Increasing Agricultural Conservation’s Effectiveness
Given that agriculture dominates global land use, the development of a regenerative farming system must be a key component of any comprehensive environmental vision.
EPIC’s agriculture program uses cutting-edge technologies and novel policy solutions to 1) develop new sources of demand for conservation outcomes, 2) ensure conservation dollars are spent as cost-effectively and quickly as possible, and 3) incentivize the creation of new solutions to the most pressing resource concerns.
Our Initiatives
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Watershed Partnerships
Our work facilitating agreements between cities and state regulators creates opportunities for creative projects that reduce nutrients, increase recreational opportunities, reduce sediment, and help mitigate flooding. The focus on engagement in the watershed also opens up grant funding and creative projects that benefit the community.
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The Farm Bill
The United States Farm Bill provides billions of dollars for conservation projects on private working lands. Ensuring those funds are spent in the most cost-effective manner is critical to addressing resource concerns.
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Buying Conservation Outcomes
States are beginning to adopt results-driven conservation strategies that emphasize quantifiable environmental improvements. This approach provides greater flexibility to farmers, streamlines administration, and incentivizes the most cost-effective environmental progress.
What’s New
Since enacting the Conservation Finance Act in 2022, Maryland agencies have begun to implement it and attract greater private investment in conservation.
The US Department of Agriculture has contracted at least seven RCPP projects that used performance-based payments to buy environmental outcomes. This report profiles their challenges and successes.
New report evaluates the last three years of efforts developing Midwest watershed partnerships
Sand County Foundation and the Environmental Policy Innovation Center evaluate the successes, challenges, and immediate opportunities for watershed partnerships in the Midwest.
A report on the progress of nine Iowa cities that have signed memoranda of understanding with the state Department of Natural Resources to establish watershed partnerships.
New report examines the challenges to administratively scaling the Regional Conservation Partnership Program
An analysis of incentives driving forest management decisions by Maryland landowners and the current state of their coordination
The Susquehanna River Basin Commission announced today the opening of its application for proposals offering cost-effective reductions of nutrient pollution entering the Chesapeake Bay from the Susquehanna watershed.
EPIC’s concepts to dramatically increase the pace and scale of conservation in the 2023 Farm Bill