TRCP Partners Receive Over $275 Million for Habitat Creation and Enhancement

November 7, 2024

Hunters and anglers should expect serious benefits from these projects over the next several years and beyond.

On October 23^rd, the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced $1.5 billion of funding awards through its Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). The RCPP uses a public-private partnership model to deliver voluntary, incentive-based conservation in ways that neither NRCS nor partners could do on their own. This year’s awards are at an unprecedented level, with $300 million being available through a traditional Farm Bill model and a staggering $1.2 billion provided by the Inflation Reduction Act for climate-smart activities.

Lead partners on this year’s awards include universities, Tribes, state and local governments, and nonprofit organizations. Many, if not all, of the projects will improve wildlife habitat and water quality in one way or another, but hunters and anglers should be particularly excited about those projects led by TRCP partners. As part of their mission, TRCP partners demonstrate a commitment to creating, enhancing, and protecting habitat, supporting access, and more. Funding these groups means better opportunities for hunters and anglers nationwide.

Of the 92 awarded projects this year, 16 are led by TRCP partners or their state-level affiliates, and these alone add up to over $275 million of conservation work. An additional 21 projects are led by members of the Land Trust Alliance, a TRCP partner. Several others are led by informal partners we work with regularly, and many more by others but include our Policy Council members as supporting partners.

So, what will this actually accomplish? Here are a few examples:

Our partners at Tall Timbers will receive $25 million to use practices like prescribed fire and forest stand improvement to enhance upland forest habitat for species like bobwhite quail.

Trout Unlimited will receive over $14 million to build habitat through stream restoration in the Salt River of Wyoming and its tributaries.

The Conservation Fund will protect 100,000 acres of Montana grasslands at high risk of conversion with its $25 million award.

The Nature Conservancy and its state level affiliates in Idaho and Maine will support climate-smart forest management in Maine and New Hampshire, protect forests and grasslands in Idaho and South Dakota, improve water quality in Indiana, improve fish passages in Maine, and reduce methane emissions from dairy cattle. These projects will total over $102 million.

Ducks Unlimited will lead two projects totaling over $31 million, restoring wetlands and grasslands in Illinois and protecting waterfowl wintering habitat in California.

Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever will restore rangelands in the Colorado River Basin of Arizona, enhance grasslands and associated wildlife migration corridors in Montana, and manage invasive Eastern Red Cedar in South Dakota with its $73.9 million across three projects.

The Trust for Public Land will create habitat while supporting military readiness by permanently protecting 100,000 acres of working lands in the Colorado Springs area with their $19.4 million award.

“Active land stewardship, guided by science and fueled by a passion for hunting, has led to the remarkable success of regions like the Red Hills, with their thriving wild quail populations and high biodiversity,” said Shane Wellendorf, Director of Tall Timbers’ Land Conservancy. “The RCPP award enables Tall Timbers to reach a broader range of landowners, implementing critical conservation practices such as frequent prescribed fire. These practices build on past successes and conserve wildlife corridors, mitigate wildfire risks, and bolster forest resilience.”

“The $14 million Salt River Watershed Restoration Project will restore aquatic and riparian habitat, reduce streambank erosion, restore habitat connectivity, and sequester carbon in the Salt River and its tributaries through stream restoration, grazing management, and agricultural infrastructure projects,” said Tanner Belknap, Salt River watershed manager at Trout Unlimited. “This is a huge win for the entire Salt River Basin, and we are thankful to the NRCS for this funding, which will allow us to reconnect and restore habitat for the Snake River cutthroat trout, improve the health of the watershed, and increase partner coordination around watershed priorities.”

Hunters and anglers should expect serious benefits from these projects over the next several years and beyond, and we are working to make sure that conservation programs like the RCPP continue. Learn more about how you can help HERE.

Top photo by USDA via flickr

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by: Chris Macaluso

posted in: Conservation Funding

October 29, 2024

Mississippi River Diversion Builds Land, Enhances Fishing Opportunities

Southern Louisiana’s Neptune Pass, which formed naturally during higher river flows since 2018, provides a real-world example of the benefits of sediment diversions for a healthy delta

Neptune Pass didn’t even exist six years ago.

