The Upper Klamath Lake watershed has been selected for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Conservation Security Program this year.
    Meetings about the program will be from 1 to 3 p.m. today and 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, March 2, at Klamath Community College.
    Program workshops for eligible participants also will be from 1 to 3 p.m. March 9 and March 16 and from 7 to 9 p.m. March 23. Deadline to sign up for the program is March 31, though to be eligible applicants need to complete a farm/ranch interview with an NRCS official prior to that date.
    The local Natural Resource Conservation Service office in Klamath Falls is administering the program, which financially rewards private land managers for conservation.
    Working lands include crop land, grassland, prairie land, improved pasture and range land as well as forested land that is part of an agriculture operation.
    The Upper Klamath Lake watershed includes all private agricultural lands surrounding Upper Klamath and Agency lakes, the Wood River and lands that drain into these water bodies. The program isn’t limited by land use or size.
    Ten Oregon watersheds were selected in 2005. Nearly 720 private land managers in these watersheds were approved for five- to 10-year contracts.
    When combined with the 149 Umatilla watershed CSP contracts from 2004, payments this year to land managers were more than $19 million.
    For information, visit the Oregon NRCS Web site at www.or.nrcs.usda.gov or contact Shelley Tucker, NRCS Klamath field office 883-6924 ext. 113.