NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Even as Congress stares down potential cuts in a new farm bill this year, the Obama administration has announced increased conservation efforts aimed at partnering with farmers and ranchers willing to take part in them.

At the annual Commodity Classic in Nashville, Tenn., earlier this month, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the potential of 1 million acres nationwide for continuous signup in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), specifically to protect grasslands and wetlands.

Of these, 200,000 acres would be for wetland restoration; the USDA noted last year’s storms were a reminder of the value of wetlands for storm water drainage and slowing runoff.

Approximately 100,000 acres are to be dedicated to developing habitat for pollinator species (such as honeybees). Another 700,000 acres may be designated to preserve areas for wildlife, including ducks, pheasants, quail and other birds.

“(These acres) also includes habitat, which in turn includes outdoor recreation opportunities … which in turn creates opportunities for your friends and neighbors,” Vilsack told farmers at the Classic, during his speech when he lauded the importance of local economies and pointed to outdoor recreation as a $700 billion annual industry offering “tremendous” chances for rural entrepreneurs.

A week later, the USDA and Department of the Interior announced a $33 million Working Lands for Wildlife partnership with farmers and ranchers. According to the USDA, federal, state and local wildlife experts will “jointly identify at-risk species that would benefit from targeted habitat restoration investments on private lands. Using the best available science, the partners will prioritize restoration actions on a large regional scale to most cost effectively focus assistance.”

In return for voluntarily making these improvements, the federal government is supposed to provide landowners with regulatory certainty that they will not be asked to take additional conservation actions

 This hearkens back to Vilsack’s remarks in Nashville that conservation programs don’t always necessarily require more money, but perhaps instead, “regulatory certainty” for farmers willing to make investment in them.

And, just last week, Vilsack announced $2 million in assistance through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to help farmers in parts of Michigan, Ohio and Indiana prevent phosphorus from entering Western Lake Erie Basin waterways.

All of this is part of an effort, he said, to make conservation programs sufficiently attractive to farmers so they will want to participate. “We’re able to tell the skeptics of conservation that erosion is declining, that, indeed, water use is declining,” he said, as examples.

A general CRP signup is going on now, until April 6; a continuous signup for Highly Erodible Cropland begins this summer. To entice producers to sign up their most environmentally valuable acres, the USDA Farm Service Agency will increase the Signing Incentive Payments to $150 per acre from the current level of $100. The incentive is offered on most continuous practices and will include wetland restorations, pollinators and upland bird habitat.

Currently, about 30 million acres are enrolled in CRP. Contracts on an estimated 6.5 million acres will expire Sept. 30, according to the USDA.

Eligible farmers in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana have until April 27 to apply for the EQIP funds to help with Western Lake Erie Basin Water Quality Projects; applications must be turned in to their local Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) offices. Call your local office with questions.

Too, visit www.nrcs.usda.gov or go to an NRCS office to learn more about the Working Lands for Wildlife initiative. Currently, the golden-winged warbler is the only listed species targeted for habitat protection in the Farm World coverage area.