In 2019, the Dane County Board of Supervisors approved bonding for $750,000 to support Land Conservation in implementing an innovative ‘Continuous Cover Program (CCP).’ The program was intended to improve water quality, reduce soil erosion, build soil health, enhance wildlife habitat, diversify production practices, make sure farms stay sustainable by having different landscapes, and sequestering carbon.
“Each year after that, we’ve had either a million to $2 million in bond money added to that pot for implementation of this program,” Dane County Land Conservation Director Amy Piaget told land conservation professionals from Monroe and Vernon county. “The funding came with a lot of practice funding, but no funding for additional staff, so we had to kind of absorb this program into our standard workload. As far as cost share rates, we pay a rental payment, very similar to the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) of $2,250-per-acre for a 15-year contract. That amounts to $150 an acre per year. The amount includes $125 in rental, and $25 per acre for ongoing maintenance.”
Piaget was presenting information about her county’s innovative conservation programs to professionals from the Monroe and Vernon county Land Conservation Departments, as well as members of the Monroe County Climate Change Task Force (CCTF). The group traveled to Dane County as part of CCTF’s annual summer field trip…