Nebraska Ag Connection - Rainwater Basin Receives Grant from Environmental Trust

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Rainwater Basin Receives Grant from Environmental Trust
Nebraska Ag Connection - 05/21/2019

The Nebraska Environmental Trust recently announced a grant of $111,650 to support "Happy Cows; Happy Wetlands." The Rainwater Basin Joint Venture, an affiliated fund of Nebraska Community Foundation, will implement the project. The Trust board announced funding for the project at its meeting in Lincoln. This is the first year of the grant award, with a potential for second- and third-year funding of an additional $39,480 and $25,620 respectively. The project is one of the 117 projects receiving $19,501,444 in grant awards from the Nebraska Environmental Trust in 2019. Of these, 85 are new applications and 32 are carry-over projects.

This grant will provide financial assistance to continue the Rainwater Basin Joint Venture (RWBJV) Working Lands Initiative (WLI). Grant and partner funds will be leveraged with landowner contributions to install grazing infrastructure that will allow wetlands to be incorporated into agriculture operations throughout the Rainwater Basin (RWB).

During the past several decades, as row-crop agriculture production increased, many privately owned wetlands were abandoned. Without grazing, the wetlands transitioned to monocultures of invasive, mostly exotic, vegetation (reed canary grass, river bulrush, and hybrid cattail), which provides limited habitat for waterfowl, waterbird, and shorebirds. Successful implementation of the project will require three stages: 1) Contacting producers with abandoned wetlands about incorporating grazing in their operation, 2) Leveraging funding to construct necessary infrastructure (perimeter fence, cross fence, and livestock watering), and, 3) Conducting tours with landowners and natural resource professionals to ensure an open dialogue about how grazing can be economically viable and promote desired habitat for the millions of waterfowl and shorebirds that rely on this region during their biannual migrations. The tours and conversations are intended to promote the development of better projects and the understanding of the win-win nature of these project for producers and wildlife. Developing infrastructure will promote cost effective long-term management of these sites through prescribed grazing.

The Nebraska Legislature created the Nebraska Environmental Trust in 1992. Using revenue from the Nebraska Lottery, the Trust has provided over $305 million in grants to over 2,200 projects across the state. Anyone -- citizens, organizations, communities, farmers and businesses -- can apply for funding to protect habitat, improve water quality, and establish recycling programs in Nebraska. The Nebraska Environmental Trust works to preserve, protect and restore our natural resources for future generations.

The Rainwater Basin Joint Venture partnership supports collaboration between private landowners, agriculture producers, conservation organizations, non-profits and government agencies across Nebraska to protect, restore and enhance habitat for millions of migratory waterfowl, shorebirds, and other wildlife. Nebraska Community Foundation serves as the financial management entity for the Rainwater Basin Joint Venture. For more information visit www.rwbjv.org.

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