There is a big difference between any initiatives that we may strike here in Canada and the CRP program as it relates to wildlife. CRP is a purely agricultural initiative. As an agricultural subsidy program it is one of the largest in scope in the world both in terms of acres and dollars. As the US govt. expands the markets for grain commodities - especially through the promulgation of methanol fuel - there will be less interest in extending the program. The key difference though between the buy in by US farmers to the CRP and the buy in by Canadian farmers to similar issues came when the farmers began to realize how much income they could earn from the sale of hunting rights. You can't sell hunting rights to non-existent game, but once the habitat grew back from taking the land out of production the game animals flourished and the hunting leases became valuable. The landowners who have established huntable populations and are benefitting from the sale of access will fight the erosion of the CRP program because without the CRP dollars the wildlife income will not support alone. But on top of the full income CRP subsidy it is a pretty good sideline.
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