The Farm Bill is the largest source of private land conservation funding in the nation, but not everyone realizes the impact that it has on coldwater fisheries for trout and salmon.
Every watershed that passes through private land is impacted by the land use surrounding it. The Farm Bill provides the tools and funding for willing farmers, ranchers, forest managers and landowners to be the lead stewards and conserve their land and improve its interaction with the waters that flow through it.
The Farm Bill Supports Coldwater Conservation.
Trout Unlimited works with private landowners and federal agencies like the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to provide technical, financial, and project management assistance to implement projects that conserve water volume, improve flood resiliency, increase water quality and ultimately benefit coldwater fisheries.
Since 1933, the Farm Bill has been providing critical support to rural communities throughout the United States. Programs within the Conservation Title of the Farm Bill allow TU to work in voluntary partnerships to restore streams, water quality, and improve fisheries. Reauthorized every five years, the most recent Farm Bill expired in 2023 and was extended by Congress for one year. We expect Congress to negotiate and work towards a reauthorized Farm Bill this year.
Sign our petition to call on Congress to reauthorize the Farm Bill!
I support a Farm Bill with a strong conservation title. Farm Bill conservation programs can support rural economies and farm families, stabilize streambanks, reduce erosion and flooding, maintain or increase instream flows, and ultimately improve coldwater habitat for trout and salmon.
Through Farm Bill funding, Trout Unlimited works nationally with agencies like the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and willing farmers, ranchers, and landowners to provide the technical, financial, and project management resources to accomplish goals. Those goals are landscape-driven and range from conserving water and increasing flows in arid western watersheds to stabilizing riparian corridors and reducing flood risk while improving native trout habitat in midwestern, eastern, and southern states.
NRCS programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) provide technical assistance and funding to willing landowners to integrate conservation into their working lands, with many EQIP projects improving downstream water quality and coldwater fish habitat for the whole watershed. The Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) leverages public-private partnerships to implement local and regional priorities into large-scale on-the-ground results for land, people and fish.
Farm Bill conservation programs are an effective tool for the type of work TU is completing in coordination with NRCS and working landowners throughout the country. Farm Bill conservation programs support not just the farm and ranch families that receive them, but the rural communities and economies that they’re a part of and coldwater trout and salmon habitat throughout the whole watershed.
Reauthorizing the Farm Bill with a strong conservation title in 2024 will support these programs, these families, and these fish.