    Agricultural Conservation: Survey of USDA State Technical
    Committee Members (01-MAR-02, GAO-02-371SP).

    This report presents the views of members of state technical
    committees on (1) the effectiveness of USDA's conservation
    efforts in addressing environmental concerns related to
    agriculture, (2) any program elements that hinder the achievement
    of related environmental objectives, and (3) any program
    characteristics that current or new programs might include to
    better meet these objectives. GAO summarizes the responses of the
    state technical committee members and stratifies them by
    geographic region and organization.
    -------------------------Indexing Terms-------------------------
    REPORTNUM:   GAO-02-371SP
        ACCNO:   A02791
      TITLE:     Agricultural Conservation: Survey of USDA State Technical
    Committee Members
         DATE:   03/01/2002
      SUBJECT:   Agricultural programs
    	     Conservation
    	     Environmental monitoring
    	     Land management
    	     Natural resources
    	     USDA Environmental Quality Incentives
    	     Program

    	     USDA Farmland Protection Program
    	     USDA Wetlands Reserve Program
    	     USDA Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program

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    GAO-02-371SP

    United States General Accounting Office

    GAO

    Report to the Committee on

    Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, U.S. Senate

    February 2002

                                    AGRICULTURAL
                                    CONSERVATION

    Survey of USDA State Technical Committee Members

    GAO-02-371SP

    Contents

    Introduction 1

                              Regional Stratification

    Program Needs
    Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) General Signup
    Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Continuous Signup
    Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP)
    Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP)
    Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)
    Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP)
    Farmland Protection Program (FPP)
    Conservation Plans for USDA Conservation Programs
    Land Maintenance and Conservation Practices
    Conservation Compliance/Sodbuster/Swampbuster Provisions
    Program Assistance
    Effect on Economy of Rural Communities
    Conservation Program Emphasis
    Respondent Information
    Comments

                                         4

    17

    28

    36

    41

    50

    61

    68

    76

    78

    82

    84

    93

    96 112 113

    Organizational Stratification

    Program Needs
    Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) General Signup
    Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Continuous Signup
    Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP)
    Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP)
    Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)
    Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP)
    Farmland Protection Program (FPP)
    Conservation Plans for USDA Conservation Programs
    Land Maintenance and Conservation Practices
    Conservation Compliance/Sodbuster/Swampbuster Provisions
    Program Assistance
    Effect on Economy of Rural Communities
    Conservation Program Emphasis
    Respondent Information
    Comments

    114 127 138 146 151 160 172 179 187 189 193 195 204 207 222 223

    Introduction

    Farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners own and manage more than
    two-thirds of the continental United States' 1.9 billion acres and thus are
    the primary stewards of our soil, water, and wildlife habitat. Because of
    this important responsibility, how private land is used is increasingly
    being recognized as vital to the protection of the nation's environment and
    natural resources. For example, state water quality agencies report that
    agricultural production is a leading contributor to impaired water quality;
    similarly, habitat loss associated with agriculture has been a factor in the
    declining populations of many wildlife species, including many threatened or
    endangered native species. In recognition of the critical role played by
    private landowners, the Congress directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture
    (USDA) to implement the numerous programs aimed at improving the stewardship
    practices on these lands. USDA currently has over 70 million acres of
    privately owned land enrolled in programs that offer landowners financial
    incentives to implement conservation practices to protect or improve soil
    and water quality and wildlife habitat. USDA's conservation efforts are
    intended to address specific environmental concerns, target funding toward
    state and local environmental priority areas, and include partnerships with
    state or local entities to leverage limited funding. USDA's Conservation
    Reserve Program (CRP), the federal government's largest single conservation
    program, has an enrollment of almost 34 million acres and makes annual
    payments of about $1.5 billion on these acres.

    Administered by USDA's Farm Service Agency, CRP compensates landowners for
    taking certain highly erodible cropland or environmentally sensitive land
    out of agricultural production. Most of CRP's 34 million acres were enrolled
    through CRP General Enrollment, which USDA implemented in 1986. Alternative
    CRP enrollment options-CRP Continuous Enrollment, implemented in 1997, and
    the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), implemented in 1998-are
    specifically targeted to high-priority conservation practices that yield
    significant environmental benefits. As of October 2001, enrollment in CRP
    Continuous and CREP totaled 1.6 million acres. Other USDA programs,
    including the Wetlands Reserve Program, the Environmental Quality Incentives
    Program, the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, and the Farmland
    Protection Program, are administered by USDA's Natural Resources
    Conservation Service (NRCS). These programs, which NRCS state
    conservationists manage, compensate landowners for activities such

    Page 1 GAO-02-371SP Agricultural Conservation

    as restoring and protecting wetlands, implementing conservation and wildlife
    practices on land currently used for agricultural production, and preventing
    the conversion of farmland to non-agricultural uses near urban areas.

