Ducks Unlimited

Des Moines, Iowa --(Ammoland.com)- The Natural Resources Conservation Service and Ducks Unlimited signed a $1.5 million cooperative agreement recently to coordinate and deliver the Wetlands Reserve Program in Iowa.

WRP is a voluntary incentive-based program that provides financial and technical assistance to landowners to restore wetlands and associated uplands on their property.

This agreement extends through 2013 and includes planned restoration activities on more than 6,500 acres of private lands throughout the Prairie Pothole and Missouri River Valley Regions of Iowa.

“Ducks Unlimited’s staff and expertise will help us complete WRP restorations in these areas of the state,” Richard Sims, NRCS state conservationist said. “They’re a natural partner since we’re both firmly committed to working closely with private landowners and agency partners to restore high-quality wetlands.”

Wetlands protected and restored under WRP provide significant benefits not only to wildlife, but also the citizens of Iowa. Major flooding has plagued many Iowa communities for several years. Wetlands help reduce downstream flooding by acting like a sponge that absorbs water and slows runoff. Wetlands also improve water quality by recharging ground water and drinking water supplies.

“We’re very excited about this new conservation partnership with NRCS and private landowners in Iowa,” Eric Lindstrom, DU regional biologist, said. “WRP provides tremendous ecological, environmental and societal benefits for Iowans, while bolstering local economic growth and creating private sector jobs through construction activities.”

There is currently a waiting list of Iowa landowners interested in enrolling in WRP. Current funding levels limit the number of competitive applications that can be accepted each year. The agreement between DU and NRCS will help address this backlog and accelerate wetland conservation efforts across the state.

Visit www.ia.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/WRP.html for information about WRP in Iowa.

About:
Ducks Unlimited is the world’s largest non-profit organization dedicated to conserving North America’s continually disappearing waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 12 million acres thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the continent. Guided by science and dedicated to program efficiency, DU works toward the vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever. Visit www.ducks.org

Lands in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas are being flooded carefully with varying water levels.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Washington, DC --(Ammoland.com)- Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar today announced that a coordinated effort with landowners across eight states to protect and feed birds migrating toward the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill zone in the Gulf of Mexico had more than tripled expectations, enrolling more than 470,000 acres.

Wildlife experts estimate more than 50 million birds migrate through the Mississippi, Central, and Eastern Flyways each fall and spring.

“Private landowners play a critically important role in protecting wildlife every single day, and I am proud that so many landowners in these eight states stepped up to be a part of this unprecedented effort to increase migratory bird habitat and protect wildlife from any lingering effects from the oil spill,” Vilsack said. “The outpouring of support for this effort far exceeded our expectations, and it will have an impact on countless migratory bird populations for years to come.”

The Migratory Bird Habitat Initiative is an unprecedented effort created by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service that began on June 28, 2010, when oil was still spilling from the Deepwater Horizon well. The initiative mobilized private landowners to help create alternative and additional habitats to provide healthy food and resting areas for shorebirds, waterfowl and other birds headed for the Gulf. The initial goal was to enroll 150,000 acres. After landowners expressed extremely strong interest in the program, funding was doubled to $40 million enabling enrollment to reach a total over three times the initial goal.

The Interior Department’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has been conducting similar work primarily on Federal lands adjacent to the spill impact zone in order to minimize potential bird contact with contaminated areas and help address long term objectives for habitat conservation along the entire Gulf Coast. Much of the work has been funded through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Recovered Oil Fund, as well as other privately donated funds.

“Providing additional food and nesting opportunities for migrating waterfowl and songbirds heading south during the fall migration is an important part of our collective effort to minimize injury to migrating birds by creating alternative habitats north of the impacted wintering and stopover habitats along the coast,” said Salazar. “Indeed, the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s work is an important complement to the work the Fish and Wildlife Service is doing to provide alternative habitats for food and nesting on national wildlife refuges in the middle and lower Mississippi Valley.”

The 470,000 acres under contract with this initiative are within the three flyways that pass through the Gulf of Mexico. These lands in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas are being flooded carefully with varying water levels and planted with a variety of vegetation to provide food and habitat for the wide range of bird species that might stop to refuel. Early feedback from participants indicates that a variety of birds are using the enhanced habitat, including sandpipers, blue-winged teal, mottled ducks and many others.

Although the MBHI initiative was initially created in response to the oil spill, landowners are providing food at a critical time. Current drought conditions in the Gulf region combined with decades of wetland losses are resulting in fewer food resources and habitat compared with previous years. In Louisiana, where the bulk of oil landfall occurred, water levels in marshes are significantly below average.

