Five Valleys Land Trust was one of two Montana entities to be awarded USDA Farm Bill Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) funding. Five Valleys will receive $3.7 million to work with Flint Creek Valley landowners on agricultural conservation projects.

“RCPP is a tremendous investment in the Flint Creek Valley at a critical time of unprecedented development pressure as well as landowner interest for agricultural land conservation,” says Whitney Schwab, Five Valleys Land Trust Executive Director. “This dedicated fund will allow us to work with our NRCS partners and landowners to support once-in-a-lifetime opportunities that will ensure that agricultural livelihoods and working lands can be adaptive and resilient in perpetuity.”

“RCPP leverages the power of public-private partnerships to focus resources and make a difference for the folks that manage Montana’s working lands,” said Tom Watson, NRCS State Conservationist for Montana. “Taking this chance to build on the successful partnership with Five Valleys Land Trust will bolster the economic and natural resource resiliency of agricultural operations in the Flint Creek Valley.”

More information is available from Five Valleys and from the NRCS. The other Montana project receiving RCPP funding is a Pheasants Forever project in the Northern Great Plains area of Montana.

Five Valleys Land Trust photo