Hi everyone! My name is Mariah Denzik and I’m happy to join Brown and Clermont Natural Resources Conservation Service as a Natural Resource Specialist. I began my career with USDA with the Farm Service Agency in August of 2021 and recently made the jump to NRCS in October. I’ve always enjoyed being outdoors and graduated from Ohio University with a B.A in Environmental Biology and a certificate in Environmental Sustainability. After graduation, I moved to North Carolina where I participated in wetland surveys on Camp Lejeune and taught various science lab courses at a community college. When I made my way back to Ohio, I worked with the Adams County Health Department as an Environmental Health Specialist while gaining an M.S. in Biological Sciences online with Clemson University. My time outside of work is spent going on various adventures with my son, Emerson and our three-legged dog, Charlie.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Ohio Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is accepting applications from landowners interested in the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) to build on existing conservation efforts to increase operational efficiencies and environmental benefits as well as reduce overall input costs.
This year, Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funding is providing additional financial opportunities for select conservation practices and enhancements to increase direct climate mitigation benefits. The deadline to receive fiscal year 2023 funding for both CSP-Classic and CSP-IRA is April 7, 2023.
Through CSP, agricultural producers and forest landowners earn payments for actively managing, maintaining, and expanding conservation activities like cover crops, ecologically-based pest management, buffer strips, and pollinator and beneficial insect habitat – all while maintaining active agriculture and forestry production on their land.
Learn more about the CSP-Classic and CSP-IRA application process and eligible land use resource concerns on the Ohio NRCS Conservation Stewardship Program webpage. Landowners in Clermont County who are interested in signing up or learning about other technical and financial assistance available through NRCS should contact Christina Gates, District Conservationist, at christina.gates@usda.gov or (513) 732-2181 ext. 3.