Currently, the FWS is calculating the number of oiled acres impacting available food and habitat for migratory birds as part of the Natural Resources Damage Assessment process. This is an action taken after every spill to quantify the environmental damages and the cost to restore natural resources to pre-spill conditions.

NRCS has started working on a three-year effort with other entities, including Mississippi State University, to determine the initiative’s effectiveness through monitoring the number and species of birds which utilize the habitat created. The first progress report will be available in spring 2011.

The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. Both a leader and trusted partner in fish and wildlife conservation, the Fish and Wildlife Service is known for its scientific excellence, stewardship of lands and natural resources, dedicated professionals and commitment to public service. For more information on our work and the people who make it happen, visit www.fws.gov.

This year represents the 75th year of NRCS helping people help the land. Since its inception in 1935, the NRCS conservation delivery system has advanced a unique partnership with state and local governments and private landowners delivering conservation based on specific, local conservation needs, while accommodating state and national interests.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice), or (202) 720-6382

About:
The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. We are both a leader and trusted partner in fish and wildlife conservation, known for our scientific excellence, stewardship of lands and natural resources, dedicated professionals and commitment to public service. For more information on our work and the people who make it happen, visit www.fws.gov.

Ducks Unlimited

BROOKINGS, S.D. --(Ammoland.com)- Landowners can benefit their operations, improve water quality and control flooding all while conserving wetlands for waterfowl and other wildlife through the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP).

Ducks Unlimited (DU) Conservation Biologist, Dan Limmer is working in partnership with the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (SDGFP) to find these win-win opportunities and address the tremendous demand for WRP in eastern South Dakota.

Limmer’s position was created through a partnership with SDGFP, NRCS and DU. Through the NRCS’s Red River Basin Initiative, Limmer is working in NRCS field offices helping interested landowners address flood control and water quality issues. On board since April, Limmer has already helped secure 54 WRP contracts conserving just under 5,000 acres.

Duck Fever: Catch it Today!

“My position was created because there is tremendous interest in WRP from landowners in eastern South Dakota,” Limmer said. “The NRCS needed help with the significant workload that goes along with administering this program, and the workload keeps growing.”

Currently in South Dakota there are over 1,000 WRP easements in place conserving nearly 80,000 acres. With Limmer’s help, DU, SDGFP and NRCS hope to expand that number and work with the landowners who have been waiting for WRP contracts.

“This partnership has worked out exceptionally well,” said Curtis Elke, assistant state conservationist with the NRCS. “The demand for WRP has grown exponentially in the last few years, and we are hoping to add another person like Dan to help us serve our customers’ requests.”

WRP is a voluntary program that helps landowners protect, restore and enhance wetlands on their property.

The NRCS administers the program and provides incentives and technical assistance for landowners with the goal of restoring wetland functions to the landscape and providing quality wildlife habitat.

In the end, landowners benefit by being compensated for retiring marginal land from agriculture and the landscape benefits by the conservation of soil, water and wetland resources.

“WRP is an exceptional program for many, and with the amount of rainfall we have received in recent years, it is helping landowners continue to receive income from land that has less production value,” Elke said.

“I am a producer and I grew up on a farm so I bring that perspective to this job, I know the problems landowners face with management and conservation and have a good idea what they are looking for in a conservation program,” Limmer said.

Limmer has a strong background in natural resources. He has worked for South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks as a habitat biologist and watershed project coordinator as well a conservation officer.

Limmer also has experience in natural resources policy, working for several non-government conservation organizations as a private consultant.

If you are interested in sighing up for WRP you can contact Dan Limmer through the NRCS Brookings Field Support Office, 523rd Ave., Brookings, S.D., 605-692-2344.

Ducks Unlimited is the world’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving North America’s continually disappearing waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 12 million acres thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the continent. Guided by science and dedicated to program efficiency, DU works toward the vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Washington, DC --(Ammoland.com)- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is coordinating efforts along the Gulf Coast to safeguard wildlife such as shorebirds, waterfowl, marsh birds, sea birds and sea turtles from the effects of oil.

Working closely with state, federal and non-government partners, the Service is identifying the most pressing habitat needs of these at-risk species, recommending strategic habitat conservation activities to address those needs, and helping to implement projects along the coast from Florida to Texas.

Based on the current distribution and impacts of oil along the Gulf’s marshes and coastline and the millions of waterfowl and shorebirds that will soon migrate through or will spend the winter in this area, Service biologists are working to restore and bolster wetland habitats and food sources in nearby, uncontaminated areas in Louisiana, the Chenier Plain of east Texas, and the lower portion of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley.

