Funding to help landowners restore land in Driftless Area - WREX.com – Rockford’s News Leader

Funding to help landowners restore land in Driftless Area

Landowners in parts of north west Illinois could be eligible for funding to restore, improve, and protect wildlife habitats in the Driftless Area.

The funding from the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) would help eligible landowners in the area to improve and protect fish and wildlife habitats on working lands, forests, streams, and prairies within the Driftless Area. Parts of Carroll, Jo Daviess, Ogle, Stephenson, Winnebago, and Whiteside counties are included.

The Driftless Area covers part of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. It is the space bypassed by the last continental glacial movement and includes steep valleys, sandstone bluffs, and spring-fed creeks.

The NRCS hopes the funding will help manage woodlands for diversity, restore some working lands to prairie, restore cold-water trout streams, and more.

The application deadline for the funding is March 15. Eligible producers can contact their local NRCS field office to apply. More information on the initiative can be found at www.il.nrcs.usda.gov.