NRCS California Meets the Moment with Expanded Conservation Investments
DAVIS, Calif., Feb. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Beginning today, California's agricultural-land stewards are set to benefit this year from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed into law in August 2022, and the historic investments it will make towards expanding on-farm conservation. This year, more than $20 million will be invested towards climate-smart agriculture practices and forest resiliency in California – and hundreds of millions of dollars more will arrive over the next five years.
- The deadline to apply for this NRCS California IRA funding is March 17, 2023.
- IRA is not a new program for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) but instead authorizes focused funding of the USDA popular conservation programs to develop and implement conservation plans that improve carbon sequestration and/or reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- These additional investments will be made above NRCS California's annual $125 million investment through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), Wetland Reserve Easements (WRE) program, and other NRCS programs.
- Since its inception in 1935, NRCS has worked in partnership with private landowners and a variety of local, state, and federal conservation partners to deliver conservation based on specific, local needs.