BATON ROUGE (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded a collective $1.3 million in grants to two Louisiana groups for their conservation efforts.
The USDA announced Thursday it had awarded over $300,000 to The Nature Conservancy and nearly $1 million to the LSU Agricultural Center.
The Advocate’s Amy Wold reports that The Nature Conservancy will use the funds to encourage private investment in conservation measures throughout the Gulf Coast to help leverage the billions expected form the Deepwater Horizon settlement. The LSU Agricultural Center will use its grant to help develop strategies to help farmers improve soil health and improve water quality.
USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack says the grants are meant to spur innovation and develop new partnerships for better conservation efforts.
