State Cost Share Program

Each year the SWCD receives a State Cost-Share grant from the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR), to be used on conservation practices. Some of the practices eligible for this program include: field windbreaks, shelterbelts, grassed waterways, terraces, sediment basins, strip-cropping, and critical area plantings.

The practices funded with this program seem to change with the times and availability of other programs. The past few years have seen most of these dollars being used primarily for shelterbelts that are not eligible for federal dollars. Examples of this would be shelterbelt renovations where the lack of crop history makes these ineligible for continuous CRP, or shelterbelts on land not currently under a federal farm program number. This program fills a niche for people living in the country, and not associated with farming. In many cases it may be possible for us to cost-share on a shelterbelt tree planting on those lots. We have also used this program in conjunction with the federal EQIP program to improve cost share funding for shelterbelt renovations.

If you are interested in implementing any of the conservation practices listed above, contact the SWCD office for further details.