerous acres of wetland habitat suitable to nesting and migratory waterfowl. Michigan CREP and DU: a partnership in conservation!
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