    State technical committees advise the NRCS state conservationists on the
    implementation of NRCS-administered conservation programs in each state.
    These committees include representatives from federal, state, local, and
    Indian tribal governments, as well as representatives from organizations
    knowledgeable about conservation issues, and are chaired by the NRCS state
    conservationists. The committees are responsible for such activities as
    recommending guidelines for evaluating conservation practices, determining
    eligible conservation practices for state priority areas, and making
    suggestions on program selection processes.

    The future of USDA conservation programs has been the subject of extensive
    debate within the environmental and agricultural communities and in the
    Congress. This debate has centered on increasing the environmental and
    natural resource benefits resulting from the programs by allocating more
    funding to them, modifying them, or creating new programs. Pursuant to this
    debate, the omnibus farm bill is expected to become law in 2002.

    At the request of the chairman and ranking minority member, Senate Committee
    on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, GAO obtained the views of members
    of state technical committees on (1) the effectiveness of USDA's
    conservation efforts in addressing environmental objectives related to
    agriculture and (2) any program elements that hinder the achievement of
    environmental objectives related to agriculture, as well as program
    characteristics that current or new programs might include to better meet
    these objectives.

    To provide information on the views of members of state technical
    committees, we mailed a questionnaire to all NRCS state conservationists and
    a sample of 1,470 committee members and received 996 responses. We drew the
    sample from the 2,124 state technical committee members in all 50 states and
    two territories. The sample was stratified by geographic region and the
    organizations the members represent, and the overall survey results are
    generalizable to the entire population. All percentage estimates from the
    survey have sampling errors of plus or minus 7 percentage points or less,
    unless otherwise noted. The survey solicited views on the effectiveness of
    CRP General Enrollment, CRP Continuous Enrollment, CREP, Wetlands Reserve
    Program, Environmental Quality

    Incentives Program, Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, and Farmland
    Protection Program. For CREP and the Farmland Protection Program, which are
    relatively new programs, our results include only those states where the
    programs were implemented at the time of our survey.

    This document summarizes the responses of the state technical committee
    members stratified by geographic region and organization. A more detailed
    discussion of our scope and methodology and the highlights of our analysis
    of the survey are contained in our report entitled Agricultural
    Conservation: State Advisory Committees' Views on How USDA Programs Could
    Better Address Environmental Concerns (GAO-02-295).

    GAO Contacts: Larry Dyckman or Linda Libician on (202) 512-3841.

    U.S. General Accounting Office
    Survey of USDA State Techncal Committee Members by Region
    Survey Results and Responses

    Notes to Tables: Except when presenting estimated number of cases, all other
    numbers are
    percentages. Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding.

    Program Needs

    1. To what degree, if at all, do you believe the following environmental or
    natural resource

    conditions related to agriculture on private land are concerns in your
    state? (Check one for each

    row.)
    ,,ffffffffffffffffff...ffffffffffff...ffffffffffff...ffffffffffff...ffffffffffff...ffffffffffff...ffffffffffff...ffffffffffff...ffffffffffff?

    , , , , , , , , Southeast , ,
    , ,Corn Belt & , , South and , , , , and , ,
    , ,Lake States , Delta ,North Plains, Mountain , Northeast , Pacific
    ,Appalachian , Total ,
    ?ffffffffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff?

    ,1. Air pollution , , , , , , , , ,
    ,from agricultural , , , , , , , , ,
    ,field operations , , , , , , , , ,
    ?ffffffffffffffffff? , , , , , , , ,
    ,Major concern , 4.1, 16.8, 4.5, 11.7, 1.4, 28.5, 4.2, 11.0,
    ?ffffffffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff?

    ,Moderate concern , 13.8, 26.3, 16.8, 29.0, 17.1, 39.1, 19.5, 24.0,
    ?ffffffffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff?

    ,Minor concern , 57.3, 38.9, 49.4, 44.9, 55.7, 23.8, 49.8, 44.8,
    ?ffffffffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff?

    ,Not a concern , 24.8, 18.0, 29.3, 14.4, 25.9, 8.7, 26.5, 20.2,
    ?ffffffffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff^ffffffffffff?

    ,Estimated number , , , , , , , , ,
    ,of members , 304, 124, 201, 275, 279, 405, 280, 1,868,
    Sffffffffffffffffff