Issue #13

Fall 2006

The Basin Bulletin

Newsletter for Stakeholders of the Raritan River Basin 

Prepared on behalf of the Raritan Basin Watershed Alliance

     

 

Release No. 0177.06

USDA ANNOUNCES RECIPIENTS OF 2006 COOPERATIVE CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIP INITIATIVE GRANTS

  WASHINGTON, May 25, 2006-U.S. Department of Agriculture today awarded nearly $5 million through the Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative (CCPI), a voluntary program that provides competitive grants for state and local governments, tribes and non-governmental organizations to foster conservation partnerships.

"The recipients of these grants are excellent role models in showing how cooperative conservation is being used to accomplish regional, state and local milestones toward pressing natural resource and rural priorities," said Chuck Conner, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture.

Thirty-eight entities in 24 states received grants totaling nearly $4 million. NRCS State Offices in 14 states received an additional $1 million to carry out rapid watershed assessment projects in their respective states with a broad array of partners.

CCPI funds projects that focus technical and financial resources on conservation priorities in watersheds and airsheds of special significance. Airsheds are geographical areas that share the same air mass due to topography, meteorology and climate.

NRCS received 81 proposals from 35 states. Among the 38 approved proposals were 11 non-governmental organizations, 10 resource conservation and development councils, five soil and water conservation districts, nine state and local governments, two universities and one tribe. Four were multi-state projects. The 14 NRCS state offices that received grants for CCPI projects were Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

CCPI offered two components this fiscal year-up to $2 million for Conservation Priorities and up to $3 million for Rapid Watershed Assessments (RWAs). Proposals selected through the Conservation Priorities component were watershed or airshed planning projects that addressed terrestrial and freshwater aquatic wildlife habitat, invasive species, livestock nutrient management, minor and specialty crop management, and agricultural air quality.

Below is a list of grant recipients for the conservation priorities component:

State

Name of Entity

CCPI Award Amount

Alabama

Alabama Mountains Rivers and Valleys Resource Conservation and Development Council, Inc.

$198,080.00

California

Cottonwood Creed Watershed Group

S133,962.00

California

Yurok Tribe

$168,890.00

Delaware, Maryland and Virginia

Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc.

$52,700.00

Hawaii

Tri-Isle Resource Conservation and Development Council, Inc.

$100,000.00

Idaho

Trout Unlimited

$107,500.00

Maine

Greater Lovell Land Trust, Inc.

$74,036.00

Maine

Project Share

$50,000.00

New Jersey

North Jersey Resource Conservation and Development Council, Inc.

$84,715.00

Ohio

Morgan Soil and Water Conservation District

$56,241.00

Ohio, Indiana, Michigan

Ohio Department of Natural Resources-Division of Soil and Water Conservation

$197,000.00

Oklahoma, Kansas

The Nature Conservancy

$59,500.00

Pennsylvania

Southern Alleghenies Conservancy Charitable Trust

$98,000.00

South Dakota

South Dakota Department of Agriculture

$99,235.00

South Dakota and Wyoming

Belle Fourche River Watershed Partnership

$200,000.00

Tennessee

Cumberland Mountain Resource Conservation and Development Council

$50,000.00

Tennessee

Cumberland River Compact, Inc.

$50,000.00

Washington

Okanogan Conservation District

$85,000.00

Wyoming

Trout Unlimited

$110,000.00

.

.

.

TOTAL

.

$1,974,859.00

 

The Rapid Watershed Assessment (RWA) component, new for fiscal year 2006, funded locally-led resource assessment and planning on 8-digit hydrologic unit watersheds that average about 450,000 acres. RWAs assess current and desired resource conditions while identifying potential funding sources from stakeholders.

Below is a list of grant recipients for the RWA component:

State

Name of Entity

CCPI Award Amount

Alaska

Municipality of Anchorage

$50,000.00

Colorado

Mancos Soil Conservation District

$50,000.00

Colorado

Department of Agriculture

$73,000.00

Iowa

Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship

$42,500.00

Iowa

Prairie Rivers Resource Conservation and Development Council, Inc.

$150,000.00

Idaho

Idaho Soil Conservation Commission

$200,000.00

Kansas

Kansas State University

$150,000.00

Maine

Time and Tide Resource Conservation and Development Council, Inc.

$40,000.00

Michigan

Huron Pines Resource Conservation and Development Council, Inc.

$49,999.00

Michigan

Upper Peninsula Resource Conservation and Development Council, Inc.

$44,440.00

Mississippi

Northeast Resource Conservation and Development Council, Inc.

$100,000.00

Missouri

University of Missouri

$181,426.00

New Mexico

Sierra Soil and Water Conservation District

$50,000.00

New York

Seneca Trail Resource Conservation and Development, Inc.

$50,000.00

North Carolina

North Carolina Division of Soil and Water Conservation

$150,000.00

South Dakota

South Dakota Department of Agriculture

$51,175.00

South Dakota

Belle Fourche River Watershed Partnership

$150,000.00

Tennessee

Department of Environment and Conservation

$29,600.00

Virginia

Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation

$37,975.00

.

.

.

TOTAL

.

$1,650,115.00

Additional information about CCPI is available at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/ccpi.