Conservation leases

Grass waves in the western South Dakota wind. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)

South Dakota ranks third in federal grassland conservation sign-ups
BY: - July 22, 2023

Only two states enrolled more land than South Dakota in the most recent sign-up period for a federal grassland conservation program. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Grassland Conservation Reserve Program pays farmers to convert or keep environmentally sensitive agricultural land as grassland for 10 to 15 years. Unlike the USDA’s standard Conservation Reserve Program, the […]

Gov. Kristi Noem testifies June 15, 2023, to the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources in Washington, D.C. (Committee livestream)

At congressional hearing, Noem calls conservation leases ‘dangerous’
BY: - June 15, 2023

U.S. House Republicans and GOP Govs. Kristi Noem of South Dakota and Mark Gordon of Wyoming teamed up Thursday to rail against the Bureau of Land Management’s proposed rule to allow conservation leases on federal lands. Noem and Gordon joined the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee for about half of a 4 1/2 hour hearing […]

RETURN TO HOME