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 4. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Highlights Key Work in 2021 to Combat
    Climate Change


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U.S. AGRICULTURE SECRETARY TOM VILSACK HIGHLIGHTS KEY WORK IN 2021 TO COMBAT
CLIMATE CHANGE




RELEASE & CONTACT INFO

Press Release
Release No. 0014.22

Contact: USDA Press
Email: press@usda.gov

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2022 – Today, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack issued the
following statement delivering on the commitment to combat climate change and
highlighting key accomplishments to combat climate change at the Department of
Agriculture since the Biden-Harris Administration took office on January 20,
2021.

The effects of climate change on the nation’s agriculture, natural resources and
communities are already a grim reality. Longer, more severe droughts,
catastrophic wildfires, flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes and other record-setting
natural disasters exacerbated by climate change continue to devastate lives and
livelihoods.

“Climate change threatens our food security, safety, and the environment we all
depend on, but USDA is taking action to respond,” said Vilsack. “Working closely
alongside our partners and those we serve, we are conserving precious natural
resources, supporting climate smart forestry and agriculture, helping
agricultural producers make their operations more climate friendly and resilient
to climate change, and protecting communities from wildfire.”

Thoughtfully managed, American agriculture, and both public and private lands,
can be made more resilient to the effects of climate change while also acting as
a powerful tool in mitigating its effects. USDA provides critical leadership in
these efforts through research, technical assistance, funding, as well as
support from USDA staff on the ground. Together, these resources help public and
private landowners, farmers and ranchers, and communities and businesses become
more resilient to the effects of climate change and more sustainable in the long
run.

Most importantly, the work to combat climate change cannot be done alone. To be
truly successful, we at USDA and across the federal government must creatively
examine our partnerships with state, local, Tribal, private and non-profit
partners, tap into their expertise, leverage shared resources, and seek out new
ways to work together to tackle these problems across a landscape we all share.

That is why today, USDA announced a 10-year strategy for restoring the health of
fire-adapted forests and reducing the risk of climate-amplified wildfire to
communities. Using new funding and cross-boundary partnerships, priority will be
given to help at-risk communities adapt to wildfire.

Key USDA accomplishments during 2021 include:

 * USDA began the Climate Smart Agriculture and Forestry Partnership Initiative
   to finance climate-smart commodity production to create new market
   opportunities that meets growing demand.
 * Secretary Vilsack underscored USDA’s support for President Biden’s
   whole-of-government approach to combating climate change at the COP26 climate
   change conference.
 * Teamed up with the United Arab Emirates to launch AIM for Climate to put
   agriculture at the center of global efforts to combat climate change.


FOREST SERVICE

 * Responded to an unprecedented fire year, alongside multi-agency partners,
   that strained resources, staffing and devastated communities and landscapes
   across the country.
 * Achieved 93% of planned treatments to reduce potential fuels for wildfires.
 * Treated more than 3.6 million acres to reduce wildfire risk, 1.3 million of
   which effectively mitigated wildfire when it mattered most.
 * Assisted 12,000 communities with wildfire mitigation and suppression with the
   help of state, local and federal partners as well as more than 10,000
   volunteer fire departments.
 * Treated nearly a quarter of a million acres for pests and enhanced 3.2
   million acres of wildlife habitat, almost 2,400 miles of streams and 37,000
   acres of lake habitats.
 * Invested $92 million in projects for cross-boundary forest health and fire
   prevention projects to sequester carbon, increase forest health and reduce
   hazardous fuels on more than 225,000 acres of federal, state and private
   land.
 * Leveraged partnerships with the National Reforestation Partnership Program,
   the National Forest Foundation, American Forests, Arbor Day Foundation, and
   One Tree Planted to grow 12 million seedlings to be used on more than 100
   tree planting projects.
 * Added nine new Shared Stewardship agreements and 53 Good Neighbor Authority
   agreements to better collaborate with state, tribal, and local governments on
   restoration projects to improve forest conditions and protect local
   communities from wildfires.


FARM SERVICE AGENCY

 * Overhauled the Conservation Reserve Program to improve climate benefits, with
   producers enrolling more than 5.3 million acres into the program, surpassing
   a goal of 4 million acres.