These efforts are designed to restore and protect habitat for resident species along the Gulf Coast, as well as to address concerns about the coming fall migration of some 5 million waterfowl and other migratory birds that will arrive in or pass through the Gulf Coast region throughout the fall and winter months.  By quickly initiating these habitat conservation projects, the Service and its partners hope to minimize the chance that migrating or wintering birds will come into contact with contaminated coastal habitats.  Also, because food resources for migrating birds have been reduced, degraded or lost due to the oil spill, the Service and its partners’ efforts will help ensure the availability of adequate food to compensate for these losses.

Leading the development and implementation of migratory bird habitat restoration projects along the Gulf Coast are the Service’s Joint Ventures — collaborative, regionally based, public-private partnerships that work to conserve bird habitat within specific geographic regions.  Joint Venture scientists are providing the strategic and scientific underpinnings for habitat restoration efforts, bringing together conservation partners and marshalling resources to address spill impacts to wildlife in the short and long term.

“We know that clean-up and recovery from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill will be a long-term process, but we cannot wait to begin assessing and dealing with the impacts to our natural resources,” said Dan Ashe, Acting Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service.

“For migratory bird conservation, the Joint Ventures are the forum of multiple partners, including scientists and wildlife managers, leading our inclusive, strategic, and adaptive response to the ever-changing situation in the Gulf.”

Migratory bird habitat restoration will help support many other species, including mammals, fish, and reptiles.  The Service is working with a wide network of partners to specifically address the needs of these other species.  The agency is working with partners to establish Landscape Conservation Cooperatives that will eventually provide this same level of science and planning for all wildlife species.

The Service’s habitat restoration efforts will also support the Migratory Bird Habitat Initiative, an effort launched by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to work with farmers, ranchers and other landowners to manage portions of their land to enhance habitat for migrating birds in portions of eight states.

Through two components – one available on private agricultural lands and the second on Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) easement lands — NRCS will work in cooperation with private landowners and other partners to establish habitat and food sources as well as improve the overall habitat management on participating lands.

More information about the NRCS Migratory Bird Habitat Initiative is at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/news/nrcs_migratory_birds.html.

Pheasants Forever's Farm Bill Biologist Program

Pheasants Forever

Aurora, Colo. --(Ammoland.com)- Pheasants Forever has added three new Farm Bill biologists in Colorado through a partnership with the Colorado Division of Wildlife and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

The partnering groups are focused on protecting environmentally sensitive agricultural lands through conservation programs and improving public hunting lands for wildlife.

“Partnerships are critical to accomplishing our habitat mission in this day and age,” explained Bob Hix, Pheasants Forever’s regional field representative for Colorado.

“All 17 Pheasants Forever chapters in the state, the Division of Wildlife, and the NRCS have joined together in partnership to fund these three new positions. These new employees will translate into thousands of acres of improved habitat and hunting access.”

Pheasants Forever’s Farm Bill Biologist program is designed to educate farmers and landowners – through one-on-one consulting - about the benefits of conservation programs (such as the Conservation Reserve Program and Environmental Quality Incentives Program), as well as assisting farmers and landowners through program implementation. Pheasants Forever first began employing Farm Bill Biologists in 2003 and now has more than 50 biologists working in ten states – Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Farm Bill Biologists have contacted and consulted with over 30,000 landowners, resulting in the improvement of more than 1.3 million acres of land for wildlife.

“The establishment of three new Farm Bill biologists in eastern Colorado really builds on each partners’ ability to deliver conservation to the landscape. Wildlife, private landowners, and wildlife enthusiasts will benefit greatly from the fruits of this partnership,” added Ed Gorman, Colorado Division of Wildlife’s small game coordinator.

The new Colorado Farm Bill Biologists include:

• Holyoke: Jerry Miller is a native of Northeastern Colorado, having grown up on a farm near the North Sterling Reservoir. He graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in forest management and most recently was employed as a conservation technician for the Haxtun and Sedgwick County Conservation Districts. He’s also been an active volunteer in PF’s Leopold Education Project and a member of the Phillips County PF Chapter. Jerry can be emailed at jmiller@pheasantsforever.org.
• Burlington:Kraig Paulson is moving to Colorado this week. Paulson holds a biology degree from the University of Wyoming and has been employed by Pheasants Forever since 2006. He started out as a PF habitat specialist in Montana and has spent the last couple years working as Pheasants Forever’s regional biologist for Washington and Oregon. Kraig can be contacted at kpaulson@pheasantsforever.org.
• Lamar:An Iowa native, Nathan Schmitz graduated from Iowa State University. Prior to joining Pheasants Forever, Schmitz worked for the Colorado Division of Wildlife and the University of Wyoming studying sage grouse. Nathan can be reached at nschmitz@pheasantsforever.org.

