2024 Cost Share List

County Agencies

Pennington Conservation District (Lindsay.mader@sd.nacdnet.net)

• Private Land Forest Thinning Cost Share

o  Land must be in Pennington or Meade County and 20 acres or less.

o  Current rate is $650/acre on 50/50. Payout is $325/acre.

o  Contact Lindsay Mader at 605-441-5046

Pennington County Weed and Pest (scottg@pennco.org)

• Herbicide Cost Share

o  $100 cost share program on 50/50 reimbursement on herbicides or commercial herbicide applications. 

o  Contact Scott Guffey at 605-394-5320

State Agencies

Game Fish and Parks

Food Plots

• Food plots must remain unharvested/standing through March 15th.
• Annual payment of $20 per acre for food plot acres ($80/acre for food plots enrolled in a public hunting access program).
• Free food plot seed is available from GFP each spring (corn, sorghum, brood mix, big game mix).
• Maximum of 20 acres per quarter section and unlimited total acres per landowner.

Woody Habitat (See woody habitat program guidelines)

• Shelterbelt plantings
• Shelterbelt renovations
•  Riparian shrub clump plantings
• Hardwood release program

Grassland Establishment

• Native grass and forb seed mixes are the priority and plantings must be at least 10 acres.
• Landowners are reimbursed 100% up to a maximum of $125/acre for seed costs.
• Cost-share is NOT available on CRP or WRP plantings or hay land.
•  Additional incentives available if plantings are enrolled into public hunting access program

Brood/Pollinator Plots

• Designed to provide high quality native perennial habitat for broods and pollinators
• Landowners are reimbursed 100% up to a maximum of $150/acre for seed costs
• Individual plantings must be a minimum of 2 acres and a maximum of 9 acres
•  

Grassland/Grazing Management Practices

• To enhance grazing management opportunities and plant community health on working grasslands
• Cost-shared practices include:
• Perimeter and cross fence
• Woven-wire fence replacement in pronghorn range (wildlife friendly fence design)
• Water development - stock tanks, pipeline, rural water hook-ups, wells, solar pump units
• Multi-purpose stock/wildlife impoundments
• Wetland restorations
• Grassland establishment
• Riparian pastures
• Habitat exclusion fencing
• Additional incentives available if enrolled into public hunting access program

Riparian Habitat Enhancement Program

• One-time rental payment of 75% per year of the county NASS rate for pasture (10-year contract)
• Cost share livestock exclusion and alternative water sources
• Minimum width 35 feet and maximum width of 240 feet.

For more information landowners may contact a SDGFP Private Lands Habitat Biologist:

Custer: Tom Miklos - 605-416-4080

Hot Springs: Ben Pucket - 605-786-8144

Belle Fourche: Bill Eastman - 605-391-1575

Mobridge: Kody Conlon - 605-848-0980

Ft. Pierre: John Mayrose - 605-222-0867

Chamberlain: Jessica Thiry - 605-682-8476

Webster: Ben Lardy - 605-461-8249

Watertown: Dan Nelson - 605-303-4805

Brookings: Lucas Zilverberg - 612-865-9980

Tyndall: Todd Crownover - 605-464-0647

Mitchell: Alex Elias – 605-350-1725

South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (SD DANR)

• Forest Stewardship Plan Development Grant
• Minimum 40 deeded acreage & 20 forested acreage needed
• $500 for first 40 forested acres & $2.50/acre for additional acre not to exceed 50% of plan or reimbursement cap of $1,500 per plan
• For more information contact Patricia Weyrich – Rural Forestry Program Coordinator for SD DANR- 605-394-2588

• Riparian Buffer Initiative (Statewide Program)
• Waterbody must be listed in ARSD 74:51:03 or ARSD 74:51:02:04 or locally designated by the local board county commissioners as outlined in SDCL 10-6-116 or designated by DANR.
• Minimum buffer width of 50 feet from the ordinary high-water mark.
• Max average buffer width of 120 feet.
• Vegetation may not be harvested or mowed between May 1 through August 1.
• Vegetation may not be grazed between May 1 and September 30.
• If cattle are present from October 1 through April 30, alternative water shall be available away from the stream.
• A minimum vegetative stand of 4 - 6 inches shall be maintained.
• Must agree to enroll ground for ten years.
• Payment rates are based on the most current USDA “Pasture Cash Rent Paid Per Acre for South Dakota” publications. The rate will be 250% of the county rate to make a consistent payment across the Project. A link to the current county rates is at: https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/South_Dakota/Publications/County_Estimates/23SDcashrents.pdf
• A onetime upfront payment will be determined per acre for eligible acres. Cost-share of alternative water from enrolled pasture would be available at 75% maximum cost share. Fence materials excluding cattle from enrolled pasture would be available at 100%. Grass seed would be available at 100%. Payment would be completed upon installation of materials and seeding.
• Contact Tanner Claussen 605-362-3559

