Press Release
Agricultural Land Easements 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.
On This Page
Landowners - Contact one of the Eligible Easement Partners in Montana (Eligible Entities). Reading the following document will help you prepare:
Is ACEP Right for me?
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Eligible Entities - Contact your NRCS state office programs staff to inquire about how you can partner with NRCS to enroll conservation easements on eligible land. Visit the following Web site for general information: ACEP-ALE for Entities.
Agricultural Land Easements (ALE) are one component of the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP).
Learn more about ACEP in Montana.
Learn more about the Agricultural Land Easements on the national ACEP-ALE Web page.
ACEP-ALE and the Inflation Reduction Act
The Inflation Reduction Act included $1.4 billion in additional funding for ACEP over five years and it revised ACEP authority, providing Inflation Reduction Act funding for easements that will most reduce, capture, avoid or sequester greenhouse gas emissions, and extending regular program funding through fiscal year 2031. NRCS is streamlining ACEP, to ensure that the program is easier and more convenient to utilize, and to strengthen implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act. Specifically, NRCS is streamlining ACEP appraisals, land surveys, and certifying eligible entities who help NRCS and producers enroll land into agricultural land easements. In addition, NRCS is expanding the national priority areas eligible for Inflation Reduction Act funding for ACEP easements. For more information, see our fact sheet, ACEP and the Inflation Reduction Act.
NRCS_IRA_ACEP_Factsheet_23.pdf
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Information for Montana Applicants
- Eligible Easement Partners in Montana
- Montana Payment Schedule
- Heirs' Property Landowners - Details for if you inherited land without a clear title or documented legal ownership.
When to Apply
Program applications are accepted on a continual basis. However, NRCS establishes application ranking dates for evaluation, ranking and approval of eligible applications. Applications received after the ranking date will be automatically deferred to the next funding period. See Montana Programs and Application Dates.
- The application ranking date for the first ACEP IRA funding cycle is Oct. 4, 2024.
- The application ranking date for ALE-Farm Bill is Nov. 29, 2024.
- The application ranking date for the second ACEP IRA funding cycle is Dec. 20, 2024.
State Ranking Criteria
NRCS uses these criteria to evaluate eligible applications for this project and to prioritize applications for potential funding. Montana has three ACEP-ALE funding pools, each with its own set of questions.
FY2025 Montana ALE General Ranking Criteria
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FY2025 Montana ALE IRA Ranking Criteria
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Additional Information
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.
Learn MoreWorking for Montana Agriculture
The NRCS, Montana Association of Land Trusts, and the Heart of the Rockies Initiative have partnered to produce a report of the economic impact of ALE easements in Montana as well as stories from families that have realized economic benefits on their farm or ranch.
Eligible Easement Partners in Montana
The following entities are among those partners currently capable of holding ACEP Agricultural Land Easements in Montana.
Learn MoreMontana Priority Resource Concerns
Applications to NRCS programs are ranked based on national and state priorities. NRCS will rank your application to determine how well your current and future management system will address national, state and local natural resource priorities. State priorities are listed here.
Learn MoreReady to get started?
Contact your local service center to start your application.
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.
