A one and one-half mile stream runs through 63.3 acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) along Chugwater Creek, east of Wheatland, in Platte County, Wyoming. The land, recently acquired by the Bard Ranch Company, is home to Ring-Necked Pheasants, Mule Deer, and White-Tailed Deer, Wood Ducks, trout, and non-game species of wildlife and fish.

This project site is located directly upstream from a segment of Chugwater Creek currently on the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality's 303D list for impaired water bodies. It is hoped that through enrollment of these acres in CRP and establishment of the Riparian Buffers, water quality will be improved both on the enrolled acres and downstream.

Practices installed under the CRP contract included four-wire barbed fence erected on both sides of the stream to exclude livestock and willow and cottonwood trees planted in areas to improve woody components of the Riparian Buffers. Alternative water sources were developed in two upland locations for livestock, and grasses and legumes were planted next to the stream.

Cost-share funding and technical assistance for the project was provided through the Farm Service Agency, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Wyoming Game & Fish Department, and Pheasants Forever (Chugwater Creek Chapter).

CRP Riparian Buffer installed upstream from segment of Chugwater Creek, currently listed as an impaired water body. The CRP practice is designed to improve water quality not only on the site, but downstream as well.