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Funds available for conservation projects

USDA allocates $235 million

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday that up to $235 million has been allocated for conservation projects.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who made the announcement Monday in Denver, said the money will be available through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program. It will fund projects focused on improving soil health, preserving clean water, combating drought and protecting wildlife habitat.

“Conservation programs not only allow us to preserve valuable lands for future generations and wildlife habitat,” said Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., who sits on the Agriculture Committee and helped craft the 2014 Farm Bill, which includes the RCPP, “they also pay a large part in sustaining our agriculture, recreation and tourism industries. The announcement of this funding is exciting news, and we encourage people to apply for funding to facilitate conservation programs across the state.”

The program encourages groups to work with multiple partners, which may include private companies, local and tribal governments, universities and nonprofits along with farmers, ranchers and forest landowners, to design projects that work best for their region. Local partners and the federal government invest funding and manpower to the projects.

People in Archuleta and La Plata counties may have a leg up on obtaining a grant, as the two counties are in the Colorado River Basin, which has been identified as 1 of 8 Critical Conservation Areas in the country. The Colorado River District received $8 million in January, the first round of disbursements in the RCPP, for the Lower Gunnison River Basin. That funding is being used to better manage agricultural and water resources for farming by expanding improvements in conveyance, delivery and on-farm irrigation, Bennet’s office said.

The priorities for resource management in the Colorado River Basin Critical Conservation Area are excessive salts in surface and ground waters, inefficient use of irrigation water, degradation of soil quality with a concentration of salts and other minerals and habitat degradation for fish and wildlife.

Proposals are due July 8.

abutler@durangoherald.com

On the Net

Visit http://tinyurl.com/kb5p56a to learn more about the Regional Conservation Partnership Program and how to submit a proposal. Proposals are due July 8.



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