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In the United States, a conservation easement is a power invested in a qualified land conservation organization called a "land trust", or a governmental entity to constrain, as to a specified land area, the exercise of rights otherwise held by a landowner so as to achieve certain conservation purposes. It is an interest in real property established by agreement between a landowner and land trust or unit of government. The conservation easement "runs with the land", meaning it is applicable to both present and future owners of the land. The grant of conservation easement, as with any real property interest, is part of the chain of title for the property and is normally recorded in local land records.
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), formerly known as the Soil Conservation Service (SCS), is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that provides technical assistance to farmers and other private landowners and managers.
The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) is a wholly owned United States government corporation that was created in 1933 to "stabilize, support, and protect farm income and prices". The CCC is authorized to buy, sell, lend, make payments, and engage in other activities for the purpose of increasing production, stabilizing prices, assuring adequate supplies, and facilitating the efficient marketing of agricultural commodities.
The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is a cost-share and rental payment program of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Under the program, the government pays farmers to take certain agriculturally used croplands out of production and convert them to vegetative cover, such as cultivated or native bunchgrasses and grasslands, wildlife and pollinators food and shelter plantings, windbreak and shade trees, filter and buffer strips, grassed waterways, and riparian buffers. The purpose of the program is to reduce land erosion, improve water quality and effect wildlife benefits.
The Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996, known informally as the Freedom to Farm Act, the FAIR Act, or the 1996 U.S. Farm Bill, was the omnibus 1996 farm bill that, among other provisions, revises and simplifies direct payment programs for crops and eliminates milk price supports through direct government purchases.
American Farmland Trust (AFT) is a non-profit organization in the United States with a mission to protect farmland, promote environmentally sound farming practices, and keep farmers on the land. AFT is staffed by farmers, policy experts, researchers, and scientists, and governed by a board of directors. Its headquarters are in Washington, D.C., and it has regional offices throughout the country. AFT also runs the Farmland Information Center, an online collection of information on farmland and ranchland protection and stewardship established as a public-private partnership with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
In the United States, the farm bill is comprehensive omnibus bill that is the primary agricultural and food policy instrument of the federal government. Congress typically passes a new farm bill every five to six years.
Farmland preservation is a joint effort by non-governmental organizations and local governments to set aside and protect examples of a region's farmland for the use, education, and enjoyment of future generations. They are operated mostly at state and local levels by government agencies or private entities such as land trusts and are designed to limit conversion of agricultural land to other uses that otherwise might have been more financially attractive to the land owner. Through different government programs and policy enactments farmers are able to preserve their land for growing crops and raising livestock. Every state provides tax relief through differential (preferential) assessment. Easements are a popular approach and allow the farms to remain operational. Less common approaches include establishing agricultural districts, using zoning to protect agricultural land, purchasing development rights, and transferable development rights. It is often a part of regional planning and national historic preservation. Farmland preservation efforts have been taking place across the United States, such as in Virginia, Minnesota, Maryland, Florida, and Connecticut.
The Conservation Security Program (CSP) was a voluntary conservation program in the United States that supported stewardship of private agricultural lands by providing payments and technical assistance for maintaining and enhancing natural resources. The program promoted the conservation and improvement of soil, water, air, energy, plant and animal life, and other conservation purposes. Congress established the CSP under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (FSRIA), which amended the Food Security Act of 1985. The program was administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Private landowner assistance program (PLAP) is a class of government assistance program available throughout the U.S. for landowners interested in maintaining, developing, improving and protecting wildlife on their property. Each state provides various programs that assist landowners in agriculture, forestry and conserving wildlife habitat. This helps landowners in the practice of good land stewardship and provides multiple benefits to the environment. Some states offer technical assistance which includes:
The agricultural policy of the United States is composed primarily of the periodically renewed federal U.S. farm bills. The Farm Bills have a rich history which initially sought to provide income and price support to US farmers and prevent them from adverse global as well as local supply and demand shocks. This implied an elaborate subsidy program which supports domestic production by either direct payments or through price support measures. The former incentivizes farmers to grow certain crops which are eligible for such payments through environmentally conscientious practices of farming. The latter protects farmers from vagaries of price fluctuations by ensuring a minimum price and fulfilling their shortfalls in revenue upon a fall in price. Lately, there are other measures through which the government encourages crop insurance and pays part of the premium for such insurance against various unanticipated outcomes in agriculture.
The Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade (FACT) Act of 1990 — P.L. 101-624 was a 5-year omnibus farm bill that passed Congress and was signed into law.
A converted wetland is one that has been drained, dredged, filled, leveled, or otherwise altered for the production of an agricultural commodity. The definition is part of The Highly Erodible Land Conservation and Wetland Conservation Compliance provisions (Swampbuster) introduced in the 1985 Farm Bill. The provisions aim to reduce soil loss on erosion-prone lands and to protect wetlands for the multiple benefits they provide.
The Environmental Conservation Acreage Reserve Program (ECARP) was a United States umbrella program authorized by the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 that includes the Conservation Reserve Program, and the Wetland Reserve Program. The Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 continued the CRP and WRP and created the Environmental Quality Incentives Program.
The Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program is a program established by the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 to promote voluntary implementation of on-farm management practices to develop habitat for wetland and upland wildlife, threatened and endangered species, fish, and other types of wildlife using cost-share payments and technical assistance. Between its inception and the start of the 2002 financial year, the program enrollment included 10,729 long-term agreements on over 1,600,000 acres (6,500 km2). The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 reauthorized the program through the 2007 financial year with mandatory annual funding from the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), growing from $15 million in 2002 to $85 million in 2005 through 2007. It also created a pilot program using up to 15% of the funding to provide additional payments to land owners who agree to enroll land for at least 15 years.
The Food Security Act of 1985, a five-year omnibus farm bill, allowed lower commodity price, income supports, and established a dairy herd buyout program. This 1985 farm bill made changes in a variety of other USDA programs. Several enduring conservation programs were created, including sodbuster, swampbuster, and the Conservation Reserve Program.
State technical committees are advisory groups to state conservationists created in the 1990 farm bill and amended in the 1996 farm bill. These groups can include representatives from agencies, agriculture, agribusiness, and non-profits, as well as individuals with a demonstrated expertise. Responsibilities assigned by the 1996 farm bill include establishing procedures for evaluating petitions on new conservation practices and identifying priority areas for the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) and Wetland Reserve Program (WRP).
A Limited Resource Farmer or Rancher is one of a larger group of “targeted farmers" that also includes beginning farmers and ranchers and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. Limited Resource Farmers are characterized by having limited farm sales and income. The USDA created the Limited Resource Farmer and Rancher program to ensure that these farmers and ranchers can develop economically viable farms, have access to USDA support, and ensure that programs are in alignment with farmer and rancher needs and concerns.
The Grasslands Reserve Program (GRP) was a United States government program, administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, that provided financial assistance to farmers and landowners to restore grasslands. The 2002 farm bill authorized enrollment of 2 million acres (8,100 km2) of restored or improved grassland, range land and pastureland under temporary and permanent easements, or contracts of at least 10 years. Under the GRP enrolled land must be in parcels that exceed 40 acres (160,000 m2). Technical assistance was provided to restore grasslands. A total of $254 million in mandatory funding from the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) was provided between Fiscal Years 2003 and 2007. It also provided cost sharing payments at 75% to restore disturbed grasslands and 90% to protect virgin grasslands.
The Farmable Wetlands Program is a wetlands conservation program in the United States. The Farm Service Agency (FSA) runs the program through the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), with the goal of rehabilitation previously farmed wetlands.
References
- ↑ Wetlands Reserve Program of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA
- ↑ Program Status - Wetlands Reserve Program
- ↑ Archived 2008-11-18 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ "CRS Report for Congress: Agriculture: A Glossary of Terms, Programs, and Laws, 2005 Edition - Order Code 97-905" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-02-12. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
