South Carolina's Little Pee Dee Watershed Eligible for Conservation Security Program

NRCS' 2008 Conservation Security Program signup will help farmers put more conservation on the land. CSP rewards and encourages the use of conservation practices, such as stripcropping, to protect and sustain natural resources. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer announced a sign-up for the Conservation Security Program will be available starting on April 18 and ending May 16th. There are approximately 64,000 potentially eligible farms and ranches in 51 watersheds covering more than 23.7 million acres.

SC NRCS State Conservationist Niles Glasgow announced that SC's Little Pee Dee Watershed was designated as one of the eligible areas. Parts of Marlboro, Dillon, Marion, and Horry Counties are within the Little Pee Dee watershed, totaling nearly 195,000 acres, encompassing approximately 614 farms.

"Since the first sign-up in 2004, CSP has offered payments for enhancing natural resources, rewarding those farmers and ranchers who are model conservationists, and providing incentives for other producers to achieve those same high standards of conservation in agriculture," explained SC NRCS State Conservationist Niles Glasgow.

This announcement, open from April 18 to May 16, brings the number of watersheds enrolled to 331 across the Nation, covering 247.7 million acres that have been eligible for the program.

CSP is a voluntary program that supports ongoing stewardship of private, agricultural working lands and rewards those producers who are meeting the highest standards of conservation and environmental management on their operations.

The sign-up announcement and specific program requirements are being published in the Federal Register.

For more information, visit the USDA website.

For local contacts within the approved SC CSP watershed, contact:

Marlboro County NRCS Office
Teresa Babb, District Conservationist
(843) 479-4552
teresa.babb@sc.usda.gov

Marion County NRCS Office
Rebecca Harper, District Conservationist
(843) 423-0223
rebecca.harper@sc.usda.gov

Horry County NRCS Office
Harvey Campbell, District Conservationist
(843) 365-8732
harvey.campbell@sc.usda.gov

Dillon County NRCS Office
Roger Cooper, District Conservationist
(843) 774-5122
roger.cooper@sc.usda.gov

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