Arkansas Game & Fish Commission

WASHINGTON, DC –-(Ammoland.com)- Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced funding for the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Wetlands Reserve Program that will add an expected 75,000 additional acres to the approximately 2.2 million acres currently enrolled in the program. The funding will go to wetland conservation projects in Arkansas, 21 other states and Puerto Rico.

The funding availability announced today totals nearly $175 million. Arkansas is receiving $10,177,680 for the program.

“Healthy wetlands play several critical roles in protecting our environment, including improving water quality, preventing flooding and soil erosion, and creating and maintaining the best possible wildlife habitat,” said Vilsack. “Farmers, ranchers and other private landowners play a critical role in protecting our wetlands, and the funding announced today will provide even more opportunities to maximize wetland values and ensure that these important natural resources survive for generations to come.”

“Arkansas is second in the nation in WRP wetland restoration with more than 200,000 acres restored,” said Mike Sullivan, state conservationist. “We are particularly interested in restoring bottomland hardwoods and hydrology in the Lower Mississippi River Valley, the majority of which lies in our state, and in the Red River and Arkansas River valleys.”

Wetlands are areas saturated by water all or most of a year. Often called “nature’s kidneys,” wetlands naturally filter contaminants out of water. Wetlands also recharge groundwater, prevent flooding and soil erosion, and slow the flow of water that runs across the surface of the land.

Funded through the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Farm Bill) WRP is a voluntary program that helps landowners address wetland and wildlife natural resource concerns on private lands. WRP participants limit their future use of the land, but retain private ownership.

WRP offers permanent easements that pay 100 percent of the value of an easement and up to 100 percent of easement restoration costs, and 30-year easements that pay up to 75 percent of the value of an easement and up to 75 percent of easement restoration costs. WRP also offers restoration cost-share agreements to restore wetland functions and values without placing an easement on enrolled acres; NRCS pays up to 75 percent of restoration costs.

According to David Long, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s private lands coordinator, the assistance is very good news for farmers, landowners, society and our wildlife resources in The Natural State.

“This $10 million can translate into over 9,200 acres of wetland restoration and protection in Arkansas,” Long said.

For a permanent easement under WRP, landowners receive $1,100 per acre with NRCS paying 100 percent of the restoration cost, leaving the landowner with a wetland design that will provide premium wildlife habitat and protection of water resources from now on, Long explained.

“NRCS also offers a 30-year easement which pays $825 per acre and 75 percent of the restoration cost,” he said. “However, the majority of landowners enrolling have opted for the permanent easement for the higher payment and to have all of the restoration cost paid,” Long noted.

Long said that this easement payment has been very attractive, especially to row-crop farmers with marginally productive cropland acres that frequently flood, are hard to irrigate or in most years have low crop yields.

“There are more than 200,000 acres of these marginally productive croplands out across the Delta of Arkansas that are eligible for enrollment in WRP. Retiring these marginal croplands saves the farmer from crop losses and yearly input cost on these unproductive cropland acres in fuel, seed, fertilizer, labor and chemicals while at the same time, provides huge wildlife benefits for future generations to enjoy,” Long explained. “With the increase in flooding problems in cropland areas in the state over the last several years, more and more farmers are looking at ways to improve and stabilize their financial bottom line by taking these higher risk croplands out of production through WRP payments,” Long added.

Once wetland restoration is complete, within a few years WRP acres become magnets for waterfowl, which can provide additional recreational opportunities for the landowner through hunting, Long says.

“Usually within a few more years these wetlands designed with a mix of hardwood trees and shallow water habitat, provide all of the habitat components to attract deer, turkey, rabbits and a host of wading and song birds,” he said.

Basically, these WRP acres harbor a huge mix of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, creating awesome recreational and wildlife viewing opportunities, Long said.

“Many WRP landowners find this premium wildlife habitat can be leased out for additional farm income to hunters and others looking for a quality outdoor experience,” Long concluded.

For additional information about WRP, please visit http://www.ar.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/wrp.html. To sign up for the program visit the local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service field service center.

