NEWS RELEASE

NACD Applauds Conservation Investments in Inflation Reduction Act

WASHINGTON, DC – NACD applauds the inclusion of conservation and natural resources program funding in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), which was passed by Congress today. The bill will now be sent to the President’s desk to be signed into law.

“NACD is pleased to see continued support from Congress and the administration in conservation program funding,” NACD President Michael Crowder said. “We applaud this investment in conservation and natural resource management, and we will continue to advocate for support for these programs that are critical to addressing climate change by improving the health of our soils, watersheds, and forests. We look forward to continuing our work with all members of Congress, on both sides of the aisle, to bring voluntary conservation and natural resource management to the producers and landowners who benefit from these programs.” 

The Inflation Reduction Act includes approximately $1 billion for conservation technical assistance, which allows NRCS and conservation districts across the country to get boots on the ground to support producers implement conservation. This legislation also provides $18 billion for voluntary conservation programs administered by the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) between Fiscal Years 2023 and 2027. This funding includes:

• $8.45 billion for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program
• $4.95 billion for the Regional Conservation Partnership Program
• $3.25 billion for the Conservation Stewardship Program
• $1.4 billion for the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program

The IRA also provides substantial investments to support conservation and wildfire mitigation efforts in our nations’ forests, including:

• $1.8 billion for hazardous fuels reduction projects on U.S. Forest Service (USFS) land within the wildland-urban interface to support activities such as tree thinning and undergrowth removal.
• $200 million for vegetation management projects on USFS land.
• $100 million to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of environmental reviews on USFS land.
• $50 million for the USFS to complete an inventory of old-growth and mature forests within the USFS system, and for the protection of those forests.
• $2.2 billion for State and Private Forestry Conservation Programs
• $550 million for competitive grants under the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act Section 13A, to non-federal forest landowners

“This funding represents a great opportunity for conservation districts and their partners to bring natural resource management efforts into practice,” NACD CEO Jeremy Peters said. “Conservation districts are invaluable to the delivery of these programs and their benefits to communities across the country.”

About the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD)

The National Association of Conservation Districts is the nonprofit organization that represents the nearly 3,000 conservation districts across the United States, their state and territory associations, and the 17,000 men and women who serve on their governing boards. For more than 75 years, local conservation districts have worked with cooperating landowners and managers of private working lands to help them plan and apply effective conservation practices. For more information about NACD, visit www.nacdnet.org.