Today, the newest connection between the Mississippi River and its fish and wildlife-generating marshes moves enough water by volume into Breton Sound that it dwarfs all but about 15 other rivers in the world—and it’s a living laboratory for how a healthy, properly functioning Mississippi River is supposed to work.

Located about 70 river miles south of New Orleans and directly across from the world-renowned fishing destination of Buras, La., Neptune Pass was previously a narrow cut, known as a crevasse, in the Mississippi River’s east bank back in 2018, barely wide enough to pass a 24-foot bay boat through. A series of annual floods, especially a record-setting inundation in 2019, forced the river to find and exploit weaknesses in its banks along its lower east bank – an area where the river isn’t hemmed in by flood protection levees and so dozens of other cuts and crevasses exist.

Aerial view of Neptune Pass (center left) flowing off the Mississippi (top). Credit: Restore the Mississippi River Delta

What was a relative trickle of about 5,000 cubic feet per second in 2018 became a major pass by 2023, capturing nearly 120,000 cubic feet of water per second, or more than 15 percent of the total volume of the Mississippi during spring flooding. Almost immediately after its widening, Neptune Pass began delivering enough suspended sediment from river water to begin shallowing and filling in bays and open ponds along its path and at its mouth in Quarantine Bay.

A Natural Process

The Mississippi River was simply replicating the same processes at Neptune Pass that it had employed hundreds, if not thousands, of times over the last several millennia. It utilized a weakness in its bank as an easier way to move its abundant water and sediment toward the Gulf of Mexico. If not for that natural process, most of Louisiana and a large part of Mississippi wouldn’t exist. Preventing that natural process by blocking the river’s connection to its delta with levees is the primary reason more than 2,000 square miles of Louisiana’s delta has already sunk and eroded into the Gulf.

Increased Flows Mean More Fish

The TRCP recently hosted several river-savvy anglers on a two-day fishing and crabbing excursion in the Mississippi River, largely focused on the junction with Neptune Pass. Our goal was to talk about the importance of restoring the functionality of the river, in terms of water and sediment diversions, and see firsthand how effective they are at improving productivity and rebuilding land being lost to rising seas and storms. Regaining more historic flow patterns can occur naturally, as seen at Neptune Pass, or man-made, as TRCP and partners have worked for years to achieve with the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion. This project is designed to breathe life back into the Barataria Basin by reconnecting the Mississippi River to the marshes, bayous, and islands it originally built, but through a gate on the river that can be regulated to optimize sediment and water flows.

If not for the sediment delivered by the Mississippi River, most of Louisiana and a large part of Mississippi wouldn’t exist.

Whether a natural or dredged river diversion, the results are the same. More oxygenated water, more nutrients, more land-building sediment, and more fish and wildlife. The anglers we hosted earlier this month – representing YouTube channels Outside the Levees, Cole & Jay, Marsh Man Masson, and River Certified – reaped the benefits as they hauled in boatloads of redfish, black drum, catfish, and blue crabs.

The Pass Today

Ducks Unlimited and state and federal agencies have worked with local fishing and duck hunting guide Capt. Ryan Lambert to build terraces in Quarantine Bay and adjacent Bay Denesse. The linear earthen berms act as speed bumps, slowing the water coming from the pass and allowing the sediment to more quickly deposit and form mud and sand flats. As the water shallows, vegetation takes root and marsh emerges, forming perfect habitat for migrating waterfowl and other birds, shrimp and crabs, and a host of sought-after sportfish and gamefish like redfish, black drum and largemouth bass.

The rapid widening and deepening of Neptune Pass quickly became a concern for the Army Corps of Engineers, who worried the changes in river currents would lead to sandbars forming in the main navigation channel of the Mississippi River and even steer ocean-going ships off course. There was talk of efforts to try and completely close Neptune in 2022 – a move that angling, hunting, and conservation groups, including the TRCP, roundly opposed.

