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Agren, Inc. Receives Conservation Innovation Grant

August 3, 2007

Des Moines, Iowa – State Conservationist Richard Van Klaveren, of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), announced today that Agren, Inc., a private agricultural and environmental consulting business from Carroll, will receive a Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) from NRCS.

CIGs, part of the 2002 Farm Bill, are awarded to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies. The technology-transfer program helps leverage Federal investment because government dollars must be matched at the local level. The grant is open to public and private entities as well as individuals.

Steve Longlee, of Hornick, Iowa, is a farmer and volunteer firefighter in western Iowa's Loess Hills. He points to eastern red cedars on his land that need to be removed and burned with a prescribed fire.
Steve Longlee, of Hornick, Iowa, is a farmer and volunteer firefighter in western Iowa's Loess Hills. He points to eastern red cedars on his land that need to be removed and burned with a prescribed fire.

Agren, Inc. will receive $55,100 for a three-year project to educate and train firefighters in western and southern Iowa on how to plan and conduct safe, ecologically-beneficial prescribed fires. Grant funds will be used to develop a series of contacts, meetings and trainings so more fire departments are able to offer prescribed fire as a service to their communities. In doing so, the number of acres that could benefit from a prescribed fire will increase significantly.

“The training that Agren, Inc. provides to firefighters, with help from the Conservation Innovation Grants program, will benefit our staff and customers by helping us provide more leading edge solutions to today’s conservation issues and challenges,” said Van Klaveren. “Ultimately, this work will improve and restore ecological sites, control plant disease, reduce wildfires, improve wildlife habitat and help us better manage plant diversity in the region." 

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For more information:

Contact:
Tom O’Connor, CIG Program Coordinator, Iowa NRCS
E-mail: thomas.oconnor@ia.usda.gov
Phone: (515) 323-2224


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