Press Release
Media Contact: Marissa Spratley
Email: mspratley@allianceforthebay.org
Office: 443-949-0575 

PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

USDA NRCS Awarded Over $1.5 Million to Reduce Agricultural Runoff in Pennsylvania

Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay awarded funds to partner with local dairy farms

Annapolis, MD (October 2nd, 2017) The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Pennsylvania has announced more than $1.5 million for six demonstration projects designed to reduce agricultural pollution in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay is among the recipients. The Alliance was awarded half a million dollars for a demonstration project, entitled, “Dairy-led Healthy Streams Initiative,” which will motivate greater conservation through working with the private sector.

The Alliance will work with local dairy distributors in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania to develop a method for which the distributors can motivate their producers to adopt stronger conservation practices.

Also involved in the project are the nonprofit Chesapeake Conservancy, local design firm Nimblist, and American Dairy Association North East (ADANE). The Chesapeake Conservancy will be conducting a riparian buffer gap analysis for Lancaster County to aid in the prioritization of restoration areas. Nimblist will be developing marketing strategies for dairy companies that adopt conservation into their mission. ADANE will help to conduct outreach and advise project efforts.

Funding comes through the NRCS’s Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) Program. Through CIG, grantees develop and encourage adoption of innovative conservation practices and market-based solutions to resource challenges.

Jenna Mitchell, the Alliance’s Pennsylvania State Director said, “The Alliance is thrilled to be a recipient of NRCS’s Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) Program. We are excited to be leading the effort of partnering with local diary distributors in Lancaster, Pennsylvania to work toward a cleaner and healthy Chesapeake Bay watershed.”

About the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay:

Founded in 1971, the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, with headquarters in Annapolis, MD and offices in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania and Richmond, Virginia, works throughout the Bay watershed to lead, support and inspire local action and build partnerships with individuals, communities, governments, businesses and other groups to restore the Bay watershed and its lands, rivers and streams. For more information about the Alliance, visit: allianceforthebay.org

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