FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 5, 2009
For More Information Contact: Paige Buck, State Public Affairs Specialist, (217) 353.6606
                                                  Clifftop Alliance www.clifftopalliance.org

Partners That Work! Partnerships That Pay!

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has selected a project for the 2009 Illinois’ Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative (CCPI). The 120,000-acre project area submitted by the Clifftop Alliance, located in Monroe, St. Clair and Randolph Counties, is a part of the State called the ‘Hill Prairie Corridor-Karst Sink Hole Plain.’ According to NRCS State Conservationist Bill Gradle, it’s an important ecological region of Illinois. “It contains significant natural habitat and wildlife that are in great need of conservation and protection,” says Gradle. By pairing up groups who support this resource with NRCS and directing funds from the non-profits and two federal programs, the area could receive nearly $1.5 million in conservation improvements over the next five years.

Using two popular NRCS Farm Bill programs, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP), along with technical assistance and planning expertise from both NRCS and the Clifftop organization, the team will identify and address critical resource issues and problems found onsite. At present, 5,000 acres of the area are already involved in active conservation and stewardship activities. This new CCPI project provides financial and technical assistance to plan and install restoration practices and protection measures on an additional 2,500 acres.

NRCS will assist “CLIFFTOP,” (Conserving Lands In Farm, Forest, Talus Or Prairie), formed in 2006 by a group of local landholders in Monroe and Randolph counties. Conservation practices and techniques CLIFFTOP and NRCS will install include invasive species control, forest stand improvements, reforestation, prescribed burning, and the careful development of customized forest/wildlife conservation management activity plans.

“When complete, this project will benefit rare and declining ecosystems and improve wildlife habitat, particularly species we know are in great need of our help,” Gradle explains. In addition, forested areas will gain improvements in local air quality.

For 2009, the first year of the project, NRCS funds and matching contributions from partners totals nearly $200,000. If funds are available, over four years, NRCS plans to provide $750,000 in technical and financial assistance. CLIFFTOP will offer matching funds and in-kind services worth more than $700,000.

“The best part about this is that the partners go further than making quality conservation plans and putting practices on the land,” explains NRCS Assistant State Conservationist for Programs Ivan Dozier. “All partners and players here are dedicated—they’ll develop a long-term strategic plan and carry out yearly plans as well. They’ll hold regular meetings and submit progress reports to keep landowners and everyone updated and informed. They also hold a number of workshops where local landowners learn how and why to do things a different way and why it’s so important,” Dozier adds.

As Illinois NRCS’ first Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative project, this effort in southwest Illinois will no doubt be an excellent example of how partners make local priorities into a true success story. To learn more about CCPI or to track progress and accomplishments of this effort, visit www.il.nrcs.usda.gov. County contacts include: Monroe County Contact: NRCS District Conservationist Wayne Johanning (618) 939-6181; Randolph County Contact: NRCS District Conservationist Andy Schlichting (618) 443-4382; and St. Clair County Contact: NRCS District Conservationist John Harryman (618) 235-2500.

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