Conservation Programs

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, earlier this month the
United States Department of Agriculture announced $370 million for 115
conservation projects in 50 States. These dollars are a result of the
Regional Conservation Partnership Program which was recently created in
the 2014 farm bill by the consolidation of numerous regional
conservation programs previously authorized under the 2008 law.

This RCPP funding will also leverage an additional $400 million
through non-Federal matching funds. Roughly 40 percent of these total
dollars are going towards national or multistate projects, and about 35
percent towards ``critical conservation areas,'' which include the
Great Lakes region, the Chesapeake Bay watershed, as well as other high
priority agricultural regions.

As chairman of the Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation and
Forestry, the committee will be closely watching how USDA administers
this critical program through oversight of the conservation title in
the coming year.

I strongly support commonsense, voluntary agriculture conservation. I
look forward to working with USDA and the various stakeholders on how
to make these programs as effective and results driven as possible.

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