WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, today applauded the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) announcement of $75 million through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program’s Alternative Funding Arrangements. The arrangements, authored by Chairwoman Stabenow in the 2018 Farm Bill, improve flexibility for local partners to work closely with farmers on innovative projects.
“In the Farm Bill, I created conservation partnerships to pave the way for innovative, locally led approaches that protect our land and water, improve habitats for hunting and fishing, and address the climate crisis,” said Chairwoman Stabenow. “These new arrangements will encourage creative conservation work and grow partnerships to expand climate-smart agriculture and strengthen urban farms.”
Chairwoman Stabenow created the Regional Conservation Partnership Program in the 2014 Farm Bill as an innovative approach to conservation that uses public-private partnerships to improve land and water. In the bipartisan 2018 Farm Bill, she led the effort to make improvements that streamline and expand the reach of partnerships through Alternative Funding Arrangements. These arrangements cut red tape and provide more flexibility for partners to operate non-traditional conservation projects and work directly with farmers to spur new approaches to conservation.
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