After weighing all options and taking into consideration the remarkable habitat-creating capacity of Neptune Pass, the Corps has recommended stabilizing the pass with rocks to try and prevent it from growing larger while still allowing water and sediment to flow through into Quarantine Bay. The land-building capacity would be further enhanced by more terraces, building upon the groundwork laid by Lambert and Ducks Unlimited.

Balancing the needs of navigation, flood control, and the incredibly productive, but dwindling, coastal wetlands in the Mississippi River Delta is something wildlife and fisheries advocates have been demanding from the Corps for decades. Neptune Pass gives hope those pleas are being heard and appreciated.

Aerial Neptune Pass image credit: Restore the Mississippi River Delta; all other images credit Chris Macaluso, TRCP

by: Michael O'Casey

posted in: Conservation Funding

October 21, 2024

Hunters Applaud USDA Secretarial Memorandum Directing Coordination and Action for Wildlife Migration

Memo will formalize and expand USDA’s commitment to migration conservation and enhance benefits for wildlife habitat connectivity and corridors in partnership with public land managers, state agencies, Tribes, private landowners, and NGOs  

Today, hunters and conservationists celebrated the signing of a Memorandum from Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack that recognizes the importance of USDA’s role in conserving wildlife movement and migration habitats across public and private lands.

“This Secretarial Memo sends a clear message that the USDA recognizes the important role that the Department’s programs and policies play to enhance big game migration and habitat across the country,” said Joel Pedersen, president and CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “The TRCP thanks Secretary Vilsack and the USDA for their leadership to highlight how voluntary efforts can improve wildlife habitat on public and private lands, which is crucial to ensure the next generation of sportsmen and sportswomen can experience healthy big game herds.”

To date, the USDA’s Migratory Big Game Initiative has leveraged programs within the Natural Resource Conservation Service and Farm Services Agency to support voluntary private land conservation projects in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.

Today’s announcement enhances and expands upon this work and directs several USDA agencies, specifically NRCS, FSA, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to:

– Consider terrestrial wildlife habitat connectivity and corridors in relevant planning processes, programs, and assessments. This would include NRCS and FSA Farm Bill conservation programs, USFS Joint Chiefs Landscape Restoration Partnerships program, USFS land management planning and wildfire crisis planning, and APHIS wildlife disease management programs.

– Improve internal coordination and delivery of USDA planning processes and programs to increase outcomes for wildlife connectivity, such as through continued alignment of NRCS and FSA private landowner programs to maximize habitat connectivity outcomes, encouragement of innovation in conservation practices, and additional financial assistance.

– Improve coordination with states, Tribes, and other federal agencies, including recognition of Tribal sovereignty and individual state authorities, and improve direct collaboration with the Department of the Interior, Department of Transportation, Department of Defense, and other agencies.

– Collaborate with non-governmental organizations to facilitate engagement with and support of local communities.

“The Mule Deer Foundation applauds the signing of this Secretarial Memo to ensure that the full suite of USDA programs and resources are coordinated to sustain mule deer and other big game populations that migrate,” said Steve Belinda, Chief Conservation Officer for the Mule Deer Foundation. “Like DOI’s Secretarial Order 3362, USDA has the potential to facilitate on-the-ground conservation over a vast area of public and private lands that are critical to conserving and improving mule deer and other wildlife habitat.”

“The Department of Agriculture has an essential role in maintaining the movements of wildlife throughout the United States,” said Mike Leahy, Senior Director of Wildlife, Hunting, and Fishing Policy for the National Wildlife Federation. “We are glad the Department of Agriculture is expanding their commitment to keep elk, deer, antelope, and other wildlife moving through our fragmented landscapes, and look forward to the benefits this will bring to hunting, wildlife populations, and collaboration in conservation.”

“CSF thanks the USDA for initiating this effort that will help enhance conservation for migratory wildlife and their associated habitats,” said Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation President and CEO Jeff Crane. “CSF will continue to prioritize wildlife connectivity through Interior Secretarial Order 3362, the Wildlife Highway Crossings Pilot Program, USDA’s Migratory Big Game Initiative, the Wildlife Movement Through Partnerships Act, and now the USDA Secretarial Memo.”

