Contact:
Jerry Shows
406-587-6967
BOZEMAN, Mont., April 26, 2021 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced it is investing $330 million in 85 locally driven, public-private partnerships to address climate change, improve the nation’s water quality, combat drought, enhance soil health, support wildlife habitat and protect agricultural viability, including two projects in Montana. Projects are awarded through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP).
“The Regional Conservation Partnership Program is public-private partnerships working at their best,” said Tom Watson, NRCS State Conservationist in Montana. “These new projects will harness the power of partnerships to help bring about solutions to natural resource concerns across the country while supporting our efforts to combat the climate crisis.”
The two RCPP projects chosen from Montana in 2021 include:
- The Big Game Habitat Improvement Project will address threats to big game migration corridors and winter ranges through outreach, technical assistance, and producer contracts. The robust group of thirteen partners will work with producers to improve grazing operations, restore grassland habitats, and retain intact rangelands. Additional benefits include improved grazing management, improved plant productivity and health, making grasslands more resilient to drought, and restoring marginal cropland to perennial grasses.
- The Flint Creek Valley Conservation Project will help sustain the agricultural economy and rural heritage of the Flint Creek Valley, one of the last naturally intact valleys in western Montana. Project partners aim to conserve a critical wildlife migration corridor between the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and strengthen the valley’s agricultural economy by providing conservation easement services and support to the area’s producers.
About RCPP
Through RCPP, conservation partners work in collaboration with NRCS to help farmers, ranchers and forest landowners throughout the nation to implement systems that conserve water and soil resources, improve the health of wildlife habitats and increase climate resilience.
RCPP partners offer value-added contributions to amplify the impact of RCPP funding. These projects offer impactful and measurable outcomes. Throughout its history, RCPP has leveraged partner contributions of more than $1 for every $1 invested by USDA, resulting in nearly $3 billion collectively invested in natural resource conservation on private lands. The Department anticipates the investments made today will generate at least $440 million in additional conservation funds by communities and other partners.
See the interactive map of awarded RCPP projects at https://arcg.is/4HeWX.
There are currently 336 active RCPP projects that have engaged more than 2,000 partners. For more information, visit the RCPP website at www.nrcs.usda.gov.
