USDA PROVIDES MORE THAN $78 MILLION TO PROTECT FARM AND RANCH LAND
WASHINGTON, Nov. 22, 2004-Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman today announced that more than $78 million is available to protect farm and ranch land in all 50 states and Puerto Rico through the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP).
"This program helps ensure that valuable, productive land is protected," said Veneman. "The funds will be used to purchase conservation easements to limit conversion of farm and ranch lands to nonagricultural uses."
The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will accept FRPP proposals from interested state, tribal and local governments and nongovernmental organizations until mid-March 2005 to manage the program. A Request for Proposals will be published in the Federal Register soon.
For those proposals selected for funding, USDA enters into agreements with nongovernmental organizations, states, federally recognized tribes and local governments to support their efforts to protect soils and historical and archaeological sites. USDA provides up to 50 percent of the appraised fair market value of the conservation easement.
To participate in the program, landowners agree to limit the use of their land for nonagricultural purposes and to develop and implement a conservation plan. The farm or ranch land must contain productive soils or historic or archaeological sites and be:
part of a pending offer from a nongovernmental organization, state, tribe or local farmland protection program;
privately owned;
covered by a conservation plan;
large enough to sustain agricultural production;
accessible to markets for what the land produces; and
surrounded by parcels of land that can support long-term agricultural production.
Additional information on FRPP, including the Request for Proposals, is on the Web at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/frpp.
Below is a state list of funds available to purchase conservation easements.