For information about other NRCS conservation programs, visit: www.nrcs.usda.gov, or visit the nearest USDA Service Center in your area. 2010 represents the 75th year of NRCS “helping people help the land.” Since its inception in 1935, the NRCS conservation delivery system has advanced a unique partnership with state and local governments and private landowners delivering conservation based on specific, local conservation needs, while accommodating state and national interests.

Sage Grouse

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

WASHINGTON, DC --(AmmoLand.com)- Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar today announced a far-reaching agreement to support the conservation of greater sage-grouse and sagebrush ecosystems in parts of 11 Western states.

“Today’s agreement enables us to help this rare species in a comprehensive, integrated way,” said Vilsack.

“By working cooperatively toward the same goal, we can build on the progress states have made protecting the sage-grouse and the sagebrush ecosystem it depends on.”

“The greater sage-grouse has historically inhabited millions of acres in the West, and if we are going to conserve the species we must work across political and administrative boundaries at a landscape scale to protect and restore its sagebrush habitat,” Salazar said. “This agreement gives us a framework to prevent further habitat fragmentation and undertake other conservation efforts in partnership with states, tribes, private landowners and other stakeholders.”

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service Chief Dave White and Rowan Gould, acting director of Interior’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, signed the partnership agreement to promote and preserve greater sage-grouse habitat and sagebrush ecosystems.

The agreement ensures beneficial and consistent actions for conservation of greater sage-grouse habitat and provides a collaborative framework for states and private landowners. For its part, the Fish and Wildlife Service is committing to work with NRCS to use the authorities of the Endangered Species Act to provide participating landowners with reasonable assurances that their activities will be consistent with the act should the sage-grouse later be listed as a threatened or endangered species.

In March Vilsack announced a new initiative to protect sage-grouse population and habitat using two popular USDA conservation programs—Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP). USDA will provide up to $16 million this fiscal year to provide financial assistance for producers to reduce threats to the birds such as disease and invasive species and improve sage-grouse habitat. Producers can sign up through April 23 to participate in the first round of rankings for this initiative.

In recent years the greater sage-grouse has lost 44 percent of its habitat due to agriculture; urban development; energy extraction, generation and transmission; invasive weeds, pinion-juniper tree encroachment, and wildfire. The human footprint across the area where greater sage-grouse live is large and becoming larger as the country strives for energy independence, agriculture, development and other, often competing uses.

Also in March, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that, based on accumulated scientific data and new peer-reviewed information and analysis, the greater sage-grouse warrants the protection of the Endangered Species Act. However, the service determined that adding the species to the federal list of threatened and endangered species at this time is precluded by the need to address higher priority species first. As a result, the greater sage-grouse will be placed on the list of candidate species and will be proposed for protection under the Act as funding and priorities dictate.

Greater sage-grouse currently occupy 258,000 square miles of the sagebrush ecosystem, and are found in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, eastern California, Nevada, Utah, western Colorado, South Dakota and Wyoming and the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. For more information on the NRCS and US Fish and Wildlife Service greater sage-grouse agreement or other conservation issues please visit: www.nrcs.usda.gov or www.fws.gov.

The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. Both a leader and trusted partner in fish and wildlife conservation, the Fish and Wildlife Service is known for its scientific excellence, stewardship of lands and natural resources, dedicated professionals and commitment to public service.

This year represents the 75th year of NRCS helping people help the land. Since its inception in 1935, the NRCS conservation delivery system has advanced a unique partnership with state and local governments and private landowners delivering conservation based on specific, local conservation needs, while accommodating state and national interests

Pheasants Forever

Saint Paul, Minn. – -(AmmoLand.com)- Pheasants Forever is expanding its Farm Bill Biologist program in North Dakota with the addition of two new positions created in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and local Soil Conservation Districts. Matthew Olson of Fort Ransom, North Dakota, is the new Farm Bill Biologist based out of Forman and Jeff Potts of Watertown, South Dakota, is the new Farm Bill Biologist based out of Dickinson.

Pheasants Forever’s Farm Bill Biologist program is designed to educate farmers and landowners – through one-on-one consulting – about the benefits of conservation programs (such as the federal Conservation Reserve Program, or CRP), as well as assist those farmers and landowners after programs have been implemented. Pheasants Forever first began employing Farm Bill Biologists in 2003 and now has over 45 Farm Bill Biologists working in seven states – Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Farm Bill Biologists have contacted and consulted over 28,000 landowners, resulting in the improvement of over 1.3 million acres of land for wildlife.

