Conservation Innovation Grants

Conservation Innovation Grants. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack this morning announced the awarding of $26 million dollars in grants for the Conservation Innovation Grant. The grants were awarded in 47 states including a $1.5 grant to an Oregon company. Vilsack explains the grant to The Freshwater Trust.

VILSACK: To build out a pilot project that you’ve been working on for some time to improve water quality and water temperatures. The Freshwater Trust and the Willamette Partnership have been working for 5 years to develop what we like to refer to as a water quality or water quality or water temperature market essentially paying landowners to plant shade trees and other conservation practices that allow the water temperature for the water the city of Medford uses in their wastewater treatment facility to be cooler so that when the city uses it, it’s put back in the stream, it doesn’t adversely affect the salmon.

VIlsack told me he hoped to see this project spread into Washington and Idaho with help from the EPA to facilitate a common market platform and rules that could make the Pacific Northwest market among the most robust and ambitious water quality trading efforts in the nation.

Now here’s today’s Washington Grange report.

(Grange)

That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.