The first sign-up for the Grassland Reserve Program (GRP) began on June 30, 2003. The 2002 Farm Bill amended the Food Security Act of 1985 to include authorization for this program.

The GRP is a voluntary program that helps landowners and operators restore and protect grassland, including rangeland and pastureland, and certain other lands, while maintaining the areas as grazing lands.

Grasslands make up the largest land cover on America's private lands. Privately-owned grasslands and shrublands cover more than 525 million acres in the United States. For the first time, the U.S. Department of Agriculture will direct financial resources and technical expertise to help landowners protect and restore these lands.

Applications for participation will be accepted on a continuous basis at local Farm Service Agency (FSA) or Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Offices. Once funding has been exhausted, eligible applicants will remain on file until additional funding becomes available. Over $49 million in fiscal year 2003 funds are available to implement GRP.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service, Farm Service Agency and Forest Service are coordinating implementation of GRP, which helps landowners restore and protect grassland, rangeland, pastureland, shrubland and certain other lands and provides assistance for rehabilitating grasslands. The program will conserve vulnerable grasslands from conversion to cropland or other uses and conserve valuable grasslands by helping maintain viable ranching operations.

GRP offers producers several enrollment options: permanent easements, 30-year easements, rental agreements (10, 15, 20 or 30-year duration) and restoration agreements. For permanent easements, USDA makes a payment based on the fair market value of the property less the grazing value. For 30-year easements, USDA pays 30 percent of what would be paid for a permanent easement. For rental agreements, USDA pays 75 percent of the grazing value in annual payments for the length of the agreement.

For restoration agreements, USDA pays up to 90 percent of the restoration costs on grassland and shrubland that has never been cultivate_ and not more than 75 percent on restored grassland and shrubland (land that once was cultivated).

To participate in GRP, offers must be private land that includes at least, 40 contiguous acres. Additional eligibility criteria are described in the "Notice of Availability of Program Funds for the Grassland Reserve Program" that was published in the Federal Register on June 13, 2003. This notice applies only to fiscal year 2003 funds and will be used for the initial sign-up.

For more information about GRP and other conservation programs, contact your local USDA Service Center, listed in the telephone book under U.S. Department of Agriculture, or online at http://offices.usda.gov/.