To be eligible for the CREP program, you must be eligible to be enrolled in the continuous CRP Program. It must be cropland that has been cropped 2 out of the last 5 years. For Kane and DuPage Counties, land must be located in the Lower Fox River Watershed which includes Blackberry, Big Rock-Welch, Ferson-Otter, Indian, Little Rock, Mill, and Waubonsee Creeks.

Land must meet eligibility requirements as either Highly Erodible Land or Riparian Buffer. Land eligible as Highly Erodible Land must be adjacent to a stream and may be devoted to permanent native grasses, tree planting, or permanent wildlife habitat. Land eligible as frequently flooded land, farmed wetlands, and prior converted wetlands may be devoted to shallow water areas for wildlife, wildlife food plots, filter strips, riparian buffers, or wetland restoration. Most of the area to be enrolled will be limited to the land within the 100 year floodplain and associated buffer zone.

Participants in the Illinois CREP program will receive a 30% increase above the annual per acre rental rate for enrollment of riparian buffers, filter strips, and wetland restoration or a 20% increase for erodible areas. The Federal Government will pay 50% of the cost of establishing the new vegetative cover and provide $5 an acre for annual maintenance costs.

In addition, landowners who wish to extend their CREP contracts beyond the 15 year federal contract will be offered additional incentives by the State Government. Participants will be offered 15 year, 35 year, or permanent easement options. Those opting for a permanent easement will receive reimbursement of the remaining 50% of costs to establish vegetative practices and a lump sum payment equal to the CRP maximum annual payment times 15 times 30% per acre. Landowners choosing 15 or 35 year easements will receive reimbursement of 40% of the remaining costs to establish practices and 50% or 75% respectively of the lump sum payment for the permanent easement. In addition, those installing filter strips may be eligible for a reduction in property taxes.

The landowners must agree to keep the conservation practices in place for the duration of the easement. There will be no development allowed on the property. The easement does not allow for the right of public access to the property and the landowner retains rights to use the property for undeveloped recreational uses, including hunting and fishing. 

Fifty percent of the funding available for the program will be targeted at natural resource concerns relating to livestock production. The program is carried-out primarily in priority areas that may be watersheds, regions, or multi-state areas, and for significant statewide natural resource concerns that are outside of geographic priority areas.

Each fiscal year the SWCD has cost-share funds available for various conservation practices. Practices included in the program are Filter Strips, Field Border Strips, Grassed Waterways, Critical Area Plantings, No-Till, Terraces, and Grade Stabilization Structures.

Contract sign-up is typically in July at the beginning of the SWCD fiscal year, although notification of your interest in the program can be discussed at any time of year. The SWCD board of directors will prioritize the applications received based on tons of soil saved, acres benefited, cost per acre of practice, and cost per ton of soil saved. Practices must be installed in the Fall or Spring of that Fiscal year.

To be eligible, landowners need to have a conservation plan approved by the SWCD. To receive cost share, the land upon which the landuser intends to install the practice must be experiencing sheet and rill erosion exceeding T (tolerable levels) or ephemeral/gully erosion.

CPP funds are available through the Conservation 2000 legislation to help landowners achieve the T by 2000 goals set by the state of Illinois. Achieving tolerable soil loss levels on cropland will assure productive agricultural lands for the future as well as help improve water quality.