NRCS-WA announces FY’23 CSP Sage Grouse Initiative deadline

SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. (Feb. 3, 2023) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Washington announced March 15, 2023, as the application deadline for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) Sage Grouse Initiative for Fiscal Year 2023.

The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) Sage Grouse Initiative is for producers who are passionate about conservation and environmental stewardship and offers technical and financial assistance to help them take their conservation efforts to the next level.  Applicants will need to operate land within the Working Lands for Wildlife Sage Grouse Initiative Project Boundaries.

Through CSP Sage Grouse Initiative, agricultural producers earn payments for actively managing, maintaining, and expanding conservation activities like cover crops, ecologically-based pest management, buffer strips, and pollinator and beneficial insect habitat – all while maintaining active agricultural on their land. CSP Sage Grouse Initiative also encourages the adoption of cutting-edge technologies and new management techniques such as precision agriculture applications, improved grazing systems, wildlife habitat improvement, and install and/or improve riparian buffers to improve water quality.

Although applications are accepted on a year-round basis, eligible applicants interested in CSP Sage Grouse Initiative must first submit their application and the below listed items to their local service center by March 15th, 2023:

• Provide a map(s) that identifies and delineates the boundaries of all eligible land uses and acres included in the operation.
• Identify any ineligible land that is part of the operation.

And then submit all of the following eligibility determinations to FSA by April 1st, 2023:

• Highly Erodible Lands and Wetland Determination (AD 1026)
• Adjusted Gross Income Form (CCC 941)
• Farm and Track Eligibility determination
• Farm Operating Plan (CCC 902)

For more information on the Conservation Stewardship Program in Washington, click here.

To learn how to get started with NRCS, click here, or visit your local USDA service center.