The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announces new funding for the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) for fiscal year 2025 as part of President Biden and Vice President Harris’ Investing in America agenda. Administered by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The program helps landowners and other eligible entities conserve, restore, and protect wetlands, productive agricultural lands, and grasslands at risk of conversion to non-grassland uses. Healthy wetlands, grasslands, and farmlands sequester carbon and provide many other natural resource benefits. The funding is made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act —the largest investment in climate action in history.
“Thanks to President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, we have additional resources to help fund Agricultural Conservation Easement Program work to protect lands in conservation easements,” said USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Chief Terry Cosby. “ACEP continues to be a valuable and effective conservation tool that provides long-term protection of our nation’s farmland and wetland resources.”
NRCS accepts applications year-round for ACEP Agricultural Land Easements (ACEP-ALE) and Wetland Reserve Easements (ACEP-WRE). Interested producers, landowners, and partners should apply by the next two batching dates, Oct. 4, 2024, or Dec. 20, 2024, to be considered for these two state-led funding cycles.
For California, the ACEP-ALE and ACEP-WRE application batching periods are:
- October 4th– ACEP Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Funding
- December 20th– ACEP IRA and ACEP Farm Bill Funding
