California Receives $2.7 Million for Conservation Innovation Grants

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USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service

Aug 13, 2010, 12:00 ET

DAVIS, Calif., Aug. 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) California State Office received approximately $2.7 million to fund 11 projects through the National Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) program. CIG invests in innovative, on-the-ground conservation technologies and approaches, with the eventual goal of wide-scale adoption to address water quality and quantity, air quality, energy conservation, and environmental markets, among other natural resource issues.

"We are very pleased to have 11 CIG projects approved for funding in California and look forward to working with these partners to meet the goals they have established for their projects," said Ed Burton, NRCS State Conservationist for California. "These projects take a unique approach to putting conservation on the ground and support a diverse set of issues important to California's agricultural community."

NRCS administers CIG as part of the Agency's Environmental Quality Incentives Program. Grants are awarded to state and local governments, federally-recognized Indian tribes, non-governmental organizations and individuals.

California's approved CIG projects address natural resource issues such as water quality, food safety, and emerging conservation technologies. In addition, two projects take a unique approach to developing and protecting critical habitat for native pollinators - combating an ongoing decline in native pollinators.

Approved Fiscal Year 2010 National CIG projects benefiting California are:

Project Applicant	Project Name	2010 National NRCS Contribution
National Center for Appropriate Technology	Integrating Sustainable and Organic Agriculture into NRCS Programs	$502,659
Dairy Science Institute	Farm Energy Audit Data Collector Training Program	$225,000
Xerces Society, Inc.	Increasing the Seed Availability of Less Common Milkweed Species to Benefit Monarch Butterflies and Other Pollinators	$117,983
Environmental Defense Fund, Inc.	Development of Protocols and Accounting Methods for Carbon Sequestration on U.S. Rangelands	$638,793
Wild Farm Alliance	Co-managing for Food Safety and Conservation Objectives in Specialty Crops	$140,000
Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association	Advancing Conservation Innovation Among Beginning and Socially Disadvantaged Farmers	$120,000
California Land Stewardship Institute	Resolving the Water Crisis in the Russian River Watershed	$142,000
Community Alliance with Family Farmers	Transfer of Innovative Conservation Technology to Beginning, Limited Resource and Small-Scale Central Coast Growers in California	$50,000
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation	Restoration of Flow Benefits Salmonids and Other Aquatic Species Through Provision of Innovative Water Management Tools Through Ecosystem Markets for Agricultural Producers	$384,000
The Regents of the University of California, Davis	Development and Validation of Protocols for Assessing Functioning of Pollinator Habitat Plantings for Agricultural Settings	$343,884
Western United Dairymen	Water Balance Approach for Seepage Measurements From Liquid Dairy Manure Storage Ponds	$111,692

Nationwide, NRCS received 230 full proposals and awarded nearly $18 million for 61 projects representing 43 states and U.S. territories of the Pacific. Grant recipients provide matching funds to CIG, bringing the total value of the approved projects to more than $35 million. For a full list of approved projects nationwide, please visit http://www.nrcs.usda.gov.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service provides leadership in a partnership effort to help

people conserve, maintain and improve our natural resources and environment.

An Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer

SOURCE USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service