USDA Awards 85 New Partnership Projects to Help Mitigate Climate Change and Protect Natural Resources while Supporting America’s Producers
COLORADO: Upper Rio Grande Partnership to PARA $6,718,182
WYOMING & COLORADO: Upper Colorado River – Yampa & Little Snake Basins $6,727,273
WASHINGTON, April 26, 2021 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced it is investing $330 million in 85 locally driven, public-private partnerships to address climate change, improve the nation’s water quality, combat drought, enhance soil health, support wildlife habitat and protect agricultural viability. Projects are awarded through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP).
“The Regional Conservation Partnership Program is public-private partnerships working at their best,” said NRCS Acting Chief Terry Cosby. “These new projects will harness the power of partnerships to help bring about solutions to natural resource concerns across the country while supporting our efforts to combat the climate crisis.”
Across America, producers are seeing the impacts from climate change. Farmers, landowners and local communities can be a major part of the effort to combat climate change.
Under the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is engaged in a whole-of-government effort to combat the climate crisis and conserve and protect our nation’s lands, biodiversity and natural resources including our soil, air and water. Through conservation practices and partnerships, including those through RCPP, USDA aims to enhance economic growth and create new streams of income for farmers, ranchers, producers and private foresters. Successfully meeting these challenges will require USDA and our agencies to pursue a coordinated approach alongside USDA stakeholders, including state, local and Tribal governments.
About RCPP
Through RCPP, conservation partners work in collaboration with NRCS to help farmers, ranchers and forest landowners throughout the nation to implement systems that conserve water and soil resources, improve the health of wildlife habitats and increase climate resilience.
RCPP partners offer value-added contributions to amplify the impact of RCPP funding. These projects offer impactful and measurable outcomes. Throughout its history, RCPP has leveraged partner contributions of more than $1 for every $1 invested by USDA, resulting in nearly $3 billion collectively invested in natural resource conservation on private lands. The Department anticipates the investments made today will generate at least $440 million in additional conservation funds by communities and other partners.
Examples of the 2021 RCPP projects include:
- COLORADO: Upper Rio Grande Partnership to PARA: Colorado Open Lands and twelve partners will protect key surface and groundwater resources, enhance critical wetland habitat, and increase the climate resiliency of this agricultural region. Innovative conservation easement deeds with groundwater pumping restrictions, negotiated with landowners, have been vetted by the Colorado Division of Water Resources and will help improve the long-term resiliency of the region. It is anticipated the easements entered into through this project will restore 8,000 acre-feet of water to the aquifer. Funding Amount: $6,718,182
- WYOMING & COLORADO: Upper Colorado River – Yampa & Little Snake Basins – The Little Snake River Conservation District and a diverse partnership of 11 entities will offer conservation easements and land management assistance to protect and enhance multi-generational ranching operations. These large intact landscapes provide crucial winter ranges and migration corridors for deer and elk in the Upper Colorado River Watershed in Colorado’s Yampa River Basin and Wyoming’s Little Snake River Basin. Targeted conservation measures will address invasive plant species, forest and rangeland health, fuel load reduction, catastrophic wildfire impacts and irrigation water management, and aquatic and terrestrial habitats restoration. Funding Amount: $6,727,273
See the interactive map of awarded RCPP projects here.
There are currently 336 active RCPP projects that have engaged more than 2,000 partners. For more information, visit the RCPP website.
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.
