Program updates:
Monitoring Plans are in! Thank you!
All VSP counties required to submit Monitoring Plans by July 1 have done so. Thank you all for your efforts to accomplish this milestone.
SCC will post monitoring plans in each county’s Box folder with work plans and reports linked to their SCC VSP county webpage six months after the July 1, 2024 submittal deadline (Jan 1. 2025).
This six-month period gives counties the time necessary to respond to requests for clarification or additional information from SCC if requesting review.
Capital funding update
SCC is working to make sure capital funds can be fully utilized during this biennium. If you have a currently funded project that you know will not be able to be completed, please contact Sarah Wilcox.
If there are any returned or additional capital funds, we will conduct another funding round in the new fiscal year (July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2025).
Have questions about cost share? Resources for billing and cost share are available on the VSP webpage. If you are new to cost-share projects, check out this webinar about cost-share and District Implemented Projects (DIPs). You may also always send us questions.
VSP vouchering: Updated summary form and new A19s
VSP vouchers should follow the following outcome format:
- Outcome 1 are expenses billed to your VSP operating budget out of the original $240,000 contract amount. This includes any cost-share or DIP projects funded with operating dollars.
- Outcome 2 are expenses billed to your VSP monitoring budget out of the Amendment 2 $47,000.
- Outcomes 3 and up are for cost-share/DIP capital awards and are identified by outcome number and landowner name on your VSP amendments.
SCC staff have updated the summary form linked here to match these outcomes, and more outcomes should be added as needed when using this form.
VSP Voucher Detail Sheet Jan. 2024.xlsx
SCC staff will be sending updated A19s out to VSP counties in the coming month that reflect this format for outcomes and will hopefully make VSP billing easier. Please reach out to Nicole or Alec with questions, we are happy to meet and go over billing forms.
10-year report review process this summer and fall
The Voluntary Stewardship Program (VSP) requires each county watershed work group to report to the Executive Director of the Conservation Commission and the county on whether it has met the work plan's protection and enhancement goals and benchmarks.
These reports happen every 5 years from when the county received funding, hence being called 5-year reports. This next round of reporting kicks off the 10-year reporting interval. (Confusing? Yes. Check out this schedule.)
As pilot counties, Chelan and Thurston will be submitting their 10-year report on July 20, 2024. This will kick off a review process with SCC, the Technical Panel, and the Statewide Advisory Committee, leading up to a public meeting on Oct. 10, 2024, in Lacey and online.
To learn more about the process or see when your next report will be due, view the County Work Plan Five-Year Reporting Guidance
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