Announcements
RCO’s Application Webinar recording is now available!
New for 2026: The manual for this year’s grant round will be published in February. But until then, here’s a sneak peek at upcoming changes:
- New written evaluation criteria (Item 7)
- The 10 percent non-state, non-federal match is no longer required. (Item 6)
- Cost increases now are allowed. (Item 6)
- Acquisition of land currently or previously managed by a public entity is eligible.
- Sponsors have eighteen months from the board funding meeting to acquire land in a combination project.
- Earnest or option payments incurred before the execution of a grant agreement are an eligible pre-agreement cost if they are applied to the purchase price of the land acquired.
Typical Projects
Buying a conservation easement on farmland threatened with development
Who May Apply?
- Cities
- Counties
- Nonprofit nature conservancies
- State Conservation Commission
Funding
Funding comes from the sale of state bonds and is awarded every two years.
Grant Limits
No grant limits, except for the following:
- Enhancement and restoration elements may not exceed more than half of the total acquisition costs, including match toward acquisition.
- Farm stewardship plans may not exceed $10,000.
Match Details
A 50 percent match is required, except for the state Conservation Commission, which has no match. Match may include the following:
- Appropriations or cash
- Bonds
- Donations of cash, land, labor, equipment, and materials
- Other grants
- Applicant’s labor, equipment, and materials
Eligible Projects
- Land acquisition through easements and leases (required for all projects). Public access is not required.
- Enhancement or restoration, such as installing fences to keep livestock out of streams, replanting riverbanks, restoring historic water runoff patterns, improving irrigation, and installing solar well pumps. These activities must further the ecological functions of the farmland.
- Combination of land acquisition and either restoration or enhancement
- Stewardship plans
Ineligible Projects
- Acquisition of rights for less than twenty-five years, of land already owned by the government, or of property acquired via a condemnation
- Consumable supplies such as fuel, fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides, except as a one-time application in an otherwise eligible restoration activity
- Elements that cannot be defined as fixtures or capital items
- Environmental cleanup of illegal activities, such as meth labs
- Indoor facilities
- Organizational operating expenses or overhead
- Purchase of maintenance equipment, tools, or supplies
- Restoration work done before a grant agreement is signed
- Transfer of development rights
Long-term Commitment
Land must be kept and maintained for farmland for at least twenty-five years. Development rights may not be transferred.
More information is in Manual 7: Long-term Obligations.