Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program

The Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program is a program established by the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (the Farm Bill) to promote voluntary implementation of on-farm management practices to develop habitat for wetland and upland wildlife, threatened and endangered species, fish, and other types of wildlife using cost-share payments and technical assistance. Between its inception and the start of the 2002 financial year, the program enrollment included 10,729 long term agreements on over 1,600,000 acres (6,500 km²). The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-171, Sec. 1241) reauthorized the program through the 2007 financial year with mandatory annual funding from the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), growing from $15 million in 2002 to $85 million in 2005 through 2007. It also created a pilot program using up to 15% of the funding to provide additional payments to land owners who agree to enroll land for.at least 15 years.