Delaware gets its first CREP agreement on June 1st, 1996, which emphasizes the practice of riparian forest buffers on marginal farm land.

In 1997, Maryland established the first Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) in the country. CREP is a cooperative program that pays landowners to plant field edges and borders that protect water quality and wildlife. Participation is voluntary, and the contract period is typically 10–15 years, along with federal and state incentives as applicable per each CREP … Read More

In 1994, the Chesapeake Bay Program Executive Council developed and adopted Directive 94-1 which called upon the Chesapeake Bay Program to develop a set of goals and actions to increase the focus on riparian stewardship and enhance efforts to conserve and restore riparian forest buffers.

A final report on the findings of the Riparian Forest Buffer Panel created by the Directive 94-1 was published in 1996. The report included various findings and recommendations for definitions, goals, and policies.

A new goal, “2,010 miles by 2010” is made, on November 27, 1996. This goal is reiterated in the C2K.

Key leaders gathered in Washington DC on June 12, 2014 to highlight the unique importance of forest buffers to the Chesapeake, seek consensus on the issues that should be addressed, and commit to a process and allocation of staff resources that would result in more riparian forest buffers.

On May 21, 2014, a group of experts from public and private organizations gathered around the table to document forest buffer establishment successes and challenges and to outline areas of discussion for agency leadership and State Task Forces.