The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Wisconsin announces the closing of four agricultural land easements. These were through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). The purpose of easements is to protect farmland for future generations. Easements also protect natural areas like wetlands, floodplains, and hydric soils for floodwater management and weather resiliency. The four easements were voluntarily enrolled by private landowners and add another 361 acres of preserved farmland in the Milwaukee River Watershed. Partnerships of farmers, county Land and Water Departments, land trusts, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD), and NRCS made this possible.
The Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) is a unique Farm Bill program in that it leverages the capabilities and resources of federal, regional and local partnerships to target assistance where it is most needed. The RCCP assists in protecting, restoring and enhancing conservation practices on agricultural lands and wetlands through easements. “Partnership is what drives RCPP,” said Ryan Gerlich, Wisconsin NRCS RCPP Coordinator. “It uses the strengths of federal and local partners to get conservation on the ground that benefits the producers, the community and the folks downstream.”
“The woodlands, the creek, and this active farmland, that’s really what Working Soils® [the MMSD farmland easement program] is about. Protecting the natural resources and the farmland all in one property,” said David Grusznski, Milwaukee Program Director with The Conservation Fund. MMSD Senior Project Planner, Kristin Schultheis, added “this has really been a great partnership. It was a really difficult process at times, [but] we remained patient with one another. I think we all knew we wanted to see this through and so it was worth it. We don’t do this very often where we just get together and take a moment to acknowledge what we’ve accomplished.”
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