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practices (BMPs) with the remaining 25% paid by farmers directly or <br />through in -kind contributions. Some applicants may be eligible to receive <br />as much as $75,000 per year. Also the program provides local Districts <br />with matching funds (50:50) to hire personnel to plan and install the <br />needed BMPs, including Riparian Buffers, Strip cropping, and Grassed <br />Waterways <br />d. Natural Heritage Trust Fund Like the FPTF and CWMTF, this fund may <br />be available to purchase development rights on properties with <br />outstanding natural or cultural values . 27 <br />e. North Carolina Conservation Tax Credit North Carolina law allows a <br />credit against individual and corporate income taxes when real property is <br />donated for conservation purposes. Interests in property that promote <br />specific public benefits may be donated to a qualified recipient. Such <br />conservation donations qualify for a substantial tax credit .28 <br />Federal Conservation Funding Tools <br />Below are some of the voluntary federal programs that are part of The Farm <br />Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (commonly known as the 2002 Farm <br />Bill) and administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (MRCS) <br />and Farm Services Agency (FSA) of the United States Department of Agriculture <br />(USDA). They are designed to compensate farmland owners for the conservation <br />value of their land. Like local PACE programs, they have the dual effect of <br />safeguarding the environmental benefits of farmland as open space while injecting <br />dollars into the local economy via the farmland owner. <br />a. Farm and Ranchland Protection Program (FRPP) The Farm and <br />Ranchland Protection Program provides federal funds to help purchase <br />development rights, keeping productive farmland in agricultural use while <br />compensating the farmland owner for the conservation value of his or her <br />land. The FRPP program matches state and local PACE programs up to <br />50% of the easement purchase price, working through state, tribal and <br />local governments and land trusts. <br />b. Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) The Conservation Reserve <br />Program reduces soil erosion, protects the nation's ability to produce food <br />and fiber, reduces sedimentation in streams and lakes, improves water <br />quality, establishes wildlife habitat, and enhances forest and wetland <br />resources. It encourages farmers to convert highly erodible cropland or <br />other environmentally sensitive acreage to vegetative cover, such as tame <br />or native grasses, wildlife plantings, trees, filter strips, or riparian buffers. <br />Farmers receive an annual rental payment for the term of the multi -year <br />contract. <br />c. Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) (where available) <br />CREP is a voluntary program that seeks to protect land along watercourses <br />that is currently in agricultural production. The objectives of the program <br />include: installing 100,000 acres of forested riparian buffers, grassed filter <br />strips and wetlands; reducing the impacts of sediment and nutrients within <br />the targeted area; and providing substantial ecological benefits for many <br />wildlife species that are declining in part as a result of habitat loss. Under <br />10 <br />Attachment number 1 <br />G -1 Page 207 <br />