In order to maintain eligibility for most USDA programs, producers must comply with the Highly Erodible Land Conservation (HELC) and Wetland Conservation (WC) provisions, agreeing they will not:

• Produce an agricultural commodity on highly erodible land without an adequate conservation system;
• Plant an agricultural commodity on a converted wetland;
• Convert a wetland to make possible the production of an agricultural commodity.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is responsible for providing program participants technical assistance and determinations to assist them in complying with the provisions.

HELC/WC Technical Resources

Given the geographical differences of wetlands, soils, and climate in each State; information and technical resources specific to Montana implementation of the HELC/WC provisions are provided below:

Montana

• County Highly Erodible HEL Soils Lists

  Beaverhead MT610 (PDF; 502KB) Beaverhead MT670 (PDF; 428KB) Big Horn MT607 (PDF; 259 KB) Big Horn MT649 (PDF; 649 KB) Blaine (PDF; 200 KB) Broadwater (PDF; 109 KB) Carbon (PDF; 238 KB) Carter (PDF; 136 KB) ​ Cascade (PDF; 160 KB) Chouteau (PDF; 195 KB) Custer (PDF; 476 KB) ​Dawson (PDF76 KB) Deerlodge (PDF; 777 KB) Fallon (PDF; 604 KB) ​Fergus (PDF; 230 KB) Flathead (PDF; 764 KB) Gallatin (PDF; 1.1 MB) Garfield (PDF; 413 KB) Glacier (PDF; 161 KB)

  Golden Valley (PDF; 354KB) Granite (PDF; 639 KB) Hill (PDF; 107 KB) Jefferson (PDF; 2 MB) Judith Basin (PDF; 264 KB) Lake (PDF; 118 KB) Lewis & Clark (PDF; 212KB) Liberty (PDF; 255 KB) Lincoln (PDF; 650 KB) Madison (PDF; 251 KB) McCone (PDF; 210 KB) Meagher (PDF; 202 KB) Mineral (PDF; 39 KB) Missoula (PDF; 220 KB) Musselshell (PDF; 323 KB) Park (PDF; 210 KB) Petroleum (PDF; 116 KB) Phillips (PDF; 417 KB) Pondera (PDF; 208 KB)

  Powder River (PDF;137KB) Powell (PDF477 KB) Prairie (PDF; 151 KB) Ravalli (PDF; 862 KB) Richland (PDF; 80 KB) Roosevelt (PDF; 121 KB) Rosebud (PDF; 227 KB) Sanders (PDF; 709 KB) Sheridan (PDF;56  KB) Silverbow (PDF; 1.5 MB) Stillwater (PDF; 143 KB) Sweetgrass (PDF; 782KB) Toole (PDF;137  KB) Treasure (PDF; 225 KB) Valley (PDF; 134 KB) Wheatland (PDF; 730 KB) Wibaux (PDF; 107 KB) Yellowstone (PDF; 201KB)

Other Montana Resources

• Highly Erodible Land Determination form (September 2020). Enter form number NRCS-CPA-026-HEL at USDA Service Center Agencies eForms to download this form.
• Certified Wetland Determination form (September 2020). Enter form number NRCS-CPA-026-WC at USDA Service Center Agencies eForms to download this form.
• MT-CPA-10, Montana Minimal Effect Procedure Worksheet (March 2018; PDF; 164 KB)
• Montana Department of Transportation Wetland Assessment Method (PDF; 4.4 MB) Designed to address highway and other linear projects, this method can also be applied to other types of projects, including mitigation projects to evaluate wetland functions and values.

Montana HELC/WC Fact Sheets

Highly Erodible Land Conservation (HELC) and Wetland Conservation (WC) Factsheet: FSA, RMA and NRCS Joint National Factsheet (December 2017; PDF; 233 KB)

Take me back to: National NRCS Conservation Provision Webpage