Source: United States Senator for Ohio Sherrod Brown
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) has awarded $6,839,113 to Ohio State University to establish a pilot watershed project in the larger Western Lake Erie Basin (WLEB) to test water quality management strategies with the goal of reducing phosphorus concentrations in local water bodies. USDA is also awarding $2,178,500 to the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities, which will work to reforest abandoned mine lands in Appalachian regions of Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky. By leveraging private capital and carbon market revenues, this initiative will plant over 2.5 million trees to help the local ecosystems and benefit wildlife, such as the golden-winged warbler and American woodcock.
“This is great news for Ohio – from reforesting Appalachia region to reducing harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie. The Great Lakes provide clean, affordable drinking water to 40 million people, and we need to continue to take aggressive action to reduce runoff into our lake,” said Brown. “I also support the initiative to plant thousands of trees on abandoned mineland across Southern Ohio. This will help restore the land while supporting the local ecosystem.”
Brown helped to establish the RCPP in the 2014 Farm Bill which created voluntary partnerships between agricultural and conservation groups aimed at helping farmers improve soil health, protect water quality, and restore wildlife habitats. This program has resulted in numerous innovative conservation practices that are reducing runoff into Lake Erie. Brown has worked to secure important wins for Lake Erie through legislation and by speaking out against harmful proposals that threaten the health of Lake Erie.
Brown helped secure investments for Ohio water infrastructure projects as part of the Water Resources Development Act of 2020 (WRDA 2020). WRDA 2020 invests in key water infrastructure projects to be studied, planned and developed by the U.S Army Corps of Engineers, including our nation’s ports, inland waterways, locks, dams, flood and coastal storm protection and ecosystem restoration.
Brown secured $320 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) in the 2020 appropriations package. Brown also spoke out against then-President Trump’s 2021 budget, which would have cut USDA conservation programs that help improve water quality in Lake Erie. Brown and Portman worked together to ensure GLRI was not only reinstated but also fully funded after President Trump proposed eliminating the program in 2018.
Brown was also able to include several provisions in the 2018 Farm Bill to protect Lake Erie and Ohio Waterways. The final bill includes provisions from Brown’s bipartisan Give Our Resources the Opportunity to Work (GROW) Act, which will better utilize existing federal conservation programs to protect waterways and expand access to quality farmland.
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