USDA-NRCS Announces Sign-up Period for Entity-Held Easements under the Regional Conservation Partnership Program to Establish Grassland Strongholds across the Southern High Plains

SALINA, KANSAS, JUNE 11, 2024 - David S. Doctorian, State Conservationist for the Kansas Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), recently announced the application cut-off dates for eligible entities to participate in the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) Entity Held Easements (EHE) under the Establishment of Grassland Stronghold project in Kansas.   There is one sign-up offered for complete and eligible applications to compete for available funding.  Application packages are due on Friday, October 25, 2024, by 4:00 PM Central Time (CT) for funding.   

The RCPP-EHE program aims to protect the agricultural viability, and related conservation values of eligible land by limiting nonagricultural uses of that land that negatively affect the agricultural uses and conservation values, and to protect grazing uses and related conservation values by restoring or conserving eligible land.   

Applicants (eligible entities) must be a Federally recognized Indian Tribe, State or local units of government, or a non-governmental organization.   Applicants must have an established farmland protection program that purchases agricultural conservation easements for the purpose of protecting agriculture use and related conservation values by limiting conversion to nonagricultural uses of the land.   

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) provides up to 50 percent of the appraised fair market value of the conservation easement in this voluntary program.  The qualified landowner retains ownership and continues to use the land for agricultural purposes.

To be eligible to receive RCPP EHE funding, eligible entity applicants must demonstrate a commitment to long-term conservation of agricultural lands; a capability to acquire, manage, and enforce easements; adequate staff capacity for monitoring and easement stewardship; and the availability of funds.

Fully completed application packets must be received by no later than Friday, October 25, 2024, by 4:00 PM CT on the advertised sign-up date to be considered.  Application packets may be sent to the attention of Easements Program Manager, by email (preferred) to david.driscoll@usda.gov; by email to ashley.visocsky@usda.gov; by FedEx or UPS to USDA-NRCS, 760 South Broadway Boulevard, Salina, KS 67401. 

Applications postmarked or time stamped after these deadlines will not be accepted.   Only fully completed and properly executed applications that are submitted by these sign-up dates on the appropriate forms and accompanied by all required supporting documentation will be considered for funding in fiscal year 2024. All qualified applications will be reviewed, ranked, and considered for funding according to the final RCPP-EHE rule, policy, and guidance.  Complete applications received after the cutoff date may be considered if another sign-up date is announced.  Incomplete applications will not be considered.

For more information about RCPP-EHE, please contact David Driscoll at (714) 785-0565 or David.driscoll@usda.gov or Ashley Visocsky at (785) 823-4580 or ashley.visocsky@usda.gov. 

To learn more about NRCS programs, producers can contact their local USDA Service Center.  Producers can also apply for NRCS programs, manage conservation plans and contracts, and view and print conservation maps by logging into their farmers.gov account.  If you do not have an account, sign up today.

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