Options and Opportunities

Pennsylvania private and public Habitat Conservation

In Pennsylvania both private land trusts and public agencies are involved in habitat conservation.  Public agencies currently own approximately 4.6 million acres in Pennsylvania.    State and federal programs, both within agencies and as public-private partnerships, provide an estimated $119.99 million a year for habitat acquisition or improvements in the state.   A total of $48 million is spent on habitat acquisition or permanent protection such as the Farmland Preservation program (although this program does not require wildlife-friendly agriculture).   Habitat improvement funds spent annually by state agencies tally to over $71 million dollars.   This money is used for structures for fishes, cutting of food plots, etc.  (see Appendix for details on state programs and funds).

Across the country, land trusts devoted to conservation of farmland and natural resources have increased from 52 land trusts in 1950 to nearly 1300 nationwide today.   Pennsylania has 75 private land trusts active in the state that have protected 340,788 acres as of the year 2000 of which 35,230 are owned by the land trust, and 88,316 acres are under permanent easement.   A total of 217,242 acres have been protected through transfer to public ownership (e.g., gamelands) or other means (data compiled by the Land Trust Alliance, (www.lta.org).    The Nature Conservancy has conserved 46,000 acres in Pennsylvania with special focus on rare communities such as barrens, boreal swamps, vernal ponds (www.tnc.org).    Land trusts have utilized public-private funds such as the Keystone program and ‘Growing Greener’ initiative included in above listed agency funding to extend land conservation efforts effectively.   Other private groups involved in land conservation and habitat restoration include Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Ducks Unlimited and other sportsmen and watershed groups.   Such groups can make a huge difference in quality and quantity of wildlife habitat.     One example is Pennsylvania Ducks Unlimited which reports having completed 1200 conservation projects in the state, restoring 18,700 acres of wetland habitat, and conserving 110 miles of riparian corridor habitat (Ducks Unlimited, (www.ducks.org).

Acreage conserved each year by private groups has not been surveyed annually, but the total acreage was tallied by the Land Trust Alliance (www.lta.org).   From these numbers, we estimate 10,000 to 20,000 acres are conserved annually by 75 Pennsylvania private land trusts, not including lands transferred to public ownership (which are already tallied in agency totals).   Although the private groups are conserving 15,000 acres privately per year, we are still losing ground.   The public agencies average approximately 50,000 acres conserved each year.   So, the total acreage of habitat conserved annually in Pennsylvania totals 65,000 acres.  Yet, we are losing over 100,000 acres a year of open space and wildlife habitat.    Thus, every year we have a net loss of 35,000 to 45,000 acres of wildlife habitat state-wide.  

STATE and FEDERAL programs for Habitat Conservation & ImPROVEMENT on private lands

Wildlife conservation for the future may depend on cooperation of willing private landowners and public agencies.   Pennsylvania has several programs in place that improve habitat for wildlife and augment efforts on public lands.   Although these programs are not meeting the entire need (e.g., we are still losing 35,000 acres a year), they offer a range of opportunities to pursue wildlife habitat conservation.   With extra emphasis, funding, and coordination so that specific priorities for wildlife could be targeted, such programs could be important tools in addressing the current crisis in wildlife habitat loss..  Many of the state programs are highlighted below, and a list can be found in the Appendix, along with estimated acres and funding involved.

Pennsylvania Community Conservation Partnerships:

The community conservation partnership grants are provided for several conservation and recreational opportunities and include administration of funding from federal and state sources.   These grants include grants for recreational trails and land acquisition.   Community Conservation funds include funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) which must also comply with the criteria of that program and provide reports to the National Park Service.  Other sources include Key 93 funds, Growing Greener, and LWCF and the TEA-21 grants for recreational trails from federal transportation agency.    All grants require a 50% match of funds or in-hand contributions.

Land and Water Conservation Fund grants can only be given to political subdivisions including school districts with focus on public parks, recreation and conservation projects.    Land and Water Conservation Fund grants funded 1,320 projects for $145 million since its inception in 1965.   Land trust grants administered through this program provide 50% of funds and lands must be open to public use.  Priority is given to conserving habitat for threatened species, although recent projects were oriented toward s public parks.  

Pennsylvania Farm Preservation Program.  

This program was initiated in 1989 to reduce the loss of farmland to development.   Development rights are purchased from the farmer instead of the land itself.   Farmers are paid the difference between the value of the land if sold for development and the value if sold for agriculture.   Pennsylvania is the leading state in the nation for agricultural preservation with 11,194,619 acres preserved in 45 counties (Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Statistics as of 11-15-01).

Funding constraints limit this program.   Sources of revenue include state, county, and in some cases townships funds.   There is a long waiting list of farmers wanting to preserve farmland, but there are not sufficient funds to protect it all.  This greatly reduces the potential value of the program.   With adequate funding, the farmland preservation program is an excellent tool for keeping farmland from being developed.   However, it does not address the issue of how the land is managed.   Programs like CREP with a focus on creating and maintaining habitat are also required.

