Conservation districts warn $4.75 million in federal funding and local projects are at risk

Summary

Michelle Monroe and district managers told the Committee on Agriculture that federal freezes and cancellations — including Inflation Reduction Act-funded training and technical-assistance grants — put $4.75 million in Vermont conservation work at risk and are straining districts that help farmers access NRCS funding.

Montpelier — Michelle Monroe, executive director of the Vermont Association of Conservation Districts, told the Committee on Agriculture on April 9 that about $4,750,000 in federal funding for conservation districts and district-led projects is at risk after recent federal freezes and cancellations.

Monroe said the bulk of the funding supports technical assistance — conservation planners and program-assistance staff who help farmers develop projects and apply to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. “We’ve got $4,750,000 that is … at risk,” Monroe said, adding that the figure includes a frozen $3,600,000 technical-assistance pool and several canceled projects.

Those canceled and at-risk projects include a $1.2 million slate of culvert replacements in Lunenburg, Brighton and Ferdinand and a roughly $40,000 culvert project on the Upper Missisquoi River in Orleans County; an AmeriCorps conservation-planner training program that Monroe said was canceled outright; and a joint New York–Vermont chestnut manufacturing project meant to produce chestnut oil. Monroe said the White River Conservation District is…

Conservation districts warn $4.75 million in federal funding and local projects are at risk

Summary

Subscribe to keep reading