The Inflation Reduction Act includes approximately $1 billion for conservation technical assistance, which allows NRCS and conservation districts across the country to get boots on the ground to support producers implement conservation. This legislation also provides $18 billion for voluntary conservation programs administered by the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) between Fiscal Years 2023 and 2027.
This funding includes:
• $8.45 billion for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program
• $4.95 billion for the Regional Conservation Partnership Program
• $3.25 billion for the Conservation Stewardship Program
• $1.4 billion for the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program
The IRA also provides substantial investments to support conservation and wildfire mitigation efforts in our nations’ forests, including:
• $1.8 billion for hazardous fuels reduction projects on U.S. Forest Service (USFS) land within the wildland-urban interface to support activities such as tree thinning and undergrowth removal.
• $200 million for vegetation management projects on USFS land.
• $100 million to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of environmental reviews on USFS land.
• $50 million for the USFS to complete an inventory of old-growth and mature forests within the USFS system, and for the protection of those forests.
• $2.2 billion for State and Private Forestry Conservation Programs
• $550 million for competitive grants under the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act Section 13A, to non-federal forest landowners
“NACD is pleased to see continued support from Congress and the administration in conservation program funding,” NACD President Michael Crowder said. “We applaud this investment in conservation and natural resource management, and we will continue to advocate for support for these programs that are critical to addressing climate change by improving the health of our soils, watersheds, and forests. We look forward to continuing our work with all members of Congress, on both sides of the aisle, to bring voluntary conservation and natural resource management to the producers and landowners who benefit from these programs.”