California Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP)

Contact your local Service Center

• Find out if you qualify for WHIP assistance (general eligibility information)

2009 WHIP Sign-up Information

If you encounter problems with the files provided on this page, please contact the Webmaster.

These documents require Acrobat Reader.

WHIP 2009 Sign-up Flyer - Final 2009 Opportunity (PDF; 192 KB)
WHIP 2009 Program Description (PDF; 133 KB)
WHIP 2009 Pollinator Initiative Description (PDF; 112 KB)
California WHIP State Plan (PDF; 46 KB)
Appendix A - California Threatened and Endangered Species (PDF; 70 KB)
Appendix B - California Fully Protected Species (PDF; 39 KB)

General Program Description

The Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) was established in the 1996 Farm Bill with the primary purpose of helping landowners "develop upland wildlife, wetland wildlife, threatened and endangered species, fish, and other types of wildlife habitat."  Administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), WHIP was reauthorized in the 2002 Farm Bill and provides technical and cost share assistance to enhance fish and wildlife habitat in areas of California that have been impacted by agricultural activities.  Eligible farmers, ranchers, and other landowners may apply for the WHIP program benefits at any time.  Application ranking periods are established to allow evaluation of projects and awarding of contracts based upon an environmental score for each application that achieves the natural resource benefits identified by local, state and national priorities.  Practices eligible for cost share and the environmental score is calculated based upon ranking criteria developed with input from Local Work Groups (LWG), Stakeholders and the State Technical Advisory Committee (STAC).  To be considered for the current fiscal year WHIP program, applicants must have submitted an application and required eligibility documentation to their local NRCS office no later than close of business on the applicable fiscal year deadline date.  The same application deadline applies throughout the state of California. Applications are accepted on a continuous basis but applications that are submitted after the current year cut off date will be evaluate and deferred for ranking until the following fiscal year. General information about the WHIP program can be found at:

• NRCS National WHIP Information

Eligibility

Eligible lands for WHIP include the following: (1) Private agricultural land; (2) Nonindustrial private forest land; and (3) Indian land.  Once the land is determined eligible, NRCS places emphasis on enrolling lands that: promote the restoration of declining or important native wildlife habitat; protect, restore, develop or enhance wildlife habitat of at-risk species (candidate species, and State and Federally listed threatened and endangered species); reduce the impacts of invasive species on wildlife habitats; protect, restore, develop or enhance declining or important aquatic wildlife species habitats. Submittal of all applications, determination of eligibility and project evaluation is completed at the local NRCS field office level. Applicants are advised to carefully review all required eligibility requirements including update of farm records administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA). All USDA programs require applicants to maintain or update the following records, certifications and financial documents in order to apply for program benefits. Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact their local NRCS and FSA offices to make sure all records are current and correct before submitting a program application. Applicants who submit incomplete applications or whose farm records and certifications are not up to date will be deferred for current year program application.

Contacts

Alan Forkey, Program Manager
Phone: 530-792-5653
Email: Alan.Forkey@ca.usda.gov

Roney Gutierrez, Program Specialist
Phone: 530-792-5649
Email: Roney.Gutierrez@ca.usda.gov

< Back to California NRCS Programs