NRCS in N.H and Upper Valley Land Trust Announces RCPP Application Period for the 2024 Upper Valley Farmland Protection Initiative

DOVER, N.H. October 30, 2023 – Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA, NRCS) in New Hampshire, along with its partner, the Upper Valley Land Trust (UVLT), has established the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Upper Valley Farmland Protection Initiative application period under the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). 

The application period for this initiative closes December 1, 2023. Applications must be received by that date to be considered for funding under this initiative.

The Upper Valley Farmland Protection Initiative RCPP provides eligible private landowners in UVLT’s service area in Grafton and Sullivan Counties the opportunity to conserve productive agricultural and forestland under the NRCS’s Agricultural Land Easements (ALE) portion of the agency’s Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP).

The UVLT’s service area includes the Grafton and Sullivan County towns of Lebanon, Enfield, Grafton, Hanover, Canaan, Orange, Lyme, Dorchester, Orford, Piermont, Haverhill, Bath, Plainfield, Grantham, Cornish, Croydon, Claremont, Newport, Charlestown, and Unity.

The goal of this partner-driven initiative aims to reduce the conversion and loss of vitally important agricultural and forestland while contributing to water quality and soil health protection. This initiative intends to accelerate the pace of farmland conservation in the Upper Valley region of New Hampshire. 

Landowners are compensated for enrolling their land into the easement program to permanently conserve viable farmland for protecting water quality and improving soil health. The initiative prioritizes three strategic areas: farms located near impaired waters; areas where there are low percentages of protected farms; and areas where historically underserved producers lack resources for improvements.

Although ACEP applications may be filed on a continuous basis, management of the program requires periodic application dates to establish batching periods during which complete and eligible applications received prior to the application date may be considered for funding.

Applications will be reviewed in accordance with the ACEP-ALE program rules and policies.  Only properly completed and executed applications submitted on appropriate forms by the December 1 date, accompanied by all required supporting documentation, will be considered for funding in FY 2024.

More Information for Interested Landowners:

All eligible landowners interested in applying with UVLT to ACEP-ALE in FY 2024 may contact Peg Merrens, UVLT Vice President for Conservation, at peg.merrens@uvlt.org for more information.

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