Fund Your Land: Wildlife Habitat Conservation and the WHIP Program

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, in Massachusetts, is home to this snowy owl. iStockphoto.com/Ken Canning

Got any spare land lying around? Want to increase your contributions to wildlife habitat conservation?

According to the 2007 National Resources Inventory, a statistical survey that monitors such things, nearly 1.4 billion acres of non-federal rural land exist in the United States. These lands are predominately forestland (406 million acres), rangeland (409 million acres) and cropland (357 million acres).

In a time when the nation is suffering from diminishing wildlife habitats, it’s nice to know that, in some instances, government funds are available to help property owners and local wildlife. 

The Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP), a little-known national program, provides technical and monetary assistance for people who want to create or improve wildlife habitats on their land.

Through WHIP, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) helps a landowner determine the most effective way to make property wildlife-friendly and assists in getting cost-share funds to carry out projects. Eligible land includes private agricultural land, non-industrial private forestland and tribal lands. 

How WHIP works

WHIP is available in all 50 states. To participate, NRCS state offices consult with local conservation groups on specific wildlife needs of that particular state, then develop a weighted ranking system to determine which projects will receive funds. Priority is given to land that protects or has the potential to provide habitat for any threatened species of fish or wildlife.

On a national level, NRCS regulations do not place limits on the number of acres that can be enrolled in the program or the amount of funding that can be allocated per project. However, each state may choose to establish its own parameters.

Property owners can visit the website of their state’s NRCS office to determine current wildlife priorities as well as cut-off dates for applications and other key information. Forms are also often available on these sites.

NRCS staffers evaluate all applications, giving priority to property that can sustain wildlife species experiencing population declines, or to fish and wildlife habitats that may not be otherwise funded.

If the property qualifies, participants work with NRCS to prepare a development plan covering the landowner’s goals for improving wildlife habitat and the steps necessary to reach those goals. NRCS provides cost-share payments to landowners for five to 10 years, depending on the practices to be installed. Higher share rates are available for participants who enter into 15-year agreements.