Lubbock—Congressman Randy Neugebauer praised President Bush’s move Wednesday that will help West Texas farmers conserve more playa lakes on their farmland.  The presidential directive aims to enroll larger wetland areas in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), including playa lakes.  President Bush also announced that there will be a new sign-up period for CRP.

    Including playas in the new CRP accomplishes the goals Neugebauer set with his Playas Conservation Act, H.R. 3886, which he introduced in March to make playas fully eligible for enrollment in the CRP Farmable Wetlands Program expanded by the 2002 Farm Bill.

   “USDA has made a good decision by enabling playas to be enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, and I appreciate their work on this issue,” Neugebauer said.  “Whether we did this through legislation or through this administrative change by USDA doesn’t matter to me.  What matters is that West Texas farmers will have an additional tool to conserve playa lakes that help increase our underground water recharge.”

   Neugebauer had encouraged USDA to make administrative changes to the CRP program if such changes could accomplish the same goal as his playas legislation. The initiative announced by President Bush today will allow enrollment of 250,000 acres of large wetlands and playas that are located outside the 100-year floodplain through a Wetland Restoration Initiative.  Sign-up for the initiative will begin October 1.

    “We know that playas are an important source of water for the Ogallala Aquifer, and that many of the playas in our region are located on farmland,” Neugebauer said.  “By increasing the size of lands that can be enrolled through this initiative, more playas will be eligible for CRP enrollment and more water recharge areas will be protected.” 

    President Bush also announced that a general sign-up for the CRP will be held from August 30 through September 24.  Farmers can learn more about the sign-up at their local Farm Service Agency office. 

    In addition, Bush proposed that farmers with expiring CRP contracts be allowed to re-enroll their land or extend their contracts in order to preserve the environmental gains from the existing CRP acres. 

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