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Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP)
The Illinois Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) is available to landowners with eligible land within the Illinois and Kaskaskia River watersheds. CREP is administrated and managed through multiple partnerships between the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), the Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD), the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS), and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS). Please explore the CREP partnership summaries below and follow the provided links for more information.
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) administers the State easement segment of Illinois CREP. IDNR works closely with all CREP partners to execute new CREP easements and to provide natural resource planning and management guidance on all existing CREP easements.
The Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) administers regional CREP Conservation Resource Specialists that assist landowners, CREP partners and the IDNR with CREP enrollment, easement monitoring and natural resource management. Conservation Resource Specialist are field based scientists located throughout the state, that connect landowners to CREP resources through “on the ground" relationships with all CREP partners.
County based Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD) work closely with landowners, CREP partners and the IDNR to administer, monitor and manage CREP easements. County SWCD’s are available to provide enrollment assistance for potential CREP landowners and they assist the IDNR with the execution of new CREP easements. County SWCD’s also work closely with the IDNR to provide natural resource planning and management guidance on all existing CREP easements.
The Farm Service Agency (FSA) administers the Federal contract segment of Illinois CREP, the basis and beginning segment of all Illinois CREP easements. FSA provides program assistance for landowners enrolling land into “enhanced” Federal Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) contacts (Federal CREP/CRP). The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) provides technical conservation planning assistance for Federal CREP/CRP contracts. FSA works closely with NRCS to design, monitor and manage federal CREP/CRP conservation practices and they directly collaborate with the IDNR and the SWCD’s to execute CREP easements on federal CREP/CRP contracts.