Idaho
Cost Share Opportunities and Options
Farm Service Agency
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
CRP provides annual rental payments and cost-share assistance (up to 50%) to landowners who establish approved conservation cover – such as grasses, trees, riparian buffers, or pollinator habitat – on eligible cropland. Continuous CRP signup for high-priority practices, including pollinator habitat and wetland restoration, is available year-round through local FSA offices.
Contact Information
Contact your local county office for more information.
Website
Habitat One
Free Food Plot Seed
To help ensure wildlife have access to adequate nutrition during these challenging conditions, Habitat One has established a Free Food Plot Seed Program. This program is designed to assist landowners in providing reliable winter food and cover for wildlife through the establishment of dedicated food plots.
Contact
Brooke Fricke, Operations and Administration Manager | Phone: 308-362-7061 | Email: brooke@habitat-one.org
Idaho Department of Fish and Game
Habitat Improvement Program
The Habitat Improvement Program (HIP) provides cost-share assistance of up to 75% (up to 100% for landowners enrolled in the Access Yes! program for at least 5 years) for habitat projects on private land that benefit big game, upland game, and other wildlife. Eligible projects include grazing systems, water developments, weed control, and shrub or grassland restoration. Participants sign a 10-year maintenance agreement.
Payment Rate
Up to 75% cost-share standard (up to 100% with 5-year Access Yes! enrollment); $10,000 general project limit.
Website
Mule Deer Foundation
Private Lands Program
The Mule Deer Foundation partners with Idaho Fish and Game on large-scale habitat restoration projects, including a sagebrush-steppe restoration on the Tex Creek Wildlife Management Area that involved planting more than 500,000 sagebrush seedlings to benefit mule deer winter range. MDF also supports conservation easement acquisitions that protect critical mule deer migration corridors, including a $1.275 million project in southeast Idaho secured with the local MDF chapter.
Website
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)
EQIP provides financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers to address natural resource concerns and deliver environmental benefits, including wildlife habitat improvement. Eligible practices include prescribed grazing, brush management, native grass and forb establishment, wetland restoration, and pollinator habitat. EQIP also offers Conservation Incentive Contracts (CIC), which provide additional incentive payments for ongoing management of priority resource concerns, including wildlife habitat.
Payment Rates
Cost-share rates vary by practice and are set annually by the state NRCS office. Many wildlife habitat practices are eligible for enhanced incentive payments through EQIP-CIC.
Contact Information
Contact your local county office for more information.
Website
nrcs.usda.gov/contact/state-office-contacts/idaho-state-office
Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)
CSP rewards producers who maintain and improve existing conservation systems and adopt additional conservation activities to address priority resource concerns – including wildlife habitat enhancement – on working agricultural land and non-industrial private forest land.
Payment Rates
Annual payments are based on the conservation performance of the producer’s entire operation, with enhanced payments available for installing new conservation activities.
Contact Information
Contact your local county office for more information.
Website
nrcs.usda.gov/contact/state-office-contacts/idaho-state-office
Pheasants Forever
Cheatgrass Challenge Initiative
Idaho is home to nine Pheasants Forever chapters and one Quail Forever chapter, with more than 850 members who have helped complete roughly 4,700 habitat projects covering over 94,000 acres statewide. Through the Habitat Specialist Program (operated by Habitat Forever, LLC), PF biologists provide free, one-on-one technical assistance to landowners pursuing USDA and state habitat programs. In 2025, Idaho conservation groups received a $400,000 National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant to support the Idaho Cheatgrass Challenge, targeting invasive grass treatment on 21,000 acres.
Website
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF)
Habitat Enhancement Grant Program
RMEF’s Grant Program funds on-the-ground habitat stewardship projects across Idaho. 2026 funding priorities include securing elk migration corridors, aspen regeneration, treatment of invasive annual grasses, and removal of encroaching conifers from sagebrush and aspen habitat. RMEF and its partners recently allocated $4.197 million across 28 Idaho projects, benefiting more than 80,000 acres of wildlife habitat and supporting youth outdoor programs.
Payment Rate
Grant amounts vary by project; see RMEF Grant Guidelines for the current funding cycle.
Website
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS)
Partners for Fish and Wildlife
The Idaho Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program provides free technical and financial assistance to private landowners restoring wetland, riparian, and upland habitat. There is no application deadline – landowners can contact their regional biologist at any time to discuss a project.
Contact Information
State Coordinator: Jason Pyron | (208) 685-6958. Southern Idaho: Josh White | (208) 378-5265. Eastern Idaho: Matt Bringhurst | (208) 237-6975 ext. 120. Northern Idaho: Brittany Morlin | (208) 769-5111.