AUSTIN — The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Texas is accepting applications until May 21, 2021, for financial assistance from agricultural producers participating in the Prairie View A & M University (PVAMU) Sustainable Forestry and African American Land Retention (SFLR) program in Anderson, Freestone, Houston, Liberty, Limestone, Navarro, Rusk, and Shelby counties.
Funding is available through NRCS’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) for the implementation of conservation practices to help meet land management goals, address natural resource concerns and improve soil, water, plant, animal, air, and related resources on agricultural land and non-industrial private forestland (NIPF).
According to PVAMU’s Cooperative Extension Program’s Agriculture and Natural Resources Program Leader Clarence Bunch, Ph.D., “African American forest landowners have historically faced significant economic challenges with land management issues, but the USDA NRCS partnership with PVAMU SFLR program and financial support to install practices, landowners can potentially increase the economic value in forestland and sustainability through forestland management.”
Practices being offered include, but are not limited to, access control, critical area planting, diversion, forest management plan, forest stand improvement, grade stabilization, streambank protection, stream crossing, stream habitat improvement, and wetland restoration. This EQIP-SFLR collaboration is intended to address these significant conservation challenges.
The SFLR program is a collaboration of federal, state, local, and community-based organizations to help stem the loss of land and eliminate barriers to African American forest landowners to help keep private forest land in the family. The purpose is to restore and conserve threatened, African American-owned forestland in the southern United States and enhance family wealth by increasing forest-owner income and land asset value through forest management.
“NRCS professionals help landowners inventory, analyze, and evaluate the potential of their forest land to produce lumber, wildlife habitat, and other environmental benefits,” said Kristy Oates, NRCS state conservationist for Texas. “Through EQIP, we provide technical expertise as well as financial assistance to implement conservation practices that help forest lands thrive.”
While most USDA offices are currently closed to visitors because of the pandemic, Service Center staff continue to work with agricultural producers via phone, email, and other digital tools. To conduct business, please contact your local USDA Service Center . Additionally, more information related to USDA’s response and relief for producers can be found at farmers.gov/coronavirus .
–USDA NRCS Texas
For more articles outof Texas, click here.