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Programs
Agriculture
Resource Development Loan (ARDL):
The Utah ARDL program is a $27 million revolving fund that provides
low interest (3%) loans for projects with a conservation
benefit. The goal of this state program is to help landowners
conserve soil and water, increase yields, maintain and improve
water quality, conserve and improve wildlife habitat, prevent
flooding, develop on-farm energy projects and mitigate damages
caused by natural disasters. A one-time 4% administrative
fee is charged. Contact yourr local UACD zone office, or Dick Sandberg, at the Utah Department of
Agriculture & Food (801) 538-7172. Download
an application form now. Please take your completed application
form into your local UACD Zone office.
Nonpoint
Source Implementation Grants, Section 319 (319 Program):
The 319 Program provides formula grants to the states to implement
nonpoint source projects and programs in accordance with Section
319 of the Clean Water Act. Formula grants are awarded to a
lead agency in each state. States and local organizations are
required to provide 40% of the total project or program
cost. This EPA program is administered by the Utah Department
of Environmental Quality Division of Water Quality. Contact
your local UACD zone
office, or George Hopkin, Department of Agriculture &
Food, (801) 538-7177.
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP):
CRP is a voluntary program which offers financial
incentives to private landowners to protect highly erodible
and environmentally sensitive cropland by planting trees, grass,
and other long-term cover. Additional goals are to reduce sedimentation,
improve water quality, foster wildlife habitat, provide income
support for farmers, and to protect the Nation's long-term capacity
to produce food and fiber. The CRP program has been revised
and extended through 2002.
Key Provisions:
- Uses an offer selection system based on an environmental
benefits index (EBI), which quantifies potential enhancements
to a wide range of natural and cultural resources.
- Requires a contract term of between 10 and 15 years (new
enrollments can replace expired or terminated contracts).
- Participants receive annual per-acre rental payments plus
cost-share assistance.
- Provides up to 50% of the costs of installing approved
conservation practices.
Eligibility: The participant must have owned the land
for at least one year, unless it was inherited or it can be
shown that it was not acquired for the purpose of enrolling
it in the program. The land itself must:
- Be physically and legally capable of agricultural production.
- Have been planted in an agricultural commodity in two of
the five most recent crop years.
- or -
- Be marginal pasture land that is either:
certain acreage enrolled in the Water Bank Program, or suitable for use as a riparian buffer to be planted in trees.
How to Apply: Sign-up is continuous for riparian buffer
strips. For the rest of the program there are regularly scheduled
sign-up windows or periods after which applications are ranked
and selected. For further information or to obtain an application
form, contact your local UACD zone office or USDA
Service Center.
Environmental
Quality Incentives Program (EQIP):
EQIP is a new program designed to assist farmers facing serious
threats to soil, water, and related natural resources. It provides
technical, financial, and educational assistance primarily within
locally identified priority areas where significant natural
resources concerns have been identified. Contracts are offered
that provide financial incentives for conservation practices
such as erosion control, manure management systems, pest management,
and others which will help to improve and maintain the health
of natural resources.
Key Provisions:
- Provides technical assistance, cost-sharing and incentive
payments, and educational assistance to cooperators who enter
into conservation contracts of five to ten year terms.
- Cooperators are eligible for up to 75% of project costs;
$10,000 in any fiscal year; or $50,000 over the life of the
contract.
- Ranks applications using a numerical points system designed
to identify and select proposals that offer the greatest environmental
benefits per program dollar.
- Authorizes the USDA to request assistance of state agencies
as well as other governmental and private resources to aid
in providing technical assistance for the development and
implementation of structural practices.
- Fifty percent of program funding is dedicated to livestock-related
conservation.
- Up to 35% may be spent outside of established priority areas.
Eligibility:
- Participation is limited to persons who are engaged in livestock
or agricultural production.
- Enrolled lands must be cropland, rangeland, forestland,
or other farm or ranch lands where the program is delivered.
How To Apply: Applications are accepted throughout the
year and are ranked and selected during designated periods.
For further information or to obtain an application form, contact
your local UACD zone
office, or your local USDA
Service Center.
Wetlands
Reserve Program (WRP):
WRP is a voluntary program to restore and protect wetlands
on private property. It is an opportunity for landowners to
receive financial incentives to enhance wetlands in exchange
for retiring marginal agricultural land. Funding for this popular
ongoing program has been extended through 2002.
Key Provisions:
- Allows land owners to choose permanent conservation easements,
30-year easements, or restoration cost-share agreements, for
their eligible land.
- Ranks applications using a numerical points system designed
to identify and select proposals that offer the greatest environmental
benefits per program dollar.
- Provides landowners with 75% to 100% cost-sharing for permanent
easements, 50 % to 75% for 30-year easements, and 50 % to
75% for restoration cost-share agreements.
- The land owner continues to control access to enrolled land
and may develop or lease it for compatible uses.
