News Release

USDA, Partners to Invest $720 Million in Large-Scale, Targeted Conservation Projects Across the Nation

Contact:
Jeff Harlow, Assistant State Conservationist (Programs),
509/323-2971

Regional Conservation Partnership Program Pools Together $220 Million Investment from USDA, up to $500 Million from Local Partners to Improve Water Quality, Soil Health, Habitat and More

SPOKANE, Feb. 12, 2016 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and partners across the nation together will direct up to $720 million towards 84 conservation projects that will help communities improve water quality, combat drought, enhance soil health, support wildlife habitat and protect agricultural viability. These projects make up the second round of the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) created by the 2014 Farm Bill.

Through the 2015 and 2016 rounds, USDA and partners are investing up to $1.5 billion in 199 strategic conservation projects. Projects are selected on a competitive basis, and local private partners must be able to at least match the USDA commitment. For this round, USDA received 265 applications requesting nearly $900 million, or four times the amount of available federal funding. The 84 projects selected for 2016 include proposed partner matches totaling over $500 million, more than tripling the federal investment alone.

“The Regional Conservation Partnership Program puts local partners in the driver’s seat to accomplish environmental goals that are most meaningful to that community. Joining together public and private resources also harnesses innovation that neither sector could implement alone,” Vilsack said. “We have seen record enrollment of privately owned lands in USDA’s conservation programs under this Administration, and the new Regional Conservation Partnership Program will be instrumental in building on those numbers and demonstrating that government and private entities can work together for greater impacts on America’s communities.”

RCPP draws on local knowledge and networks to fuel conservation projects. Bringing together a wide variety of new partners including businesses, universities, non-profits and local and Tribal governments makes it possible to deliver innovative, landscape- and watershed-scale projects that improve water quality and quantity, wildlife habitat, soil health and other natural resource concerns on working farms, ranches and forests.

Two of these projects will bring conservation to Washington State.

The Greater Spokane River Watershed Implementation project will work to reduce sediment carried to the Spokane River watershed, reduce nutrients, resolve water quality issues, and protect wildlife and fish habitat. Tens of thousands of agricultural and forestry acres, including a tribal farm, will benefit through voluntary NRCS programs.

WRIA 1 Salmon Recovery & Water Quality Improvement project will work to remedy inadequate habitat for fish and wildlife in the Nooksack River watershed in North

Puget Sound, an area that is within the top three percent of agricultural producing counties in the nation. Partners will work with producers to replace culverts on farm access roads; restore fish passages in agricultural and rural areas; work with Tribes to construct instream wooden structures to provide habitat for salmon; and integrate and publicize NRCS programs into the rural, agricultural and Tribal communities. 

Water quality and drought are dominant themes in this year’s RCPP project list with 45 of the 84 projects focusing on water resource concerns. 

“From the harmful impact of algal bloom in the Spokane River Watershed to the endangered salmon species and imperiled shellfish harvest areas in the Puget Sound, RCPP helps private landowners and producers in Washington State develop solutions that work for them and meet the needs of their communities and local wildlife,” Roylene Rides at the Door, Washington state conservationist said. “It’s encouraging to see so much interest in the program.”

USDA is committed to invest $1.2 billion in RCPP partnerships over the life of the 2014 Farm Bill. Today’s announcement brings the current USDA commitment to almost $600 million invested in 199 partner-led projects, leveraging an additional $900 million for conservation activities in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.

USDA invested $370 million in 115 high impact RCPP projects during 2015. In Washington, an RCPP project with the Confederated Tribes of the Colville focused on reducing soil erosion and stream sediment by repairing or removing stream crossings, decommissioning forest roads, installing road drainage and protecting wetland/riparian areas. In addition, this project will improve range conditions through feral horse management and improve wildlife habitat for the sharp-tailed grouse and Columbia River redband trout.

See the full list of 2016 projects.

Since 2009, USDA has invested more than $29 billion to help producers make conservation improvements, working with as many as 500,000 farmers, ranchers and landowners to protect over 400 million acres nationwide, boosting soil and air quality, cleaning and conserving water and enhancing wildlife habitat. For an interactive look at USDA's work in conservation and forestry over the course of this Administration, visit http://medium.com/usda-results.

#

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (866) 632-9992 (Toll-free Customer Service), (800) 877-8339 (Local or Federal relay), (866) 377-8642 (Relay voice users).