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
