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The Washington State Conservation Commission (SCC) is currently accepting applications for the 2026 Agricultural Conservation Easement Sponsorship (ACES) program. ACES provides a pathway for conservation districts to access grants made available by the Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO), Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program (WWRP) to permanently protect farmland in their district.
The application window is open until February 2.
On November 17, OFP held a one-hour webinar to provide context and answer questions. Click the link below to watch.
Background:
The Office of Farmland Preservation (OFP) is housed within the SCC and is responsible for activities identified in the OFP statute, RCW 89.10. SCC has identified agricultural conservation easements as an important tool to assist in farmland protection and advancing conservation with willing landowners. RCW 64.04.130 authorizes SCC to acquire and hold an interest in land for farmland conservation purposes.
SCC works with conservation districts to identify and, where appropriate, seek funding to purchase development rights on farmland conveyed as an “agricultural conservation easement.” Agricultural easements prevent conversion of agricultural land into non-agricultural uses through a restriction of certain real property rights, including the right to subdivide and develop.
SCC is an eligible applicant to the Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO), Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program (WWRP) Farmland category, RCW 79A.15. Conservation districts are not eligible applicants.
Eligible lands for the easement program must be devoted primarily to the production of livestock or agricultural commodities for commercial purposes. If SCC successfully purchases an agricultural conservation easement through WWRP funding, the SCC assumes the legal liability as the primary holder of the real property right.
SCC’s priorities for consideration of an agricultural conservation easement are:
- The parcel proposed for preservation is expected to continue to be used for, and is large enough to sustain, commercial agricultural production.
- The land is also in an area that possesses the necessary market, infrastructure, agricultural support services, and the surrounding parcel sizes and land uses that will support long-term commercial agricultural production.
- Without preservation, the land proposed for protection is likely to be converted to nonagricultural use in the foreseeable future.
Commitment:
The conservation easement funding and acquisition process is time intensive. It requires all parties — SCC, conservation district, and landowner(s) to be committed to the project. The conservation district must have a dedicated staff contact responsible for the project. The WWRP grant reimburses for eligible expenses and some staff time if awarded funding. However, the conservation district will be required to cover the staff time not covered by the grant. Notable items that cannot be paid for by the grant are time spent developing the project prior to contract, and overhead expenses for the entirety of the project duration.
Roles and Responsibilities for Application:
The conservation district and SCC will work together through the WWRP application process on projects selected for sponsorship. The conservation district is the expert on the project and the primary contact with the landowner and is responsible for gathering all landowner and property information, photos, letters of support, or other required documents. SCC will submit the application and materials via PRISM.
Conservation districts are encouraged to review and check for updates to RCO's Manual 10f - WWRP Farmland Preservation for additional information on RCO's program requirements and updated project ranking criteria for the 2026 application cycle.
If you are interested in Sponsorship:
If you have a potential project, you are strongly encouraged to reach out early to OFP Specialist, Paul D'Agnolo, via email at pdagnolo@scc.wa.gov or by phone at 564-669-0972, to discuss the project’s viability and the required process.
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