With passage of the 2014 Farm Bill, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) can provide 50% to 75% of the funds needed to purchase conservation easements on working farms and ranches.

In 2014, the NLT responded to this opportunity by submitting a “Pines and Buttes Preservation Project” grant request to the Nebraska Environmental Trust (NET). This $900,000 grant (approved in 2015) will provide matching funds for NRCS programs and other donations to protect land in the Pine Ridge and Wildcat Hills.

The NET receives 44.5 percent of the proceeds from the Nebraska Lottery and has provided more than $228 million for conservation projects in all 93 of Nebraska’s counties.