Agricultural conservation has been a public policy issue for more than 60 years, an issue repeatedly recast as new problems have emerged or old problems have resurfaced. Early conservation efforts were focused on two themes—reducing high levels of soil erosion and providing water to agriculture in quantities and quality that enhanced farm production. Congress responded repeatedly to these themes by creating or revising programs designed to reduce resource problems on the farm. By the early 1980s, however, concern was growing that these programs were not adequately dealing with environmental problems resulting from agricultural activities (especially off the farm). Publicized instances of significant problems, especially high soil erosion rates said to rival the dust bowl era, increased awareness and intensified the policy debate. In 1985, conservation policy took a new direction when Congress enacted four major new conservation programs in the conservation title of the Food Security Act of 1985 ( P.L. 99-198 ): the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Sodbuster, Conservation Compliance, and Swampbuster. These programs, all administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), were the first conservation programs designed to deal with environmental problems related to the off-farm impacts of agricultural activities. Provisions enacted in subsequent farm bills, including in 1990, 1996, 2002, and 2008, reflect a rapid evolution of the conservation agenda, including the growing influence of environmentalists and other non-agricultural interests in the formulation of conservation policy, and a recognition that agriculture was not treated like other business sectors in many environmental laws. Congress also began funding many of these new programs through mandatory spending for the first time, using the borrowing authority of USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) as the funding mechanism instead of annual appropriations. In addition to the original soil erosion and water quality and quantity issues, the conservation agenda has continued to expand to address other natural resource concerns such as wildlife habitat, air quality, wetlands restoration and protection, energy efficiency, and sustainable agriculture. Many conservation programs receive continued support among producers and Congress, as evidenced by the recent reauthorization and expansion of existing programs and creation of new ones in the most recent farm bill (Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, P.L. 110-246 ). The enacted bill addressed several emerging issues, such as payment structure, geographic targeting, program complexity, the importance of large-scale conservation efforts, and measurement of costs and effectiveness. Funding also played a large role in the 2008 farm bill debate as a pronounced domestic budget constraint caused several conservation groups to compete with other farming interests for the necessary resources to expand and continue many conservation programs. Many of these general policy issues were central to outcomes in the enacted conservation title of the farm bill. USDA's conservation efforts have centered in recent years on implementing conservation programs that target working lands, remove land from production (also known as retiring land) or create conservation easements, and provide technical assistance. Funding for the overall conservation effort has grown significantly since the 2002 farm bill ( P.L. 107-171 ) and many reauthorized programs received increases in funding in the 2008 farm bill. Recent trends in policy for the suite of conservation programs include less emphasis on land retirement and on land producing row crops, and more attention to conservation on land in other agricultural uses and to livestock producers. Congress in the 2008 farm bill expanded many program benefits to include specialty crop producers, producers transitioning to organic production, forested and managed lands, pollinator habitat and protection, and nutrient and pest management. Lead agricultural conservation agencies within USDA are the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), which provides technical assistance and administers most programs, and the Farm Service Agency (FSA), which administers the largest program, CRP. These agencies are supported by others in USDA that supply research and educational assistance, including the Agricultural Research Service, the Forest Service, and the Economic Research Service. In addition, the conservation effort involves a very large array of partners, including other federal agencies, state and local governments, and private organizations, among others, who provide funds, expertise, and other forms of assistance to the conservation effort. There are currently more than 20 USDA agricultural conservation programs that assist private landowners with natural resource concerns. Conservation programs are grouped into working land programs, land retirement and easement programs, watershed programs, and other programs. For a brief description of the individual USDA agricultural conservation programs, see CRS Report R40763, Agricultural Conservation: A Guide to Programs , and for program funding levels, see the Appendix . Figure 1 illustrates the estimated amount of funding in FY2009 for each group of programs. Working lands conservation programs are typically classified as programs that allow private land to remain in production, while implementing various conservation practices to address natural resource concerns specific to the area. The largest of these programs is the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), currently