<div dir="ltr"><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div>---------- Forwarded message ----------<br></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail_quote">From: <b class="gmail_sendername">USDA Office of Communications</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:usda@public.govdelivery.com">usda@public.govdelivery.com</a>></span><br>Date: Mon, Jun 22, 2015 at 10:02 AM<br>Subject: USDA Seeks Partner Proposals to Protect and Restore Critical Wetlands<br><br><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif">USDA Office of Communications Release No. 0177.15</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Contact: Sylvia Rainford (202) 720-2536</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif">USDA SEEKS PARTNER PROPOSALS TO PROTECT AND RESTORE CRITICAL
WETLANDS</span><br></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span><br></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif">WASHINGTON, June 22, 2015 – Agriculture
Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the availability of $17.5 million in
financial and technical assistance to help eligible conservation partners
voluntarily protect, restore and enhance critical wetlands on private and
tribal agricultural lands.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif">"USDA has leveraged partnerships to
accomplish a great deal on America's wetlands over the past two decades,
Vilsack said. "This year's funding will help strengthen these partnerships
and achieve greater wetland acreage throughout the nation."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Funding will be provided through the Wetland
Reserve Enhancement Partnership (WREP), a special enrollment option under the
Agricultural Conservation Easement Program's Wetland Reserve Easement
component. It is administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service
(NRCS). Under WREP, states, local units of governments, non-governmental
organizations and American Indian tribes collaborate with USDA through
cooperative and partnership agreements. These partners work with willing tribal
and private landowners who voluntarily enroll eligible land into easements to
protect, restore and enhance wetlands on their properties. WREP was created
through the 2014 Farm Bill and was formerly known as the Wetlands Reserve
Enhancement Program.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Wetland reserve easements allow landowners to
successfully enhance and protect habitat for wildlife on their lands, reduce
impacts from flooding, recharge groundwater and provide outdoor recreational
and educational opportunities. The voluntary nature of NRCS' easement programs
allows effective integration of wetland restoration on working landscapes,
providing benefits to farmers and ranchers who enroll in the program, as well
as benefits to the local and rural communities where the wetlands exist.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Proposals must be submitted to NRCS state
offices by July 31, 2015. Projects can range from individual to watershed-wide
to ecosystem-wide. Under a similar program in the 2008 Farm Bill, NRCS and its
partners entered into 272 easements that enrolled more than 44,020 acres of
wetlands from 2009 through 2013. Most of these agreements occurred through the
Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI). Through
partnerships, MRBI identifies high-priority watersheds where focused
conservation on agricultural land can make the most gains in improving local,
state and regional water quality. The new collaborative WREP will build on
those successes by providing the financial and technical assistance necessary
for states, non-governmental organizations and tribes to leverage resources to
restore and protect wetlands and wildlife habitat.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Through WREP, NRCS will sign multi-year
agreements with partners to leverage resources, including funding, to achieve
maximum wetland restoration, protection and enhancement and to create optimum
wildlife habitat on enrolled acres. WREP partners are required to contribute a
funding match for financial or technical assistance. These partners work
directly with eligible landowners interested in enrolling their agricultural
land into conservation wetland easements.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Today's announcement builds on the
roughly <a href="http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTUwNjIyLjQ2Mjk2NzIxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE1MDYyMi40NjI5NjcyMSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3MzYzMDk0JmVtYWlsaWQ9UGF0cmljaWFfRGVBbmdlbGlzQGZ3cy5nb3YmdXNlcmlkPVBhdHJpY2lhX0RlQW5nZWxpc0Bmd3MuZ292JmZsPSZleHRyYT1NdWx0aXZhcmlhdGVJZD0mJiY=&&&101&&&http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/national/newsroom/releases/?cid=NRCSEPRD334218" target="_blank" title="Opens in new window.">$332
million USDA has announced this year</a> to protect and restore
agricultural working lands, grasslands and wetlands. Collectively, NRCS's
easement programs help productive farm, ranch and tribal lands remain in agriculture
and protect the nation's critical wetlands and grasslands, home to diverse
wildlife and plant species. Under the former Wetlands Reserve Program, private
landowners, tribes and entities such as land trusts and conservation
organizations enrolled 2.7 million acres through 14,500 agreements for a total
NRCS and partner investment of $4.3 billion in financial and technical
assistance.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif">The funding announced today was authorized by
the 2014 Farm Bill, which builds on historic economic gains in rural America
over the past six years, while achieving meaningful reform and billions of
dollars in savings for taxpayers. Since enactment, USDA has made significant
progress to implement each provision of this critical legislation, including
providing disaster relief to farmers and ranchers; strengthening risk
management tools; expanding access to rural credit; funding critical research;
establishing innovative public-private conservation partnerships; developing
new markets for rural-made products; and investing in infrastructure, housing,
and community facilities to help improve quality of life in rural America. For
more information, visit <a href="http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTUwNjIyLjQ2Mjk2NzIxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE1MDYyMi40NjI5NjcyMSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3MzYzMDk0JmVtYWlsaWQ9UGF0cmljaWFfRGVBbmdlbGlzQGZ3cy5nb3YmdXNlcmlkPVBhdHJpY2lhX0RlQW5nZWxpc0Bmd3MuZ292JmZsPSZleHRyYT1NdWx0aXZhcmlhdGVJZD0mJiY=&&&102&&&http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=farmbill" target="_blank">www.usda.gov/farmbill</a>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Visit NRCS's <a href="http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTUwNjIyLjQ2Mjk2NzIxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE1MDYyMi40NjI5NjcyMSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3MzYzMDk0JmVtYWlsaWQ9UGF0cmljaWFfRGVBbmdlbGlzQGZ3cy5nb3YmdXNlcmlkPVBhdHJpY2lhX0RlQW5nZWxpc0Bmd3MuZ292JmZsPSZleHRyYT1NdWx0aXZhcmlhdGVJZD0mJiY=&&&103&&&http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/programs/easements/acep/" target="_blank" title="Opens in new window.">ACEP</a> webpage
to learn more about NRCS's wetland conservation options.</span></p>
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