The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is accepting applications from landowners until Feb. 6 to participate in its Conservation Incentive Program (CIP), which reimburses certain management practices that promote native wildlife habitat.
The initial CIP, launched in 2024, helped private landowners enhance wildlife habitat and manage invasive species, offering up to $10,000 for practices that improved water quality, controlled feral hogs, implemented prescribed fire, and managed bottomland hardwood forests.
This second round, funded with $650,000 through a U.S. Forest Service grant, focuses on three high-impact practices and raises the maximum reimbursement to $20,000 per landowner.
“Private landowners are the backbone of conservation in Arkansas, as they own more than 80 percent of the state,” said Garrick Dugger, chief of the AGFC Private Lands Habitat Division. “By focusing this round on three proven practices, we can move the needle on habitat quality for quail, turkey, deer and many other species Arkansans care about.”
Landowners can be reimbursed for:
Upland hardwood and pine forest management: $200 per acre for treatments that improve understory plants and wildlife habitat.
Firebreak establishment and prescribed burning: $1.50 per linear foot for dozer lines and $50 per acre for prescribed burns to improve native plant quality and vigor.
Invasive tree removal: $200 per acre for removing non-native species such as Chinese Tallow, Tree of Heaven, or Callery Pear using approved herbicide methods.
All practices require a minimum of 10 acres of habitat manipulation. Unlike the first round, applications will be ranked, and selected participants will be notified before starting work.
Landowners interested in participating can apply and learn more at www.agfc.com/education/conservation-incentive-program.
“Even if you dont qualify for one of these practices, our biologists can help develop a specialized management plan and connect you with other cost-share opportunities,” Dugger said. “Our goal is to see landscape-level improvements across Arkansas, and were all on the same team.”
For more information on private lands programs, visit www.agfc.com/privatelands.
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