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| West Side to host meeting |
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| Written by PI Web | |
| Friday, 23 May 2008 | |
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At a glance
WHAT: 2009 West Side Environmental Quality Incentives Program meetingWHEN: 10 a.m. Wednesday WHERE: Westley Firehouse, 8598 Kern St., Westley Local residents can offer advice next week on a federal program that provides farmers with money to help preserve the environment. Local conservation districts plan to meet Wednesday at the Westley Firehouse to discuss the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, established by the federal farm bill. “We’re trying to help (farmers) be better stewards of the land,” said Christopher Hartley, district conservationist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Modesto field office. The East Stanislaus Resource Conservation District and West Stanislaus Resource Conservation District are running public meetings to get input on natural resource management priorities in Stanislaus County. In the past, meetings have been at the Stanislaus County’s Agricultural Commissioner’s office off Crows Landing Road near Modesto. However, organizers are offering the meetings throughout the county. Other meetings will be in Turlock and Oakdale. The EQIP program, established in 1997, specifically provides funding for programs dealing with habitat conservation, pollution runoff, water conservation, air quality and soil erosion. In Stanislaus County, $3.2 million was spent on 89 projects in fiscal year 2008. On the West Side, some of those projects include irrigation efficiency improvements, such as the use of drip irrigation systems, and tailwater return systems, in which tailwater runoff is collected in a pond and reused. Pasture management projects and support on dairies also are common in Stanislaus County. Though the NRCS has yet to receive rules regarding the future EQIP program, this year’s farm bill will provide more money for air quality, and California could potentially benefit, Hartley said. Information gathered at the meetings will help direct locally led conservation efforts and advise the Natural Resources Conservation Service on implementing EQIP for the 2009 program year. Written comments may be submitted via e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ; or mailed to Stanislaus County Natural Resources Work Group, 3800 Cornucopia Way, Ste. E, Modesto 95358. For information: 491-9320, ext. 121.
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