Working Lands for Wildlife

Through Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW), USDA uses a win-win approach to systematically target conservation efforts to improve agricultural and forest productivity which enhance wildlife habitat on working landscapes. Target species are used as barometers for success because their habitat needs are representative of healthy, functioning ecosystems where conservation efforts benefit a much broader suite of species.

Through the Farm Bill, NRCS provides technical and financial assistance to participants who voluntarily make improvements to their working lands while the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) provides participants with regulatory predictability for the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This innovative approach empowers landowners with a means to make on-the-ground improvements and provides peace of mind that no matter the legal status of a species, they can keep their working lands working.

This model has proven extremely popular with private landowners across the United States. To date, WLFW has helped producers conserve more than 7.1 million acres of wildlife habitat and has helped many species such as the greater sage-grouse in the West and the New England cottontail in the Northeast. For both of these species — in large part because of voluntary conservation efforts on private lands — the FWS determined listing under ESA was not warranted. Beginning in 2017, NRCS expanded this model and now includes 19 landscapes covering 48 States.

Conservation Model

The conservation model builds on lessons learned in conservation over the years and includes:

• Trust and Credibility: NRCS takes a community, grassroots approach to conservation that's based on the principles of neighborliness.

• Shared Vision: NRCS-recommended conservation practices benefit both wildlife and agriculture.

• Strategic Approach: NRCS invests resources efficiently, where the biological returns are the highest.

• Accountability: NRCS and conservation partners use science to measure effectiveness of conservation and to quantify outcomes.

• Leverage: NRCS brings together partners to multiply investments to achieve more conservation.

Regulatory Predictability: Through WLFW, NRCS partners with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to provide regulatory predictability under the Endangered Species Act. Similar to an insurance policy, predictability provides landowners with peace of mind that no matter the legal status of a species, they can keep their working lands working with an NRCS conservation plan in place.

​WLFW is currently active in 48 states, encompassing 19 different landscapes. Eight national and 11 state-identified species are used to focus individual projects that meet both the needs of the species as well as those of the agricultural operations. Individual species are used as barometers for healthy, functioning landscapes where conservation efforts also benefit a multitude of additional species as well.

• Greater Sage-Grouse

• Lesser Prairie-Chicken

• Gopher Tortoise

• Golden-Winged Warbler

• Southwestern Willow Flycatcher

• Monarch Butterflies

• WLFW Projects (State-Identified Projects

Conservation efforts on private lands are making a difference across the country, from the sagebrush country of the West to the forests of Appalachia and New England. For these stories and many more, download the agency's WLFW magazine, A Partnership for Conserving Landscapes, Communities & Wildlife.

To apply for one of the sub-programs under WLFW, reach out to your local NRCS service center.

• Getting Started with NRCS