CANTON -- The Greater Adirondack RC&D Council and local Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD) are partnering with New York Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to bring a new conservation program to the region.

The Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) uses partnerships to coordinate and target resources to address regional conservation goals.

This special funding will be used to implement practices to address localized priority resource concerns. Local SWCD’s and NRCS offices will work together to provide assistance to producers in the project area in developing and implementing conservation practices.

This round of RCPP financial assistance will be available for wildlife habitat improvement practices on forest and grasslands. Forestry practices include forest stand improvement, forest trails and landings, and herbaceous weed control. The grassland practice offered is early successional habitat development and management for grassland birds.

Interested farmers and landowners can contact the St. Lawrence County Soil & Water Conservation District office at 386-3582 for additional information and to obtain an application. The funding is put through the NRCS EQIP application and ranking process. As part of application process, all landowners will need to complete USDA eligibility requirements.

The cutoff date for applications is Friday, Nov. 18.

All applications are competitive and are ranked based on locally identified resource priorities and the overall benefit to the environment.