CSP Public Meetings Being Held Across Kansas

Is the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) right for your operation? Here is your chance to find out more at a public meeting. Agricultural and private forestry producers interested in CSP are encouraged to attend a public meeting to get information and ask questions.

"The new CSP is more than a name change," said Eric B. Banks, State Conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Some of the new CSP benefits include national in scope, not by watershed; no tiers; acres allocated by state; and priority resource concerns determined by the state.

"This is the stewardship program that is about maintaining your current conservation system and adopting additional conservation activities," continued Banks. "CSP is going to encourage new conservation on the land. It is a private working-lands program. It is not a land retirement program."

The NRCS is holding public meetings across the state. Check the Web site www.ks.nrcs.usda.gov for an entire listing of meeting locations. If an attendee requires special needs such as a signer or interpreter when attending a meeting, please call the contact number.

The signup for the CSP began August 10, 2009, and continues through September 30, 2009. Applications received by the September 30 cutoff date that meet the eligibility requirements will be ranked for 2010 funding consideration. Since signup for CSP is continuous, eligible applications received after the cutoff date could be considered in the next funding period.

The CSP is a voluntary program that encourages agricultural and forestry producers to maintain existing conservation activities and adopt additional ones on their operations.

Eligible applicants may include individual producers, legal entities, and Indian tribes. The program will be offered to producers in all 50 states, District of Columbia, and the Pacific and Caribbean areas through continuous sign-ups.

For information about CSP, including eligibility requirements, producers can visit http://www.ks.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/csp/2009/index.html or visit their local NRCS field office. U.S. Department of Agriculture is an equal opportunity provider and employer

Last Modified: 08/28/2009