NGPC Receives NET Grant for Central Basins CREP

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NGPC news release, 4/18/08:

LINCOLN, Neb. – A grant will allow landowners to receive financial incentives to enroll pivot corners and small fields in a wildlife habitat conservation program.

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission on April 4 was awarded a $175,000 grant from the Nebraska Environmental Trust (NET) for the Central Basins Conservation Reserve Enhancement Project (CREP). This is the first year of three grants totaling $525,000 for the project.

This project is one of the 77 receiving $14,798,718 in grants from the NET this year.

“These grant funds will be used to provide additional incentive payments and cost- share for landowners enrolling wildlife habitat in the Central Basins CREP, and will be leveraged with contributions by the USDA’s CRP program via the Farm Services Agency, the Commission, and Pheasants Forever,” said Tim McCoy, the Commission’s agriculture program manager.

When the Central Basins CREP began in 2003, landowner interest in the enrollment of the resource areas exceeded the available acres within four months of sign-up. Since then, additional acres have been made available for enrolling resource areas in the CREP, but state incentive funds were not available.

“Now landowners will have another opportunity to enroll more than 16,000 acres of high quality wildlife habitat – an opportunity that would not have happened without the assistance from the Nebraska Environmental Trust,” McCoy said. “The Commission and CREP partners are working on the details for reopening enrollment, and we hope to open enrollment soon.”

The Central Basins area includes 30 counties in south-central, southeast and northeast Nebraska.

The NET is funded by proceeds of the Nebraska Lottery and private donations, and has awarded more than $126 million to Nebraska conservation projects since 1994.