USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Alabama offers easement programs to landowners who want to maintain or enhance their land in a way that is beneficial to agriculture and/or the environment. All easement programs are voluntary, as NRCS provides technical help and financial assistance, but local landowners and organizations are needed to make these programs successful.
Easement programs include both the Agricultural Land Easement (ALE) and Wetland Reserve Easements (WRE). Under ALE, NRCS helps Indian tribes, state and local governments and non-governmental organizations protect working agricultural lands and limit non-agricultural uses of the land. Under the WRE, NRCS helps to restore, protect and enhance enrolled wetlands.
To enroll land through agricultural land easements, eligible partners may submit proposals to NRCS to acquire conservation easements on eligible land. To enroll land through wetland reserve easements, landowners may apply at any time at their local USDA Service Center.