authorized at a total of $7.3 billion between FY2008 and FY2012. Others, such as the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP), Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA), and Agricultural Water Enhancement Program (AWEP), operate similarly to EQIP; however, they target specific resource concerns or geographic areas. The new Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) replaces the Conservation Security Program and is designed to encourage producers to address specific resource concerns in a comprehensive manner. Land retirement programs provide federal payments to private agricultural landowners for temporary changes in land use or management to achieve environmental benefits. Conversely, conservation easements impose a permanent land-use restriction that is voluntarily placed on the land in exchange for a government payment. The largest land retirement program is the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), which removes land from production and is authorized to enroll up to 32 million acres. Other programs such as the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) and the Grasslands Reserve Program (GRP) use a combination of long-term or permanent easements as well as restoration contracts to protect wetlands and grasslands from production. The Farmland Protection Program (FPP) also uses easements; unlike the aforementioned programs, however, it does not remove land from production, but rather restricts productive farmland from being developed for non-farm purposes. Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations (P.L. 83-566 and P.L. 78-534) are two separate program authorities that have almost identical objectives and operations. These programs are sometimes referred to as the Small Watershed Programs. Through these programs, NRCS partners with local sponsors to carry out activities for soil conservation; flood prevention; conservation, development, utilization and disposal of water; and conservation and proper utilization of land. The Watershed Rehabilitation program was authorized in 2000 ( P.L. 106-472 ) to rehabilitate watershed structures created under the Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations programs that have reached or exceeded their design life. USDA administers several other conservation programs. Technical assistance programs, such as Conservation Operations (including Conservation Technical Assistance, Survey, Soil Survey, Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative, and the Plant Materials Centers) provide landowners with science-based conservation information and technical expertise (e.g., engineering and biological) unique to the region and land-use type. USDA also administers compliance programs such as Sodbuster, Swampbuster, conservation compliance, and Sodsaver, which halt a producer's access to many federal farm program benefits if they do not meet conservation program requirements for highly erodible lands and wetlands. Programs such as the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) and the Emergency Watershed Program (EWP) provide disaster assistance for farmland rehabilitation and impairments to watersheds, and are funded on an ad-hoc emergency basis. The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 ( P.L. 110-246 ), the 2008 farm bill, reauthorizes almost all existing conservation programs, modifies several programs, and creates various new conservation programs. The changes address eligibility requirements, program definitions, enrollment and payment limits, contract terms, evaluation and application ranking criteria, among other administrative issues. Following the passage of the 2008 farm bill, USDA has taken steps toward implementation of many conservation programs. In the 111 th Congress, lawmakers' attention likely will be focused on USDA's implementation of these provisions. The following sections provide a brief description of implementation issues within some larger conservation programs and provisions. The 2008 farm bill reauthorized CRP and reduced the maximum acreage cap to 32 million acres, down from a cap of 39.2 million acres established in the 2002 farm bill. There are two types of sign-ups for enrolling land in the CRP: general and continuous. General sign-ups are specified enrollment periods during which landowners compete nationally to enroll their land in the CRP. Following the expiration of acres in 2009, which reduced the total enrolled acres below the 32 million acre cap, a general sign-up was expected to enroll additional acres. During a June 2010 hearing before the House Committee on Agriculture, USDA was questioned about the delay in offering a CRP general sign-up. In response, USDA indicated that an executive branch control on mandatory program spending, often referred to as administrative PAYGO, resulted in delayed implementation of CRP, including enrolling additional acres. While Congress may have the understanding that it has given USDA statutory authority and access to mandatory funding to enroll 32 million acres, as well as the expectation that the authority would be used, the process outlined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) appears to have prevented USDA from reaching that goal, at least for a time. USDA eventually announced a new general sign-up in August 2010 (sign-up number 39). Unlike continuous sign-up, general sign-up is always competitive. Approximately 85% of CRP acreage (26.7 million of 31.3 million acres) is currently enrolled through general sign-up. For this most recent general sign-up, FSA enrolled 4.3 million acres of 4.8 million acres offered.