Jefferson County, Arkansas, producer Felix Smart purchased his farm knowing areas would require special care. Several acres had steep slopes. Smart first tried using no-till practices to control erosion on these acres but that didn't solve the problem.

"So much of this farm should never have been put into production agriculture due to the erosion problems it created," Smart explained when describing his efforts to save the land.

In 1990, in another attempt to solve the problem, he submitted his first CRP offer, to enroll 50 acres planted to mixed hardwood trees for 15 years. His offer was accepted. The success of this initial effort encouraged him to enroll additional acres, planting more land to hardwood trees.

In 2002, Smart enrolled two more parcels in CRP continuous signup, agreeing to devote the acreage to Shallow Water Areas for Wildlife. Flash board risers were installed, and native grasses planted to benefit wildlife. Since completion, Smart has seen the return of turkey, deer, quail and several duck species.

On other acreage, Smart enrolled and installed a CRP Riparian Buffer to control sediment and runoff from a nearby stream. He also added additional hardwood tree acres.

Smart is sold on the value of the CRP and its ability to restore, preserve, and enhance formerly cropped land while providing an economic benefit to the landowner. In 2003, he offered more acreage for CRP enrollment to be devoted to hardwood trees, this time without Federal cost share to ensure offer acceptance. In 2004, he re-enrolled acreage from his original contract.

Smart's experience seeing land reclaimed by conservation measures beneficial to both the environment and his farming operation created a love for conservation and a desire to return as much of his land as possible back to its natural state.

Through the years, Smart has enrolled many acres in CRP and planted trees on land that he believes should never have been farmed. Not all the trees planted on his CRP acres over the past 15 years have survived due to various natural conditions, but he is so committed to the program that he has replanted failed trees, at his own expense, in order to maintain a complete stand.

Said Smart, "I would rather be growing trees than growing crops." He has used every opportunity to enroll in the different phases of CRP, including general signup, continuous CRP, and the Arkansas CREP program. CRP has enabled him to participate in partnering with USDA and the State of Arkansas to improve run-off, eliminate sedimentation of the Bayou Meto and the Arkansas River, and to develop wildlife habitat and reestablish wildlife.

Hardwood Tree Planting on CRP contract acreage. The cropland was previously subject to scour erosion.

In the spring, egrets make good use of this CRP Shallow Water Area for Wildlife.