August 6th, 2010 · No Comments
From Green Right Now Reports
Seven private companies and conservation and agricultural organizations have been awarded Conservation Innovation Grants totaling $375,000. The ultimate goal of the grants is to help California farmers and ranchers with technical tools to protect natural resources.
State Conservationist Lincoln E. Burton of the Natural Resources Conservation Service announced the awarding of the grants that range from less than $10,000 up to $75,000 (the maximum allowed). All contain at least a 50 percent match from non-federal sources, as required by the program.
“The conservation landscape constantly changes and challenges us to be nimble in our ability to address these issues. Some of our best ideas for developing and adapting our technical tools to address modern challenges come from private groups and individuals,” Burton said in a statement. “The current set of awardees will bring us new insights into conservation technical solutions for water resources, grazing lands, energy, air quality and more.”
The 2010 selected projects are:
Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County — Improve conservation outcomes for water quality, create new economic opportunities for farmers, and create a replicable model to be used by others (project total: $142,207; Requested $74,477).
California Native Plant Society (Merced, San Luis Obispo and Kern Counties) — To establish baseline knowledge about natural grasslands and invasive plants on grazing lands (project total: $132,069; requested: $65,791).
Dixon Ridge Farms (Yolo County) – Demonstrate and promote novel methods to conserve irrigation water and energy (project total: $19,939; requested: $9,969.33)
Sustainable Conservation (Visalia and Tulare Counties) – Increase opportunities for renewable energy production from methane digesters (project total: $124,400; requested: $62,199.77).
Mission Resource Conservation District (North San Diego County) — Irrigation optimization and riparian buffers for improved water quality (project total: $83,180; requested: $38,562.90).
Solum, Inc. (Monterey County) – Demonstrate the viability of using Solum’s rapid soil nitrate measurement technology for in season management of nitrogen (project total:$110,780; requested: $49,000).
Texas AgriLife Research (Kern County) – Reducing PM emissions from almond harvest operation through innovative harvester design (project total: $150,000; requsted: $75,000).
The grants were established in the 2008 Farm Bill as part of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program.