Clean and Green Program

The Clean and Green Act of 1974 was established to preserve farmland, forest land and open space by taxing land according to its use rather than its market value.   Land enrolled endures reduced taxes, however it can be taken out of the program.   Land taken out of the permitted use became subject to a rollback tax, imposed for up to seven years, and an interest penalty. 

Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)

CRP was established by the Food Security Act 1985 to reduce the over-production of crops and soil erosion.   Farmers are paid to retire highly erodible soil from production and plant them with cover.   Although this program was extremely successful in Midwestern states, it met with poor success in Pennsylvania and other eastern states primarily because of low rental rates (Helinski 2001).

Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP)

The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) is a federally funded program of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that offers farmers the opportunity to take highly erodible and environmentally sensitive lands out of production, thereby improving water quality, reducing soil erosion and increasing grassland, wetland and riparian habitat for wildlife.   The program seeks significant increases in the rental rates farmers are currently offered through the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) making it more economically feasible for them to participate.   Currently CRP is ineffective in Pennsylvania because of the relatively lows fees for idling their land.   However, such a program is greatly needed to restore wildlife habitat, particularly that of small game and grassland-nesting birds in Pennsylvania.   Twenty counties within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed (a national priority area for recovery) have been identified for enrollment in the new CREP program.   Within these counties there are 22,685 farms comprising 2,970,000 acres of farmland, 2,303,000 acres of which are cropland.   Of the acres of cropland, 712,000 are considered highly erodible land which should be idled.   The goal of the CREP Program is to enroll at least 100,0000 acres in the program.

Enrollment of 100,000 acres of farmland in Pennsylvania has the potential to greatly benefit eastern cottontail rabbits, and grassland-nesting birds, such as the ring-necked pheasant, northern bobwhite quail, eastern meadowlark, and grasshopper sparrow.  

 Forest Stewardship Programs :

The majority of forest in the state is in private ownership, with over 500,000 landowners controlling 70 percent of Pennsylvania’s forest lands.   The Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry’s Forest Stewardship program is a program with federal funding allocated to reach out to private landowners and encourage forest health and proper management.   The private landowner’s goals for the property are used to draft a plan for long-term management of the forest.   Since 1994, foresters trained by the Stewardship program have written 1,189 forest plans for private landowners covering 181,771 acres of forest habitat in the state, a total of 1.07% of Pennsylvania’s forest cover.   The acres per year have declined in recent years, although 2001 data are still being compiled.

Figure 62.   Annual acres of private land in forest stewardship plans.
Forest Legacy:

In this program federal funding is administered through the states to foster protection and continued use of forested lands that are threatened with conversion to non-forest uses.   Emphasis is given to lands of regional or national significance.  The Legacy program acts to purchase conservation easements or title from willing private land owners.   The program’s first year in Pennsylvania is 2002 and the funding is administered through the state Bureau of Forestry.  In other states, Forest Legacy has conserved 111,290 acres with project value of 54 million dollars.    Acreage in northeast has ranged from 638 acres in New York to 48,587 acres in Vermont (www.fs.fed.us).

Forestry Incentives Program:

Forestry Incentives Program (FIP) offers non-industrial private land owners an incentive to plant and maintain forests.   It helps defray costs of managing the land.   It can help conduct a Forest Stewardship Plan, or help fund forest stand improvement with forester advice, and promote regeneration.   Federal funds will pay up to 75% of the expenses with maximum of $10,000 per year per owner.  Landowner must agree to maintain forest practices for 10 years.

Wetlands Reserve Program:

Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) provides support to land owners interested in wetland restoration and protection.   Government funds are used to obtain conservation easements and cost-share payment for rehabilitation practices that restore wetland function.   Cost share is 50% of cost to land owner, who must transfer 30-year conservation easement to  government, and 75% or 100% to owners that transfer permanent easements.   Public access is not required.

Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program:

Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) provides cost-share assistance to private land owners to help enhance wildlife habitat on their lands.   It supports eligible practices determined by NRCS (Natural Resource Conservation Service).   Private lands are the target and some state lands.   Payment for 50 to 75% of approved expenses with payment not to exceed $5000 per owner per year, with project commitment of five to 10 years.

Environmental Quality Incentive Program:

This program assists land owners with addressing natural resource problems such as watershed protection and wildlife habitat improvement.   Areas with soil, water or pollution issues are favored.   The program is also administered through NRCS and may cover grazing protection, tree planting, etc.

Wildlife Habitat Programs in Urban/Suburban areas

Several programs are available to homeowners and other urban and suburban landowners on ways to enhance habitat for wildlife.   These include national programs such as the National Wildlife Federations “Backyard Habitat Program.”  In Pennsylvania, the Urban and Community Forestry Program is designed to enhance urban habitats by planting trees, and the Pennsylvania Wildlife Series available through cooperative extension offices and conservation districts provides practical information on enhancing wildlife habitat.   In addition, many communities are working on zoning guidelines for new development to improve aesthetics, conserve trees and wildlife habitat.