A growing number of Iowa nonprofits say frozen federal funds threaten their ability to focus on air and water quality, or to help support farmers and rural communities.
The nine-thousand member Practical Farmers of Iowa targets farmer-to-farmer learning, on-farm research and technical assistance.
Executive director Sally Worley says nearly a quarter of PFI’s budget this year comes from federal grants, which are facing deep cuts.
“Twenty-two percent of our budget is a big deal to us,” Worley says, “and I completely agree that we need to reduce waste in the government, but right now what they’re doing is freezing contracts that are legally bound, and that we have signed and planned for in our budget.”
Worley says one of the biggest impacts is the freeze on the USDA’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities, which supported more than 800,000 acres planted with cover crops through PFI’s cost share program.
Another nonprofit feeling the pinch is the Iowa Environmental Council, where executive director Sarah Green says they budgeted for half a million dollars from federal grants and one grant was suspended. It was part of an EPA program to help underserved communities navigate federal resources, develop strong grant proposals and manage funding to address environmental pollution.
Green says the grant suspension puts the council in limbo.
“It puts the communities that we’re supporting in jeopardy, too,” Green says. “The state does not have a comprehensive effort to identify environmental pollution challenges and to connect communities with resources to overcome those challenges.”
Green says council is developing contingency plans to continue the work it started last year. She emphasizes that local foundations and other funding sources cannot fill in all the gaps left by the federal government.
(By Rachel Cramer, Iowa Public Radio)