RCPP Kittatinny Ridge Project Preserves Five Farms in Cumberland and Schuylkill Counties – Technologist

Through a U.S. Dept. of Agriculture – Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) project, the NRCS and its partners have conserved five farms along the Kittatinny Ridge, with more conservation easement acquisitions in progress. The Kittatinny Ridge Conservation Landscape RCPP Project funds “entity-held” farmland and forest easements in a 22-county priority area along the Kittatinny Ridge. NRCS has committed $7 million dollars of financial assistance for this easement program, alongside an additional $38.5 million of planned contributions from its partners:

• Pennsylvania Dept. of Agriculture, Bureau of Farmland Preservation (Lead Partner)
• Pennsylvania Dept. of Military and Veteran Affairs
• Pennsylvania Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources
• Pennsylvania Game Commission
• Berks Nature
• Central Pennsylvania Conservancy
• Manada Conservancy
• The Lebanon Valley Conservancy
• Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation
• The Nature Conservancy

With the focus being on entity-held easements for this project, many of the partners listed above will hold or help to acquire the agricultural or forest easements, using a combination of federal, state, local and nonprofit funding.

The first five agricultural conservation easements acquired as part of this RCPP project preserve three farms in Cumberland County totaling 350 acres and two farms in Schuylkill County totaling 134 acres. Each of these farms was preserved in close partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Farmland Preservation (PDA). The Lebanon County Conservation District and the Schuylkill County Conservation District are co-holders of the new RCPP easements the PDA has acquired.  Stephanie Zimmerman, Director of PDA’s Bureau of Farmland Preservation, emphasizes the long-term impact of these efforts, saying, “Pennsylvania is proud to lead the nation in farmland preservation by ensuring that our agricultural lands remain productive for generations to come. Through initiatives like the Kittatinny Ridge Conservation Landscape RCPP Project, we are not only conserving the land but also securing the future of farming in our state, preserving its heritage and sustaining its agricultural vitality.” An additional eight conservation easement enrollments are in progress for this RCPP project, with additional applications welcome. The project will run through 2026, and the NRCS hopes to share more success stories in the future.

Through RCPP, NRCS cooperates with partners to implement partner-driven projects that demonstrate innovative solutions to conservation challenges and provide measurable improvements to resource concerns. Depending on the project, partners access RCPP funding to work directly with producers and landowners, or projects can be implemented using NRCS contracts with producers and landowners. NRCS Pennsylvania State Conservationist, Denise Coleman, explains, “With funding from the 2018 Farm Bill and Inflation Reduction Act, the RCPP is making great strides in Pennsylvania to conserve land, improve water quality, and mitigate for climate change. Through RCPP, we have strengthened partnerships with state and local governments and the nonprofit community to achieve measurable environmental outcomes for Pennsylvania farms, forests, and waterways.”  On October 23, 2024, the USDA announced two new RCPP Projects were selected for funding in Pennsylvania, in addition to eight existing active RCPP projects in Pennsylvania.

To learn more about the Kittatinny Ridge RCPP project or other RCPP opportunities, you can contact Jared Shippey, NRCS Assistant State Conservations for Programs, at [email protected], or visit this website.