Reflections: USDA Gulf Coast Conservation Reserve Program

2025-04-01

Reflections on Restoration Progress
RESTORE Council- 2025

USDA Gulf Coast Conservation Reserve Program

The RESTORE Council funds work with private landowners to support voluntary land management practices that reduce pollution before it enters the streams and bayous that flow into the Gulf of America. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been awarded $9.1 million in RESTORE Act Council-Selected Restoration Component funds to implement the Gulf Coast Conservation Reserve Program (GCCRP) in Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. The program works with private landowners to reduce soil erosion, improve water quality, and enhance fish and wildlife habitat within priority watersheds of the Gulf.

Erosion in Brock Gully

Restoration in Brock Gully

The Gulf Coast Conservation Reserve program approved funding through the RESTORE Council to restore Brock Gully and treat soil erosion on private lands in coastal watersheds. Credit: USDA

Through this program, the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) provides technical and financial resources to help landowners plan and implement conservation practices. One completed project involved the installation of conservation measures to repair a very large gully (shown above) on forested lands in Santa Rosa County, Florida. Runoff from this single gully, which was 30 feet deep, 50 feet wide, and over a quarter of a mile long, was contributing an estimated 56,000 tons of sediment per year into downstream waters. USDA’s efforts reduced soil runoff into the Blackwater River and Coldwater Creek, located within the Escambia Bay Watershed. This partnership between USDA, Santa Rosa County, FL and private landowners has resulted in reduced soil and nutrient loss, restored fish and wildlife habitat, and improved overall water quality along the Gulf Coast. The success of the project has spawned new local partnerships focused on reducing erosion and sedimentation in area watersheds.

Construction equipment during Brock Gully restoration

After construction at Brock Gully

The photo on the top was taken during construction and the one on the bottom was taken after the installation of conservation measures to repair Brock Gully. Photo credit: RESTORE Council

The RESTORE Council is commemorating 15 years since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill  incident with a month-long reflection on its progress to date implementing meaningful ecosystem and economic restoration across the Gulf Coast. Subscribe to our eBlast or Modify your eBlast subscription. 

Keala J. Hughes
Director of External Affairs & Tribal Relations
(504) 717-7235
keala.hughes@restorethegulf.gov