The Natural Resources Conservation Service has announced a new round of funding for the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) and for the Working Lands for Wildlife Program. The agency is making $350 million available for landowners to protect farmlands, grasslands and wetlands; the ACEP program consolidated a number of previous agricultural easement programs including the Wetlands and Grasslands Reserve Program. Through ACEP, NRCS partners with tribes, state and local governments, and non-profit organizations that have land conservation programs to purchase conservation easements from willing landowners. For wetland easements, landowners can enroll in permanent or 30-year agreements and can also work to restore and enhance wetland habitat.

In addition, NRCS is making $50 million available for targeted wildlife habitat conservation efforts through the Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW) program, this include $40 million that will be invested through the Sage Grouse Initiative. WLFW provides financial incentives to landowners to help them implement conservation efforts for target species including sage grouse, New England cottontail, southwestern willow flycatcher, golden-winged warbler, gopher tortoise, bog turtle and lesser prairie-chicken. By participating in WLFW, landowners also receive some regulatory predictability under the Endangered Species Act.