CREP Corner

by Lee Ashford

The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) has six stated objectives:

1. Restore 100% of the area enrolled for the riparian forest practice (CP-22) to a properly functioning condition in terms of distribution and growth of woody plant species;

2. Reduce sediment and nutrient pollution from agricultural lands adjacent to the riparian buffers by more than 50%;

3. Establish adequate vegetation on enrolled riparian areas to stabilize 90% of stream banks under normal non-flood water conditions;

4. Reduce the rate of stream water heating to ambient levels by planting adequate vegetation on all riparian buffer lands;

5. Provide a contributing mechanism for farmers and ranchers to meet the water quality requirements established under federal law and under Oregon’s agricultural water quality laws; and

6. Provide adequate riparian buffers on 2,000 stream miles to permit natural restoration of stream hydraulic and geomorphic characteristics, which meet habitat requirements of threatened or endangered fish.

As is often the case when multiple objectives are listed, the most important objective is listed as #1. In this case, all the other objectives except #6 will fall into place if the first is met, so we’ll focus our attention on that one.

Objective #1 sounds innocuous enough, but a very important phrase is buried in the middle of that sentence: “properly functioning condition.” What is a properly functioning condition? According to Don Prichard, fishery biologist and riparian-wetland coordinator for the Bureau of Land Management’s National Applied Resource Sciences Center in Colorado:

“Proper functioning condition is when adequate vegetation, landform, or large woody debris is present to:

  1. Dissipate stream energy associated with high waterflows, thereby reducing erosion and improving water quality;
  2. Filter sediment, capture bedload, and aid floodplain development;
  3. Improve flood-water retention and ground-water recharge;
  4. Develop root masses that stabilize streambanks against cutting action;
  5. Develop diverse ponding and channel characteristics to provide the habitat and water depth, duration, and temperature necessary for fish production, waterfowl breeding and other uses; and
  6. Support greater biodiversity.”                         (Prichard, et al, 1993 & 1994)

Huh???

In English, what that means is a stream, creek, river, or other natural water channel is considered to be in “proper functioning condition” if it has appropriate geology and vegetation in a somewhat natural and normal abundance such that the banks are relatively stable, the bed is not down-cutting, the adjacent land is not dried (or drying) up due to a lowering of the water table, and the usual and expected fish and wildlife are present and thriving. The CREP program is concerned only with the vegetative aspect of proper functioning condition, focusing primarily on woody species.

We’ve all seen waterways in proper functioning condition, and we’ve all seen waterways which are NOT in proper functioning condition. The goal of the CREP program is to take waterways which are NOT in proper functioning condition, or which are in the process of degrading to a non-functioning condition, and turn them around so that they can recuperate and recover to a proper functioning condition. The critical measure is whether or not the creek or river in question is getting better. It is NOT necessary that fully mature trees be present in order to consider a particular waterway in proper functioning condition; it IS necessary that all requisite components be present so the waterway CAN return to a proper functioning condition in time.

Also buried in Objective #1 is the qualifier, “Restore 100% of the area enrolled….” Some landowners have been somewhat worried that this means they must plant a solid stand of trees in order to retain eligibility for the program. In fact, some of the earlier CREP contracts in Klamath County also seemed to imply this was the case. What this means, however, is that if you enroll 100 acres in CREP, the entire 100 acres is to be treated as a unit and planted in such a way as to enable the waterway to restore proper functioning condition. Spacing requirements provided by the Oregon Department of Forestry had been misinterpreted to imply that, for example, willows must be planted every 3 feet over the entire 100 acres! This figure was used to calculate a per-acre number of 4,840 willow trees. Obviously that is not a reasonable or natural condition, and is NOT what the program intends.

The over-riding consideration for a CREP project is that it must restore proper functioning condition, period! What that entails will vary considerably between projects, depending on the existing condition of your waterway, its geomorphology, the surrounding landuse, and maybe even the phase of the moon!

Restoring proper functioning condition on your stream or river is a worthy goal for anyone. As you review again the definition of “proper functioning condition”, it’s hard to come up with an argument against that goal.

Next issue we’ll look more closely at Objectives 2 through 5 of the CREP program. In the meantime, if you are interested in pursuing a CREP project on your land, give me a call at (514) 883-6932, extension 116, and I’ll be happy to answer any additional questions you may have.