USDA Announces $235 Million Available For Innovative New Conservation Partnerships
by May 5, 2015 5:59 am 82 views
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Monday announced an investment of up to $235 million to improve the nation’s water quality, combat drought, enhance soil health, support wildlife habitat and protect agricultural viability.
The funding is being made available through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), the newest conservation tool of the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
Pre-proposals are due July 8.
RCPP, created by the 2014 Farm Bill, empowers local leaders to work with multiple partners — such as private companies, local and tribal governments, universities, non-profit groups and other non-government partners — along with farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners to design solutions that work best for their region.
Local partners and the federal government both invest funding and manpower to projects to maximize their impact. This will be the second round of projects funded through RCPP. The RCPP program helps USDA build on already-record enrollment in conservation programs, with over 500,000 producers participating to protect land and water on over 400 million acres nationwide.
“This is a new, innovative approach to conservation,” Vilsack said. “This initiative allows local partners the opportunity to design and invest in conservation projects specifically tailored for their communities. These public-private partnerships can have an impact that’s well beyond what the Federal government could accomplish on its own. These efforts keep our land and water clean, and promote tremendous economic growth in agriculture, construction, tourism, and other industries.”
“We had tremendous interest from local partners when we first launched this program last year. In this new round of applications, we’ll be looking for even greater emphasis on expanding partnerships that break down barriers, work across boundaries, leverage resources and create new opportunities for innovation,” Vilsack said.
“In January, four projects in Arkansas were selected to receive funding,” Mike Sullivan, NRCS state conservationist in Arkansas, said.
The projects aim to accomplish a wide diversity of agricultural and natural resource goals from addressing water quality degradation, groundwater declines, and inadequate habitat for fish and wildlife on irrigated cropland; reducing nutrient and sediment load entering the Red River; improving water quality in the Illinois River Watershed so that all waters meet their designated uses; and assisting rice producers address water quantity, water quality, and wildlife habitat across 380,000 acres in Mississippi, Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Missouri, and Texas.
“RCPP puts our partners in the driver’s seat,” Sullivan said. “Projects are led locally and demonstrate the value of strong public-private partnerships that deliver solutions to tough natural resource challenges. RCPP provides an opportunity for locally driven partnerships to work side-by-side with local conservation districts and NRCS to accelerate conservation efforts and achieve measurable progress.”