USDA to Provide Federal Funds to Protect West Virginia’s Working Farms

Project proposals will be accepted through April 27, 2007

MORGANTOWN, WV, March. 28, 2007—About $1.64 million dollars is available to protect agricultural land in West Virginia through the Federal Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP) in fiscal year 2007, said Kevin Wickey, West Virginia State Conservationist for U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

“This program helps communities preserve open space, wildlife habitat, and cultural resources,” Wickey said. “This is an excellent way to keep prime farmland in agriculture and, at the same time, keep farming communities thriving by relieving development pressures.” Nationwide, $69 million is available to all 50 states, the Pacific Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands for FRPP projects in fiscal year 2007.

NRCS is seeking proposals from local, state and federally recognized tribal governments and non-governmental organizations interested in working together to acquire conservation easements on farms and ranches. Send proposals to Kevin Wickey, West Virginia State Office, 75 High Street, Room 301, Morgantown, WV 26505. Proposals received by the close of business Friday, April 27, 2007 will be ranked and considered for funding. Final project selections are expected to be announced in June. Instructions for project proposals are available on the federal grants Web Site at http://www.grants.gov/search/search.do?oppId=13031&mode=VIEW and at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/frpp

FRPP protects productive agricultural land by purchasing conservation easements to limit conversion of farm and ranch lands to non-agricultural uses. Using existing programs, NRCS in West Virginia partners with local, state or tribal, governments and non-government organizations to acquire conservation easements or other interests in land from landowners. NRCS provides up to 50 percent of the appraised fair market value of the conservation easement in this voluntary program. State, tribal and local entities can match that amount and they can include landowner donations in their match.

Last fiscal year, NRCS and its sponsors in West Virginia entered into agreements for FRPP easements on 1,035 acres with its $1.87 million in 2006 funding for conservation easements through FRPP. In West Virginia the program has closed 30 easements covering 6,559 acres since 2002. Nationwide, NRCS has closed 1,682 conservation easements covering 331,557 acres since the program began in 1996. FRPP was formerly known as the Farmland Protection Program (FRP) when it was founded in 1996. The 2002 Farm Bill repealed FRP and authorized the current Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program. The eligible farm or ranch must have the following components:

• contain productive soils or historic or archaeological sites;
• be part of a pending offer from a non-governmental organization, state, tribe or local farmland protection program;
• be privately owned;
• covered by a conservation plan;
• large enough to sustain agricultural production;
• accessible to markets for what the land produces; and
• surrounded by parcels of land that can support long-term agricultural production.

Several changes were made to FRPP in fiscal year 2007. Easements must be closed within 18 months instead of the previously allowable up to 5 years. Cooperative entities are asked to provide additional documentation on acres of wetlands and forested land and cultural resources if the parcels are qualifying based on their environmental, historic or archaeological characteristics. An added benefit of the 2007 changes is that properties eligible for funding but not selected will be appended agreements for the program so that substitute properties may be funded if originally selected projects fail to close for any reason. NRCS adopted these changes to accelerate the easement deed review process and to gather required information earlier in the application process.

For more information on West Virginia FRPP, please contact Patrick Bowen at 304-457-1118, extension 105, or Patrick.Bowen@wv.usda.gov. For more information about FRPP and other conservation programs in West Virginia, please visit http://www.wv.nrcs.usda.gov/.

-end-

<   Back to 2007 News Releases