Eligibility: Conservation easements require the participant
to have owned the land for at least one year, unless it was
inherited or it can be shown that it was not acquired for the
purpose of enrolling it in the program. Restoration cost-share
agreements only require that the participant show evidence of
ownership. The land itself must be restorable and suitable for
wildlife benefits. This includes:
- Farmed Wetlands and wetlands farmed under natural conditions.
- Prior converted cropland.
- Farmed wetland pasture.
- Farmland that has become a wetland as the result of flooding.
- Rangeland, pasture, or production forestland where the hydrology
has been significantly Degraded and can be restored.
- Riparian areas which link protected wetlands.
- Lands adjacent to protected wetlands that contribute significantly
to wetland functions and values.
- Previously restored wetlands.
How to apply: For further information or to obtain
an application form, contact your local UACD
zone office, or your local USDA
Service Center.
Wildlife
Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP):
WHIP is a new program that offers cost-share incentives to
landowners to voluntarily develop and improve wildlife habitat
on private lands. Participants work with their local conservation
district and the NRCS to develop a wildlife habitat development
plan and contract. The plan describes the landowner's goals
for improving wildlife habitat, includes a list of practices
and a schedule for installing them, and specifies the steps
necessary to maintain the new habitat for the life of the agreement.
Wildlife Habitat Incentives
Program (WHIP) web page
Key Provisions:
- Local Work Groups submit proposals for state WHIP plan.
- Creates a State Technical Committee to help set priorities
for cost-share measures and habitat development projects.
- Provides cost-sharing up to $10,000 per contract for developing
upland wildlife, wetland wildlife, endangered species, fisheries,
and other wildlife.
- Ranks applications using a numerical points system designed
to identify and select proposals that offer the greatest benefits
to wildlife and related natural resources per program dollar.
- Agreements must last a minimum of 10 years from the date
of installation of the conservation practice.
Eligibility:
- Participants must own or control the land (there is no minimum
acreage).
- Land may not be currently enrolled in the Waterbank Program,
Conservation Reserve Program, Wetlands Reserve Program, or
other similar program.
- Lands used for mitigation can be included in WHIP contracts
but are ineligible for cost-share funds.
- Land is ineligible if it is owned by the Federal Government
or if USDA determines that onsite or offsite conditions would
undermine or reduce the benefits of habitat development.
How to apply: WHIP applications are accepted on a continuous
basis. For further information or to obtain an application form,
contact your local UACD
zone office, or your local USDA
Service Center.
Conservation
of Private Grazing Land:
This new authorization provides authority and emphasis for
a voluntary program within USDA to conserve and enhance natural
resources on non-federal grazing lands. It will provide technical,
educational, and related assistance to owners of private grazing
lands including rangeland, pasture land, grazed forest land,
and hay land. This assistance will offer opportunities for:
- Better grazing land management.
- Protecting soil from erosion.
- Using more energy-efficient ways to produce food and fiber.
- Conserving water.
- Providing habitat for wildlife.
- Sustaining forage and grazing plants.
- Using plants to sequester greenhouse gases and to increase
organic content in soils.
- Using grazing lands as a source of biomass energy and raw
materials for industrial products.
To Get Assistance: For further information and assistance,
contact your local UACD
zone office, or Roger Banner at (435) 797-2472.
Partners for Fish and Wildlife:
Partners for Fish and Wildlife provides cost-share dollars to
farmers and ranchers interested in increasing production while
improving wildlife habitat. This private lands program provides
funding through cost-share agreements for 10-30 years for both
uplands and wetlands. Projects can include fencing, water development,
re-establishment of riparian habitat, installation of water
control structures and others. Partners for Fish and Wildlife
is administered by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Contact your
local UACD zone office
or Karl Fleming, US Fish and Wildlife Service (435) 723-5887,
Ext. 22.
Water
Conservation Field Services Program:
The Water Conservation Field Services Program provides financial
assistance for water conservation activities in the form of
grants or cost-shared funding. The program is aimed at funding
written water management and conservation plans, new or unfamiliar
water management technologies and practices, and promotion of
good water use practices and principles. The program is administered
by the Bureau of Reclamation. Contact your local UACD
zone office or Janice Richardson, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
(801) 379-1069.
Colorado
River Salinity Control Program (CRSCP):
Key Provisions: Provides cost share and some technical
assistance to apply salinity control practices and wildlife
habitat replacement. Program lead by Bureau of Reclamation,
Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Colorado River Salinity
Control Program Forum through State Agriculture Department and Conservation Districts. Federal funding is provided through
earmarks in EQIP.
Eligibility: Land contributing to salinity in the Colorado
River system.
How to Apply: Bureau of Reclamation asks for proposals
and the other agencies advertise sign-ups. Contact your local
UACD zone office
or USDA Service Centers in Price, Castle Dale, Vernal, and Roosevelt.
Contact Bureau of Reclamation in
- Provo or Salt Lake: Lee Baxter
(801) 379-1174, David Truman (801) 524-3753
- Roosevelt:
Brett Prevedel (435) 722-4621
- Price: Dale Woodbury (435) 637-0041
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