The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the North Florida Land Trust (NFLT) wants Florida landowners interested in aligning their land uses with conservation values, to know they have additional time to apply for a conservation easement program. The application deadline for fiscal year 2023 funding through this Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) has been extended from its original June 16th deadline to June 30th to allow for more landowner participation.
Applications for U.S. held easements are accepted and evaluated by NRCS and NFLT year-round. But, applications received after June 30, 2023 will be considered for the following fiscal year, as funding allows.
The RCPP is a partner-driven approach to conservation that funds solutions to natural resource challenges on agricultural land. The RCPP promotes coordination of NRCS conservation activities with partners that offer value-added contributions to expand our collective ability to address on-farm, watershed, and regional natural resource concerns.
The NFLT is leading this RCPP project to protect the Ocala to Osceola Wildlife Corridor. The O2O Wildlife Corridor (O2O) is a 100-mile-long, 1.6-million-acre, landscape of public and private lands that connect the Ocala and Osceola National Forests. The O2O includes priority lands for the Florida Ecological Greenways Network (FEGN) andis a significant part of the Florida Wildlife Corridor. By protecting this system of natural landscapes and connector lands, the O2O will continue to provide habitat for Florida black bears and imperiled species like the red-cockaded woodpecker, indigo snake, and gopher tortoise. In addition, there are opportunities for protecting iconic Florida ecosystems, including longleaf pine forests, sandhills, and scrub in the O2O.
As part of this initiative, NRCS and its partners have funding through the RCPP to pay landowners for conservation easements placed upon their land. NRCS will be responsible for screening for land eligibility, coordinating appropriately to determine the proper entity holder, coordinating with landowners to develop conservation easement project applications, negotiating conservation easement terms, and developing a land management plan. Due to the complex nature of conservation easement projects, landowners interested in this funding are strongly encouraged to contact NRCS to discuss this funding option prior to submitting an application.
NRCS and NFLT encourage landowners and farmers who are historically underserved (HU) to apply. HU farmers are defined as farmers who are beginners, socially disadvantaged, or veterans, and/or who have limited resources.
If you are a landowner interested in conserving your land in partnership with NFLT, the O2O Partnership, and NRCS, please contact:
Heather Barnes, NFLT O2O Coordinator, at hbarnes@nflt.org or (904) 579-1967.
Michael Ruiz, NRCS RCPP-Easements, at michael.ruiz@usda.gov or (352) 338-9566.