“Big game migration corridors have been a policy and investment focus of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation for many years, and we have been pleased by the strong bipartisan support for the issue across administrations and in Congress,” said Blake Henning, Chief Conservation Officer for RMEF. “This USDA Secretarial Memo aligns with the existing Department of Interior Secretarial Order 3362 and will help leverage private lands conservation programs to bolster habitat across the landscape in coordination with state-led action plans. RMEF appreciates that USDA recognizes the leadership that hunters have played in this and other conservation successes in America.”

The Secretarial Memorandum directs USDA agencies to establish a USDA Terrestrial Wildlife Habitat Connectivity and Corridors Committee charged with implementation of the Memorandum. An initial progress report is due to the Secretary by June 30, 2025.

Learn more about TRCP’s work on big game migration conservation HERE.

The TRCP is your resource for all things conservation. In our weekly Roosevelt Report, you’ll receive the latest news on emerging habitat threats, legislation and proposals on the move, public land access solutions we’re spearheading, and opportunities for hunters and anglers to take action. Sign up now.

by: Aaron Field

posted in: Conservation Funding

October 1, 2024

The Farm Bill Expired (again) and the Stakes are High for Hunters and Anglers

Congress did not pass this critical omnibus bill by the September 30, 2024, deadline. Here are six things that hunters and anglers need to know

We don’t make bigger investments in conservation than those in the Farm Bill. Totaling about $6 billion per year it is the single largest investment in conservation that the federal government makes on an annual basis.

Every five years, Congress drafts a new Farm Bill. It’s a massive piece of legislation that supports agricultural producers and ensures hungry families have food on their table. Tucked inside this legislation are crucial conservation programs that incentivize habitat creation, sustainable agriculture, and even access to private land for hunting and fishing. The reauthorization and improvement of these programs is a top priority, not just within the TRCP, but for our partners and the agriculture and nutrition communities.

The 2018 Farm Bill expired on September 30, 2023, and was eventually extended until September 30, 2024. Early this summer, there was a flurry of activity in the Agriculture Committees. Unfortunately, budget challenges and policy differences have so far prevented the consensus needed to pass any bill in a split Congress, and especially one that traditionally generates wide bipartisan, bicameral support.

Are we in new territory? What is, and what isn’t at stake for hunters and anglers? Here are six things you need to know:

The stakes are high.

Reauthorizing and updating Farm Bill programs is always important (I don’t think anyone would argue with me when I say the world is a different place than it was in 2018). But for hunters and anglers, and really anyone who cares about a sustainable food system, there is a major incentive to passing a Farm Bill now. The budget reconciliation bill, commonly known as the Inflation Reduction Act or IRA, included nearly $20 billion for climate-smart uses of Farm Bill conservation programs. Currently, all “Four Corners” of the Ag Committee (the Chair and Ranking Members of both the House and Senate Committees) are calling for the remainder of those funds to be incorporated into the Farm Bill baseline and used for conservation. The process for this is complicated, but the important part is that doing so would raise funding for Farm Bill conservation programs by nearly 25%. If Congress fails to act this year, that number will decrease considerably next year and beyond.

“Every day – or year – that goes by without a new Farm Bill, our nation’s ability to conserve habitat and increase sportsmen’s access through CRP and VPA-HIP will suffer. Right now, our opportunity to prioritize agriculture and conservation is greater than ever, as is the risk of letting partisan politics prevent us from supporting our farmers, ranchers, and private landowners with the tools and resources they need to put conservation on the ground.”
Andrew Schmidt, Director of Government Affairs for Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever

This is not new.

Although the challenges this Farm Bill is facing feel daunting, there is plenty of precedence for a delay. Congress is often late in passing Farm Bills. The longest recent process was for the Farm Bill that was signed in 2014 – discussions began in 2011, and it should have been reauthorized in 2012. Both the 2008 and 2018 Farm Bills were several months late as well.

