Land returned to natural state using CREP

by Bob Lander, Spring 2005

Erosion caused by cattle grazing on Bruce and Susan Jones's leased property. Photo courtesy Bruce Jones.

Bruce and Susan Jones moved to Rappahannock County about 24 years ago, purchasing a property on Long Mountain Road. The property they bought had been used for grazing cattle, so native plants (primarily forest) had been removed and replaced with pasture and nonnative forage grasses. The cows had also destroyed many of the native species in the remaining forested parts of the property.

The Joneses brought with them a penchant for conserving, preserving, and restoring nature. Realizing that water was essential to having diverse native species of plants and wildlife, their first move in bringing nature back to the property was to construct two ponds. After putting in the ponds, the couple noticed that the number and diversity of species of wildlife had increased dramatically.

They added more native plant species and diversified the habitats on their land, which in turn attracted even more native species. Many birds not readily seen elsewhere in the county are now on the property, along with voles, frogs, foxes, and other wildlife. Bruce’s dream is to restore the habitat to where quail will survive.

A year ago, Bruce noticed that their ponds were silting up. This caused a change in pond depth and the vegetation along the edges, which in turn caused the creatures living there to move on to more accommodating habitats. The Joneses found that the silting was a result of runoff from adjacent meadows.

The streams that fed the ponds were carrying the soil from the meadows into the ponds. Cattle were grazing in these meadows and drank from the streams. In the process, they broke down the stream banks, leaving the soil exposed to rain and wind…slowly eroding the entire area and sending the topsoil into the streams.

A USDA staff member plants a tree in the eroded area of the riparian (stream) edge of the Jones's leased property. Photo by Bruce Jones.

To reverse this process, the Joneses leased the land and had the cattle removed. Then, as part of CREP, the staff of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Field Office in Culpeper, which administers the program locally, developed a plan and planted native trees and shrubs in strategic areas. Full restoration will likely take years, but nature is slowly reversing the destruction brought about by the cattle.

According to the USDA's website, CREP "is a voluntary land retirement program that helps agricultural producers protect environmentally sensitive land, decrease erosion, restore wildlife habitat, and safeguard ground and surface water." The program offers rental payments to farmers who voluntarily remove streamside or wetland areas from agricultural production for 10 or 15 years, and the program reimburses most of the costs of buffering streams, lakes, and rivers from sedimentation and agricultural runoff.

While CREP was aimed at farmers who are still raising livestock, landowners who do not raise livestock, such as the Joneses, can also take advantage of the program to convert land that was formerly used for livestock back to its natural state. Even those leasing land, as the Joneses are, can take advantage of the rental component of CREP, as long as the lease runs at least as long as the number of years CREP requires land be out of production.

CREP can be used to protect streams, ponds, and wetlands from contamination from livestock, easing a continuing problem in the Rappahannock River watershed. For more information on the program, contact the USDA Field Office, 540-825-4200, ext. 108, or go on the web to www.fsa.usda.gov/dafp/cepd/crep.htm.