Palouse Conservation

Palouse Conservation

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
Signup closes November 20th for landowners in the Palouse Watershed. Funds are available to improve soil, water, and habitat. By November 20, 2015, landowners and producers seeking NRCS EQIP funds for projects like direct seed and riparian buffers should apply with their local conservation districts. Spokesperson Laura Heinse These funds provided by the Palouse Watershed Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), a separate pool from the general EQIP fund, are designated specifically for landowners and operators living in the Palouse Watershed, located in parts of Whitman, Adams, Lincoln, and Spokane Counties in Washington, and NW Latah County in Idaho.

This exciting Palouse RCPP partnership will help landowners and producers establish voluntary incentive-based conservation practices that enhance producer operations, and improve soil and water quality and wildlife habitat. The Partnership will provide a total of $11 million in funds over the next five years for technical assistance and on-the-ground projects including more than 250 acres of riparian buffer installation, 45,000 acres of conservation tillage, and 520 acres of agricultural conservation easement through multiple funding sources in partnership with NRCS programs like EQIP, CSP, and ACEP. Unique components of the Partnership include: 1) conservation planners from multiple partners will work together to combine their diverse experience in soil health, water quality, and habitat to provide enhanced technical assistance and conservation planning to help producers and landowners meet their conservation goals, 2) through the Partnership, planners will have access to multiple funding sources that can be combined to offer producers and landowners competitive conservation practice payments and incentives, 3) qualifying producers will have the opportunity to apply for funding to implement conservation practices necessary to be certified through the Pacific Northwest Direct Seed Association's Farmed SMART Certification, a value-added marketing opportunity for farming operations that meet a set of conservation standards.

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