A new report from USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) shows that with NRCS assistance Chesapeake Bay region farmers, forest land owners and other partners put conservation practices on 650,000 acres of working land between May 2010 and September 2011, nearly equivalent to the size of Rhode Island.

The Chesapeake Bay 2011 Activities Report also states that farmers and forest land owners put nearly 61,000 conservation practices on agricultural land in the bay region during NRCS’ 2011 fiscal year. Popular practices included manure management, planting grasses along streams, as well as other methods of preventing sediments and nutrients from entering waterways that feed into the bay.

These efforts support actions underway through the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Initiative (CBWI). NRCS provides technical and financial assistance through CBWI to agricultural producers to help them apply conservation practices that benefit the bay and waterways in the bay watershed.

The Chesapeake Bay watershed includes the District of Columbia and parts of Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. Download a copy of the report and learn more about CBWI at http://go.usa.gov/mq0.