The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has allocated $8 million from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to the USDA Climate Hubs.
This funding will be used to provide training, materials, and other technical assistance to help NRCS implement climate mitigation-related practices. These practices aim to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, improve soil carbon, and increase GHG sequestration on working lands. The Northeast Climate Hub (NE HUB) has been awarded ~$700,000 of these funds to address these needs in the northeastern US.
The first task for this effort is to develop and deliver training materials to increase awareness of NRCS’ workforce and partners. In addition, the NE Hub will provide farm and forest-related decision support tools and information that help decision-makers identify conservation programs and practices that could help reduce GHG emissions and enhance carbon storage. The NE Hub will assist in determining ways to evaluate mitigation-related conservation practices, reduce uncertainty, and strengthen the link between scientific knowledge and practice implementation.
The NE Hub will continue to foster relationships with NRCS leadership at the state level to support building their staffs’ climate literacy and help them become more at ease discussing climate-related topics with their customers. This includes sharing locally relevant climate basics, and identifying key questions, knowledge gaps and barriers to adoption. The NE Hub will work closely with the other Climate Hubs to create a national framework that will allow for local experiences and needs.
We look forward to working closely with our NRCS partners to achieve this important task!