Applications and Forms
If you’re interested in applying for NRCS conservation programs, contact your local NRCS office. To apply, you’ll have to complete an application as well as have other forms on file.
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.
On This Page
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.
ACEP has two components:
- Agricultural Land Easements (ALE) help private and tribal landowners, land trusts, and other entities such as state and local governments protect croplands and grasslands on working farms and ranches by limiting non-agricultural uses of the land through conservation easements.
- Wetland Reserve Easements (WRE) help private and tribal landowners protect, restore and enhance wetlands which have been previously degraded due to agricultural uses.
Additionally, through ACEP, USDA offers the Wetland Reserve Enhancement Partnership (WREP), a voluntary program through which NRCS enters into agreements with eligible partners to leverage resources to carry out high priority wetland protection, restoration, and enhancement and to improve wildlife habitat.
Watch How ACEP Works
ALE Success Stories Across the Country
The ALE interactive map showcases successful projects across the country protecting croplands and grasslands on working farms and ranches.
Agricultural Conservation Easement Program in Connecticut
How to Apply
- To enroll land through agricultural land easements, eligible partners may submit proposals to NRCS to acquire conservation easements on eligible land.
- Apply by April 17, 2026.
- To enroll land through wetland reserve easements, landowners may apply at any time at the local USDA Service Center.
ACEP-ALE Factsheet (September 2021)
(982.37 KB)
Ranking Criteria and Questions
The following document is state-specific ranking criteria for fiscal year 2026.
ALE applications received by NRCS are prioritized based on specific ranking questions. The FY 2026 ranking questions for ALE in Connecticut will be published on this site at the earliest date possible.
300-Year-Old Farm Preserved in Morris, CT
Farnham farm enrolled 138 acres of their 300-year-old farm in ACEP-ALE in partnership with the Connecticut Farmland Trust and Morris Land Trust.
ACEP-ALE Workbook and Forms
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Workbook for ACEP-ALE (rev. October 2021) (848.92 KB)
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ACEP-ALE NRCS CPA 41 Entity Application (396.64 KB)
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FY2022 ACEP-ALE Ranking Tool (62.93 KB)
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ACEP-ALE Parcel Contract NRCS CPA 1265 (283.15 KB)
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ACEP-ALE Program Agreement (299.27 KB)
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ACEP-ALE Program Agreement Exhibit 1 (325.78 KB)
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ACEP-ALE Minimum Deed Terms and Addendum (2017) (108.08 KB)
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ACEP-ALE Appraisal Specifications (87.8 KB)
ACEP-WRE Workbook and Forms
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ACEP=WRE Workbook (1.43 MB)
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ACEP-WRE NRCS CPA-1200 (511.95 KB)
Required Documents
- WRE application form (NRCS-CPA-1200)
- Copy of Vesting Deed for the Property
- Copy of the Tax Map
Other Program Documents
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ACEP-WRE Warranty Easement Deed (1.42 MB)
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WRE_Purchase_Agreement_NRCS-LTP-30.pdf (115.52 KB)
How to Get Assistance
Do you farm or ranch and want to make improvements to the land that you own or lease?
Natural Resources Conservation Service offers technical and financial assistance to help farmers, ranchers and forest landowners.
To get started with NRCS, we recommend you stop by your local NRCS field office. We’ll discuss your vision for your land.
NRCS provides landowners with free technical assistance, or advice, for their land. Common technical assistance includes: resource assessment, practice design and resource monitoring. Your conservation planner will help you determine if financial assistance is right for you.
We’ll walk you through the application process. To get started on applying for financial assistance, we’ll work with you:
- To fill out an AD 1026, which ensures a conservation plan is in place before lands with highly erodible soils are farmed. It also ensures that identified wetland areas are protected.
- To meet other eligibility certifications.
Once complete, we’ll work with you on the application, or CPA 1200.
Applications for most programs are accepted on a continuous basis, but they’re considered for funding in different ranking periods. Be sure to ask your local NRCS district conservationist about the deadline for the ranking period to ensure you turn in your application in time.
As part of the application process, we’ll check to see if you are eligible. To do this, you’ll need to bring:
- An official tax ID (Social Security number or an employer ID)
- A property deed or lease agreement to show you have control of the property; and
- A farm number.
If you don’t have a farm number, you can get one from USDA’s Farm Service Agency. Typically, the local FSA office is located in the same building as the local NRCS office. You only need a farm number if you’re interested in financial assistance.
NRCS will take a look at the applications and rank them according to local resource concerns, the amount of conservation benefits the work will provide and the needs of applicants. View Application Ranking Dates by State.
If you’re selected, you can choose whether to sign the contract for the work to be done.
Once you sign the contract, you’ll be provided standards and specifications for completing the practice or practices, and then you will have a specified amount of time to implement. Once the work is implemented and inspected, you’ll be paid the rate of compensation for the work if it meets NRCS standards and specifications.
