USDA and the state of Wyoming are formalizing a partnership to support the voluntary conservation of private working lands and migratory big game populations.
“Conserving private working lands and tribal lands through voluntary, collaborative incentives not only empowers producers to address a range of natural resource concerns, but also helps them care for our nation’s most important wildlife habitats and corridors,” said USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack in a statement.
He continued that the partnership will keep working lands in production and give producers and landowners new opportunities to conserve wildlife and migration corridors.
“Private landowners have long provided key habitat for wildlife across Wyoming,” said Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon (R) in a statement. “Offering voluntary funding opportunities to landowners to maintain this valuable space for wildlife is a recognition of their role in conservation.”
The partnership will offer new investments in conservation programs for fiscal year 2023 and will also streamline application processes. Programs include the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) and Grassland Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).
USDA will invest an additional $6 million in EQIP assistance and $10 million in ACEP. EQIP focuses on integrating practices on working lands, such as prescribed grazing systems. ACEP helps producers keep land from being converted to other uses, such as residential subdivisions, by using conservation easements.
The programs will be used to complement a habitat lease offering under the Grassland CRP that allows producers to maintain and protect grasslands while still being allowed to hay and graze.
USDA has also developed special guidance for this pilot partnership that will allow producers to stack different farm bill program benefits in a way that fits their specific requirements.
Background
The pilot program was first announced this past May and goes hand in hand with USDA’s Working Lands for Wildlife’s “Framework for Conservation Action in the Great Plains Grasslands Biome.”
The pilot program commits to voluntary, incentive-based approaches to advance conservation and maintain grasslands through grazing, while also supporting plant and animal diversity. Working Lands for Wildlife helps producers conserve wildlife habitat. The program focuses on protecting working lands from exurban development, removing invasive weeds and trees, reducing wildfire risk and protecting wetlands.
USDA said these programs are helping landowners keep grasslands intact. “Grasslands are the backbone of the beef industry, and they support rural communities, wildlife habitat, and recreation,” the department said.
One out of every three acres qualifies as a grassland, with 90% of grasslands located in the West, USDA said. The grasslands also hold 12% of all terrestrial carbon on the planet. “Unfortunately, grassland ecosystems are the most imperiled on Earth,” the department said. “In the United States, a million acres per year are lost to make way for row-crops and subdivisions. Conserving working grasslands and shrublands is critical to USDA’s climate mitigation and adaptation strategies.”
Information on how Wyoming producers can apply to the pilot program will be coming soon. — Anna Miller, WLJ managing editor
