USDA Acting Under Secretary Dr. Ann Bartuska
participated in the signing ceremony of the Agriculture Water
Enhancement Program (AWEP) contract with the Santa Ana Pueblo on August
11, 2009. AWEP is part of the 2008 Farm Bill’s Environmental Quality
Incentives Program (EQIP), and an RFP process was conducted this spring
that featured a national competition. The Santa Ana Pueblo award was
one of four Agriculture Water Enhancement Program (AWEP) awards to
improve water quality and water quantity that were garnered in the state
of New Mexico. For more information about the Santa Ana Pueblo and
other awards
click
Conservation Stewardship Program Launched
The U.S. Department of Agriculture began continuous sign-up for the
new Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) on August 10, 2009 with the
first sign-up period cutoff scheduled for September 30, 2009. To apply
potential landowners are encouraged to use a self-screening checklist
first that is available
here
If
you Don't Take Care of the Land ...
“If you don’t take care of the land, it won’t take care of you,”
David Cain of Mountainair told a KOAT television crew recently. He has
wisdom that may belie the fact he is a beginning rancher – but it comes
from a heritage that is steeped in the home place where he hopes to live
for a long time. For the full story
click
Skimpy
Forage and Fire Threats No More
If you are a rancher in New
Mexico, chances are that lack of water is a problem. Further, if you
live in the mountains in New Mexico it is likely that forage is skimpy
and catastrophic fires are a threat. Good conservation on a watershed
basis in the Sacramento Mountains by Michael Coleman is tackling all of
these problems, and enhancing incredible wildlife habitat to boot! For
the full story
click
New
Guides Released for Soil-Plant Data
New guides and tools
available to conservationists are enabling them to better assess soils
and plant communities and develop long-term sustainable conservation
plans for our nation’s farms and ranches. The multi-agency “Soil Change
Guide: Procedures for Soil Survey and Resource Inventory” and
“Interagency Ecological Site Description Manual” highlight ways to
integrate the influences soils and plant communities have upon each
other. For the full story
click
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