Conservation Security Program (CSP)

CSP is a voluntary program that provides financial and technical assistance to promote the conservation and improvement of soil, water, air, energy, plant and animal life, and other conservation purposes on Tribal and private working lands. Working lands include cropland, grassland, prairie land, improved pasture, and range land, as well as forested land that is an incidental part of an agriculture operation. The program is available in all 50 States, the Caribbean Area and the Pacific Basin area. The program provides equitable access to benefits to all producers, regardless of size of operation, crops produced, or geographic location.

The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (2002 Farm Bill) (Pub. L. 107-171) amended the Food Security Act of 1985 to authorize the program. CSP is administered by USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

2006 CSP Watersheds in North Carolina

• Middle Neuse
• Lumber
• Little Pee Dee
• Lower Pee Dee

North Carolina CSP Fact Sheet (PDF; 360KB)  

CSP Rules, Procedures and Forms Specific to North and South Carolina

Eligibility Evaluation

Provides a quick evaluation to help determine if pursing CSP enrollment further could be successful

Public Workshops

Find out more about CSP, attend one of the public information meetings in your watershed.  You are encouraged to take the Eligibility Evaluation and get a self-assessment workbook from your local NRCS office before attending the meeting.

CSP Self-Assessment Workbook - On-Line!

Natural Resources Conservation Service Chief Bruce Knight released a self-assessment workbook for potential CSP participants. By going through the workbook, producers will get a good idea about whether they are eligible for CSP at this time. Producers who may not be eligible can find out about programs that can help them achieve a higher level of conservation so that they may apply for CSP in the future.

To complete the Self-Assessment on-line, go to CSP Self-Assessment. 

The Self-Assessment Workbook also is available for download -- see below.

These documents require Adobe Acrobat reader.

Self-Assessment Workbook, (complete workbook, all pages) (PDF; 941.12KB)

For faster-downloading, the  Self Assessment workbook is also available in two separate sections, without photos:

Workbook Pages, (pages 1-24), (PDF; 205.05KB)

Appendices without images, (pages 25-55), (PDF; 296.97KB)

CSP Brochures

CSP_Brochure.pdf (PDF; 9.48 MB)

CSP_Watershed.pdf (PDFR; 10.9 MB) 

CSP 2005 Sign Up Brochure (PDF; 11 MB) 

National CSP Information

Archived 2005 North Carolina CSP Information