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Cherokee County 2004 EQIP Program


Executive Summary

The Natural Resources Conservation Service of USDA in Cherokee County, Alabama, will hold a signup for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) for the 2004 Fiscal Year. This signup will be held on a continuous basis. Any eligible landuser who has a resource concern or problem on cropland, pastureland, hayland, animal waste, at-risk species habitat (longleaf pines and precommercial thinning), or irrigation concerns may apply for assistance through this program. Applications may be made at the NRCS or FSA office of the Cherokee County USDA Service Center located at 999 West Main Street in Centre. Office hours are Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.. The telephone number is (256) 927-8732. The local contact persons are Philip Abney, District Conservationist, or Billy Joe Johnson, CED.

The USDA work group has established 5 resource concerns in Cherokee County:

  1. Erosion/Soil Quality, Priority Ranking 1
  2. Water Quality (Animal Waste), Priority Ranking 1
  3. Grazing Lands, Priority Ranking 2
  4. At-Risk Species Habitat, Priority Ranking 3
  5. Water Conservation, Priority Ranking 5

Approvals will be given to those applications that will provide the greatest environmental benefits, i.e. those receiving the most environmental points. Contracts will be developed for approved applications in order of descending environmental points, until all funds are obligated. Due to the large number of applications under Erosion/Soil Quality for conservation tillage, the Cherokee County EQIP Work Group has set a limit to the following: a maximum of 150 acres planting into 30 percent+ residue and 20 acres planting into 50 percent+ residue

In the event of a tie between applications, a random drawing will be held at the next SWCD Board meeting. The first batching period for ranking and prioritizing applications will be May 28, 2004. The second batching period will be 30 days after May 28th (until all funds are obligated).

The Cherokee County workgroup approved to implement the Practice List as approved by the State Technical Committee and Cost Share Rates as approved by the NRCS State Conservationist. Planned conservation practices used to address the resource concerns will come from this list.

Applications may also be taken on-line at: http://www.sc.egov.usda.gov. Additional information is available at: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/eqip/.  

 These documents require Adobe Acrobat.
Adobe Acrobat DocumentConservation Program Application - CCC1200 (330 KB)
Adobe Acrobat DocumentState Ranking Tool (76 KB)
Adobe Acrobat DocumentState Practices, Cost-Share Rates, and Restrictions (100 KB)

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