Application Deadline is September 3 for Financial Aid and Technical Assistance through the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program to help High Park Fire landowners
USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is offering $500,000 in financial and technical assistance through its Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) to help landowners who are affected by the recent High Park Fire.
Conservation practices that are available under this special program are:
- Critical Area Planting (native grass seeding to reduce erosion)
- Dike
- Filter Strip (to reduce sedimentation in riparian areas)
- Grade Stabilization Structure
- Herbaceous Weed Control (chemical control of noxious weeds)
- Mulching (certified weed-free straw or chipping of burned dead trees on site)
- Clearing and Snagging
- Riparian Forest Buffer
- Stream Habitat Improvement & Management
- Sediment Control Basin
- Underground Outlet
- Terrace (log erosion barriers, straw wattles)
To be eligible to apply for the WHIP funding the applicant must have control of the land to be treated for the contract period. Control is defined as possession of the land by ownership, written lease, or other legal agreement. Increased payments are available for eligible socially disadvantaged landowners in addition to beginning and limited resource farmers or ranchers and Indian tribes.
WHIP is a voluntary program for conservation-minded landowners who want to develop and improve wildlife habitat on agricultural land, nonindustrial private forest land, and Tribal land.
Private landowners impacted by the High Park Fire and interested in receiving assistance through WHIP can contact Todd
Boldt, District Conservationist, NRCS Fort Collins Field Office at 970-215-9897 or by email at todd.boldt@co.usda.gov or in person at the field office at 2150 Centre Avenue, Building A, Ft. Collins, CO.
Additional program requirements and information about WHIP is available on the Colorado Natural Resources Conservation Service website at www.co.nrcs.usda.gov.
