The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA NRCS) in Texas has announced the first application funding deadline of July 22 for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) under current approved Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) projects.
The approved RCPP projects include: Hill Country Headwaters Conservation Initiative, Improving Working Lands for Monarch Butterflies, Lower Rio Grande Valley Water Improvement Initiative, Rice Stewardship Partnership, Texas Gulf Coast Stream and Wetland Initiative and the Gulf Coast Water and Wildlife Conservation.
This conservation funding is above and beyond regular county funding under the farm bill for specific conservation work in the listed counties. Applications are taken year around for NRCS programs, but deadlines are announced to rank and fund eligible conservation projects.
The Hill Country Headwaters Conservation Initiative is in the counties of Austin, Blanco, Comal, Edwards, Gillespie, Kimble, Llano, Mason, Menard and Sutton.
Improving Working Lands for Monarch Butterflies is statewide in all counties.
Lower Rio Grande Valley Water Improvement Initiative is in the counties of Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy.
Rice Stewardship Partnership is in the counties of Brazoria, Calhoun, Chambers, Colorado, Fort Bend, Jackson, Jefferson, Lavaca, Liberty, Matagorda, Waller and Wharton.
The Texas Gulf Coast Stream and Wetland Initiative is in the counties of Aransas, Atascosa, Austin, Bastrop, Bee, Bexar, Brazoria, Brazos, Burleson, Caldwell, Calhoun, Chambers, Colorado, Comal, De Witt, Fayette, Fort Bend, Frio, Galveston, Goliad, Gonzales, Grimes, Guadalupe, Harris, Hays, Jackson, Jim Wells, Karnes, Kleberg, La Salle, Lavaca, Lee, Liberty, Live Oak, Madison, Matagorda, McMullen, Medina, Milam, Montgomery, Nueces, Refugio, San Jacinto, San Patricio, Travis, Uvalde, Victoria, Walker, Waller, Washington, Wharton, Williamson, Wilson and Zavala.
The Gulf Coast Water and Wildlife Conservation is in the counties of Brazoria, Calhoun, Chambers, Colorado, De Witt, Fort Bend, Galveston, Jackson, Jefferson, Lavaca, Liberty, Matagorda, Refugio, Victoria, Waller, and Wharton.
EQIP is a voluntary program that provides financial and technical assistance to farmers and ranchers. Technical assistance is provided without a fee from NRCS specialists to help landowners and land managers plan and implement conservation practices to help them meet their land management goals, address natural resource concerns and improve soil, water, plant, animal, air and related resources on agricultural land and non-industrial private forestland.
Farmers and ranchers interested in applying for EQIP should submit applications to their local USDA service center or if already a USDA client, onliine via Conservation Client Gateway (CCG).
RCPP offers new opportunities for NRCS, conservation partners and agricultural producers to work together to harness innovation, expand the conservation mission and demonstrate the value and efficacy of voluntary, private lands conservation.
If you are interested in conservation technical and financial assistance to help you improve your land and natural resources, voluntary conservation planning without a fee or have natural resources questions or issues on your land, contact your local USDA service center or visit www.tx.nrcs.usda.gov.