USDA SELECTS PROJECTS FOR FUNDING THROUGH COOPERATIVE CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIP INITIATIVE

Ten California projects have been selected for funding through the USDA’s Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative (CCPI). This is a new program established in the 2008 Farm Bill and administered by the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The projects will receive a targeted portion of funds available to the agency through conservation programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).

Agricultural producers interested in participating in a CCPI project will need to be within the specified geographical boundaries of the project and otherwise eligible for NRCS conservation programs.

The 2009 CCPI projects in California are as follows:

Alameda County Resource Conservation District: $132,000 for protecting water quality and habitat on ranchland in Southern Alameda Creek
Watershed: Alameda County.

East Stanislaus Resource Conservation District: $250,000 for reducing off-farm movement of agricultural pesticides: Merced, San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties.

Pit Resource Conservation District: $200,000 to improve habitat and restore range and forest health: Lassen County.

San Mateo County Farm Bureau: $145,000 for increasing irrigation efficiency on specialty crops: San Mateo County.
 
Western United Dairymen: $60,000 for improving the efficient use of manure as a plant nutrient: Marin, Sonoma Counties.

Western United Dairymen: $300,000 for development of nutrient management plans on dairies: Del Norte and Humboldt Counties.

Western United Dairymen: $1,200,000 for protecting water quality by helping dairy operators improve their manure utilization systems:
Tehama, Butte, Fresno, Glenn, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Solano, Tulare, Yuba, and Yolo Counties.

Yager/Van Duzen Environmental Stewards: $300,000 for controlling sediment and improving water quality in prioritized parts of the
watershed: Humboldt County.

Lodi Winegrape Commission: $353,405 for sustaining water quality and habitat on private agricultural lands in northern San Joaquin Valley:
San Joaquin County.

Mattole Restoration Council: $39,179 for to improve ecological sustainability of ranch and non-industrial private forest operations:
Humboldt and Mendocino Counties.

For more information on the project goals and boundaries, contact your local NRCS field office. For a listing of offices statewide see http://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app?state=CA

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