Contacts:
Anita Brown (530) 792-5644
Alan Forkey (530) 792-5653

DAVIS, Calif., July 7, 2009—Ten California projects, sponsored by eight partnering organizations, have been selected for funding through the Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative (CCPI), a new program established in the 2008 Farm Bill and administered by the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

The projects will receive a targeted portion of the funds available to the Agency through conservation programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). "The conservation model in CCPI allows us to use a more concerted approach to achieve success on projects that are of mutual interest to NRCS and to partnering organizations in California," says Alan Forkey, Assistant State Conservationist for Programs.

Agricultural producers interested in participating in a CCPI project will need to be within the specified geographical boundaries of the project and otherwise eligible for NRCS conservation programs.

The 2009 CCPI projects in California are as follows:

• Alameda County Resource Conservation District: $132,000 for protecting water quality and habitat on ranchland in Southern Alameda Creek Watershed: Alameda County.
• East Stanislaus Resource Conservation District: $250,000 for reducing off-farm movement of agricultural pesticides: Merced, San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties.
• Pit Resource Conservation District: $200,000 to improve habitat and restore range and forest health: Lassen County.
• San Mateo County Farm Bureau: $145,000 for increasing irrigation efficiency on specialty crops: San Mateo County.
• Western United Dairymen: $60,000 for improving the efficient use of manure as a plant nutrient: Marin, Sonoma Counties.
• Western United Dairymen: $300,000 for development of nutrient management plans on dairies: Del Norte and Humboldt Counties.
• Western United Dairymen: $1,200,000 for protecting water quality by helping dairy operators improve their manure utilization systems: Tehama, Butte, Fresno, Glenn, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Solano, Tulare, Yuba, and Yolo Counties.
• Yager/Van Duzen Environmental Stewards: $300,000 for controlling sediment and improving water quality in prioritized parts of the watershed: Humboldt County.
• Lodi Winegrape Commission: $353,405 for sustaining water quality and habitat on private agricultural lands in northern San Joaquin Valley: San Joaquin County.
• Mattole Restoration Council: $39,179 for to improve ecological sustainability of ranch and non-industrial private forest operations: Humboldt and Mendocino Counties.

For more information on the project goals and boundaries, contact your local NRCS field office. For a listing of offices statewide see http://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app?state=CA.

-NRCS-

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

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