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Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP)

Washington’s Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) is a voluntary program designed to benefit both farms and fish. The program compensates farmers for growing a different crop in streamside areas of their property. That crop is salmon habitat.

In the Palouse region, CREP protects and improves waters that flow to the Snake River. CREP-eligible acres are along the South Fork Palouse River and portions of North Fork Palouse River and Union Flat Creek. To view a map of eligible waterways, click here.

 

CREP is a joint program administered by the Farm Service Agency through the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), with technical assistance from the Natural Resources Conservation Service and additional funding through the Washington State Conservation Commission.

Benefits for Farmers

  • Steady rental income for 10-15 years. Total amount is determined by your soil type and enrolled activities.

  • One-time signing bonus.

  • Entire cost of project installation is covered.

  • Project maintenance cost is reimbursed for the first five years.

  • Livestock operators are reimbursed for new water facilities and fencing to exclude cattle from the buffer.

  • Option to re-enroll.

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Benefits for Fish

  • Streamside buffers function as a “water treatment plant,” absorbing nutrients and other pollutants before they reach streams.

  • Trees and other vegetation shade the stream and cool water temperatures for salmon.

  • Trees fall into streams, providing habitat and rearing pools.

  • Vegetation stabilizes streambanks and reduces erosion.

Eligible Practices

Riparian Forest Buffers

50 to 180-foot-wide plantings of native trees and shrubs bordering an eligible river or stream.

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Hedgerows

15-foot-wide strips of native shrubs planted on eligible streams and drainages with channels less than 15 feet wide. These are also available on streams and drainages connected to eligible streams up to 10 miles upstream.

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Grass Filter Strips

20 to 120-foot-wide strips of grassy vegetation planted along stream segments that are upstream of salmon habitat.

​Wetland Restoration

Planting native wetland vegetation, including upland buffers. Criteria for eligible restoration practices varies depending on whether the site is within or outside of the 100-year floodplain area. This practice is eligible on cropland.

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Pastureland Wetland Buffers

20 to 120-foot-wide band of vegetation planted on marginal pastureland that is adjacent to wetlands.

How It Works

Landowners sign up with the USDA Farm Service Agency to plant native trees and shrubs that form a “buffer” between farmland and eligible waterways.

 

A local CREP technician will work with you to design a plan for the buffer and plant the vegetation. Once planning is complete, landowners receive annual rental payments for the acreage they restore for the duration of their CREP contract. After five years, most projects are well-established and further maintenance is usually minimal.

For more information on CREP, please contact:

Randy Stevens, Conservation Coordinator

RandyS@PalouseCD.org | (509) 553-1851

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