USDA Funds Available to Improve Wildlife Habitat
By: Natural Resources Conservation Service East Lansing, Michigan
EAST LANSING, June 5, 2008 Financial assistance is available to landowners interested in improving habitat for wildlife on their land.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has 2008 funding available for habitat improvement through its wildlife habitat incentives program. Funds are available this year for applications received before August 1. The funds cover about 75 percent of the typical costs for practices to improve wildlife habitat such as planting native grasses and trees.
The recent passage of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 provided additional current year funding for conservation programs. In Michigan, an additional $475,000 in 2008 funding for the wildlife habitat incentives program is anticipated. With a short backlog of existing applications, new applications are being sought by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, which administers the program.?
Applicants for the wildlife habitat incentives program do not have to be engaged in agriculture. Homeowners with large plots of land, owners of recreational land and other rural landowners who want to improve wildlife habitat on their property are eligible to apply. Other common habitat improvement practices funded through the program include invasive plant species control, streambank improvements and establishing windbreaks.
Landowners interested in applying for the wildlife habitat incentives program should contact Ben Loosemore at: 231-889-9666 or get more information online at www.mi.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/whip.html.