“These positions come at an especially critical juncture for North Dakota, where nearly 775,000 acres have expired from the wildlife-friendly CRP in the past five years and another 1.8 million acres are slated to expire in the next five years,” said Jim Inglis, Pheasants Forever’s Farm Bill Biologist Coordinator, “With continuous CRP practices and other conservation programs, landowners have numerous conservation options. The challenge has always been informing them, and these Farm Bill Biologists meet that challenge head on.”

Matthew Olson
A native of Fort Ransom, North Dakota, Olson joins Pheasants Forever after four years with the North Dakota Game and Fish Department. An avid outdoorsman, Olson has an excellent knowledge of the Forman and surrounding area. Olson earned his B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Management from North Dakota State University. He is based out of the Wild Rice Soil Conservation District Office in Forman and can be contacted at (701) 724-3247 or via email at molson@pheasantsforever.org.

Jeff Potts
Potts joins Pheasants Forever after earning his B.S. in Wildlife Fisheries and Science from South Dakota State University. He already has extensive experience in the natural resource field, having worked previously with the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks as a wildlife technician and a land/habitat intern. Potts is based out of the NRCS office in Dickinson and can be contacted at (701) 225-3811 x118 or via email at jpotts@pheasantsforever.org.

Pheasants Forever also has a Farm Bill Biologist position in Jamestown, North Dakota. Steve Stensgard can be contacted at the Jamestown NRCS office (701)252-2521 ext. 129 or via email at SStensgard@pheasantsforever.org. For more information on Pheasants Forever’s Farm Bill Biologist program, contact Jim Inglis, Pheasants Forever’s Farm Bill Biologist Coordinator, at (419) 569-1096 or via email at jinglis@pheasantsforever.org.

About:
Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever are non-profit conservation organizations dedicated to the protection and enhancement of pheasant, quail, and other wildlife populations in North America through habitat improvement, land management, public awareness, and education. Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever has 125,000 members in 700 local chapters across the continent.

For additional information please visit www.PheasantsForever.org and www.QuailForever.org

Natural Resources Conservation Service

SALEM, Oregon --(AmmoLand.com)- Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that Bruce Taylor, the Oregon Biodiversity Program Director of Defenders of Wildlife and the Director of the Oregon Habitat Joint Venture, is this year’s winner of the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s (NRCS) Excellence in Conservation Award.

“Excellence in natural resources conservation is achieved when people put their commitment to conservation into action,” Vilsack said. “Bruce’s outstanding leadership in bringing together private landowners, conservation organizations and state and federal agencies proudly displays that commitment.”

Vilsack’s announcement was read at an award ceremony held at the Oregon State Capital. A tireless advocate for biodiversity, Taylor is known nationwide for partnership efforts that have protected and restored thousands of acres of wetlands and other native habitats in Oregon.

NRCS Oregon State Conservationist Ron Alvarado and leaders of state agriculture and natural resource agencies joined Secretary Vilsack in recognizing Taylor’s leadership and accomplishments.

“Bruce has an amazing gift for bring people together,” Alvarado said. “The benefits that have come from the partnerships that he has put together are absolutely invaluable.”

“USDA, NRCS and the entire state of Oregon owe Bruce Taylor their gratitude,” said NRCS Chief Dave White. “Because of his efforts, conservation in Oregon and the entire region is thriving.”

The NRCS Excellence in Conservation Award honors those outside the Federal government for their work in conservation.

For information on NRCS programs and projects, and its nationwide conservation partnership, stop by your local USDA service center or visit NRCS online at www.nrcs.usda.gov.

Ducks Unlimited

RICHMOND, Tx –-(AmmoLand.com)- Limited water resources in the Highland Lakes are driving the Lower Colorado River Authority to propose reductions in “interruptible” water, the lifeblood of rice farmers and other producers that rely on LCRA’s irrigation districts in Matagorda, Colorado and Wharton counties. Ducks Unlimited (DU) representatives expressed their concern over the proposed restrictions at a public meeting on October 20 in Matagorda.pintails depend on rice fields for winter foraging

“Ducks Unlimited is sensitive to the issue of water availability within the Colorado River watershed and realizes that there are many competing interests for water, but we urge the LCRA to recognize the importance of this water to agriculture and waterfowl conservation efforts on the Texas Coast,” Todd Merendino, manager of conservation programs, said.

Rice growers and other producers depending on that water for irrigation and waterfowl conservationists depending on it to provide crucial wintering habitat await the LCRA decision and the impacts it will have on families, economies, communities, and the wildlife that depend on LCRA’s irrigation system.

The Texas Gulf Coast provides critically important wetland habitat for millions of migrating and wintering waterfowl, waterbirds, and shorebirds, including resident species like the mottled duck, which is in a long-term decline due to loss of wetland habitat.

