USDA-NRCS OFFERS FUNDS TO PROTECT ALASKA'S WORKING FARMS AND RANCHES

Project proposals will be accepted through April 27, 2007

Palmer, March 26, 2007— Today the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service announced it would offer $500,000 in federal funding through the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP) to protect Alaska agricultural land in fiscal year 2007, said State Conservationist Bob Jones.

Alaska’s vegetables, livestock, grains and hay are all produced on less than 1 million acres – a fraction of the state’s total land mass.  Many of Alaska’s farm and ranch lands are highly sought after for conversion to subdivisions, public infrastructure, or commercial development.  Market forces can exert such financial pressure on agricultural lands that farmers can’t afford to keep their land in farming, much less pass on their farms to others who desire to make a living by cultivating the land.

FRPP protects productive agricultural land by purchasing conservation easements to limit conversion of farm and ranch lands to non-agricultural uses. NRCS provides up to 50 percent of the appraised fair market value of the conservation easement. State, tribal and local entities can match that amount and can include landowner donations in their match.

“This program helps communities preserve open space, wildlife habitat and cultural resources,” said Jones. “This is an excellent way to keep prime farmland in agriculture and, at the same time, keep farming and ranching communities thriving by relieving development pressures.”

NRCS is seeking proposals from local, state and federally recognized tribal governments and non-governmental organizations interested in working together to acquire conservation easements on farms and ranches.  Proposals postmarked or received at the NRCS State Office in Palmer by the close of business Friday, April 27, 2007 will be ranked and considered for funding.  Final project selections are expected to be announced in June. Instructions for project proposals are available on the federal grants Web Site at http://www.grants.gov/search/search.do?oppId=13031&mode=VIEW and at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/frpp

The eligible farm or ranch must have the following components:     

• contain productive soils or historic or archaeological sites;
• be part of a pending offer from a non-governmental organization, state, tribe or local farmland protection program;
• be privately owned;
• covered by a conservation plan;
• large enough to sustain agricultural production;
• accessible to markets for what the land produces; and
• surrounded by parcels of land that can support long-term agricultural production.

Despite great public support expressed for farmland conservation at the 2005 Farm Bill Listening Session, no farm or ranch lands in Alaska are currently protected by an FRPP conservation easement.  Nationwide, NRCS has closed 1,682 conservation easements covering 331,557 acres since the program began in 1996.

For more information on FRPP, please visit http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/frpp. For more information about FRPP and other conservation programs in Alaska, please visit www.ak.nrcs.usda.gov.

NRCS has field offices in Anchorage, Bethel, Copper Center, Delta Junction, Dillingham, Fairbanks, Homer, Juneau, Kenai, Kodiak, Nome, Palmer and Wasilla. Contact information for the 13 field offices in Alaska is available at www.ak.nrcs.usda.gov/contact/fieldoffices.html, or by calling 907-761-7760.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service puts nearly 70 years of experience to work in assisting people to conserve, maintain, and improve our natural resources and environment. Participation in NRCS programs is voluntary.

Contact: Tom Hedt, Assistant State Conservationist for Programs (907)761-7757

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