Introduction

Farmers and ranchers produce much more than food and fiber. Through their care and stewardship of the land, farmers and ranchers produce safe drinking water, clear-flowing streams, lakes full of fish, skies full of ducks and geese, and scenic landscapes. We do not buy these commodities in our supermarkets, and their prices are not listed on the Chicago Board of Trade, but we value them just the same.

—"America's Private Land, A Geography of Hope," Natural Resources Conservation Service, 1997

The stories in this collection are about conservation buffers and the women and men who install buffers and supporting conservation practices on the land. These are the people who tend the 70 percent of our country that is in private hands. Through the voices of those involved, the stories tell how buffers and other conservation practices help agriculture and the soil on which agricultural producers depend--and help the environment beyond the farm or ranch. They also are about the National Conservation Buffer Initiative, a public-private partnership with a goal of installing 2 million miles of conservation buffers--small parcels of land planted to permanent vegetation, such as filter strips, field windbreaks, and riparian forest buffers--by 2002.

Most producers want to be, and are, good stewards of their land. But conservation investments are not cheap, and farm economics being what they are, these investments must compete with other farm needs and priorities. The initial cost often represents a significant hurdle, so the technical and financial assistance provided through government agencies and private organizations is often essential. For example: a mile of single-strand, high-tensile electric fence to keep cattle out of a stream in Pennsylvania might cost from $2,500 to $5,000; it may cost as much as $150,000 to install the barnyard water management system needed on an upstate New York dairy farm; and it cost nearly $100,000 to restore two miles of a small stream in Montana.

The conservation job is never "done." Conservation activities and opportunities across the land are endless and they are inspiring unheard-of collaboration and creativity. The true linchpins of these local conservation and pollution prevention efforts are the landowners and users--the women and men--who manage the privately owned land. The millions of decisions and actions they take on their own home place--unlike those on public land, where one manager can affect millions of acres-are making a crucial difference in enhancing water quality and addressing other environmental issues. The response to the National Conservation Buffer Initiative has been overwhelming. Since it was announced in early 1997, farmers have enrolled hundreds of thousands of acres in the continuous Conservation Reserve Program sign-up and other programs or because they decided buffers make good sense--economically and environmentally.

This collection of stories highlights just a few of the thousands of people installing buffers and other conservation practices on their land. If these stories help you think of new ways to get things done, by all means take advantage of the experience and success of others on your own land.

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