Conservation

Vilsack issues conservation report to help farm bill push.

By Juliet Eilperin The Washington Post MCKENZIE, N.D. — Jerry Doan’s great-great grandfather came down from Canada to establish a 160-acre homestead here in 1882, when the Dakotas were a territory.

BROOKINGS -- When the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) was initially launched in the 1985 Farm Bill, its goals were primarily soil erosion control and improved water quality. Over time, the program has created an unprecedented positive impact on habitat for many game and non-game...

One thousand years ago, the landscape to the south and west of the Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village consisted of prairie land, while the east and north were part of a floodplain. The prairie is long gone, replaced by a golf course and housing developments. But the Indian Village...

PIERRE -- The 2013 appointments are in place for the Legislature's watershed task force. Like so much of water politics in South Dakota, there is some controversy attached. The chairman of the state Board of Water and Natural Resources, Brad Johnson of Watertown, didn't receive a...

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture will open a four-week general signup for the Conservation Reserve Program on May 20. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack made the announcement Saturday at the National Pheasant Fest and Quail Classic in Minneapolis. He says...

CUSTER (AP) -- The Nature Conservancy says it has sold a 1,125-acre ranch in Custer County to a private buyer with safeguards to ensure the land remains in native prairie and maintains its ranching tradition. The Lame Johnny Creek Ranch is nestled between Custer State Park and Wind...

HURON -- USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) State Executive Director Craig Schaunaman has announced that FSA is accepting Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) offers under the Highly Erodible Land Initiative (HELI). South Dakota was allocated 9,600 acres under this initiative. Signup...

SIOUX FALLS (AP) -- Agricultural producers and landowners in South Dakota can submit their bids to enroll eligible land in the federal Conservation Reserve Program. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency will accept CRP offers nationwide until April 6. ...

A meeting tonight in Mitchell is designed to gather information on revising a state conservation plan. The meeting will be from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Highland Conference Center. Bill Smith, conservation program administrator for the South Dakota Department of Agriculture,...

PIERRE -- The state House of Representatives argued a long time Wednesday about perpetuity. Specifically, House members debated whether landowners in South Dakota should continue to be allowed to engage in perpetual conservation easements on their properties with the federal...

PIERRE (AP) -- Gov. Dennis Daugaard has re-appointed three individuals to the State Conservation Commission. David Fischbach of Faith, Alan Vedvei of Lake Preston, and Thomas Glover of Burke will serve terms that expire on Jan. 1, 2015. Fischbach serves as the Area III representative...