On Tuesday, June 7, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced that USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will award $7 million for 31 projects in 11 states under the Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative (CCPI) for  fiscal year 2011.

CCPI, a program originally conceived by NSAC in 2001, supports special local and regional conservation projects that involve groups of farmers or ranchers in partnership with USDA, farm, conservation and other non-governmental organizations, State and tribal agencies, institutions of higher education and farmer cooperatives, to name a few.

“CCPI’s unique partnership allows USDA to use the resources and capabilities of non-federal partners as well as its own technical and financial resources to implement conservation on working farms, ranches, and forest lands,” Vilsack said.

States with proposals approved for funding this fiscal year include: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, New York, Oregon, Virginia and Washington.  Project partners include non-profit organizations, conservation districts,  state departments of natural resources, and other entities that will work with NRCS and producers to implement projects.

Farmers, ranchers and forest owners can check for eligibility and apply for CCPI funding through their local or county NRCS office.

Farmers, ranchers and forest-owners can use CCPI funding to:

• Address conservation priorities
• Meet federal, state, and local regulatory requirements related to production
• Cooperate to install and maintain conservation practices
• Develop and demonstrate innovative conservation practices and delivery methods

The complete list of projects approved for FY 2011, as well as approved projects from 2009 and 2010 can be found on the NRCS website.  You can also visit the NSAC Grassroots Guide to the 2008 Farm Bill for detailed information about CCPI.