The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing approximately $138 million from the Inflation Reduction Act into 138 new climate-smart conservation easements. These easements, as part of the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), aim to conserve wetlands, grasslands, and prime farmlands, supporting climate-smart agriculture and forestry initiatives. The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) prioritized land that reduces, captures, avoids, or sequesters carbon dioxide, methane, or nitrous oxide emissions.
“President Biden’s historic Inflation Reduction Act is enabling us to get a record amount of conservation on the ground, including through conservation easements, which give farmers and ranchers the tools they need to protect sensitive landscapes, like wetlands and grasslands, as well as prime farmland,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a press release. “While we welcome these new easements, we have also made improvements to the program to make it work better and faster for agricultural producers and our conservation partners.”
These efforts follow streamlining initiatives within NRCS to simplify ACEP processes. Overall, the Inflation Reduction Act allocates $19.5 billion for climate-smart agriculture and forestry activities, with ACEP receiving $1.4 billion over several years. Applications for ACEP and other NRCS programs are ongoing, with state-specific deadlines for funding consideration.
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Brian German
Ag News Director / AgNet West