This history of challenges may indicate that passing Farm Bills is getting more difficult, but it also demonstrates that while coalition efforts toward highly bipartisan bills might be slow, they are effective.

Click HERE to watch The Hunter & Angler’s Guide to the Farm Bill

Several conservation priorities are safe until 2031.

In addition to providing supplemental funding, the Inflation Reduction Act reauthorized several conservation programs through 2031.

Even if a new Farm Bill or an extension isn’t passed, many practices that benefit hunters and anglers will continue through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), and Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP). Through these programs, wetlands will still be restored and protected, upland habitat will still be managed, and field buffers will still be planted to improve water quality.

Other conservation programs are left out.

Not all of the programs we care about have been spared. The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) has expired. It is one of our country’s most successful conservation programs and provides tremendous benefits for wildlife and habitat. Existing contracts will continue, but new acres can’t be enrolled. This means that the CRP will slowly, but steadily, shrink until either a new Farm Bill is passed, or the current bill is extended. This can lead to a loss of habitat for countless species across the country. Luckily, relatively few contracts are set to expire in the upcoming months, so the overall picture is a little less bleak.

Another key program for hunters and anglers, the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program (VPA-HIP), also suffers from a delayed bill. Funding for VPA-HIP, a crucial Farm Bill program that has opened hundreds of thousands of private acres for walk-in access to hunting and fishing, has historically been distributed once per Farm Bill cycle. VPA-HIP received $10 million when the Farm Bill was extended last year, but without a new Farm Bill private land access programs across the nation will suffer from a lack of much-needed resources.

“The Farm Bill impacts all Americans by investing in conservation and natural resources. Its conservation programs drive beneficial practices across the country—creating wildlife habitat, improving water quality, repairing soil health and protecting human health. Our lawmakers have an opportunity to make a generational investment in these programs and lay a foundation for a more resilient future. But they must get the timing right to maximize their impact. Congress should seize the opportunity to protect our natural resources by passing a bipartisan Farm Bill this year.”
Kate Hansen, Agriculture Program Director for the Izaak Walton League of America

We’re on it.

The next few months will be critical for the Farm Bill and the conservation programs we cherish as hunters and anglers. Congress is out of session until after the November 5^th election, so we won’t see action before then, and any post-election progress will compete with the appropriations process for lawmakers’ time. Passing a Farm Bill on such a short timeframe will be an uphill battle, but we will keep the pressure on Congress to get this bill passed and avoid a missed opportunity to fund conservation, and we will work to ensure that hunter and angler priorities are met.

You can help.

In the face of gridlock, conservation is, and should be, a shared priority regardless of party affiliation or ideology. Congress needs to hear that this is important to you. Take action here and stay up to date at trcp.org/farm-bill.

by: Chris Macaluso

posted in: Conservation Funding

The Importance of Restoring Louisiana’s Chandeleur Islands

President Theodore Roosevelt designated the islands, which provide key habitat for waterfowl, sportfish, and sea turtles, as the second-ever National Wildlife Refuge in the U.S.

Louisiana’s extensive barrier islands are among the many features that distinguish the state from its Gulf of Mexico neighbors, as well as every other Atlantic Basin state.

Certainly, others have barrier islands and extensive beach shorelines. However, none of them have the unique and numerous mix of headlands and back-barrier marshes of the Bayou State, thanks to the shifting deltas and fertility of the Mississippi River.

While the brown river silt and thick, sometimes rotten-smelling mud isn’t the tourist attraction of white sand and high-rise hotels, the fish, crabs and, especially, native and migrating birds sure do love those “ugly” beaches and marshes.

Singling out one barrier island or even a chain of barrier islands as most important or most unique is difficult. They all serve multiple purposes as vital habitat for fish and birds (and fishermen and bird watchers) and all play a crucial role in knocking down storm surge and protecting more sensitive inland wetlands and communities from bearing the brunt of the strongest hurricane waves. The Chandeleur Islands, though, stand out.

