Conservation Stewardship Program

Introduction

The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) is a voluntary conservation program that encourages producers to address resource concerns in a comprehensive manner by:

• Undertaking additional conservation activities; and
• Improving, maintaining, and managing existing conservation activities.

CSP is available on Tribal and private agricultural lands and non-industrial private forest land in all 50 States and the Caribbean and Pacific Islands Areas. The program provides equitable access to all producers, regardless of operation size, crops produced, or geographic location. The Secretary of Agriculture has delegated the authority for CSP to the NRCS Chief.

Highlights and Announcements

    ●  New CSP Fact Sheet (PDF, 44 KB, 08/07/2009)
    ●  CSP Interim Final Rule (PDF, 134 KB, 07/29/2009)
        - Public Comment period is open until September 28, 2009.

Program Description

Through CSP, NRCS will provide financial and technical assistance to eligible producers to conserve and enhance soil, water, air, and related natural resources on their land. Eligible lands include cropland, grassland, prairie land, improved pastureland, rangeland, nonindustrial private forest lands, agricultural land under the jurisdiction of an Indian tribe, and other private agricultural land (including cropped woodland, marshes, and agricultural land used for the production of livestock) on which resource concerns related to agricultural production could be addressed. Participation in the program is voluntary.

CSP encourages land stewards to improve their conservation performance by installing and adopting additional activities, and improving, maintaining, and managing existing activities on agricultural land and nonindustrial private forest land. The NRCS will make CSP available nationwide on a continuous application basis.

The State Conservationist, in consultation with the State Technical Committee and local work groups, will focus program impacts on natural resources that are of specific concern for a State, or the specific geographic areas within a State. Applications will be evaluated relative to other applications addressing similar priority resource concerns to facilitate a competitive ranking process among applicants within a State who face similar resource challenges.

The entire operation must be enrolled and must include all eligible land that will be under the applicant's control for the term of the proposed contract that is operated substantially separate from other operations.

CSP offers participants two possible types of payments:

1. Annual payment for installing and adopting additional activities, and improving, maintaining, and managing existing activities
2. Supplemental payment for the adoption of resource-conserving crop rotations

FY 2011 Sign-up Information

New Conservation Activities and Bundles are available for this year. Don't forget to sign up by January 21, 2011 to be considered for this fiscal year's program ranking and funding.

Is CSP Right For Me?

You can play a large role in determining whether or not CSP is right for you. Here's how:

Conservation Stewardship Self-Screening Checklist

Download and fill out the Conservation Stewardship Self-Screening Checklist (PDF, 98KB) 

You don't have to turn it in to NRCS; it's there to help you determine for CSP is right for you.  If you have questions regarding the Checklist, please contact your local NRCS office.

2011 Conservation Program Activity List and Job Sheets

Download the Conservation Program Activity List (PDF, 112KB), to identify new activities you may be interested in to install or adopt.

An "Enhancement" is a conservation activity used to treat natural resources and greatly improve conservation performance.

Enhancements are installed at a level of management intensity which exceeds the sustainable level for a given resource concern.

Enhancements directly related to a practice standard are applied in a manner that exceeds the minimum treatment requirements of the standard.

A "Bundle" is a group of specific enhancements which when installed as a group, addresses resource concerns synergetically.

The following links lead to Enhancement Activity Job Sheets. Each Job Sheet is a complete description of the activities summarized the Conservation Program Activity List:

• Air Quality
• Animal
• Energy
• Plant
• Soil Erosion
• Soil Quality
• Water Quality
• Water Quantity
• Special Projects
• Bundles

How Do I Apply?

• The CSP Application Download and fill out the Conservation Stewardship Program Application (PDF, 40KB), and turn it in to your local NRCS office.
• Conservation Measurement Tool Inventory Questions
  
  As part of the CSP application process, you'll work with NRCS field personnel to complete your resource inventory using a Conservation Measurement Tool (CMT). The CMT determines the conservation performance for existing and additional conservation activities.
  
  The documents below are copies of the resource inventory questions, grouped by land use. You can download and review the questions, and begin drafting responses to start resource inventory process before you complete the CMT in your local NRCS office.

    ●  CMT Tool Crop Questions (PDF; 59KB)
    ●  CMT Tool Forest General Questions (PDF; 10KB)
    ●  CMT Tool Forest Questions (PDF; 15KB)
    ●  CMT Tool Ag Land General Questions (PDF; 10KB)
    ●  CMT Tool Pasture Questions (PDF; 16KB)
    ●  CMT Tool Range Questions (PDF; 12KB)
    ●  CMT Tool Water Questions (PDF; 10KB)

The Organic Crosswalk

The 2008 Farm Bill recognized the growing interest and support of organic agriculture across the country and required the development of a transparent means by which producers may initiate organic certification while participating in a CSP contract. "The Conservation Stewardship Program’s Contribution to Organic Transitioning - The Organic Crosswalk", provides an explanation of how CSP enhancements can be used to assist producers in meeting individual National Organic Program (NOP) rules while going through the transitioning period.

●  The Organic Crosswalk (PDF, 45KB)

CSP and Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative (CCPI)

The Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative (CCPI) is a voluntary conservation initiative that enables the use of certain conservation programs along with resources of eligible partners to provide additional financial and/or technical assistance to owners and operators of agricultural and nonindustrial private forest lands. The document below provides guidance how to use CCPI:

●  CSP CCPI Guidance (PDF; 45 KB)

Resource Conserving Crops

    ●  Pacific Islands Area Resource Conserving Crops (PDF; 10 KB)

Archived Information

    ●  FY 2009 Sign-up Information (HTML)
    ●  FY 2010 Sign-up Information (HTML)

Additional Documents

    ●  Public Meetings Stewardship (PPT, 711 KB)
    ●  CSP Kick Off (PPT, 470 KB)

Pacific Islands Area CSP Contacts:

Jeffrey Harlow
Assistant Director for Programs
Phone: (808) 541-2600 x 149
Email: Jeff.Harlow@hi.usda.gov 

Last Modified: 04/01/2011

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