South Dakota Department of Public Safety – Wildland Fire

• Fuels Mitigation/Wildland Urban Interface Program
• SD Wildland Fire offers programs that can help increase survivability of your home within Black Hills National Forest such as:
• 80% Cost Share
• Home Assets
• 0.5-10 acres up to $1,200 per acre.
• Contact Tanner Brown- 605-394-2584

Federal Agencies

Natural Resource Conservation Service

• Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)
• NRCS’ flagship conservation program that helps farmers, ranchers and forest landowners integrate conservation into working lands.
• Improved water and air quality; Conserved ground and surface water; Increased soil health; Reduced soil erosion and sedimentation; Improved or created wildlife habitat; and Mitigation against drought and increasing weather volatility.
• Contact local NRCS office.

• Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)
• Helps you build on your existing conservation efforts while strengthening your operation
• Whether you are looking to improve grazing conditions, increase crop resiliency, or develop wildlife habitat, we can custom design a CSP plan to help you meet those goals. We can help you identify natural resource problems in your operation and provide technical and financial assistance to solve those problems or attain higher stewardship levels in an environmentally beneficial and cost-effective manner.
• Contact local NRCS office.

United States Fish and Wildlife Services (joe_nichols@fws.gov)

• Funds to cost share pipeline, tanks, shallow wells, solar panel, and wildlife friendly fence
• The requirements are project must be in grassland areas of Penn. Co.
• Needs to be in areas without trees or waterways (river).
• Contact Joe Nichols 605-651-6050

Non-Profit Organizations

Audubon (Cody.Grewing@audubon.org)

• Audubon Conservation Ranching Initiative (ACR)
• market-based incentive program for producers who practice good stewardship and provide quality wildlife habitat. 
• Other Funding options
• Cross fence based on 60% of EQIP rates. 
• Pipeline and tanks up to 50% of EQIP rates.
• 100% of seed costs up to $125 per acre for native pasture/prairie seeding. Also have partners that may be able to provide establishment payments. 
• Cost share for woody removal and Rx Fire at 60% of EQIP rates. Also provide technical assistance for Rx fire planning.
• We also have some flexible money to accommodate projects like Beaver Dam Analogs or other innovative non-traditional projects.
• Contact Cody Grewing 712-490-6720

South Dakota Family Forests Association (sdtreefarm@gmail.com)

• Private Land Forest Thinning Cost Share
• Must be an active SDFFA Member

• Forest Stewardship Plan Development Grant
• Minimum 40 Forest Acres Needed
• At completion of FSP plan landowner must become SDFFA Member
• $1,250 for first 40 acres & $10/acre for additional acre not to exceed 75% of plan or reimbursement cap of $3,250 per plan
• For more information contact Patricia Weyrich – Rural Forestry Program Coordinator for SD DANR 605-394-2588

South Dakota Soil Health Coalition (cindy.zenk@usda.gov)

• 319 Program
• Have to be in a watershed, or new creeks, streams, or a body of water
• Funds for cover crops, grass plantings, pollinator plantings, grazing management infrastructure—pipeline, tanks, fence, No-till, crop rotation, forage/biomass planting
• Contact Cindy Zenk 605-280-4190
• 
  
• RCPP
• More to come on this

World Wildlife Fund (Kate.Rasmussen@wwfus.org)

• Sustainable Ranching Initiative
• RANCH SYSTEMS AND VIABILITY PLANNING NETWORK (RSVP)
• For Enrolled Ranches WWF Provides:
• Educational Scholarships
• Baseline bird diversity and abundance, soil, water, and vegetation monitoring
• Access to a 50% cost-share program for qualifying ranch infrastructure projects
• Facilitation of peer-to-peer learning network
• Technical assistance
• Ranch Agrees too:
• No grassland conversion for 10 years
• Written grazing management plan and clear intention to improve grazing practices
• Ecological monitoring on the ranch and provide maps and pasture boundaries for monitoring purposes.
• Educational training in: monitoring and adaptive management, ranching for wildlife, financial planning and grazing management
• Notify WWF if the ranch enters into a carbon contract with any entity.
• Contact Kate Rasmussen 605-899-1716

Public-Private Partnership

Northern Great Plains Joint Venture (kerdman@ducks.org)

• N-GRIP
• meant to fill in the gaps, where folks or acres aren’t eligible for other cost share programs.
• Contact Krista Erdman 605-645-0219