The USDA has formalized a major game conservation partnership with the state of Wyoming

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Release) – The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the state of Wyoming are formalizing a partnership to support the voluntary conservation of private working lands and large migratory game populations in Wyoming. As part of an agreement signed today by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Governor Mark Gordon, USDA is proposing a new investment package for key conservation programs for fiscal year 2023 that includes funding to support increased staffing and implementation of streamlined application processes. includes for agricultural producers and landowners. Producers in Wyoming’s pilot area can apply for conservation programs that address their unique needs beginning this fall.

Using the lessons learned from this pilot partnership, USDA is looking to expand this model across the Midwest as part of President Biden’s commitment to support voluntary efforts that are locally led and protected by producers.

“Conserving private working lands and tribal lands through voluntary and collaborative incentives not only allows producers to address a number of natural resource challenges, but also helps them maintain our nation’s most important wildlife habitats and corridors,” said Secretary Vilsack. . “We are pleased to announce today’s agreement, which is the product of consultation and partnership with the state of Wyoming and local stakeholders. This agreement will provide new and enhanced opportunities through conservation programs to preserve arable land and provide farmers, ranchers and forest landowners with new opportunities to protect wildlife and migration corridors.

“Wyoming leads the nation in our approaches to wildlife conservation, particularly the big game migration. We do this with strong landowner partnerships and a recognition that conservation can be done on many lands,” said Governor Gordon. have long provided prime habitat for wildlife throughout Wyoming. Offering voluntary funding opportunities to landowners to preserve this valuable space for wildlife is a recognition of their role in conservation.”

A set of possibilities for manufacturers

Based on extensive feedback received from listening sessions across Wyoming, USDA offers producers a package of options they can choose from to meet the unique needs of their operations. The programs are the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP), the Rural Conservation Incentive Program (ACEP), and the Conservation Area Resource Program (CRP) and will be available across a variety of lands, including tribal and privately owned grasslands, shrublands, and woodlands. they have working lands.

In 2023, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) plans to invest $6 million in additional EQIP assistance and $10 million through ACEP.

EQIP focuses on the integration of practices on working land, such as established grazing systems. ACEP helps producers who want to protect sensitive landscapes and agricultural land from conversion to unsuitable land uses, such as residential subdivisions, by establishing long-term easements.

These programs complement Habitat’s lease offerings through the CRP Grassland program, which helps producers and landowners maintain and protect grasslands while allowing mowing and grazing activities to continue.

As part of this pilot, USDA has also developed a special guide that provides compatibility between programs, allowing producers to bundle the various benefits of the farm bill program in ways that suit their specific needs. Producers registered through EQIP also receive additional rating points in their Grassland CRP programs.

NRCS and the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) will soon announce details on how to participate.

More extensive efforts

This pilot first announced in May 2022Leverage other ongoing conservation efforts in working lands, such as those within Farmland for wildlife (WLFW) Conservation Action Framework for the Great Grasslands and Sagebrush Biome, introduced last year by the USDA. Both efforts emphasize a commitment to voluntary and incentive-based approaches; determines and enhances the important role of private lands, enterprises; and emphasizes the importance of state, tribal, and landowner support to advance conservation priorities. The pilot will also further focus on the FSA’s commitment to helping producers protect and maintain grassland through grazing and supporting plant and animal biodiversity in national priority areas.

Farmland for wildlife NRCS’ approach is one that has enabled more than 8,400 producers across the United States to protect 12 million acres of prime wildlife habitat since 2010. This approach has had much success in the West, where it has focused on protecting arable land from urban development, eliminating wasteland. invasive weeds and conifers, reducing fire risk and protecting wetlands. The resulting conservation actions played a key role in the delisting decisions for gopher tortoises, greater browns, Bi-State sage-grouse, and New England cottontails, as well as the delisting of the Louisiana black bear.

The importance of grasslands to climate, biodiversity and communities

Importantly, these efforts help landowners maintain healthy grasslands. One out of every three acres in the continental United States is grassland, with 90% in the West. These are places like the Great Plains and the Sagebrush Sea, where domesticated and wild animals roam among grasses and shrubs. Grasslands are the backbone of the beef industry and they support rural communities, wildlife habitat and recreation.

These open grasslands also store 12% of all surface carbon on our planet, most of which is stored underground. Unfortunately, grassland ecosystems are among the most endangered on Earth. In the United States, a million acres a year are lost to clearing land for rows and subdivisions. Maintaining working grasslands and shrubs is critical to USDA’s climate mitigation and adaptation strategies.

More information

Under the Biden-Harris administration, USDA is leading a whole-of-government effort to address climate change and conserve and protect our lands, biodiversity, and natural resources, including our soil, air, and water. Through voluntary conservation practices and partnerships, USDA aims to increase economic development and create new income streams for private farmers, ranchers, producers and foresters. Successfully addressing these challenges requires USDA and our agencies to pursue a coordinated approach with USDA’s stakeholders, including state, local, and tribal governments.

For more information, landowners can contact their local USDA USDA Service Center. In farmers.govLandlords can Create a secure accountapply for NRCS programs, sign documents electronically and manage their protection contracts.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans in many ways every day. Under the Biden-Harris administration, USDA will transform the American food system with a greater focus on sustainable local and regional food production, fair markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, and building new markets and flows. income for farmers and producers using climate-smart food and forestry practices, a historic investment in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and a commitment to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and creating a more representative American workforce. To learn more, visit usda.gov.

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In a separate release, Governor Mark Gordon released a statement about the MOU:

Governor Mark Gordon’s leadership in protecting private farmland and migratory big game populations was recognized by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) today (Oct. 17) with the signing of the Wyoming Wildlife Habitat Memorandum of Understanding.

According to the MEU, Wyoming and USDA agree to invest “technical capacity and resources to protect, restore, manage, and manage long-term public and private multiple-use lands that support migratory big game.” This means funding for private landowners who volunteer to help protect wildlife habitat, especially for wildlife movement.

“Wyoming leads the nation in our approaches to wildlife conservation, particularly the big game migration. We do this with strong landowner partnerships and a recognition that conservation can be done on many lands,” said Governor Gordon. have long provided prime habitat for wildlife throughout Wyoming. Offering voluntary funding opportunities to landowners to preserve this valuable space for wildlife is a recognition of their role in conservation.”

Wyoming has long worked to preserve the big game. In 2020, Governor Gordon signed the Protecting Migratory and Antelope Corridor Executive Order, the culmination of an approach that supports conservation, protects landowner rights, and creates multiple-use opportunities.

USDA, as part of an agreement signed today by Governor and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, will provide a new package of investments in key conservation programs for fiscal year 2023. The agreement includes funding to support increased staffing and expansion of the streamlined program. application processes for agricultural producers and landowners. Producers in Wyoming’s pilot area can apply for conservation programs that address their unique needs beginning this fall. The program provides benefits to those landowners for land management.

“Conserving private working lands and tribal lands through voluntary and collaborative incentives not only allows producers to address a number of natural resource challenges, but also helps them maintain our nation’s most important wildlife habitats and corridors,” said Secretary Vilsack. . “We are pleased to announce today’s agreement, which is the product of consultation and partnership with the state of Wyoming and local stakeholders. This agreement will provide new and enhanced opportunities through conservation programs to preserve arable land and provide farmers, ranchers and forest landowners with new opportunities to protect wildlife and migration corridors.

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