A new $40 million partnership will give money for conservation projects to landowners in states affected by BP’s 2010 oil spill in the Gulf, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says. The department’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation could eventually provide a total of up to $100 million over five years, each giving half the money.
“We know some private landowners who would love to be part of that recovery, but because of restrictions or requirements have been left out,” Vilsack tells The Associated Press.
Thomas Kelsch, the foundation’s vice president for the Gulf, notes that it’s helping to pay for Mississippi’s restoration planning, which is expected to identify potential ways to improve areas such as Biloxi’s Back Bay and the Mississippi Sound. Should that study identify private lands that need wetlands restoration or invasive species control, those might be “great candidate projects,” Kelsch says.
He says some of the foundation’s share will come from plea deals with Transocean Ltd., which owned the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, but money for Louisiana projects must come from other sources. Settlement money may be used only for projects in Louisiana’s master plan.
Another fund, which will get 80% of civil penalties for the spill, has been paying for projects on public land, while the new partnership will help private landowners in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, Kelsch said.
“It’s a way to ensure that private landowners can receive the right sort of incentives to undertake the kinds of good stewardship work that ultimately contribute to broader restoration goals for the Gulf,” he says.
