Renville County Soil and Water Conservation District
SWCD Staff spent time during Summer 2007 spot checking RIM, CREP & PWP easements. The spot checks are complete and landowners received a copy of the status of their property.
Renville County landowners have enrolled over 14,000 acres into conservation easements since 1986. Approximately 5,000 acres were enrolled into the Reinvest in Minnesota (RIM) and Permanent Wetlands Preserve (PWP) program. In 1998 the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, which was a combination of the USDA Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and RIM, began enrolling land in the Minnesota River Basin. By the time the Minnesota River CREP reached it's goal of 100,000 acres, over 9,000 acres had been enrolled into CREP in Renville County. The federal Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) is also available to landowners in Renville County.
Perpetual easement programs pay landowners to remove environmentally sensitive areas from crop production and place them into perpetual conservation easements. Cropping and grazing cease and the land can only be used for recreational purposes. The land remains in private ownership and the landowner has the right to limit access to his/her property. Wherever feasible wetlands have been restored and the remaining easement acres have been seeded to native prairie grasses. Many of the newer easements also have forbs in the seed mixture and in some cases trees are planted on easements.
SWCD staff are available to assist landowners with questions regarding native grass seeding establishment and maintenance as well as weed control. The following is a brief overview. Landowners should contact the SWCD office with specific questions.