United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service 1365 Corporate Blvd. • Reno, NV 89502 • Phone (775) 857-8500 Web: http://www.nv.nrcs.usda.gov

For Immediate Release Jan. 28, 2015 Contact: Heather Emmons, NRCS Nevada (775) 857-8500 ext. 105; [email protected]

Left to right: Tribal Chairman Lindsey Manning; NRCS Nevada State Conservationist Bruce Peterson; Vice Chairman Buster Gibson; Water Resource Director Dennis Heaps; Council Member Rudy Blossem; Water Board Chairman Reggie Premo; Water Board Members Eric Beus and Ted Thomas

*Editors: larger photo size available by emailing [email protected]

Nevada’s Duck Valley Indian Reservation Awarded $3 Million for Project Award Culminates from NRCS StrikeForce Outreach

Reno, Nev.– NRCS Nevada State Conservationist Bruce Petersen formally announced a $3 million award to the Duck Valley Indian Reservation, through the new Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). The Duck Valley Reservation Irrigation Improvement Project is a shovel-ready project with the Shoshone-Paiute Tribe that will not only improve water quality and efficiency of irrigation use, but also provide economic benefits to an underserved community. The project will accomplish a wide variety of agricultural and natural resource goals, including upgrading irrigation systems, removing livestock from riparian areas and restoring stream banks.

"The Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of Duck Valley are very honored to have been awarded a Regional Conservation Partnership Program cost sharing grant from NRCS and the Department of Agriculture. Our endeavor to upgrade our irrigation project and develop our water resources to efficient usages was given a dramatic boost in scope and quality," said Lindsey Manning, Tribal Chairman.

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An Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer “On behalf of the Duck Valley Water Resource Board, we want to sincerely thank the U.S. Department of Agriculture for this award. It makes it possible for the tribes to accomplish some long-desired objectives,” said Dennis Heaps, water resource director for Duck Valley Indian Reservation. “One objective in particular was to remove our livestock from the river and away from watering directly from the irrigation canals and laterals, by installing a secondary water system for the animals. Removing livestock from the river will protect the riparian area adjacent to the river.”

On Jan. 14, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that 115 high-impact projects across all 50 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico will receive more than $370 million in federal funding as part of the new RCPP. In turn, these projects will leverage an estimated $400 million in partner contributions to improve the nation’s water quality, support wildlife habitat and enhance the environment.

“We learned of the grant opportunity through the NRCS StrikeForce initiative, a program that involves Tribes working collaboratively with USDA agencies. We hope that other Tribes in Nevada will take advantage of these opportunities as they become available in future years,” said Heaps.

StrikeForce for Rural Growth and Opportunity is a USDA effort that focuses high-priority assistance in rural communities in 20 states with a special emphasis on historically underserved farmers, ranchers and communities in counties with persistent poverty. Representatives from USDA agencies, including NRCS, had met with Duck Valley constituents in recent months as part of StrikeForce outreach efforts and had discussed the opportunity for the Reservation to submit a proposal for an RCPP project.

RCPP competitively awards funds to conservation projects designed by local partners specifically for their region. Eligible partners include private companies, universities, non-profit organizations, local and tribal governments and others joining with agricultural and conservation organizations and producers to invest money, manpower and materials to their proposed initiatives. With participating partners investing along with the Department, USDA’s $1.2 billion in funding over the life of the five-year program can leverage an additional $1.2 billion from partners for a total of $2.4 billion for conservation.

“RCPP puts our partners in the driver’s seat,” said Bruce Petersen, USDA’S Natural Resources Conservation Service state conservationist in Nevada. “Projects are led locally, and demonstrate the value of strong public- private partnerships that deliver solutions to tough natural resource challenges.”

More than 600 pre-proposals were submitted for RCPP in 2014.

“With so many strong project proposals, the project selection process was extremely competitive. RCPP is a 5- year, $1.2 billion USDA commitment; projects not selected in this first year may be eligible in subsequent years,” Petersen said.

For more information on Nevada RCPP projects, visit NRCS Nevada’s webpage or view the full list of projects. The next announcement of program funding for fiscal year 2016 will be made later in the year.

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An Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer To learn about technical and financial assistance available through conservation programs, visit www.nrcs.usda.gov/GetStarted or local USDA service center.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service provides leadership in a partnership effort to help people conserve, maintain, and improve our natural resources and environment.An Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer

Helping People Help the Land

An Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer