The USDA's Conservation Reserve Program in Wisconsin
A brief history and impact of the United States' largest private land conservation program in Wisconsin
In addition to protecting publicly owned lands such as national parks, forests, and wildlife refuges, the federal government partners with private landowners to manage their land for conservation. In 2023, a new Farm Bill will allocate acres for the USDA's Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), which is the United States' most extensive private land conservation program. The CRP takes a voluntary approach to mitigate the negative environmental impacts of agriculture and reduce the surplus of commodities. Simply put, the CRP temporarily retires farmland for 10-15 year increments to help protect soil, clean water, and enhance wildlife habitat 1 .
This story map is a series of interactive web mapping applications that illustrate the CRP's presence in Wisconsin. This collection of mapping applications demonstrates 1) how CRP enrollment has changed over time 2) the goals of the programs and practices, and 3) the future of the program in the State of Wisconsin. Each map was created using the enrollment data provided by the USDA Farm Service Agency. This data can be found here. These maps will be updated every few years to reflect any changes.
General instructions
- Scroll through each application.
- Read the caption for specific information about each application.
- Click on the application to begin interacting!
- Interact In Three Ways!
- Click on a county outline to see the county-specific information.
- Turn layers on and off by clicking the box next to the title. Note: Be sure to turn off the layer before turning on another. If two layers are turned on simultaneously, then the layer highest on the list will be displayed.
- To view the legend for each layer, click on the triangle next to the display box.
- If an application is slow or does not appear, it may be best to refresh the webpage!
- Note: that the animated maps may take longer to load due to a variety of technical issues
- To remedy this, we placed links within the text to an alternative map application for viewing
- Feel free to contact auhollan@uwsp.edu with any questions, comments, or concerns related to this story map.
Continuous Enrollment
In addition to general enrollment periods, farmers can enroll some land via continuous enrollment. Continuous enrollment was enacted through the 1996 Farm Bill, and provides funding for conservation practices on working lands 1 , including tree plantings, filter strips, and wetland restoration. A list of continuous CRP practices can be found here. These practices are bundled to address specific environmental issues, like wildlife habitat or water quality. The following maps highlight the specific programs.
More Information
Acknowledgements
This story map was prepared by Austin Holland, Anna Haines, Rebecca Roberts, Lynn Markham, and Karen Blaha of the Center for Land Use Education. The authors are grateful for the review and feedback from John Strauser the Grassland & Perennial Agriculture Outreach Specialist at UW-Madison Division of Extension, and Diane Mayerfeld, Sustainable Agriculture Coordinator, UW-Madison, Extension Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems (CIAS).
References
- USDA The Conservation Reserve Program: A 35 Year History: Link Here
- Hellerstein, D. and S. Malcolm (2011). The Influence of Rising Commodity Prices on the Conservation Reserve Program. USDA Economic Revenue Service.
- Morefield, P., et al. (2016). "Grasslands, wetlands, and agriculture: the fate of land expiring from the Conservation Reserve Program in the Midwestern United States." Environmental Research Letters 11(9).
- Bigelow, D., et al. (2020). The Fate of Land in Expiring Conservation Reserve Program Contracts, 2013-16 USDA Economic Revenue Service.
- Becker, D. A., et al. (2022). "The unintended benefits of the Conservation Reserve Program for air quality." GeoHealth 6(10): e2022GH000648.