[LTER-luq] Fw: Fwd: FW: USDA Seeks Partner Proposals to Protect and Restore Critical Wetlands in Puerto Rico & the USVI

[Eda C. Melendez-Colom]

FYI.
EDA
 Eda C. Melendez Colom
Information Manager
LTER Program
University of Puerto Rico
Tel. (787) 764-0000 (1-4943)
Fax (787) 772 -1481
    ----- Forwarded Message -----
  From: Tischa Munoz-Erickson <tmunozerickson at gmail.com>
 To: 
 Sent: Thursday, June 25, 2015 1:16 PM
 Subject: Fwd: FW: USDA Seeks Partner Proposals to Protect and Restore Critical Wetlands in Puerto Rico & the USVI
   

| Compartiendo oportunidad para propuestas con el USDA. Saludos, Tischa |

  From: USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service [mailto:USDA-NRCS at public.govdelivery.com]
Sent: Tuesday, June 23, 2015 5:09 PM
To: Figueroa, Magaly -FS
Subject: USDA Seeks Partner Proposals to Protect and Restore Critical Wetlands in Puerto Rico & the USVI 
| USDA en Busca de Propuestas con Socios para Proteger y Restaurar Humedales Críticos en Puerto Rico e Islas Vírgenes Americanas  |

 
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NEWS RELEASE
USDA Seeks Partner Proposals to Protect and Restore Critical Wetlands in Puerto Rico & the USVIUSDA en Busca de Propuestas con Socios para Proteger y Restaurar Humedales Críticos en Puerto Rico e Islas Vírgenes AmericanasFamily of pintail ducks swim in Southgate Pond, St. Croix, USVI(photo courtesy of Carol Cramer-Burke, SEA)San Juan, PR, June 22, 2015 – Caribbean Area Natural Resources Conservation Service Director, Edwin Almodóvar, today announced funding availability for financial and technical assistance to help eligible conservation partners voluntarily protect, restore and enhance critical wetlands on private and tribal agricultural lands.“USDA has leveraged partnerships to accomplish a great deal on America’s wetlands over the past two decades," Almodóvar said. “This year’s funding will help strengthen these partnerships and achieve greater wetland acreage in the Caribbean Area and throughout the nation.”Funding will be provided through the Wetland Reserve Enhancement Partnership (WREP), a special enrollment option under theAgricultural Conservation Easement Program’s Wetland Reserve Easement component. It is administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Under WREP, states, local units of governments, non-governmental organizations and American Indian tribes collaborate with USDA through cooperative and partnership agreements. These partners work with willing tribal and private landowners who voluntarily enroll eligible land into easements to protect, restore and enhance wetlands on their properties. WREP was created through the 2014 Farm Bill and was formerly known as the Wetlands Reserve Enhancement Program.Wetland reserve easements allow landowners to successfully enhance and protect habitat for wildlife on their lands, reduce impacts from flooding, recharge groundwater and provide outdoor recreational and educational opportunities. The voluntary nature of NRCS' easement programs allows effective integration of wetland restoration on working landscapes, providing benefits to farmers and ranchers who enroll in the program, as well as surrounding local and rural communities.Proposals must be submitted to NRCS state offices by July 31, 2015. Projects can range from individual to watershed-wide to ecosystem-wide.  Under a similar program in the 2008 Farm Bill, NRCS and its partners entered into 272 easements that enrolled more than 44,020 acres of wetlands from 2009 through 2013. The new collaborative WREP will build on those successes by providing the financial and technical assistance necessary for states, non-governmental organizations and tribes to leverage resources to restore and protect wetlands and wildlife habitat.Through WREP, NRCS will sign multi-year agreements with partners to leverage resources, including funding, to achieve maximum wetland restoration, protection and enhancement and to create optimum wildlife habitat on enrolled acres. WREP partners are required to contribute a funding match for financial or technical assistance. These partners work directly with eligible landowners interested in enrolling their agricultural land into conservation wetland easements.Today’s announcement builds on the roughly $332 million USDA has announced this year to protect and restore agricultural working lands, grasslands and wetlands.  Collectively, NRCS’s easement programs help productive farm, ranch and tribal lands remain in agriculture and protect the nation's critical wetlands and grasslands, home to diverse wildlife and plant species. Under the former Wetlands Reserve Program, private landowners, tribes and entities such as land trusts and conservation organizations enrolled 2.7 million acres through 14,500 agreements for a total NRCS and partner investment of $4.3 billion in financial and technical assistance. VisitNRCS’s ACEP webpage to learn more about NRCS’s wetland conservation options.### |
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| Release No.: 15-13 | Contact:Jaime Valentín, State Resource Conservationist787-766-5206 x121 |

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-- 
Tischa A. Muñoz-Erickson, Ph.D.Research Social ScientistPrincipal Investigator, San Juan ULTRAUSDA FS - International Institute of Tropical ForestryJardín Botánico Sur
1201 Calle Ceiba
Río Piedras, PR 00926-1119voice: 928-600-1613 
fax: 928-226-0056Websites: http://www.fs.usda.gov/main/iitf/home;  www.sanjuanultra.org

  
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