I had whole lot rather see the farmer, rancher, sportsman receive the money, benefit, & recreation, from their commodity sales (CCC) profits to foreign countrys. Than keep giving the huge amounts of TAXPAYERS money to Wall Street and Banking Industry, so they can reward their CEOs for their failures with millions $ bonus. Look at all the billions BI has gotten since 2007... We may never dig out of the fininacial meltdown and collapse of global economy of Sept 2008. Remember the To Big To Fail
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Too_big_to_failhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late-2000s_recessionVAP-HIP is Funded under the FSA Farm Bill of 2008
Up to $50 million in CCC funds is authorized to States and tribal governments through FY2012. Grant applications must describe intended benefits from encouraging public access to farm and ranch land for hunting, fishing, and other recreational purposes.
Priority to be given to program proposals that:
• are likely to be broadly accepted among landowners
• enroll land with appropriate wildlife habitat
• strengthen wildlife habitat improvement efforts on land enrolled in special conservation reserve enhancement program by providing incentives to increase public hunting and other recreational access
• use grant money in conjunction with other Federal, State, or tribal resources to carry out program
• notify public of location of land enrolled
Grants will be reduced by 25% if opening dates for migratory-bird hunting in a State are not consistent for residents and nonresidents. This does not apply to grants to tribal governments.
Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program (VPA-HIP)
Overview
The Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program (VPA-HIP) is a competitive grants program authorized under Section 1240R of the Food Security Act of 1985, as amended, and is only available for states and tribal governments. Up to $50 million is available through fiscal year 2012.
The primary objective of the VPA-HIP is to encourage owners and operators of privately-held farm, ranch and forest land to voluntarily make that land available for access by the public for wildlife-dependent recreation, including hunting or fishing, under programs implemented by state or tribal governments.
Grantees that are states will have the grant amount reduced by 25 percent if opening dates for migratory bird hunting in the state are not consistent for residents and non-residents. This reduction does not apply to grantees that are tribal governments.
Regulations at 7 CFR part 1455 govern the VPA-HIP.
Background
A number of states and tribal governments have public access programs for hunting, fishing, and other related activities. These programs provide rental payments and other incentives, such as technical or conservation services, to landowners who allow recreation on their land by the public, including hunting, fishing, or other appropriate activities.
The majority of the existing public access programs have limited scope and budgets; most existing programs have an annual budget of less than one million dollars per year. The goals of these existing programs include providing access for wildlife-associated recreation, wildlife management, helping local economies that depend on revenue from hunters, and encouraging conservation.
The funding provided by the VPA-HIP will help states and tribal governments address many issues that can greatly increase access and recreational experiences. Grant recipients will be able to use the funding to provide additional landowner incentives and conservation assistance and increase acreage available for public access.
Nothing in the VPA-HIP preempts liability laws that may apply to activities on any property related to grants made in this program; however, a number of states provide limited liability protection to landowners participating in state public access programs.
How the Program Works
Periodically, the Farm Service Agency (FSA) acting on behalf of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) will publish a Request for Applications (RFA) on the federal government’s grants portal at
www.grants.gov.The RFA highlights considerations that should be adequately described in VPA-HIP applications and identifies evaluation criteria that will be used by FSA to determine VPA-HIP applications that will be approved and awarded funding. State and tribal governments submit applications to FSA through
www.grants.gov. A federal interagency panel reviews and scores applications against evaluation criteria. FSA considers interagency review panel scoring in making a determination of which applications will be approved to receive VPA-HIP funding. Approved applicants must complete additional financial agreements and related assurances, and a programmatic environment assessment, before VPA-HIP funds awarded are released to them.
Who Can Participate
Only states and tribal governments are eligible for federal VPA-HIP funding. States and tribal governments may propose to use VPA-HIP grant funding to expand existing public access programs, create new public access programs, and/or provide incentives to enhance wildlife habitat on lands enrolled in state or tribal government public access programs.
Funding Priorities
Funding priority is given to applications that use VPA-HIP grant funding to implement public access programs to address these objectives:
• Maximize participation by landowners;
• Ensure that land enrolled in the program has appropriate wildlife habitat;
• Provide incentives to strengthen wildlife habitat improvement efforts on Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) land;
• Supplement funding and services from other federal, state, tribal government or private resources that is provided in the form of cash or in-kind services and;
• Provide information to the public about the location of public access land.
Current Participation
Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin were approved for VPA-HIP funding and awarded multi-year (based on the availability of out-year funding) grants in 2010.
California, Georgia, Hawaii, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming, and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation were approved for VPA-HIP funding and will be awarded new or additional VPA-HIP funding in 2011.
For More Information
For more information on VPA-HIP, contact a local FSA office or visit FSA’s web site at:
http://www.fsa.usda.gov/vpa.From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) is a wholly owned government corporation created in 1933 to "stabilize, support, and protect farm income and prices" (federally chartered by the CCC Charter Act of 1948 (P.L. 80-806)). The CCC is authorized to buy, sell, lend, make payments and engage in other activities for the purpose of increasing production, stabilizing prices, assuring adequate supplies, and facilitating the efficient marketing of agricultural commodities.
The CCC, which has no staff, is essentially a financing institution for USDA’s farm price and income support commodity programs, commodity export credit guarantees, and agricultural export subsidies. The programs funded through CCC are administered by employees of the Farm Service Agency and the Foreign Agricultural Service. The CCC has the authority to borrow up to $30 billion from the U.S. Treasury to carry out its obligations. Net losses from its operations subsequently are restored through the congressional appropriations process. It issues payments in the form of Commodity Certificates.
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