	Introduction

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers a number of agricultural conservation programs that assist private landowners with natural resource concerns. The differences and number of these programs created general confusion about the purpose, participation, and policies of the programs. Conservation Programs

The tabular presentation that follows provides basic information covering each of the USDA agricultural conservation programs, including 
administering agency or agencies within USDA; brief program description; major amendments to the program in the Agricultural Act of 2014 ( P.L. 113-79 ), commonly referred to as the 2014 farm bill; national scope and availability, including participation levels and acres enrolled; states with the highest level of funds obligated or acres enrolled; volume of application backlog or public interest in each program; authorized funding levels, whether mandatory spending or discretionary appropriations, and any funding restrictions; FY2018 funding level in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 ( P.L. Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP)

		Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA)

		Conservation Operations (CO)—Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA)

		Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)

		CRP—Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP)

		CRP—Farmable Wetland Program

		CRP—Grasslands

		Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)

		Emergency Conservation Program (ECP)

		Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP)

		Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP)

		Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)

		EQIP—Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG)

		Grassroots Source Water Protection Program

		Healthy Forests Reserve Program (HFRP)

		Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP)

		Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program

		Water Bank Program

		Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations

		Watershed Rehabilitation Program
The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Farm Service Agency (FSA) in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) currently administer 20 programs and subprograms that are directly or indirectly available to assist producers and landowners who wish to practice conservation on agricultural lands. The differences and number of these programs have created general confusion about the purpose, participation, and policies of the programs. While recent consolidation efforts removed some duplication, a large number of programs remain. The programs discussed in this report are as follows
Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA) Conservation Operations (CO); Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA) Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) CRP—Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) CRP—Farmable Wetland Program CRP—Grasslands Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP) Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) EQIP—Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) Grassroots Source Water Protection Program Healthy Forests Reserve Program (HFRP) Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program Water Bank Program Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations Watershed Rehabilitation Program
This tabular presentation provides basic information covering each of the programs. In each case, a brief program description is followed by information on major amendments in the Agricultural Act of 2014 (P.L. 113-79, 2014 farm bill), national scope and availability, states with the greatest participation, the backlog of applications or other measures of continuing interest, program funding authority, FY2018 funding, FY2019 Administration budget request, statutory authority, the authorization expiration date, and a link to the program's website.