Agricultural Conservation Easement Program - Agricultural Land Easement - California

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Overview

Deadlines

Eligibility

Landowners | How to Apply

Entities | How to Apply

Resources and Tools

Documents

ALE Program Contacts

The Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) helps landowners, land trusts, and other entities protect, restore, and enhance wetlands or protect working farms and ranches through conservation easements.

The Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) protects the agricultural viability and related conservation values of eligible land by limiting nonagricultural uses which negatively affect agricultural uses and conservation values, protect grazing uses and related conservation values by restoring or conserving eligible grazing land, and protecting and restoring and enhancing wetlands on eligible land.

Overview

NRCS provides financial assistance to eligible partners for purchasing Agricultural Land Easements that protect the agricultural use and conservation values of eligible land. In the case of working farms, the program helps farmers and ranchers keep their land in agriculture. The program also protects grazing uses and related conservation values by conserving grassland, including rangeland, pastureland and shrubland. Eligible partners include American Indian tribes, state and local governments and non-governmental organizations that have farmland or grassland protection programs.  

Under the Agricultural Land Easement component, NRCS may contribute up to 50 percent of the fair market value of the agricultural land easement. Where NRCS determines that grasslands of special environmental significance will be protected, NRCS may contribute up to 75 percent of the fair market value of the agricultural land easement.

Deadlines

IRA ALE Batching and FSA Eligibility Deadline: Nov. 13, 2023

While applications for IRA-ALE are taken on a continuous basis, the deadline to be considered for Fiscal Year 2024 funding is November 13, 2023. Applications received after the batching deadline will be considered for funding on the next batching date.

CA Farm Bill ALE Batching and FSA Eligibility Deadline: Dec. 15, 2023

While applications for ACEP-ALE are taken on a continuous basis, the deadline to be considered for Fiscal Year 2024 funding is December 15, 2023. Applications received after the batching deadline will be considered for funding in Fiscal Year 2025. Each applicant must establish themselves as a USDA customer and obtain all Farm Service Agency (FSA) eligibility requirements by Dec. 15, 2023 for ALE.  Find Your Local Service Center.

Eligibility

California NRCS strongly advises applicant entities (e.g., Land Trusts) to route potential landowner(s) to Farm Service Agency (FSA) immediately by the third week in October to complete their FSA eligibility.

Land eligible for ALE includes cropland, rangeland, grassland, pastureland and nonindustrial private forest land. NRCS will prioritize applications that protect agricultural uses and related conservation values of the land and those that maximize the protection of contiguous acres devoted to agricultural use. To enroll land in ACEP-ALE, NRCS enters into Program Agreements and Parcel Contracts with eligible partners.

All landowners of land, listed on the deed, being offered for ALE, and entity members down to the individuals, must meet the Adjusted Gross Income, Highly Erodible Land, and Wetland Conservation Compliance requirements and establish required farm records with the FSA by the application deadline. A copy of the current deed showing ownership must also be provided to FSA. Landowners that are corporations, trusts or other entities should consult with FSA on the forms that are required for the entity and members of the entity.

Landowners | How to Apply

To enroll land through the Agricultural Land Easement (ALE) Program, landowners must find an eligible partner to submit proposals to NRCS to be considered for a conservation easement on eligible land. Entities interested in using conservation easements to address natural resource concerns can submit applications at any time, although signup is continuous, funding selections are made at specific times during the fiscal year. 

Entities | How to Apply

NRCS California strongly advises applicant entities (e.g., Land Trusts) to route potential landowner(s) to FSA immediately or no later than the third week of October to complete their FSA eligibility.

To offer land for enrollment in an agricultural land easement (ALE) easement, eligible entities must submit the respective application documents listed below to the NRCS California State Office by the deadline specified at the top of the page. ACEP-ALE Application Requirements

Please submit the following forms and information to the NRCS California State Office (documents are available below):

• Entity Questionnaire 
   
• NRCS-CPA-41* dated 02/2020 or later:  
  • *CPA-41 may be submitted without CPA 41A application parcel application. No funds are attached to ALE Program Agreement, the Agreement does not identify selection for ALE funding. Program Agreement is required to apply for and potentially obligate ALE-Parcel funding. 
     
• SF-1199A Direct Deposit Form (required for each entity acting as a Grantee or Co-Grantee) 
   
• Evidence of eligible entity type for each applicant entity and/or co-holder (e.g., 501(c)(3)) 
   
• Evidence of active Unique ID SAM registration (UEI) for each entity applicant and/or co-holder 
   
• State of Authority or other form denoting signature authority, including signature specimen(s) for each entity applicant and/or co-holder (e.g., articles of incorporation, LLC papers, trust documents, etc.) 

Application packets must be submitted no later than November 13, 2023 for IRA ALE applications and December 15, 2023 for Farm Bill ALE applications. Early submissions are encouraged as incomplete application packages will not be considered for funding. Applicants may submit application packets through the following methods:

1. Email: Electronically submitted applications should be sent to elizabeth.palmer@usda.gov and kaytee.todoroff@usda.gov . 
    
2. Mail, FedEx, UPS, or in-person submission: Mail, FedEx, UPS, or in-person submissions must be postmarked by NRCS no later than November 13, 2023 for IRA-ALE and December 15, 2023 for Farm Bill ALE applications. Application packets will be accepted at any California NRCS office. However, the preferred location for mail, FedEx, or UPS is the NRCS State Office at the following address:

USDA-NRCS
Attn: Easement Programs
430 G Street, #4164
Davis, CA 95616

Resources and Tools

• 5 Steps to ALE brochure 

  5 Steps to ALE brochure (860.08 KB)

   

• Farmland Information Center ACEP-ALE Resources and Tools for Landowners link ACEP-ALE for Landowners - FIC (farmlandinfo.org)
   
• Farmland Information Center ACEP-ALE Resources and Tools for Entities link ACEP-ALE for Entities - FIC (farmlandinfo.org)
   
• Web Soil Survey - Home (usda.gov)
   
• Farmland Mapping & Monitoring Program (ca.gov)

Documents