Northern Grassland Restoration Incentive Program (N-GRIP)

The foundation of N-GRIP is to restore and enhance the function of grasslands and the ecological processes that they provide, which has mutual benefits for producers and wildlife.

N-GRIP is designed to:

• Be flexible and complement various programs offered by our partners in the region and works across jurisdictions with the goal of restoring, enhancing, and retaining grasslands in the Northern Great Plains.
• Offer targeted financial assistance for voluntary working lands practices that support ranching operations and maintain habitat for declining grassland birds within the NGPJV boundaries.
• Provide conservation practitioners with additional tools to complete projects.
• Be utilized as a standalone agreement or augment partner projects.

Practices include:

• Reseeding cropland to native grassland
• Grazing infrastructure (fence, pipeline, tanks, etc.)
• Grazing management practices that help enhance productivity and diversity of native range
• Process-based mesic restoration on working rangelands

Program Requirements:

• Term agreement with NGPJV partner entity for a minimum of 10 years
• 50:50 cost-share (in-kind landowner contribution is eligible with proper documentation)
• Proposal submission by a local conservation practitioner (Program Manager) who works directly with the producer
• Environmental Compliance documentation may be required by our grant funding source

Typical project characteristics include:

• Located in a priority area for one or more declining grassland birds
• Local support
• Ecological benefits
• Favorable cost to benefit ratio
• Potential to inspire future conservation work