More than 400 Washington farmers in 20 counties may have their Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program payments ended or reduced, continuing the fallout from government errors in overseeing the salmon-protection program.

Some 472 contracts are under review because riparian buffers exceed the 180-foot limit, USDA Farm Service Agency State Director Jon Wyss told producers on a video conference Wednesday.

“It’s not a pleasant situation to be in,” he said. “We shook your hand and said we have a conservation program we’d like you to join. … And here I am, years later, breaking that word, that bond.”

The USDA and Washington agreed in 1998 to pay farmers to maintain habitat along up to 10,000 miles of salmon-bearing streams identified annually by the Washington State Conservation Commission and FSA.

The commission and FSA, however, did not annually update the map. FSA failed to catch projects originating with conservation districts that were either along ineligible streams or authorized buffers that were too wide.

One buffer was 800 feet. Some contracts were written for land in Idaho. “How we approved Idaho CREP contracts in Washington state, I don’t know, but I can’t pay Idaho people,” Wyss said in an interview.

Wyss is circumspect about who made the errors. “No one had malice. No one had ill intent,” he said. “I can’t blame local offices for us not dotting the ‘i’ or crossing the ‘t.’”

Mistakes were made

The first erroneous contract surfaced in Whatcom County in 2022 when a landowner applied to reenroll 9 acres in a new 15-year contract. A USDA administrative law judge ruled the land was not on an “eligible stream.”

The ruling led to a review of CREP projects statewide, beginning with 251 contracts in Whatcom County. FSA terminated 18 contracts for not being on eligible streams.

Some 144 contracts were modified. Another 85 farms, given the chance, quit the program.

FSA moved on to reviewing 730 contracts in the other counties. FSA is terminating 80 contracts for not being on eligible streams.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service will examine the 472 contracts that authorized buffers that are apparently too wide. Under certain circumstances, buffers wider than 180 feet could be approved.

One landowner asked why farmers should be confident modified contracts will be honored.

“We upheld our end of the deal, and the federal government says, ‘A mistake was made, and it’s no good,’” he said.

Wyss said everything is being carefully documented.

FSA plans to finish the review by May 31. Farmers can apply to enroll their land in other conservation programs, though other programs pay less. Farmers also can return the land to production at their own expense.

All farmers will receive their annual payment for 2024 in October, even if they are leaving the program, Wyss said.

Whitman County has the most contracts under review, 114, followed by Walla Walla County with 85 and Columbia County with 64.

The review also will look at CREP projects in Asotin, Clallam, Clark, Cowlitz, Garfield, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, Klickitat, King, Lewis, Mason, Okanogan, Pacific, Skagit, Snohomish, Thurston and Wahkiakum counties.