Tens of thousands of redheads and other ducks utilize the Chandeleur Islands each winter. Image credit: Teddy Llovet

A special place

The Chandeleurs are home to the northern Gulf of Mexico’s largest seagrass bed, encompassing more than 5,000 acres and providing food and shelter for innumerable fish, mammals, sea turtles, and birds.

It may come as a shock to most Louisiana waterfowlers that tens of thousands of diving ducks, particularly redheads, spend part of their winter on northern Chandeleur’s massive grass flats. An estimated 40,000-50,000 birds utilize the islands each winter and more than 30,000 sea birds make their nests on the islands annually.

The islands’ remote nature has left them unmolested, but also passed up for large-scale restoration projects.

Those flats also attract sea turtles, most notably endangered Kemp’s ridley turtles. Biologists believed for decades Kemp’s ridleys, while ranging Gulf-wide and along the Atlantic Coast, only nested in Mexico and South Texas. Not so, according to a host of recent findings by Louisiana’s Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) that show dozens of nesting sites along the Chandeleur’s beaches.

Critically endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtles, like the one shown here in Florida, nest on and forage near the Chandeleurs. Image credit: Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission

Of course, Louisiana anglers and saltwater fishing enthusiasts world-wide know the Chandeleurs for their massive schools of redfish, extraordinary speckled trout production, enormous populations of sharks, and even as a stopping and feeding spot for migrating tarpon coming from Florida each summer to feast on pogies and mullet near the Mississippi’s mouth.

This remarkable bounty of fish and wildlife prompted President Theodore Roosevelt to designate the islands as the Breton National Wildlife Refuge in 1904, the second-ever National Wildlife Refuge established in the United States.

Access Is a Challenge

There’s no such thing as an easy trip to northern Chandeleur Island. It’s more than 30 miles across a lot of open water from any launching spot along the Mississippi coast. Add a dozen or more miles to that from popular Louisiana ports.

Its remote nature has left the islands mostly unmolested by people and keeps predators like foxes, racoons, and other egg eaters away from bird and turtle nests. But, because the islands are so far away from the mainland, it also meant they were often passed up for large-scale restoration projects.

The storm surge reduction benefits just didn’t score as highly as islands in the Barataria or Terrebonne basins, while the distance from shore meant additional expenses in moving material and manpower on site. Facing limited budgets, state coastal planners had to pick islands that had the most combined benefits for both people and animals.

Construction could begin in 2026 to restore more than 13 miles of the barrier island chain.

Ironically, it’s the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil disaster that changed the equation for the Chandeleurs. The impacts to sea turtles, birds, fish, and other wildlife across the northern Gulf means habitat restoration and enhancement is weighted as much or more than storm surge reduction and coastal community protection when it comes to spending oil spill fines.

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill fouled many of Louisiana’s barrier island beaches. Image credit: Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality

The Time Is Now

Louisiana’s CPRA is trying to secure an approximate $280-plus million from various oil-spill penalty funds, including the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund as well as donations from nonprofit groups like Ducks Unlimited. Should the CPRA succeed, construction could begin in 2026 to restore more than 13 miles of beaches as well as sand dunes and pockets of back barrier marshes.

Here’s hoping CPRA succeeds. The Chandeleurs’ beaches and dunes are miniscule now compared to the estimated 11,000 acres there when Roosevelt established the refuge. Hurricanes, especially Georges in 1998 and, of course, Katrina in 2005 have ripped the islands apart, contributing to the loss of more than 90 percent of the landmass over the last 100 years.

Louisiana has lost far too much coastal habitat in the last century. That land loss has contributed to the slow erosion of a cultural identity intrinsic to the people of the Sportsman’s Paradise. Hopefully, restoring the Chandeleurs will play a big role in making sure that identity is passed on to the next generation of Louisiana sportsmen and women.

Every barrier island in Louisiana between the mouth of the Mississippi River and the Atchafalaya River has been restored and enhanced in some way in the last 25 years. It’s time the northern stretches of the Chandeleurs get their turn.

(Note: This story originally appeared in the October 2024 issue of Louisiana Sportsman.)

Banner aerial image credit: NOAA Restoration Center/ Erik Zobrist