By Thomas Kielbasa
NRCS-Maine Public Affairs Specialist

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine, Oct. 16, 2026 – A recent agreement between USDA and one of Maine’s Tribes could help improve food sovereignty and conservation efforts among an indigenous community in northern New England.

The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the federally recognized Mi’kmaq Nation signed an Alternative Funding Arrangement (AFA) agreement for $108,000 on Sept. 30 at the Tribe’s headquarters in Presque Isle, Maine. The arrangement under NRCS’ Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) focuses on improvements to the Tribe’s existing maple syrup operations.

“This is a great opportunity for NRCS to build upon our mission though working with one of our important indigenous communities in Maine,” State Conservationist Brittany Hummel explained. “We always work closely with our Tribal partners throughout the state to address their natural resource concerns, but this is the first Tribe that has signed an Alternative Funding Arrangement with NRCS-Maine to further conservation goals. It is an important step towards simplifying the usual procedures. This really strengthens our ongoing and already productive partnership with the Mi’kmaq.”

Hummel and NRCS staff joined Tribal leaders, including Mi’kmaq Nation Chief Sheila McCormack, Vice Chief Teresita Hamel, and Environmental Director Shannon Hill for the official AFA signing in September. Hummel highlighted the federal agency’s commitment to assisting with natural resource concerns and strengthening partnerships with local agricultural communities and Tribes.

Funding from the arrangement will be used for the next five years for energy improvements to maple sap boiling equipment, management of maple stands to increase productivity, and increased access to Tribal land where maple sap is collected and transported for processing to maple syrup. The conservation practices will provide energy efficiency in the Tribe’s maple syrup production, improve plant productivity, and address water quality resource concerns.

“The Mi’kmaq Nation is excited to be the first Tribal Nation in Maine to explore this new alternative funding agreement with NRCS,” Mi’kmaq Nation Chief McCormack said. “We have worked closely with NRCS over the years to grow our farm to better support the Nation’s food sovereignty program. The new funding agreement allows for the flexibility that Tribes sometimes need and funds available sooner than the traditional EQIP. This project in particular is going to help collection and processing the maple sap so much more efficiently than how we had been doing it.”

AFAs differ from traditional NRCS programs by providing NRCS and Tribes flexibility regarding funding, planning, and administering the implementation of practices under programs like EQIP or the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). 

According to NRCS-Maine Resource Conservationist Chris Phinney, who assisted District Conservationist Helena Swiatek in developing this recent AFA with the Mi’kmaq Nation, NRCS state offices can fund AFAs through programmatic agreements directly with Tribes. He explained that the streamlined process of the arrangement allows NRCS to focus more time and effort on project planning, and since agreement obligation timelines are independent of state delivery schedules there are fewer administrative requirements to meet in order to complete the projects. 

Phinney added that the AFA helped alleviate typical delays associated with contracting planning activities and could serve as a blueprint for future agreements between NRCS and Tribal governments.

“We crafted the delivery schedules and requirements under this arrangement to provide much broader flexibilities when implementing the practices,” Phinney said. “It also streamlined progress reporting compared to traditional contracts by relying on the frequent communication between us and the Mi’kmaq Nation.”

For more than 90 years, NRCS has helped farmers, ranchers and forestland owners make investments in their operations and local communities to improve the quality of our air, water, soil, and wildlife habitat. NRCS uses the latest science and technology to help keep working lands working, boost agricultural economies, and increase the competitiveness of American agriculture. NRCS provides one-on-one, technical advice and financial assistance and works with producers to help them reach their goals through voluntary, incentive-based conservation programs. For more information, visit www.nrcs.usda.gov. 

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