08/05/05 Big C.S.P. win for Northwest

When 2005 contracts for the federal Conservation Security Program were announced, one thing was made clear. The Pacific Northwest, as a region, turned out to be a big winner. Take for example the state of Oregon. U.S.D.A. Undersecretary Mark Rey was among those in attendance at a C.S.P. contract signing ceremony outside The Dalles & one of eleven ceremonies held nationwide last week. Rey says Oregon was among the largest recipients of C.S.P. contracts for 2005. REY: Oregon's share of those will amount to 719 contracts in ten different watersheds throughout the state. We will be making first year payments in Oregon totaling $15.7 million dollars. And that dollar figure makes Oregon the largest funding recipient of C.S.P. contracts in all fifty states for this year. So why did Oregon score so well in getting C.S.P. contracts? REY: Oregon's producers and farmers and ranchers are among the most innovative in the country, and one of the co-sponsors of the Conservation Security Program in Congress was Senator Gordon Smith. However, a significant number of Washington and Idaho producers in eligible C.S.P. watersheds also received contracts. Washington had 297 C.S.P. contracts signed with a total value of over $4.2 million dollars. And in Idaho, 337 contracts were inked for C.S.P. valued at over $4 million. Add it all together and our region has about one tenth of the over 12,700 contracts and a nice chunk of the $202 million dollars allocated nationwide for C.S.P. this year. Mark Rey attributes the success of the region in C.S.P. participation to both endangered species protection and the dedication growers in the Northwest already have for conservation. REY: Here in the Northwest we have a big concern about salmon recovery, so that helps push the process along. That's resulted in the selection of a number of Northwest watersheds. And then beyond that, it's a function of how many producers are already performing good conservation work at a level to qualify for the program and then want to step forward, be rewarded for that, and cost share with us to do some additional work that will put us further down the road to salmon recovery and dealing with the other environmental issues. According to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, another C.S.P. sign-up will be announced later this year.