usda

USDA Unveils Efforts to Streamline Agricultural Conservation Easement Program

Dan Agricultural Conservation Easement Program – Wetland Reserve Easements (ACEP-WRE), Agricultural Land Easements (ALE), Conservation, Environment, USDA-NRCS

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is streamlining its Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) to ultimately better help agricultural producers and private landowners conserve wetlands, productive farmlands and at-risk grasslands. USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is rolling out several improvements to the program, which has more than 5 million acres of land enrolled, in response to feedback from producers, landowners and conservation partners. …

conservation

USDA Announces Historic Investment in Wildlife Conservation

Dan Agricultural Conservation Easement Program – Wetland Reserve Easements (ACEP-WRE), Conservation, Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Environment, Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), USDA-NRCS, Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW)

Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it will expand its work on wildlife conservation by investing at least $500 million over the next five years. This includes leveraging all available conservation programs through both the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Farm Service Agency (FSA). These commitments will ramp up the conservation assistance for farmers, ranchers, private forest owners and tribes …

usda

USDA Announces Investment in Wildlife Conservation

Dan Agricultural Conservation Easement Program – Wetland Reserve Easements (ACEP-WRE), Conservation, Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Environment, Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), This Land of Ours, USDA-NRCS

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing in wildlife conservation. That’s coming up on This land of Ours. The USDA this week expanded wildlife conservation investments by $500 million over the next five years. The effort leverages all available conservation programs, including the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), through its Working Lands for Wildlife effort. The commitments will ramp up the …

everglades

Critics View FL Legislation as Potentially Harmful to Wetlands and Everglades Restoration Efforts

Dan Conservation, Environment, Florida, Water, Wetland

(NSF/TALLAHASSEE, FL/June 15, 2023) — Senate leaders weren’t going to let a year-old outburst aimed at state lawmakers go unaddressed. VoteWater, a Treasure Coast group focused on political issues related to restoring the Everglades, is raising cane over the Senate this spring not confirming the reappointment of South Florida Water Management District Governing Board member Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch. “Few people in …

conservation

Conservation Easement Program Sign Up for Florida Landowners Extended through June 30

Dan Conservation, Environment, Florida, Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), USDA-NRCS

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 …

conservation

USDA Accepts Over One Million Acres in CRP General Signup

Dan Conservation, Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Environment, USDA-FSA, USDA-NRCS

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced this week it is accepting more than 1 million acres in this year’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) General sign-up. This is one of several signups that USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is holding for the program. “This year’s General CRP signup demonstrates the value and continued strength of this voluntary conservation program, which plays an …

program

DeSantis, Florida Cabinet Sign Off on Land Deals

Dan Beef, Cattle, Conservation, Dairy, Environment, Field Crops, Florida, Nursery Crops, Organic, Specialty Crops

(NSF/TALLAHASSEE, FL/May 23, 2023) — Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state Cabinet on Tuesday approved spending nearly $100 million on land deals that will secure about 36,000 acres as part of a growing wildlife corridor. The 12 land deals are part of the Florida Forever program and the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program. They involve purchasing conservation easements, which …

usda

Regional Conservation Partnership Program Applications Open

Dan Conservation, Environment, Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), USDA-NRCS

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) has $500 million in funding available to advance partner-driven solutions to conservation on agricultural land. RCPP leverages a voluntary approach to conservation that expands the reach of conservation efforts and climate-smart agriculture through public-private partnerships. Increased funding for fiscal year 2023 is made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act, and …

bonnie

Bonnie: Conservation Efforts Will Remain Voluntary

Dan Conservation, Environment

With the Biden Administration’s deep focus on conservation and the environment, some agriculture groups and individual farmers are worried about mandatory conservation efforts. However, Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Robert Bonnie said conservation efforts by farmers will remain voluntary. “You’re not going to adopt soil health practices at the end of a gun barrel,” Bonnie said while speaking …