Through GLRI, NRCS provides farmers and private landowners within priority watersheds technical and financial assistance to implement conservation practices that will benefit their own lands as well as the Great Lakes ecosystem.
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Pennsylvania NRCS staff and conservation partners have identified priority watersheds and conservation practices to most effectively address resource concerns affecting the Great Lakes. These resource concerns include non-point source pollution from agricultural activities, degradation of wildlife and aquatic habitats, terrestrial invasive species and loss of farmland. High priority watersheds were determined using existing watershed assessments and priorities determined by the Environmental Protection Agency. Visit EPA's GLRI website.
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Applications for GLRI through the EQIP option for farm projects, will be accepted continuously throughout the year to be evaluated, ranked, and prioritized based on their potential to address priority concerns. Currently only applications in identified high priority areas will be considered for funding.
To apply, you will need to fill out an application form and contact your local NRCS office at a USDA Service Center.
Eligibility
Applicants for EQIP must be either farmers or forestland owners, or owners of land that is being used for agricultural production.
Application Ranking Forms
Ranking worksheets list conservation practices that are eligible for funding under that category.
Payment for eligible practices in EQIP are based on current standard rates. These rates are available from the program contacts listed below.
Program Contacts
Jeffrey Werner
Assistant State Conservationist
(814) 297-5264
Brian Wolff
Erie County NRCS Field Office
District Conservationist
(814) 796-5015
Ready 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.