Applications to protect farm and ranch lands sought, January 15, 2010 ranking deadline set

SPOKANE, Wash., (Nov. 13, 2009) — To help protect working agricultural lands in Washington, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced that $1.7 million will be available to successful applicants this year through the agency’s Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP).

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.

... News Release
...  More Info on FRPP

Washington NRCS 2009 Annual Report

SPOKANE, Wash. (October 19, 2009) – It was a good year for conservation on Washington's private working lands. Thanks to the continued utilization of key conservation programs made possible through the 2007 Farm Bill, as well as NRCS’ conservation technical assistance activities, land owners improved irrigation efficiency on some 23,000 acres of land and improved soil quality on 224,000 acres during fiscal year 2009, which ended September 30, 2009. In addition, individual conservation plans were written covering nearly a quarter of a million acres of grazing land and forest land.

... 2009 Annual Report

Sign-up for new conservation program announced Continuous enrollment for producers begins Aug. 10

SPOKANE, Wash., (Aug. 10, 2009) — USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced that it will begin continuous
sign-up for the revamped Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) today, August 10, with the first sign-up period cutoff scheduled for September 30. CSP encourages agricultural and forestry producers to maintain existing conservation activities and adopt additional ones on their operations.

... News Release
... More info on CSP