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The Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) provides financial and technical assistance to help conserve agricultural lands and wetlands and their related benefits.
The Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) provides financial and technical assistance to help conserve agricultural lands and wetlands and their related benefits.. Under the Agricultural Land Easements component, NRCS helps Indian tribes, state and local governments and non-governmental organizations protect working agricultural lands and limit non-agricultural uses of the land.
ACEP has two components:
- Agricultural Land Easements (ALE) help private and tribal landowners, land trusts, and other entities such as state and local governments protect croplands and grasslands on working farms and ranches by limiting non-agricultural uses of the land through conservation easements.
- Wetland Reserve Easements (WRE) help private and tribal landowners protect, restore and enhance wetlands which have been previously degraded due to agricultural uses.
Additionally, through ACEP, USDA offers the Wetland Reserve Enhancement Partnership (WREP), a voluntary program through which NRCS enters into agreements with eligible partners to leverage resources to carry out high-priority wetland protection, restoration, and enhancement and to improve wildlife habitat.
Who is eligible?
Eligible partners for ACEP-ALE include American Indian tribes, state and local governments and non-governmental organizations that have farmland, rangeland or grassland protection programs. – If you are a landowner looking for an eligible partner to hold an Agricultural Land Easement, visit the following websites to learn how to locate a partner.
Eligible landowners for ACEP-WRE include owners of privately held land including land that is held by tribes and tribal members.
All landowners, for both ALE and WRE, including members of landowner-legal entities, must meet adjusted gross income (AGI) limitations and must be compliant with the HEL/WC provisions of the Food Security Act of 1985.
What land is eligible?
Land eligible for Agricultural Land Easements (ALE) includes private or Tribal land that is agricultural land, cropland, rangeland, grassland, pastureland and nonindustrial private forest land. NRCS will prioritize applications that protect agricultural uses and related conservation values of the land and those that maximize the protection of contiguous acres devoted to agricultural use, including land on a farm or ranch.
- Eligible Land Types must also meet one of the four following land eligibility criteria:
- Parcels enrolled to protect Prime, Unique, or Other productive soil.
- Parcels enrolled to provide protection of grazing uses and related conservation values.
- Parcels containing historical or archeological resources.
- Land that furthers a state or local policy consistent with the purposes of ACEP-ALE.
Land eligible for Wetland Reserve Easements includes farmed or converted wetlands that can be successfully and cost-effectively restored. NRCS will prioritize applications based on the easement’s potential for protecting and enhancing habitat for migratory birds and other wildlife.
How does it work?
Agricultural Land Easements
NRCS provides financial assistance to eligible partners for purchasing Agricultural Land Easements that protect the agricultural use and conservation values of eligible land.
The program helps farmers and ranchers keep their land in agriculture. Under the Agricultural Land Easement component, NRCS may contribute up to 50 percent of the fair market value of the agricultural land easement.
The program also protects grazing uses and related conservation values by conserving grassland, including rangeland, pastureland and shrubland. Where NRCS determines that grasslands of special environmental significance will be protected, NRCS may contribute up to 75 percent of the fair market value of the agricultural land easement.
Agricultural Land Easements are permanent in the State of Michigan.
Wetland Reserve Easements
NRCS provides technical and financial assistance directly to private landowners and Indian tribes to restore, protect, and enhance wetlands through the purchase of a permanent or 30-year wetland reserve easement. For acreage owned by an Indian tribe, there is an additional enrollment option of a 30-year contract.
For permanent easements, NRCS pays up to 95 percent of the easement value in accordance with the current Geographic Area Rate Cap for the state, and 75 to 100 percent of the restoration costs. Thirty-year easements expire 30 years after the recording date, therefore, NRCS pays 50 to 75 percent of the easement value in accordance with the current Geographic Area Rate Cap for the state, and 50 to 75 percent of the restoration costs.
How to enroll?
To enroll land through Agricultural Land Easements, eligible partners may apply at any time to the Michigan NRCS State Office.
To enroll land through wetland reserve easements, landowners may apply at any time at the local USDA Service Center.
Agricultural Conservation Easement Fact Sheet
(488.43 KB)
Is ACEP Right for Me?
(295.93 KB)
Information on registration with SAM
For Landowners Applying for Wetland Easements
Conservation at Work Video - Wetland Restoration (YouTube link)
Application for ACEP WRE (form NRCS-CPA-1200
(511.95 KB)
ACEP-WRE Appendix
(86.87 KB)
For Partnership Entities Acquiring Agricultural Land Easements
ACEP-ALE Overview Video (YouTube link)
ACEP-ALE Application Data Sheet
(266.87 KB)
Buy-Protect-Sell Transaction
(1.67 MB)
Guide to ACEP-ALE for Heirs
(1.65 MB)
Michigan ACEP-ALE Application Checklist
(117.69 KB)
NRCS_CPA_41_02_2020.pdf
(313.79 KB)
NRCS-CPA-41A
(454.29 KB)
2020 Appraisal Specifications.pdf
(283.2 KB)
2020 Minimum Deed Terms.pdf
(308.04 KB)
Contact
To apply for ACEP, contact your local NRCS Field Office.
NRCS Michigan Field Offices
Ready to get started?
Contact your local service center to start your application.
How to Get Assistance
Do you farm or ranch and want to make improvements to the land that you own or lease?
Natural Resources Conservation Service offers technical and financial assistance to help farmers, ranchers and forest landowners.
To get started with NRCS, we recommend you stop by your local NRCS field office. We’ll discuss your vision for your land.
NRCS provides landowners with free technical assistance, or advice, for their land. Common technical assistance includes: resource assessment, practice design and resource monitoring. Your conservation planner will help you determine if financial assistance is right for you.
We’ll walk you through the application process. To get started on applying for financial assistance, we’ll work with you:
- To fill out an AD 1026, which ensures a conservation plan is in place before lands with highly erodible soils are farmed. It also ensures that identified wetland areas are protected.
- To meet other eligibility certifications.
Once complete, we’ll work with you on the application, or CPA 1200.
Applications for most programs are accepted on a continuous basis, but they’re considered for funding in different ranking periods. Be sure to ask your local NRCS district conservationist about the deadline for the ranking period to ensure you turn in your application in time.
As part of the application process, we’ll check to see if you are eligible. To do this, you’ll need to bring:
- An official tax ID (Social Security number or an employer ID)
- A property deed or lease agreement to show you have control of the property; and
- A farm number.
If you don’t have a farm number, you can get one from USDA’s Farm Service Agency. Typically, the local FSA office is located in the same building as the local NRCS office. You only need a farm number if you’re interested in financial assistance.
NRCS will take a look at the applications and rank them according to local resource concerns, the amount of conservation benefits the work will provide and the needs of applicants. View Application Ranking Dates by State.
If you’re selected, you can choose whether to sign the contract for the work to be done.
Once you sign the contract, you’ll be provided standards and specifications for completing the practice or practices, and then you will have a specified amount of time to implement. Once the work is implemented and inspected, you’ll be paid the rate of compensation for the work if it meets NRCS standards and specifications.
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