I'm a little confused. I've been a participant before in CRP programs. CRP here mostly consists of longleaf pine "plantations". I did not renew my contract when it was offered to me last year because I wanted the right to sell baled pine straw off those acres, and it is forbidden if you are under contract in CRP. I took acres out of row crop production and abided by the rules and the government paid me $ per acre each year to do so, for the life of the contract. Just why should that entitle John Q. Public access to my, or anyone else's, privately owned land?
There is a little known program in Georgia that will furnish hatchery fingerlings to pond/lake owners, free of charge, if ........ they will sign an agreement to allow the public access to that pond/lake. Guess how many participate? No such stipulations are in CRP contracts, that I have ever heard of. If someone thinks there should be, they should lobby Washington to get it done, not accuse the landowners of "playing" the system.
SRH
Spot on, Stan. There's also the fact that quite a few states with "walk-in" programs--public access to private land--encourage CRP by paying the landowner an additional fee, on top of the check he gets from DC, if he will allow public hunting. That gives the landowner a nice option if he does wish to participate in the walk-in program while giving him an extra incentive to keep his land in the CRP. But accepting CRP $ should not REQUIRE a landowner to permit public access.
