MONTANA’S BLACKFOOT CHALLENGE AWARDED NATIONAL GRANT

July 13, 2009

For More Information:
Chris Mather, 202-257-8446

Dearborn, Mich--Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsak has announced $18.4 million in Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) to fund 55 projects to develop and refine cutting-edge technologies and approaches to help farmers and ranchers conserve and sustain natural resources. One of those grants, in the amount of $106,108 will go to Montana’s Blackfoot Challenge to implement land use practices that enhance fire management through partnerships with producers, private landowners, forest managers and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The Blackfoot Challenge is a Montana land owner- based group coordinating management of the Blackfoot River, its tributaries and adjacent lands. Vilsack made the announcement in a speech at the Soil and Water Conservation Society annual meeting in Dearborn, Michigan.

“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.”

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.

“The Conservation Innovation Grant programs enable USDA to review, field test, and demonstrate practices and ideas that have yet to be successfully mainstreamed into our portfolio of practice options,” said Dave White, Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), which administers the program and provides technical oversight for each project. For more information about USDA’s conservation programs, visit www.mt.nrcs.usda.gov. 

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