Last springs' CRP sign-up had 1 out of every 5 farmers sign up. A new sign-up is taking place this fall. We anticipate a record sign-up, taking more land out of production and producing new wetland areas. We expect nearly all the available State Water Bank moneys to be spent in the Devils Lake Basin. The ASAP program is providing valuable returns for additional wetlands storage.
Agriculture is the main economy of our region and the state.
It is a challenge to convince farmers, who at one time were subsidized by the government to create drains, to get them to plug the same dredged channels. We recognize this is not the total answer. As our state Geologist Dr. John Blumlie says, agriculture practices have little to do with the flooding of Devils Lake. Since the glacier period the lake has risen and overflowed to the Sheyenne different times before man ever settled the area. We continue diligently in our efforts in this area.