Landowners meet with Susan Abele, state coordinator for Nevada Partners for Fish and Wildlife. (Photo: USFWS)How Landowners Help Conserve
Landowners play an important role in helping to conserve the nation’s fish and wildlife. Private lands constitute two-thirds of all U.S. lands. Without the voluntary efforts of private property owners, land restoration would stop at refuge borders, leaving habitats dangerously fragmented and disconnected.Help and Incentives
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Partners Program Thousands of landowners get financial and technical aid from this program to restore wildlife habitat on private land. -
Cooperative Agriculture Some farmers and ranchers grow crops or graze animals on refuge lands under specified conditions to help meet resource needs. -
Conservation Tools Conservation easements and conservation banks are among tools available to protect wildlife on privately owned lands.
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Conservation Incentive Program Get an overview of protections available for wetlands, forests and agricultural lands. -
Grassland Easement Program Learn what the easement process entails and get answers to common questions. -
Wetland Easement Program Find out how and why easements provide needed protection to critical wetlands.
The Dingell Act
The John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management and Recreation Act of 2019 is a wide-reaching law that protects public lands and provides financial aid to conservation-minded landowners. Among its many provisions, the Dingell Act reauthorizes funding for the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program through 2022. Through the Partners Program, the Fish and Wildlife Service offers technical help and funds to private landowners to create or restore habitat to benefit fish and wildlife.
The Dingell Act also reauthorizes the Land and Water Conservation Fund, commits three percent of that fund’s money to improving public recreational access, conserves hundreds of miles of wild and scenic rivers, protects sea turtles and migratory birds, and funds the Every Kid Outdoors Act. More information
See a sampling of land conservation projects initiated by private landowners at Nature’s Good Neighbors
Partners helped a Midwestern landowner restore native prairie habitat. (Photo: Mike Budd/USFWS)