In 1991, with the assistance of private landowners, USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, DU launched the Texas Prairie Wetlands Project. TPWP is a cost-share program for private landowners to restore and enhance wetlands on their properties along the Texas Gulf Coast.

Collectively, TPWP has restored and enhanced over 43,000 acres of wetland habitat with over 14,000 acres in Colorado, Wharton and Matagorda counties. Approximately one third of these acres rely on canal water from the LCRA irrigation system.

“Without the availability of canal water, our conservation programs are severely hamstrung, and rice production, the breadbasket of food and habitat for waterfowl, is also lost,” Merendino said. “This loss of rice production will wipe out 20 years of conservation efforts by DU, private landowners, TPWD, USFWS, NRCS, and our many other partners.”

To date in the three counties, private landowners have invested $1.1 million in conservation projects, and DU and partners have invested another $2.7 million.

Current waterfowl habitat sustainability estimates provide an already gloomy picture for waterfowl, projecting a 150,000-acre deficit of habitat on the Texas mid-coast. Without rice production, approximately 50,000 additional acres will be lost, pushing the deficit to 200,000 acres.

“That is additional habitat loss for waterfowl and crop losses for rice producers that neither can afford,” Merendino said.

Ducks Unlimited is the world’s largest non-profit organization dedicated to conserving North America’s continually disappearing waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has conserved nearly 13 million acres thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the continent. Guided by science and dedicated to program efficiency, DU works toward the vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow, and forever.

RICHLAND, Tx.–-(AmmoLand.com)- Texas landowners had the opportunity last week to hear from a variety of experts on sustainable agriculture. Staff representing Syngenta, Texas Prairie Wetlands Project (TPWP), and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) conducted workshops to increase awareness of and participation in sustainable agricultural programs and practices.

Almost 100 private landowners and rice producers attended the workshops, held successively in Winnie, El Campo and Eagle Lake October 6th, 7th, and 8th, respectively. The objective of these workshops was to present area landowners with information regarding conservation opportunities as well as the latest in crop protection products from Syngenta.

“Landowner workshops are a great way to provide a diverse group of stakeholders with information on available products and services,” Matt Kaminski, TPWP Coordinator said. “These workshops stimulate questions and give us the opportunity to address a variety of concerns landowners may have.”

Ducks Unlimited, Inc., Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the USDA NRCS partnered to create the Texas Prairie Wetlands Project in 1991.

The TPWP provides cost-share assistance to private landowners for habitat enhancement, levee construction, and the installation of water control structures. It also provides biological and engineering assistance and a detailed management plan to private landowners.

The primary goal of TPWP is to restore, enhance, and protect shallow, seasonal wetland habitat on private lands within a 28-county focus area along the Texas Gulf Coast. Each year, these projects provide critical staging and wintering habitat for thousands of waterfowl, shorebirds, wading birds and other wetland dependent species.

The TPWP works closely with rice producers to improve fields and infrastructure for water conservation, production, and habitat management. Recently, piggy-backing TPWP with USDA Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) has provided great incentives to producers to bring retired fields back into production. Adding Syngenta to that partnership was a logical step to increase effort and success.

Syngenta provided funding for the workshops, and new TPWP participants will be eligible for a rebate on Syngenta crop protection products Quadris and Quilt.

“This partnership creates a win-win situation for everyone,” Kaminski said. “An increase in rice production will increase waterfowl habitat on the Texas Gulf Coast.”

Arkansas Game & Fish Commission

JONESBORO, AR – -(AmmoLand.com)- Natural Resources Conservation Service Chief Dave White announced last week that the NRCS has received 21,300 applications to participate in the new Conservation Stewardship Program. These applications cover an estimated 33 million acres, nationwide.

“NRCS has received enough applications to carry out conservation activities on more than twice the number of acres Congress authorized for CSP this year,” White said. “This incredible response shows that conservation-minded producers and landowners want to attain higher levels of conservation stewardship.”

David Long, private lands coordinator with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said that the new revamped conservation program in the 2008 Farm Bill has tremendous opportunity to conserve and increase farmland conservation. “This program rewards farm producers for addressing resource concerns, including wildlife. The program rewards farmers for undertaking additional conservation along with maintaining and managing existing conservation practices on the farm,” Long says.

