The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is making updates to the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP). Efforts include adjustments to the ACEP Agricultural Land Easements (ALE) as well as Wetland Reserve Easements (WRE). USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is reforming certain processes to allow for more conservation efforts in wetlands, productive farmland, and at-risk grasslands.
More than five million acres of land are already enrolled in ACEP. Changes to the program come as a result of input from farmers, landowners, and other conservation partners. The first step as part of the overall effort to streamline ACEP is reworking procedures for appraisals and land surveys. The threshold for national review of ALE appraisals has been increased from $1 million to $3 million. Land surveys for WRE are also planned to be performed earlier in the acquisition timeline. NRCS will also be increasing partnerships to assist with surveying efforts and simplifying the review process for producer-acquired surveys.
“NRCS’ changes to the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program will help us more efficiently and effectively work with producers and partners to protect lands in conservation easements,” NRCS Chief Terry Cosby said in a news release. “We want our program to be more responsive to our customer needs so that ACEP continues to be a valuable and effective conservation tool that provides long-term protection of our nation’s farmland and wetland resources.”
NRCS also plans to update the certification process for eligible entities assisting with enrolling land into easements. Potentially eligible entities will be preemptively notified of their status and that they qualify for administrative flexibilities. NRCS works with American Indian tribes, state and local governments, and non-governmental organizations through the ALE program. ALE is intended to conserve prime farmland and at-risk grasslands. The Inflation Reduction Act provides $19.5 billion over five years to help strengthen USDA conservation programs like ACEP.
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