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N.C. Farmers Can Help Quail, Help Themselves RALEIGH, N.C. (Sept. 30, 2005) — North Carolina farmers can still sign up for a federal program that pays for bobwhite quail habitat on field borders. The Upland Bird Habitat Buffers initiative is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Conservation Reserve Program, which compensates farmers who set aside sensitive areas to protect water quality and other environmental assets. Bobwhite quail, once prolific throughout the Southeast, have declined precipitously over the past several decades, mostly due to loss of habitat. Field borders provide the weedy, grassy habitat that bobwhite quail require for food, cover and nesting. Although landowners are not required to plant the buffers, they must agree to manage the enrolled acres periodically to keep out trees. In return, farmers receive payments for up to 10 years on less-productive field edges. “The Upland Bird Habitat Buffers initiative provides landowners a strong incentive to improve habitat through a signup bonus, annual rental payments and cost share for maintenance,” said Terry Sharpe, agricultural liaison biologist with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. “These incentives are much greater than the Wildlife Commission could have provided on our own.” USDA administers the program through local Farm Service Agency offices. The Natural Resources Conservation Service and the state Wildlife Commission provide technical expertise to participants. As part of the Northern Bobwhite Quail Habitat Initiative, the program will enroll up to 250,000 acres nationwide. North Carolina has been designated for 11,300 acres — more than any other state in the Southeast. Tar Heel farmers thus far have enrolled 5,800 acres. “I think our high acre allocation in this new federal program is an affirmation that we are on the right track with our quail restoration efforts,” Sharpe said. Just in the last 25 years, quail populations have dropped 60 percent nationwide, according to federal data. A major factor in their decline is the prevalence of clean farming techniques. Once common, fallow areas of weeds, grasses and shrubs all but disappeared as agricultural practices became more efficient. As those plant communities declined, so did quail and other species — from songbirds to small mammals. Enrollment will remain open through December 2007 or until the state allotment is used. “We anticipate that the signup will accelerate as the cropping season winds down this fall,” Sharpe said. To be eligible, the buffers must be on row crop land with active cropping history for four of the six years from 1996 to 2001 and between 30 and 120 feet wide. Annual rental payments are based upon soil fertility and local established rental rates. Compensation includes a one-time signing bonus of about $100 per acre enrolled, an annual maintenance payment of $5 per acre and a management payment of up to $100 per acre over the 10-year lifetime of the agreement. The Wildlife Commission is reaching out in particular to landowners in the Coastal Plain, where the initiative has the most potential to benefit bobwhites on cropland fringes. Interested landowners should contact a Farm Service Agency office and ask for enrollment applications for practice CP33, Upland Bird Habitat Buffers. |