Department of Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack, announced on January 14 the 115 projects in all 50 states and Puerto Rico that were selected to receive a total of $370 million through the new Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). The projects are expected to leverage approximately $400 million more in partner contributions to improve water quality, support wildlife habitat and enhance the environment, reports the Wildlife Management Institute.

"As venture capitalists provide financial resources to burgeoning, high-potential growth startups, USDA must lead in a new venture conservationist movement that empowers and launches new, high-opportunity startup partnerships that deliver locally-led conservation solutions," said Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Chief Jason Weller. "RCPP puts our partners in the driver's seat. Projects are led locally, and demonstrate the value of strong public-private partnerships that deliver solutions to natural resource challenges."

RCPP was created by the 2014 Farm Bill as a way to maximize conservation impacts by leveraging federal funding for private land conservation with the support of local partners working together to implement conservation practices. Eligible partners include private companies, universities, non-profit organizations, local and tribal governments and others joining with agricultural and conservation organizations and producers to invest money, manpower and materials to their proposed initiatives. Over the five years covered by the Farm Bill, RCPP will allocate $1.2 billion for conservation partnerships, which is expected to be doubled by partner investments. The first round of projects allocated funding for the first two years of the program.

Thirty-five percent of RCPP funding is directed towards eight Critical Conservation Areas (CCAs): the Chesapeake Bay Watershed (four funded projects), the Great Lakes Region (two funded projects), the Mississippi River Basin (five funded projects), the Colorado River Basin (two funded projects), Longleaf Pine Range (two funded projects), the Columbia River Basin (four funded projects), the Prairie Grasslands Region (three funded projects) and the California Bay Delta (two funded projects). In addition, 40 percent of RCPP was directed towards projects that address multi-state or national conservation priorities like water quantity, water quality, soil health, at-risk species habitat and/or air quality. The remaining 25 percent of funds is dedicated towards state-identified conservation concerns.

The projects selected support a variety of conservation activities on private agricultural lands. Some projects focus on drought resiliency, protecting drinking water and improving water quality. Others focus on at-risk species such as sage grouse and gopher tortoise, as well as economically important species like pheasants and many others. Over 600 pre-proposals were submitted to NRCS for this funding round showing the broad interest in partnership-based conservation efforts.

"With so many strong project proposals, the selection process was extremely competitive. RCPP is a 5-year, $1.2 billion USDA opportunity. Projects not selected in this first year may be eligible in subsequent years," NRCS Chief Weller said. "NRCS personnel will work with applicants who did not receive funding during this round of awards to strengthen their applications for future funding rounds."

The next announcement of program funding for fiscal year 2016 will be made later this year. (jas)