Long-term stewardship, long-term support.
Beyond single practices, there are easements, carbon projects, and recognition programs that back the way you run your land. Rangeworks helps you see the bigger picture.
Some programs support how you steward land, not just what you install.
Easements and carbon programs aren't about one fence or one field — they're about conserving whole ranches, rewarding long-term conservation, or helping new operators get started. These programs often work on multi-decade timelines and recognize the cumulative value of careful land management.
Many producers aren't aware these options exist or how they layer with practice-based programs. Conservation easements can protect working ranches from development while keeping them in agriculture. Carbon and climate programs pay for outcomes over time. Beginning farmer programs help new operators access land and funding. Recognition programs like the Leopold Conservation Award highlight exemplary stewardship — and often come with unrestricted cash awards.
Featured Program
Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP-ALE)
Administered by USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
ACEP-ALE helps protect working farms and ranches from development through agricultural land easements. Landowners receive payments for placing permanent or long-term restrictions on their land while continuing to operate it as a working agricultural property.
Example: Keeping a Texas ranch working with ACEP-ALE
Four Winns Ranch in Texas used ACEP-ALE funding, administered through a land trust, to place a conservation easement on their working ranch. The easement protects the property from future development while allowing the family to continue ranching operations.
The conservation values protected include native grasslands, wildlife habitat, and open space — outcomes that benefit both the landowner and the broader community. Similar easements exist across the country, helping ranches stay in agriculture across generations.
Recognition for the way you run your ranch
Programs like the Leopold Conservation Award recognize exemplary land stewardship with unrestricted cash awards. Past winners include ranches like Wagon Wheel Ranch in Colorado and Diamond Bar Ranch in Nebraska — operations recognized for outstanding soil, water, and wildlife stewardship. While not grants in the traditional sense, these recognitions signal the kind of long-term commitment that many funding programs are designed to support.
Two ways to approach this
You can tackle the paperwork alone, or let Rangeworks handle the heavy lifting.
Path A: Navigating big-picture programs alone
- 1Learn which land trust, agency, or carbon program operates in your region.
- 2Understand easement types, payment structures, and long-term restrictions.
- 3Gather ownership records, maps, production history, and conservation values data.
- 4Coordinate meetings with land trust staff, NRCS, and legal advisors.
- 5Work through multi-year negotiation, appraisal, and contracting processes.
- 6Track overlapping timelines for easement closing, practice implementation, and other grants.
- 7Keep your own record system for obligations and monitoring.
Path B: See your ranch, funding, and easements in one view
- 1In Rangeworks, describe your long-term goals (keep the ranch intact, transition to the next generation, explore carbon, or just understand options).
- 2Rangeworks highlights programs and partners that fit those goals (easements, carbon efforts, beginning farmer support, recognitions) based on your state and operation type.
- 3Rangeworks organizes the moving pieces — practice-based funding, easements, and recognition — so you can see how they fit together instead of chasing them one by one.
- 4Use Rangeworks to track conversations, tasks, and documents over the multi-year timelines these programs often require.
Fewer steps. Clearer language. One place for everything.
Take the work off your desk — not out of your hands.
Rangeworks helps you organize programs, prepare stronger drafts, and stay ahead of deadlines — while you stay in control of every decision.
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