About the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP)

By leveraging collective resources and collaborating on common goals, RCPP demonstrates the power of public-private partnerships in delivering results for agriculture and conservation.

RCPP projects fall under two different categories: RCPP Classic and RCPP Alternative Funding Arrangements (AFAs). 

RCPP Classic projects are implemented using NRCS contracts and easements with producers, landowners and communities, in collaboration with project partners. 

Through RCPP AFAs, NRCS provides funding to partners to support conservation activities with eligible producers and landowners on eligible land. RCPP AFA funding reimburses partners for conservation activities done for or on behalf of producers, landowners, or other entities. 

RCPP Partners and Impact

1. Impact—RCPP applications must propose effective and compelling solutions that address one or more natural resource priorities to help solve natural resource challenges. Partners are responsible for evaluating a project’s impact and results.

2. Partner Contributions—Partners are responsible for identifying any combination of cash and in-kind value-added contributions to leverage NRCS’s RCPP investments. It is NRCS’s goal that partner contributions at least equal the NRCS investment in an RCPP project. Substantive partner contributions are given priority consideration as part of the RCPP application evaluation criteria. 

3. Partnerships and Management—Partners must have experience, expertise, and capacity to manage the partnership and project, provide outreach to producers, and quantify the environmental outcomes of an RCPP project. RCPP ranking criteria give preference to applicants that meaningfully engage historically underserved farmers and ranchers.

RCPP Conservation Activities

RCPP projects may include a range of on-the-ground conservation activities implemented by farmers, ranchers and forest landowners. These activities include:

• Land management/land improvement/restoration practices
• Land rentals
• Entity-held easements
• United States-held easements
• Public works/watersheds

A single RCPP project application can propose to employ any combination of these eligible activity types as part of an RCPP project. 

For more information on RCPP easements, visit the RCPP easement page. 

Who is Eligible

Partner Eligibility

Eligible organizations interested in partnering with NRCS on conservation projects can develop applications for the RCPP competition. The lead partner for an RCPP project is the entity that submits an application, and if selected for an award is ultimately responsible for collaborating with NRCS to successfully complete an RCPP project.

See the RCPP funding announcement for details about what types of organizations are eligible to apply.  

Producer and Landowner Eligibility

Once NRCS selects a project and executes an RCPP agreement with a lead partner, agricultural producers may participate in an RCPP project in one of two ways. First, producers may engage with project partners and delegate a willing partner to act as their representative in working with NRCS. Second, producers seeking to carry out conservation activities consistent with a RCPP project in the project’s geographic area can apply directly to NRCS.

Land Eligibility

RCPP projects must be carried out on agricultural or nonindustrial private forest land or associated land on which NRCS determines an eligible activity would help achieve conservation benefits (i.e., improved condition of natural resources resulting from implementation of conservation activities).

Eligible conservation activities may be implemented on public lands when those activities will benefit eligible lands as determined by NRCS and are included in the scope of an approved RCPP project.

NEW!

Agricultural Landowners Encouraged to Protect Land Through the Pee Dee Watershed Land Conservation Project

Application Period Open for Ongoing Regional Conservation Partnership Program Project

Application Deadline:  June 30, 2025

Columbia, South Carolina – May 2025 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) encourages landowners in the Pee Dee region to consider participating in the Pee Dee Watershed Land Conservation project, an active initiative under the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP).
 

Led by the Pee Dee Land Trust (PDLT), this project focuses on permanently protecting high-conservation-value farm and forest lands throughout the Pee Dee Watershed through entity-held conservation easements. The project aims to enhance water quality, preserve working lands, and create connected greenways and blueways in a region increasingly threatened by land fragmentation and development.

PROJECT FOCUS:  Pee Dee Watershed Land Conservation (RCPP Project #2287)

PDLT anticipates conserving between 2,500 and 3,000+ acres of land during the life of the project. With the support of NRCS and partner contributions, the project provides funding to assist landowners with the cost of placing a conservation easement on their property, allowing them to preserve the integrity and productivity of their land for future generations.
 

The Pee Dee Watershed spans key areas of northeastern South Carolina, including Horry, Dillon, Marion, Marlboro, Chesterfield, Darlington, Florence, Georgetown, Williamsburg, Clarendon, Sumter, Lee, Kershaw and Lancaster counties. The project emphasizes protection of land along waterways to improve water quality and mitigate flooding risks. 

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS:
•    Farm records must be established or updated with the Farm Service Agency (FSA) for the applicant and the land.
•    Applicants must be in compliance with highly erodible land and wetland conservation requirements.
•    Documentation for signature authority and proof of ownership.

For more details and information or to apply, contact PEE DEE LAND TRUST.
 

PEE DEE LAND TRUST CONTACTS:
•    Pee Dee Land Trust: Seth Cook – landprotection@peedeelandtrust.org 
•    Pee Dee Land Trust: Lyles Cooper – lclyles@peedeelandtrust.org 

SOUTH CAROLINA RCPP CONTACTS:
• Pedro Cruz-Carballo, RCPP Coordinator, pedro.cruzcarballo@usda.gov
• Reginald Hall, ASTC-Programs, reginald.hall@usda.gov

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