The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), the largest U.S. private lands conservation initiative, incentivizes farmers to retire environmentally sensitive land to reduce erosion, improve water quality, and enhance wildlife habitat. The program is currently under consideration for reauthorization by Congress. We assessed social, economic, and ecological factors associated with CRP enrollment to evaluate program effectiveness and...

The Big Sandy River Basin (BSRB), which comprises the majority of the surface-mined and reclaimed areas, is a key restoration landscape in Eastern Kentucky. BSRB has a long history of coal mining, followed by various policies adopted to restore the post-mining ecosystems. Kentucky designates priority watersheds (PWs) within major river basins to address environmental issues and direct resources for focused implementation throu...