Funding Available for Natural Resources Conservation Service to Help Protect and Restore Sensitive Lands

NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE, Huron, S.D., October 3, 2023 – South Dakota State Conservationist, Tony Sunseri, has announced that South Dakota's USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has funding opportunities available in Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) to help protect and restore sensitive lands.

Funding is provided through the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) created to protect water resources, wildlife habitat, and encourage private landowners to maintain land for farming.

Applications are accepted on a continual basis. All eligible applications received prior to November 13, 2023, will be considered for funding in FY24. In FY24, NRCS has expanded the national priority areas eligible for ACEP funding through the Inflation Reduction Act.

ACEP helps streamline the conservation easement options into two primary components:  a wetland reserve component, where the NRCS works directly with landowners to restore and protect their agricultural wetlands, and a working lands component, where the NRCS provides assistance to partners with farmland protection programs to purchase agricultural land easements.

Wetland reserve easements allow landowners to successfully restore, enhance, and protect habitat for wildlife on their lands, reduce damage from flooding, recharge groundwater, and provide outdoor recreational and educational opportunities.

Eligible landowners can choose to enroll in a perpetual or 30-year easement.

Applicants also have the option to enroll with the reservation of grazing rights. Under this component, the landowner reserves the additional right to graze, following NRCS approved grazing management plan.

Agricultural land easements not only protect the long-term viability of the nation's food supply by preventing conversion of productive working lands to non-agricultural uses, but they also support environmental quality, wildlife habitat, historic preservation, and protection of open spaces.

State and local governments, nongovernmental organizations, and Native American Tribes that have farmland or grassland protection programs are eligible to partner with NRCS and individual landowners to protect agricultural land through easements.

To learn more about ACEP and other technical and financial assistance available through South Dakota NRCS, visit the ACEP webpage or find your local service center.

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