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Oklahomans Receive Three Conservation Innovation Grants

STILLWATER - On July 13, 2009, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced $18.4 million in Conservation Innovation Grants to fund 55 projects across the nation to develop and refine cutting-edge technologies and approaches to help farmers and ranchers conserve and sustain natural resources. Vilsack made the announcement in a speech at the Soil and Water Conservation Society annual meeting in Dearborn, Mich.

"New technology can play an important role in addressing environmental problems, and the Obama Administration is committed to developing innovative solutions to natural resource management and conservation issues facing farmers and ranchers," Vilsack said. "These Conservation Innovation Grants will benefit both agriculture and the environment by getting 21st century ideas in the hands of our producers across the country."

Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) State Conservationist, Ron Hilliard, who was in attendance at the meeting added, “Three grants were awarded in Oklahoma." The Conservation Innovation Grant program enables USDA to review, field test, and demonstrate practices and ideas that have yet to be successfully mainstreamed into our portfolio of practice options and the field office technical guides.

The Conservation Innovation Grant program is designed to speed the transfer and enhance use of technologies and methods that show promise in solving the nation's top natural resource problems by targeting innovative, on-the-ground conservation. Approved projects address issues such as water quantity and quality, grazing lands, soil and forest health, and air quality, as well as proposals to help Native American tribes and limited resource producers address natural resource issues, energy efficiency, and market-based approaches to conservation.

The projects funded in Oklahoma include:

  • The Nature Conservancy, $349,571 project: Integrated Management of Sericea Lespedeza in Tallgrass Prairie. The purpose is to demonstrate the effectiveness of integrating patch burn grazing and spot-application of herbicides to manage sericea lespedeza prairie.
  • Oklahoma Farmers & Ranchers Association, $254,340 project: Grass-finished & organic livestock production technology education for limited resource farmers. The purpose is to develop a whole farm approach using prescribed grazing technology and/or organic techniques to help socially disadvantaged, limited resource producers.
  • The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Inc, $267,697 project: Switchgrass and Native Rangeland Management for Grazing and Bioenergy. The purpose is to educate producers, farm managers, and the general public of best management practices for use in the establishment and production of switchgrass and native rangeland in grazing, bioenergy, and conservation systems.

Additional information about the Conservation Innovation Grant program, including summaries of all approved projects, is available at www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/cig. For more information about USDA's conservation programs visit http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/ or the nearest USDA Service Center.

All programs and services of the Natural Resources Conservation Service are provided in a nondiscriminatory manner. NRCS is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or a part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

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