Farmers can also receive enhancement practice payments, Long said. “Practices such as extending riparian forest buffers, patch burning pastures, creating shallow water habitat, establishing native grasses and legumes in 15 percent or more of their pastures, grazing management to improve wildlife habitat, extending filter strips and field borders, establishing pollinator habitat, prescribed burning, forest stand improvement, deferring crop production on temporary and seasonal wetlands, and flooding harvested grain fields, all providing significant wildlife benefits are eligible for payments,” he explained.

Payments are based on the complex of existing conservation practices maintained along any new enhancement practices implemented and are estimated to range from $12 to $22 per acre of cropland, nonindustrial private forestland $6 to $12 per acre and pastureland at $7 to $14 per acre.

More farm wildlife benefits possible from the new conservation stewardship program in ArkansasFarmers need to know that installing conservation practices like filter strips, quail buffers, riparian forest buffers and other practices under the FSA’s Continuous Conservation Reserve Program will increase their competitiveness in CSP in the future, Long said. “In addition, the Conservation Reserve Program provides yearly rental payments for 10 to 15 years along with other significant incentives to increase farm income,” he added.

The CSP should cause farmers to look not only at the CRP, but other USDA conservation programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentive Program, Wildlife Habitat Incentive program and the Wetland Reserve Program to establish a total conservation system on their farms that addresses all resource concerns which will increase their competitiveness in the CSP in the future. “CSP can offer an additional income stream on every eligible acre of the farm plus allow farmers to address all resource concerns to include wildlife,” Long says.

Congress capped the annual acreage enrollment nationally at 12,769,000 for each fiscal year. The final national and state-by-state numbers on acreage nationwide will be available in November 2009.

CSP provides financial and technical assistance to eligible agricultural and forestry producers to conserve and enhance soil, water, air and wildlife resources on their land, and encourages farm producers to voluntarily implement more conservation practices and improve, maintain, and manage existing ones.

Lands accepted into CSP include cropland, pastureland, rangeland and non-industrial private forestland. Individual landowners or operators, legal entities, corporations and Indian tribes are eligible to apply for CSP assistance.

Those who are not approved for funding through this first sign-up will have the option to participate in the second sign-up period, which is Oct. 1 through January 2010.

Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever

Saint Paul, Minn. - -(AmmoLand.com)- Improve how conservation programs are delivered to landowners and producers. That’s the goal of Pheasants Forever (PF) and Quail Forever’s (QF) Farm Bill Biologist program, a program that has, in just six years of existence, accounted for over one million acres of land being improved for wildlife. With the spring habitat improvement season here, Farm Bill Biologists are on the front line working with more acres and landowners than ever before.

The Farm Bill Biologist program is designed to educate farmers and landowners about the benefits of conservation programs, as well as assist those farmers and landowners after programs have been implemented. Pheasants Forever first began employing Farm Bill Biologists in 2003 and now has 35 Farm Bill Biologists working in seven states â?” Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Farm Bill Biologists have contacted and consulted 21,004 landowners, resulting in the improvement of 1,107,797 acres of land for wildlife.

“We’ve designed our Farm Bill Biologist program as the best possible resource for conservation information; one that is easy and user-friendly,” said Jim Inglis, PF/QF Farm Bill Biologist Coordinator. “Our Farm Bill Biologists possess the necessary knowledge of federal, state, and local conservation programs. More importantly, they are making local contacts and promoting programs on a personal basis â?” over 150,000 hours have been spent with 21,000 individual landowner contacts. That’s the formula helping landowners find the right conservation programs to meet their personal habitat and land-use goals.”

Primarily, the biologists work to accelerate enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and other Farm Bill conservation provisions that work with farm operations. Farm Bill Biologists add wildlife technical assistance in USDA offices to assist the Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) and other conservation partners with the increasing wildlife focus as part of the Farm Bill and various state programs. Funding sources for the Farm Bill Biologist program are diverse, from state wildlife departments and/or soil and water conservation districts, contribution agreements or contacts with the USDA’s NRCS, local PF/QF chapters, watershed groups, foundations, and other state and local partners.

With the early success of the Farm Bill Biologist program in seven states, PF/QF envisions the program growing into success stories for additional states. “We are interested in adding more Farm Bill Biologist positions in new states and furthering our wildlife habitat mission,” Inglis said.

For more information on the Farm Bill Biologist program, contact Jim Inglis, PF/QF Farm Bill Biologist Coordinator, at (419) 569-1096 or via email at jinglis@pheasantsforever.org

About:
Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever are non-profit conservation organizations dedicated to the protection and enhancement of pheasant, quail, and other wildlife populations in North America through habitat improvement, land management, public awareness, and education. PF/QF has 130,000 members in 700 local chapters across the continent.