The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced improvements to the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) as well as an unprecedented $1 billion investment to advance partner-driven solutions to conservation on agricultural land through 81 projects. Partnership to Advance Climate-Resilient Longleaf Restoration and Conservation on Private Lands in Alabama and Georgia will receive $25,000,000 in funding over the next five years. RCPP leverages a voluntary approach to conservation that expands the reach of conservation efforts and climate-smart agriculture through public-private partnerships.
“The unprecedented demand for the Regional Conservation Partnership Program shows how much interest there is from producers and partners for voluntary conservation on the ground,” said Ben Malone, State Conservationist for USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in Alabama (NRCS-AL). “USDA is making historic investments and streamlining the program to make it work better for producers and partners. The combination of historic investments and streamlining actions will deliver conservation at a scale never before achieved through RCPP.”
In Alabama, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and partners will leverage $25,000,000 in RCPP funding to deliver technical and financial assistance to private landowners to actively manage planted longleaf stands, voluntarily conserve existing longleaf, and implement climate-smart forest practices to support long-term, sustainable carbon and wildlife outcomes. The goals for this project are to engage 5,000 private landowners to restore, enhance and conserve 150,000 acres of longleaf pine on private land in Alabama and Georgia over the next five years.
The Farm Bill and Inflation Reduction Act provided funding for this year’s RCPP projects.
To learn more, contact NRCS at your local USDA Service Center.