Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
The Natural Resources Conservation Service was born out of the Great Dust Bowl (then known as the Soil Conservation Service) with the goal of providing technical assistance to private landowners and facilitating sustainable land management practices on their lands. Over the years the agency grew to include forest lands along with agricultural lands and took on the name it has today.
They seek to provide technical assistance and financial incentives to promote and enable sustainable conservation based management on private lands of all types (forest, farm, pasture etc.) This is accomplished through the implementation of various programs and provision of many resources. Below you will find your local NRCS staff along with brief descriptions of the main programs offered in this state and links to more helpful information.
Your Local NRCS Staff
Anne Collins
District Conservationist
Office: (906) 353-8225 x 101
Toni Pastotnik
Soil Conservationist
Office: (906) 353-8225 x 3
Gina Jarvi
Conservation Technical Assistance Initiative - Conservationist
Office: (906) 353-8225 x 3
NRCS Farm Bill Programs
The following is a list of some of most relevant programs available to private land owners through NRCS. More information on these and other programs can be found here. It should be noted, however, that not all programs and practices are available in all states as each state has some leeway to decide what will be offered in their state and some programs are dependent on other events (such as severe droughts and storms) in order to become active.
Additionally, a large majority of the programs offered by NRCS (including CSP and EQIP) require your land to be registered with the Farm Service Agency (FSA) in order to be eligible to even apply. While this does not apply to the provision of technical assistance from NRCS, it is recommend to take care of this step if you are at all interested in applying for one of the NRCS programs. Please reach out to your local FSA office (906-353-8225) and/or click here for more information on this process.
Conservation Stewardship Program – CSP
This program is designed to promote conservation minded management and land use that is currently occurring on one’s property and provide the means and guidance for additional conservation improvements. This is a five year program with accepted applicants receiving a payment every year for each of the five years. Those enrolled are expected to continue the same level of management as was the case upon enrollment along with some additions as planned by you and the NRCS staff. Follow the title link for more information.
Environmental Quality Incentives Program – EQIP
This program is designed to help get the conservation “ball” rolling on one’s property. With payments upon completion of scheduled practices, EQIP provides cost share to help private land owners over come the initial cost hurdle of starting conservation minded management on their property. Accepted applicants are only expected to perform the scheduled management and not drastically alter the land use on their property. Follow the title link for more information.
Healthy Forests Reserve Program – HFRP
This program is designed to help and incentivize private land owners with restoration, enhancement, and protection of their personal forest lands. This is accomplished through: the provision of funds to help cover the cost of various management practices over a 10-year period which have been selected for their abilities to enhance and/or restore forestlands; and the granting of easements—either 30-year or permanent—to protect the land overall. Follow the title link for more information.
Other Helpful NRCS Resources
In addition to the programs above, NRCS staff can provide technical assistance for a wide assortment of land management strategies and the agency has a large assortment of technical guidance documents at its disposal. Please contact your local NRCS office for more information or visit and explore some of the links below to find out more.
* This is a list of all practices available nationally. Not all practices are offered in each state. Please consult your local NRCS office to see which are offered near you.