RISK MANAGEMENT AGENCY

 * Added a new flexibility for producers to receive 100% of the prevented
   planting payment when using cover crops and provided almost $60 million to
   producers to plant 12.2 million acres of cover crops through the Pandemic
   Cover Crop Program.
 * Offered additional insurance coverage for corn farmers who “split apply”
   nitrogen to their crops, a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly
   practice.


NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE (NRCS)

 * Invested $50 million in 118 partnerships to expand access to conservation
   assistance for climate-smart agriculture and forestry.
 * Invested $10 million to support climate-smart agriculture and forestry
   through voluntary conservation in the Environmental Quality Incentives
   Program.
 * Invested $40 million through Conservation Innovation Grants to help
   agricultural producers adopt innovative conservation practices and mitigate
   the effects of climate change on their operations.
 * Invested $405 million through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program,
   including more than 100 projects to address climate change, improve water
   quality, combat drought, enhance soil health, support wildlife habitat and
   protect agriculture.


OFFICE OF TRIBAL RELATIONS

 * The Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior signed a joint Secretarial
   Order to ensure both Departments are managing public lands and waters in a
   way that fulfills the United States’ unique trust obligation to federally
   recognized Indian Tribes and their citizens.
 * USDA supported a new memorandum committing federal agencies to elevating
   Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge in federal scientific and policy
   processes.


RURAL DEVELOPMENT

 * Invested $687 million through the Rural Energy for America Program to help
   rural businesses purchase and install energy efficiency upgrades and
   renewable energy systems like solar.
 * Announced $700 million in economic relief to biofuel producers to restore
   renewable fuel markets affected by the pandemic through the new Biofuel
   Producer Program authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic
   Security Act (CARES Act).
 * Invested $241 million in renewable and energy storage loans through the Rural
   Utilities Service. These investments include 13 solar projects totaling
   $199.8 million, one $4 million hydroelectric project and one $38 million
   battery energy storage system.
 * Added more than 270 new companies to the BioPreferred certification and
   labeling program, bringing the total to 3,200 companies from 47 different
   countries.
 * Invested more than $47 million in grants across 31 states to add almost a
   billion gallons of higher blends fuels to the market through the Higher
   Blends Infrastructure Investment Program.


RESEARCH, EDUCATION, AND ECONOMICS

 * Joined the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Grand Challenge to meet 100% of U.S.
   aviation fuel demand by 2050.

 * Developed a new tool to improve drought early warning systems, critical to
   food security and adaptive management.
 * Invested $146 million for sustainable agricultural research to improve a
   robust, resilient, climate-smart food and agricultural system.
 * Invested $9 million for new Cooperative Extension and USDA Climate Hubs
   partnerships to bolster climate research and share climate-smart solutions
   with the agricultural community.
 * Invested $8 million to create two new AFRI Artificial Intelligence (AI)
   Institutes to help farmers mitigate the effects of climate change on labor
   and resource management.

In 2022, USDA will continue its climate-smart approach to agriculture and
forestry and prioritize productivity, economic wellbeing and adaptation to
climate change while taking actions to reduce emissions and sequester carbon.
USDA will prioritize the following objectives this year:

 * Forest Service will begin work on its 10-year strategy to restore forest
   health and reduce climate-amplified wildfire risks to forests and at-risk
   communities. This includes – over the life of the strategy – treating 20
   million acres of national forests and grasslands and 30 million acres of
   other federal, state, Tribal and private lands to improve conditions across
   the landscape.
 * Forest Service will continue to strategically focus reforestation at the
   right scale, time and place, to make forests more resilient to climate change
   while increasing carbon uptake and storage.
 * Rural Development will continue to strategically focus on integrating climate
   outcomes into its work by expanding clean and reliable energy generation and
   increasing renewable fuels production and infrastructure to the benefit of
   rural and Tribal communities.
   * For example, Rural Development will create a new pilot program to support
     clean energy in underserved rural communities.
 * NRCS will host a new signup to help producers in 11 states mitigate climate
   change through adoption of cover crops and begin a program to provide
   incentives for climate-smart conservation on working lands.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In
the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with
a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer
markets for all producers, ensuring access to healthy and nutritious food in all
communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and
producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic
investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America,
and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and
building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit
www.usda.gov.

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