USDA Expands Wildlife Conservation with New Investments in Working Lands for Wildlife

$500 Million from the farm bill Is part of a broader commitment from FSA and NRCS to working lands conservation that benefits wildlife and supports ag and rural communities  

BOULDER, Colo. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced that it will expand its work on wildlife conservation by investing at least $500 million over the next five years and by leveraging all available conservation programs, including the Conservation Reserve Program, through its Working Lands for Wildlife effort. These commitments, which align with President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, will ramp up the conservation assistance for farmers, ranchers, private forest owners and tribes with a focus on working lands in key geographies across the country as well as hiring for key conservation positions. The funding will help deliver a series of cohesive Frameworks for Conservation Action, which establish a common vision across the partnership of public and private interests and goals for delivering conservation resources in a given ecosystem, combining cutting-edge science with local knowledge. 

The new funding includes $250 million from the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program and $250 million from the Environmental Quality Incentives Program.  The announcement builds off more than a decade of growing farm bill investments in wildlife habitat, and serves as a roadmap to leveraging both farm bill funding and the historic investments from the Inflation Reduction Act to guide conservation efforts. USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and Farm Service Agency will coordinate this work through WLFW, which focuses on voluntary, locally led efforts that benefit wildlife and agricultural communities.   

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Wayne Creed

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