Fund Your Buffer

USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) provides landowners with financial incentives and technical support to remove land from agricultural production and implement conservation practices that help protect water and soil. Contracts are voluntary and generally last between 10 and 15 years. Landowners are paid a generous annual rental rate for each year they are in the contract. CREP also provides cost share assistance that often covers the full cost of implementing conservation practices.

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is a voluntary program that helps landowners plan and implement conservation practices by providing financial and technical assistance. It offers flexible terms for contracts, with a maximum agreement length of ten years. Landowners receive financial assistance based on the average implementation cost of the practice. There is a wide diversity of conservation practices in this program which address natural resource concerns like water and air quality, soil erosion, nutrient management, and wildlife habitat.

NRCS’ Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) provides financial and technical assistance to assist landowners in protecting and restoring wetlands. Eligible lands may be current or former wetlands, where it is possible for degraded hydrologic functions to be restored and made suitable for wildlife habitat. There are three enrollment options for this program- a permanent easement, a 30 year easement or a restoration cost-share agreement that lasts for 10 years. In each case, the USDA helps to pay easement and restoration costs; the amount varies based on the length of the agreement.

NRCS’ Healthy Forests Reserve Program (HFRP) helps landowners restore, enhance, and protect forestland on their property through financial assistance and easements. This program promotes the recovery of endangered and threatened species, improving plant and animal diversity, and enhancing carbon sequestration. There are three enrollment options for this program- a permanent easement, a 30-year easement or a restoration cost share agreement that lasts for 10 years.

NRCS’s Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) promotes buffers as a part of a suite of enhancements designed to maintain or exceed the quality criteria, or stewardship level, for the resource concern.  Most of the agriculture producers that are approved to participate in CSP have already been implementing conservation practices on their land. CSP steps in and offers enhancements  for those practices. In the case of a riparian buffer, CSP could help widen the buffer or improve its efficiency.

Maryland Agricultural Water Quality Cost Share (MACS) Program provides up to 37.5% cost share of the eligible costs of planting a riparian forest buffer. This program is to be combined with enrollment in CREP. This program is managed by the Maryland Department of Agriculture.

Backyard Buffers provides a free bag of 20 to 30 native tree and shrub bare-root seedlings to landowners who have streams or other waterways on or adjacent to their property. This program is for smaller landowners who are not eligible for agricultural cost share programs, and is not available in all counties. Program managed by Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Forest Service and Potomac Conservancy.

Maryland Department of Agriculture’s Conservation Buffer Initiative is a pilot program that provides a new funding option for farmers who want to plant streamside buffers on their farms to improve the health of local streams and the Chesapeake Bay. The program includes include attractive incentive payments, a buffer option for field ditches, more flexible site management, and shorter contract terms.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund allows Maryland to accelerate Bay restoration by focusing limited financial resources on the most efficient, cost-effective non-point source pollution control projects, such as forest buffers.

The Healthy Forests Healthy Waters program is a collaborative tree planting initiative between the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, the Maryland Forest Service, the Maryland Forestry Foundation, and private landowners throughout Maryland. The program provides participating landowners with a free, turnkey tree planting project of an acre or more on open land that they want to convert into a forest.

The Upper Susquehanna Coalition Buffer Team offers innovative and flexible programming to support riparian forest buffers in collaboration with local soil and water conservation districts.

The Buffer in a Bag program provides organizations and private landowners with free tree and shrub seedlings to help establish, or improve, a stream buffer on their property. Plantings alongside waterbodies create wildlife habitat and improve water quality.

The Agricultural Non-point Source Abatement and Control Program is a cost-share grant program that provides funding to address and prevent potential water quality issues that stem from farming activities. Financial and technical assistance supports the planning and implementation of on-farm projects, including riparian forest buffers.

The Climate Resilient Farming (CRF) Program aims to reduce the impact of agriculture on climate change (mitigation) and to increase the resiliency of New York State farms in the face of a changing climate (adaptation). Program grant funds are available for projects that mitigate the impact of agriculture on climate change for greenhouse gas emissions reduction and carbon sequestration, in addition to enhancing the on-farm adaptation and resiliency to projected climate conditions due to heavy storm events, rainfall, and drought.

Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Riparian Forest Buffer Program provides grants to organizations working with landowners and municipalities to establish riparian forest buffers. Eligible applicants include local governments and non-profits or educational organizations working in Pennsylvania. Eligible grant activities include landowner outreach, buffer design, site preparation and buffer installation, plant materials, tree shelters, and short-term maintenance.

TreeVitalize is a program to restore tree cover in Pennsylvania communities. This program is for projects not eligible for agricultural cost-share programs. Managed by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR).

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Growing Greener Watershed Protection Grants fund watershed conservation projects.

Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts’ CREP Mini-grant Program for Conservation Districts funds conservation districts to implement education and outreach activities to extend the work of the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program.

Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts’ Multifunctional Riparian Buffer Sub-grant Program provides funding to conservations districts to install multifunctional forest buffers in conjunction with landowners.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Keystone 10 Million Trees (K10) Program has a goal of planting 10 million trees in Pennsylvania, primarily in riparian areas, by 2025. Registered K10 partners can receive free trees and supplies for planting.

The Riparian Buffer Tax Credit is available to landowners for preserving riparian forest buffers along waterways during a timber harvest operation. Landowners may apply for a tax credit equal to 25% of the value of the timber (or up to $17,500) within a riparian forest buffer. A buffer must be between 35 and 300 feet wide and must be intact for at least 15 years. There is a $150 application fee, and the landowner must also have a Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) approved stewardship management plan.

Virginia Agricultural Cost Share (VACS) SL-6 Program is available to landowners for stream exclusion and alternative watering systems. The stream exclusion fence must be setback a minimum of 35 feet. Landowners may receive up to 75% cost share, as well as a tax credit of 25% of eligible out of pocket expenses after cost share payment.

Trees for Clean Water Program provides technical and financial support for on-the-ground efforts related to riparian buffer tree planting, community and neighborhood tree planting, etc. Funding is available on a 50/50 match basis. This program is for projects not eligible for agricultural cost share programs. Program managed by Virginia Department of Forestry.

Through the James River Buffer Program, the James River Association, the Virginia Department of Forestry, and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation are working with landowners across the middle and upper James watershed to restore or create forest buffers that improve the quality of local waterways.

Trout Unlimited’s Upper James River Home Rivers Initiative targets headwater properties in Highland and Bath counties for stabilizing streambanks and restoring riparian buffers.

Through the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Virginia Department of Forestry, the Mountains to Bay Buffer Program works with landowners across the Shenandoah Valley to restore or create forest buffers.

Through the Carla Hardy WV Project CommuniTree, Cacapon Institute provides trees, training, and planning assistance. Volunteer groups make a planting plan and organize to pick up the trees then plant and care for them.

National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund awards grants under two categories: Small Watershed Grants (SWGs) and Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction Grants (INSRs). SWGs are projects that promote community based efforts to protect and restore natural resources of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributary rivers and streams. INSRs are awarded to projects that dramatically accelerate nutrient and sediment reductions through innovative, sustainable, and cost effective methods, approaches, and technology. The Fund is a partnership between NFWF and the US Environmental Protection Agency.

USDA Forest Service Landscape Scale Restoration (LSR) Grant Program supports projects that address priorities in each State’s Forest Action Plan. Eligible projects include landscape restoration practices that enhance forest sustainability, such as invasive species management, and integrate efforts to improve management of non-industrial private forest lands. All project proposals are submitted directly by the state forester. Only five proposals may be submitted per state.

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Conservation Innovation Grant Program supports the development of innovative approaches and technologies for accelerating conservation on agricultural lands.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ NRCS’ Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) promotes coordination between NRCS and its partners to deliver conservation assistance to producers and landowners. Financial assistance is provided to landowners in accordance to the rules of EQIP, CSP, ACEP, and HFRP./p>

Chesapeake Bay Trust (CBT) Restoration and Retrofits Grant program funds projects that lead to demonstration-based restoration, community engagement, and environmental education. This program is Maryland specific.