1. Coordinated & Cohesive Policies Which Lead to Conservation Benefits
Kari Jo Lawrence
USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service
District Conservationist
Timber Lake, SD Field Office

2. Objective
Touch on highlights of the challenges we face and solutions on Cheyenne River Reservation.
Spark a conversation about issues in your area and possible solutions.

3. Timber Lake Field Office Staff
Located in Timber Lake, SD
Kari Jo Lawrence, District Conservationist
Try to keep everyone out of trouble
Patrick Pesicka, Soil Conservationist
Conservation Planning
Contracting for farm bill programs
Bonita Richter, Soil Conservation Technician
Engineering design, checkout

4. Cheyenne River Indian Reservation
View of the Cheyenne River
Mostly Ziebach and Dewey Counties make up the Reservation

5. Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation
The Cheyenne River Indian Reservation was created in The reservation lands are located in Dewey, Ziebach, Stanley, Haakon and Meade counties. The reservation covers almost all of Dewey and Ziebach counties with many small parcels of off-reservation trust land in Stanley, Haakon and Meade counties.
The total acres in Dewey and Ziebach counties are over 2.7 million acres.
Over 1.4 million acres are now in Trust Status in Dewey and Ziebach Counties.
CRST owns 1.6 million + or – acres, not all in trust status

6. Dewey County, South Dakota
Dewey County has a population of about 5500 people. The county was created in 1883 and organized in 1910

7. Dewey County 1,504,640 acres in Dewey County
902,496 acres are in Trust Status

8. Resource Concerns in Dewey County
Livestock Production Limitation – Inadequate Water
Livestock Production Limitation – Inadequate Shelter
Livestock Production Limitation – Inadequate Feed and Forage
Degraded Plant Condition – Undesirable Plant Productivity and Health
Water Quality Degradation – Excessive Sediment in Surface Water

9. How do we address resource concerns?
We work with our Producers with Planning and then decide if they need a program for financial assistance.
Primarily use Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to address any construction projects and some management to address those resource concerns identified during the planning process.

10. Our “Common Programs” Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)
Water development – Wells, Pipelines, Livestock Tanks, Pond
Grazing management – Cross Fence, Prescribed Grazing plans
Livestock Protection – Fabricated Windbreaks, tree windbreaks
Hayland Planting – Planting cropland back to grass for hay

11. EQIP Farm Bill Number of Contracts Acres Obligated 1996 30 41,453
Obligation Dollar Amount
1996 30
41,453
$448,779
2002
117
388,819
$4,328,615
2008 77
232,220
$4,537,135
2014 18
58,577
$1,809,488

12. Pipeline

13. Livestock Tanks Summer and Winter set-up

14. New Pond Construction: EQIP Project

15. Fabricated Windbreak for Livestock

16. “Common Programs” Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)
Cropland enhancements
Rangeland enhancements

17. Conservation Stewardship Program “CSP”
Currently have 143 Active Contracts in Dewey County
Approximately 675,320 acres currently enrolled; 45% of county acres
Fund Pool
Number of Contracts
Acres Enrolled
American Indian
102
574,877
General 41
100,443

18. WHY ARE WE SUCCESSFUL DELIVERING PROGRAMS??
Producer Driven Programs and have a base of active livestock producers looking to improve the resource which in turn improves their production.
We have active partnerships with the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Bureau of Indian Affairs and Intertribal Agriculture Council

19. Challenges we are faced with
Control of Land (NRCS issue) – Proof of control for life of the contract
Range Unit (grazing units) are renewed every 5 years. Those 5 years might not cover the length of planned contract.
NRCS agreed that as long as the Tribe and BIA signs off on the contract, along with the Participant, control of land is satisfied.

20. Challenges we are faced with
Fear of losing lease/permit (Producer/Tribe issue)
At the end of the 5 year Grazing Permit the re-allocation process did not have any guarantees of a producer getting the grazing unit back
In 2002 Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe enacted the Right of first refusal. As long as the Permittee was maintaining 50% ownership of the animals that stocked the unit, they would automatically get the unit back.
This helped minimize the risk of entering into an EQIP contract and spending money on the resource. NRCS had many more contracts in the 2002 Farm Bill compared to the 30 in the 1996 Farm Bill.

21. Challenges we are faced with
Protecting the Cultural resources. (Tribe, NRCS, BIA, Producer issue).
NRCS conducts consultation with the Tribe and our Professional walks all projects that are considered an undertaking; ground disturbing projects.
The Tribal Historic Preservation Office has a requirement to have a monitor on site during construction of projects. It is the Producer’s responsibility to work closely with the THPO to make sure they are following requirements.

22. What was a challenge became an Opportunity
BIA manages the trust land on the reservation.
BIA stocking rates on Grazing Units are conservative in order to ensure the health of the resource is maintained
2010 Conservation Stewardship Program was rolled out. The condition of the grass resource was so good, the land was a perfect fit to the program rules and has been a major contribution to the success of the program in our county and on the Cheyenne River Reservation

23. Opportunities
The new CSP enhancements that were rolled out in 2015 included one that required the Producer to hire a Society for Range Management certified planner to conduct a rangeland health assessment on their grazing land. The ones completed in our county included a grazing plan. That may be an opportunity to update grazing assessments/plans with the BIA. That would be up to the Producer to work with BIA to do that.
Dewey County had Range Health Assessment/Grazing Plans written on almost 90,000 acres last fiscal year.
Producers/Tribe continue to utilize NRCS for planning assistance and information.

24. Assistance from partners
Much of our success in Dewey County is because of assistance from the Intertribal Agriculture Council (IAC). They have provided support to individuals and have assisted us to organize producer meetings to deliver information. The IAC is a key partner to assist with the delivery of the programs.

25. Partnerships between Agencies
All agency’s on CRST have been able to get more done because of communication between the BIA, Producer, Tribe and USDA. The way we do things are constantly changing because of new policy or procedure so constant communication is a must.
We communicate with multiple agencies everyday in order to better serve the public. We are fortunate to have a good working relationship with Tribal Chairman, Tribal Council, Tribal Departments, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Farm Service Agency, IAC and of course our Producers. Improving the land is the ultimate goal for everyone. If we know what each other’s challenges are, we may be able to coordinate so our policies are cohesive, and we can achieve the goal.

26. Helping People Help the Land

27. QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, DISCUSSION
…Thank you!