New Conservation Partnership Opportunity Announced

Resources available from two Farm Bill programs to achieve targeted
conservation goals

DAVIS, Calif., March 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- USDA's Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS) is accepting proposals for a unique new
conservation partnership program, established in the 2008 Farm Bill. The
Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative (CCPI) allows interested
partners to propose projects that can draw from multiple conservation programs
to forward conservation goals.

"Each of the Farm Bill conservation programs holds opportunities and has
benefits such as fixing conservation problems or improving wildlife habitat,"
says Ed Burton, State Conservationist for NRCS in California. "The idea behind
CCPI is to allow partners to pull from different program funding to approach
conservation goals comprehensively."

Six percent of the funds made available through the Environmental Quality
Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP)
are set aside to be used in projects proposed by successful CCPI applicants.
(The Farm Bill allows for the Conservation Stewardship Program acreage to also
be used for CCPI projects but that component will not be part of CCPI in the
2009 fiscal year roll out.)

In California, this translates into $2,444,671 of EQIP money and $111,250 of
WHIP funding that can be used to support the goals of the CPPI proposals.

Applicants may propose projects in a defined project area to achieve
high-priority natural resource objectives. Projects may be proposed on the
state and/or national levels. Ninety percent of CCPI funds are available at
the state level and 10 percent are available nationally. Applicants should
apply for national funds if the proposed projects targets two or more states.

Interested agricultural producers covered by selected CCPI projects, will be
invited to apply for EQIP and/or WHIP to support the goals of the project.
NRCS will enter into cooperative agreements with the sponsors of the CCPI
projects. CCPI funding will be provided directly to participants through EQIP
and WHIP contracts.

Proposals must be postmarked by April 23rd, 2009, and submitted to Lincoln
"Ed" Burton, NRCS State Conservationist for California-specific proposals, or
Dave White, Chief of the NRCS, for multi-state or national proposals.

Detailed background information and instructions for submitting CCPI proposals
for state, multi-state, and national projects can be found in the federal
register at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/ccpi/FedRegis_CCPI_3-10-09.pdf

SOURCE USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service

Anita Brown, +1-530-792-5644, or Alan Forkey +1-530-792-5653, both of USDA -
Natural Resources Conservation Service