Assessment Of Pennsylvanias Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program

Download or read book Assessment of Pennsylvania's Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program written by Stephanie Eisenbise and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Riparian forest buffers have been considered one of the best management practices for improving water quality in stream ecosystems in North America in areas where forest cover was the predominant land cover. Afforestation in riparian areas can be a slow and difficult process and presents many challenges for successful establishment of streamside forests for natural resource professionals and private landowners. One of the many conservation programs that offer assistance to private landowners for the establishment of riparian forest buffers is the USDA Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP). This program provides technical assistance and financial incentives to landowners to retire their riparian lands from production and install riparian forest buffers. This study explores the attitudes and opinions of landowners enrolled in Pennsylvania CREP riparian forest buffer initiative. It investigates the motivations for actions taken to ensure successful establishment of the trees as well as future plans for the buffer. A mail questionnaire was developed and administered to 538 CREP riparian forested buffer participants in 43 Pennsylvania counties.This study identified some of the underlying factors that led to engagement and active participation in the maintenance of riparian forest buffers by private landowners in Pennsylvania. The participant response to the questionnaire yielded distinct patterns in landowner attitudes, level of engagement, and understanding of maintenance required for the successful establishment of their riparian forest buffer. Pennsylvania CREP riparian forest buffer participants indicated a strong motivation for improving water quality and environmental stewardship that led them to enroll their streamside land in CREP for the establishment of a riparian forest buffer. Results confirm that frequency of visits and the perceived importance of maintenance tasks by program participants were significant predictors of the level of engagement in maintenance of the riparian buffer. Landowners who participated in this study had a clearly stated intention to keep the riparian forest buffer intact when their contract expired and to continue program participation by re-enrolling their forest buffer for an additional 10 or 15 years. Landowner attitudes and beliefs about environmental stewardship, improving water quality, the aesthetic value of streamside buffers, and wildlife habitat guided their decision making about voluntary conservation and restoration efforts over the long term. Possible management implications for these findings are advanced.