A partnership for perpetuity

For decades, land trusts have partnered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service to help landowners conserve America’s farmlands, ranchlands, grasslands and other vital landscapes. Through two NRCS conservation easement programs — the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program: Agricultural Land Easements (ACEP-ALE) and the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) — land trusts help permanently protect tens of thousands of acres each year. These lands face immense development pressure and, once lost, would no longer be available to grow the food and fiber that is needed to sustain our communities and our world.

To support land trusts’ participation in the ACEP-ALE and RCPP programs, the Land Trust Alliance has developed a strong partnership with NRCS. Over the years, we have worked with staff and leadership at all levels of the agency, sharing input from our community and developing solutions to help more land trusts access these important conservation tools. Through our partnership, the Alliance has been able to create new resources, grow communication between the agency and land trusts, and effectively advocate for changes in the two programs that help our community do what we do best—conserve the lands that people need and love.

“Land trusts are trusted partners that bridge the gap between landowners and the agency. If we are to address the increasingly rapid loss of agricultural lands across the country, we must continue to work together,” notes Lori Faeth, the Alliance’s senior director of government relations.

In 2018, the Alliance and NRCS held a firstof-its-kind summit that brought together land trust leaders and NRCS national team members to find ways to strengthen participation in the ACEP-ALE program. The summit was a rousing success, resulting in an increased understanding of the program, better communication between the land trust community and NRCS, and the identification of specific issues that land trusts and the agency could work together to address.

In 2020, I joined the Alliance’s Government Relations team in the first Alliance-hosted partner position created to provide technical assistance on ACEP-ALE and RCPP and coordinate our Farm Bill programs. During the next two years, working closely with NRCS and land trusts, I developed resources and tools to address barriers to program participation. These efforts resulted in the creation of the ACEP-ALE Toolkit, the production of more training opportunities on NRCS programs, and the development of new recommendations from the land trust community for streamlining the programs.

In the summer of 2022, coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, we were able to host the second NRCS-Alliance summit. This gathering proved to be an equally important opportunity for land trusts and NRCS to strengthen trust, assess program implementation and look to the future. Outcomes included new working groups that addressed process improvements for appraisal reviews, staff capacity of both land trusts and the agency, and entity certification as a streamlined path for qualified land trusts to complete more ACEP-ALE projects.

The ACEP-ALE and RCPP programs offer unprecedented opportunities for land trusts to protect even more working lands from the threat of conversion in the months and years ahead. The partnership between NRCS and the Alliance has been incredibly valuable and is vital to the success of our shared conservation goals. Together we have already accomplished a great deal, and we know there is much more to be done. With a growing team, tools and resources, the Alliance and our community are up for the challenge.