USDA Invests $1.5 Billion in 92 Partnership Projects, Six Oregon Projects Receive $115 Million to Advance Conservation and Climate-Smart Agriculture as Part of the Biden-Harris Investing in America Agenda
By Mindy Gould on Tuesday, October 29th, 2024 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News More Top Stories
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a historic $1.5 billion for 92 partner-driven conservation projects through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), a partner-driven approach to conservation that funds solutions to natural resource challenges on agricultural land. Partners will provide $968 million in contributions to amplify the impact of the federal investment. Six Oregon projects will receive a total of $115,735,351 in funding. These projects will help farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners adopt and expand voluntary, locally led conservation strategies to enhance natural resources while tackling the climate crisis.
This investment is made with funding available through the Farm Bill and the Inflation Reduction Act. The Inflation Reduction Act is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America Agenda and the largest investment in climate action and conservation in world history, which has enabled USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to boost funding for RCPP. In total, the Inflation Reduction Act provides $19.5 billion to support USDA’s oversubscribed conservation programs, including $4.95 billion for RCPP.
The projects support priorities in conservation and climate and can save farmers money and increase productivity. For example, there are six projects that support use of innovative technologies to reduce enteric methane emissions in livestock. There are also 16 projects that address water conservation in the West, ensuring producers and communities have the tools they need to adapt in the face of continued drought pressures. And 42 projects promote terrestrial wildlife habitat conservation and restoration, as directed by the recent USDA Secretarial memo: Conserving and Restoring Terrestrial Wildlife Habitat Connectivity and Corridors.
NRCS also set aside $100 million for Tribal-led projects, part of a broader effort to support Tribes and Tribal producers through NRCS conservation programs. From this set aside, NRCS has made seven awards to five different tribes and tribal entities.
By leveraging collective resources and collaborating on common goals, RCPP demonstrates the power of public-private partnerships in delivering results for agriculture and conservation.
Learn more about Oregon’s newly awarded RCPP projects below:
Protect-Ignite-Restore
Lead Partner: Oregon Department of Forestry
Funds awarded: $9,940,000
Project Description: This project will work to reduce fuel load hazards and improve forest health on 4,600 acres in underserved communities within Southern Oregon that connect with previous treatments funded by NRCS, Oregon Department of Forestry, and USDA. The project aims to reduce greenhouse gas and smoke emission events, improve forest soil and biomass carbon storage, and foster more resilient forest ecosystems.
Rogue Bear All-Lands Restoration Project
Lead Partner: Lomakatsi Restoration Project
Funds awarded: $21,250,000
Project Description: This project aims to strategically reduce hazardous fuels and improve forest health on 8,500 to 10,000 acres of private non-industrial forestland across very high wildlife risk zone in the Rogue Basin of southwest Oregon. Additional project goals include improved forestland resilience and air quality, enhanced wildlife habitat and increased carbon sequestration.
Pilot Butte Canal King Way Irrigation Modernization and Conservation
Lead Partner: Deschutes River Conservancy
Funds awarded: $25,000,000
Project Description: This project employs district canal piping, private lateral piping, on-farm efficiencies, and water marketing to save water in the Central Oregon Irrigation District, which will be redirected to the North Unit Irrigation District (NUID) in exchange for using stored water from Wickiup Reservoir to manage flows in the Upper Deschutes. Water savings generated will contribute directly to basin-wide goals of increasing flows in the Upper Deschutes to benefit ESA-listed species. Under the Habitat Conservation Plan, the districts have committed to increase flows from 100 to 300 cfs by 2028, and to 400-500 cfs by 2033.
Expanding Resilient Working Lands in Harney County
Lead Partner: High Desert Partnership
Funds awarded: $18,462,351
Project Description: The goal for this RCPP is to expand existing conservation efforts, implementing climate smart and other adaptive practices on a landscape scale. These practices will allow producers and wildlife to build resilience to increasingly frequent and severe drought. Partners will target practices in wetlands to enhance habitat and production in flood-irrigated grass hay meadows with benefits to wildlife and livestock. Partners will scale up practices that promote healthy sagebrush and forests to reduce impacts of catastrophic wildfires to benefit the community and wildlife, increasing their resiliency to a changing climate.
Greater Waterman Landscape Resiliency Project
Lead Partner: Wheeler Soil and Water Conservation District
Funds awarded: $21,250,000
Project Description: The goal of the Greater Waterman Landscape Resiliency project is to conserve, restore, and enhance over 23,000 acres of critical range and forest lands for 92 producers in the Middle John Day Basin. The 338,596-acre project area is located in the top 15% of the priority geographies in the Oregon Landscape Resilience Plan and is part of an existing NRCS Conservation Implementation Strategies boundary. The project area has experienced significant landscape degradation, specifically due to fire suppression and non-sustainable grazing practices. Forest stand density has increased, leading to unhealthy stands that are more susceptible to wildfire, insects, and disease. The proposed project will reverse these trends, and help landowners work toward a more resilient landscape that stores long-term carbon and is more resilient to climate change impacts; allowing producers to maintain the landscape as critical working lands for agriculture, forestry, and livestock grazing.
Absolute Enteric Methane Reductions in Idaho and Oregon State Dairies: A New Frontier on the Journey to Net Zero
(NRCS Idaho is lead state; NRCS Oregon is partner state)
Lead Partner: AgSpire Inc.
Funds awarded: $19,833,000
Project Description: This project will work to reduce enteric methane emissions by 30 percent from 175,000 dairy cows in Idaho and Oregon via implementation of the feed-based additive 3-NOP. The project is expected to achieve a GHG reduction of 210,000 MT CO2e.
