USDA awards $66 million to Arkansas conservation projects

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The United States Department of Agriculture has awarded more than $66 million in funding for conservation projects in Arkansas that will focus on restoring natural habitats around the Mississippi River.

The money is part of $1.5 billion awarded to 92 projects through the USDA’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program. The USDA announced recipients of the funding Wednesday. The money was made available through the farm bill and the Inflation Reduction Act.

The American Bird Conservancy, Mississippi River Trust and KKAC Foundation all received $20 million or more from the USDA for their projects. The Regional Conservation Partnership Program is a program within the USDA that funds partnerships with private landowners to support land conservation.

The American Bird Conservancy received more than $21 million for a project in Arkansas and Louisiana to improve forest health for wildlife, including the implementation of integrated vegetation management treatments on corridors that connect public and private land. The project will double the American Bird Conservancy’s conservation impact, according to the organization’s grant proposal.

The Mississippi River Trust also works with landowners to conserve land, and will use their $25 million grant to convert 7,500 acres of vulnerable forest to permanently protected status in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. Goals of the conservation include improving water quality, increasing sequestration of planet-warming carbon dioxide, and providing habitat for migratory birds.

KKAC Foundation, based out of Little Rock, promotes land ownership for Black Arkansans. The organization received $20 million from USDA to help Black farmers improve management of forests and improve water quality and quantity for fish and other wildlife.

“The Regional Conservation Partnership Program is an example of public-private partnership at its best,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a press release. “Thanks to the boost in funding from the Biden-Harris Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, we’re able to invest even more in this popular and important program and increase our conservation impact across the country, supporting our nation’s farmers, ranchers and forest landowners while at the same time protecting our natural resources for the future.”

The funding was made available through both the farm bill and the Inflation Reduction Act, and has been distributed through the Natural Resources Conservation Service of USDA.

Other grant recipients around the U.S. include projects focused on reducing methane emissions from livestock, water conservation and assisting communities with adaptive tools to deal with continued pressures from droughts, the USDA said.

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