Oil Conservation

[Andree Vandestreek]

TheUnited States Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency (FSA) oversees a number of voluntary conservation-related programs. These programs work to address a large number of farming and ranching related conservation issues including:

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) pays a yearly rental payment in exchange for farmers removing environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production and planting species that will improve environmental quality.

The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), an offshoot of CRP, targets high-priority conservation issues identified by government and non-governmental organizations. Farm land that falls under these conservation issues is removed from production in exchange for annual rental payments.

The Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) provides funding and technical assistance for farmers and ranchers to restore farmland damaged by natural disasters and for emergency water conservation measures in severe droughts.

The Farmable Wetlands Program (FWP) is designed to restore wetlands and wetland buffer zones that are farmed. FWP gives farmers and ranchers annual rental payments in return for restoring wetlands and establishing plant cover.

The Grassland Reserve Program (GRP) works to prevent grazing and pasture land from being converted into cropland or used for urban development. In return for voluntarily limiting the future development of their land, farmers receive a rental payment.

The Source Water Protection Program (SWPP) is designed to protect surface and ground water used as drinking water by rural residents. The program targets states based on their water quality and population.

USDA recognizes that conservation by farmers, ranchers and forest owners today means thriving and sustainable agriculture for our future. Seventy percent of the nation's land is privately owned and conservation of our nation's private lands not only results in healthy soil, water, air, plants, animals and ecosystems, it also provides productive and sustainable working lands.

USDA provides voluntary, incentive-based conservation to landowners through local field offices in nearly every county of the nation. USDA helped landowners develop conservation plans and enrolled a record number of acres of private working lands in conservation programs, working with more than 500,000 farmers and ranchers to implement conservation practices that clean the air we breathe, conserve and clean the water we drink, prevent soil erosion and create and protect wildlife habitat. USDA support - leveraged with historic outside investments - helped support producer incomes and reward them for their good work.

USDA's landscape-scale initiatives are making impacts on conservation priorities across entire landscapes by working with partners and landowners to deliver results. Work in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, the Mississippi River Basin, and Gulf of Mexico are among the initiatives that are applying the most effective conservation practices in the best places to increase agricultural and environmental returns. New science is helping to focus work in areas where we will generate 3-to-5 times the benefits of more general approaches - reducing problematic nutrients making it to rivers and streams by as much as 45%.

USDA-managed National Forests and Grasslands provide opportunities for over 165 million visitors each year to experience the wonders of nature and be physically active. These recreational uses also support an estimated 200,000 full and part time jobs and contribute almost $13 billion to local communities each year. Over the last two years, USDA has helped support more than 25 state public access programs and opened an estimated 2.4 million acres for hunting, fishing and other outdoor recreational opportunities on privately-owned lands. Additionally, almost $30 million in grants, provided through the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program, will help promote an estimated 35 percent increase in the number of participating landowners and increase outdoor recreation in these states by 21 percent.

USDA has enrolled more than one million acres of private working lands specifically to protect habitat for duck, pheasant, quail and other birds through "continuous signup" Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) initiatives. Along with the U.S. Department of Interior, USDA established a Federal Interagency Council on Outdoor Recreation (FICOR) to improve recreational access to federal lands across federal agencies and proposed a special $5 million set-aside in the Land and Water Conservation Fund to improve hunting and fishing access to federal lands.

Since 2009, USDA has awarded more than 200 conservation innovation grants to support exploration of new solutions to conservation. Also, the Working Lands for Wildlife Initiative helps farmers and ranchers conserve the habitat of seven species with declining populations. USDA reached a historic agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to provide certainty to landowners who implement and maintain certain conservation practices that protect specific species. This enables producers to continue to manage their lands even if the species is later added to the endangered species list.

Working with the Environmental Protection Agency, USDA is supporting States and others in efforts to establish water quality trading markets. This demonstrates the potential for farmers and ranchers to receive new revenue streams while delivering cost effective results for industries regulated under the Clean Water Act. New greenhouse gas estimation guidelines and tools that assess greenhouse gas reductions and carbon sequestration resulting conservation, land management activities, and tree planting will also help farmers earn revenue for their work as they protect the environment.

Ancestral Lands operates in local tribal communities, as well as within other programs. Rooted in the culture and heritage of these communities, Indigenous youth and young adults can join conservation and leadership development crews, individual placements and Hiking Clubs.

Appalachian Conservation Corps is based in the Shenandoah Valley Region. The Harrisonburg, VA office operates adult and youth conservation crews, leadership development programs and individual placements.

Arizona Conservation Corps is a statewide program with offices in Pinetop-Lakeside, Tucson, and Flagstaff, AZ operating adult and youth conservation crews, Veterans Fire Corps, Ancestral Lands programming, and individual placements.

Conservation Corps New Mexico, based in Las Cruces, operates conservation crews, small botany teams, Veterans Fire Corps, and individual placements, serving the greater New Mexico and western Texas regions.

Southeast Conservation Corps is based in Chattanooga, TN and serves the southeast. Its programs include adult and youth conservation crews, Women's+ Fire crews, Veterans Fire Corps, and individual placements.

Southwest Conservation Corps has two regional offices in Durango and Salida, CO. and operates adult, youth, and high school conservation crews, small botany teams, Veterans Fire Corps, Ancestral Lands programming and individual placements.

Stewards Individual Placements is a nationwide program operating in nearly all 50 states. Stewards is based in Beckley, WV and Durango, CO and supports interns in various environmental stewardship programs across the country.

"Through my crew season, I was challenged not only physically, but mentally and spiritually as well. Having the opportunity to travel to different sites around Arizona and Utah allowed me to understand the people who came before us, and to learn about other species that call the southwest their home."

"I will take away some valuable skills in motivational interviewing and data entry, but also a lot of personal satisfaction. I will always remember my team of incredibly motivated, empathy-driven, and compassionate people... As I look back on this experience, I will realize that I fulfilled the call of AmeriCorps, and listened to the 'highest calling of my heart' "

"As a recent college graduate with a degree in Ecology, AZCC was the perfect chance to apply my classroom knowledge in the field. I choose to do national service because I'd like to make the outdoors accessible to more people. I have learned a lot about working and living with crews and have come to appreciate all of the work that goes into conservation management."

"I am grateful for this experience [at Shenandoah National Park] and how it has helped me to develop a better sense of conservation within an interpretive context. I know that I have gained valuable knowledge and skills through this internship that will further my interpretive career."

Stewards Individual Placements and partners are leading the initiative Energy Communities AmeriCorps, a project that aims to provide technical support to help communities impacted by previous or pending coal mine and power plant closures.

The Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation, or Conservation Standards (CS) for short, are a widely adopted set of principles and practices that bring together common concepts, approaches, and terminology for conservation project design, management, and monitoring. Developed by the Conservation Measures Partnership (CMP) and regularly updated in collaboration with the broader community, this open-source, strategic process helps conservation teams achieve lasting impact.

Standards: The Conservation Standards describe ideal practices for doing good conservation work. The process uses a mutually defined lexicon, draws on standards and practices across several fields, and has been adapted over time by the conservation community.

Conservation: The Conservation Standards were developed for biodiversity and resource conservation efforts, but they have evolved over time to better reflect and consider the connections between nature and humans.

The conservation community tackles large, complex, and urgent environmental problems. The stakes are high. We need to know how to use our resources most effectively to achieve lasting impact. To do so, we must better understand how and why some conservation efforts are effective and others less so.

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