CP38: State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) Restoring Grassland and Wetland Habitat in the Southern Till Plain Natural Division

              All Above Photos © Richard Day/Daybreak Imagery
“In all of modern America, there is no more lost, plaintive, old-time sound
than the booming of a native prairie-chicken.”
– John Madson, Where The Sky Began
CP38: State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE)
Restoring Grassland and Wetland Habitat
in the Southern Till Plain Natural Division
Would you like to hear the return of the booming of prairie-chickens, more whistling quail, and more singing meadowlarks? Illinois has a NEW targeted initiative for landowners aimed to bolster prairie and wetland wildlife including prairie-chickens, quail, waterfowl and songbirds. This is a new continuous-enrollment Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) practice called SAFE or CP38.
Since this is a continuous CRP practice, anyone who meets eligibility requirements can sign up, but there are only 10,300 acres available and it’s first come, first serve. Sign up will end when all acres are enrolled. Southern Till Plain Focus Areas Benefits Through the restoration of grassland and wetland habitats landowners can significantly increase the abundance of grassland wildlife (prairie-chickens, quail, songbirds, and more), increase carbon sequestration, improve soil quality, reduce soil erosion and improve water quality. Focus Areas and Eligibility There are 9 focus areas in the Southern Till Plain Project Area (see local maps) where the new CP38 practice will be eligible. These areas were selected based on recent use by prairie-chickens and other focal species, closeness to existing conservation areas, and the potential to provide open, upland habitat. The addition of grasslands and wetlands to these focus areas will build on existing habitat and have tremendous benefits for wildlife in the area. Land within the focus areas must have been cropped (row crops, small grains or forage crops) 4 out of the 6 years from 1996 to 2001 to be eligible.