Dateline: January 29, 2004

Meeting will shape use of EQIP funds

By Ashlee Kidd, Clarendon Enterprise

Donley County landowners and operators will have an opportunity to gather information and set priorities for future U.S. Department of Agriculture conservation programs at a meeting next Thursday.

The Program Development Group will meet February 5, 2004, at 1:00 p.m. in the Clarendon College Courson RFO Center.

“Local landowners or anyone can be involved and are invited to attend the meeting,” Weldon Sears said. “We want to gear these practices towards local concerns. This opportunity is significant in terms of local control so it will fit to our land owners and our local resource needs.”

The primary function of this meeting will be to develop recommendations about resource concerns as they pertain to the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP), which is a conservation cost-share program administered by the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS).

Program development will be established at the local level, and therefore local involvement and input are essential to making the program relevant.

“The more people who participate, the more this will help our local community,” Sears said. “This is a chance for people to have not only an input, but also to make sure this program will work for them.”

This group will determine conservation concerns and priorities for cost-share assistance for Donley County, select eligible conservation practices to address the selected concerns and prioritize them, and make recommendations for cost-share rates and incentive payments. The group will also establish strategies for public outreach efforts, set a screening and ranking process, and determine program performance.

The Courson Center is located on the campus of Clarendon College, south of the Bairfield Activity Center.

For additional information call (806) 874-3576 ext. 3.