less than 35 feet wide. Going back to the

less than 35 feet wide.

Going back to the example of 80 acres qualifying for the CREP program, at $85 per acre per year you would be paid $6,800 per year for 10 or 15 year. For a 15-year contract, you will be paid a total of $102,000.

Also, assume that you chose to enroll the 80 acres in a permanent open-space easement program at $500 per acre. That’s an additional onetime payment of $40,000.

You are up to $142,000.

Let’s say that it will cost you an average of $900 per acre to establish buffers at least 100 feet wide, using trees, shrubs, warm season grasses, fencing, alternate water sources, etc. For 80 acres, that’s a $72,000 cost. You will be paid $72,000.

Your total in-coming cash flow over 15 years will be $142,000, and you will have $72,000 worth of improvements on your property. All paid for. If you select less than 100-foot widths for CREPbuffered areas, you would get 75 percent of the improvement costs for those areas.

Thus, in this example, a Rappahannock farmer qualifying for the CREP program, and selecting the permanent open-space easement aspect, could make a significant amount of money off of land along streams and in wetlands that probably does not pay for itself now. Put more acreage under the program, receive more financial benefits.

Consider the improvements to your property.

You would have CREPbuffered streams that would be planted with 80 percent hardwoods, such as hickory, oak, or walnut; and 20 percent secondary tree species, such as sycamore, ash, or persimmon. These, in turn, would be bordered by shrubs such as dogwood, alder, or crabapple. Then there would be a strip of warm season grasses.

If you grazed cattle, you would have fencing. In addi- d tion, you might have alter- ™ nate watering facilities for . cattle, such as wells. %

The main purpose of the CREP program is to establish riparian forest buffers to filter out sediment, manure, and