Both the landowner and the site must meet certain requirements, depending on the program, to be eligible for a RIM easement. A determination of eligibility should be made early in discussions with the landowner. Before proceeding with an application, refer to the RIM Eligibility page, as well as program specific guidance, to determine if the landowner and the land meet eligibility requirements.
Land Type
Based on MN Statute 103F.515, land may be eligible to enroll the Reinvest in Minnesota Reserve program if it meets at least one of the following eligible land types.
Marginal Agricultural Land
Marginal agricultural land is defined as land with crop history that is composed of class IIIe, IVe, V, VI, VII, or VIII land as identified in the land capability classification system of the United States Department of Agriculture.
Land Adjacent to Marginal Agricultural Land
Lands that are beneficial to the resource protection or necessary for efficient recording of the land description and manageable easement boundaries
Restorable Drained Wetlands
Lands containing drained wetlands that are practical to restore to their pre-drainage condition. Drained wetland means a former natural wetland that has been altered by draining, dredging, filling, leveling or other manipulation sufficient to render the land suitable for agricultural crop production. This does not necessarily refer to present conditions. Creating a wetland or restoring a wetland to an elevation or area beyond its pre-drainage condition is not wetland restoration.
The wetland must have been legally drained and must be restorable. Restorable means that the work is financially practical, technically feasible and does not negatively impact off easement drainage or adjacent lands not enrolled in a RIM easement.
Restored wetlands cannot be used to mitigate other wetland losses. All wetland restorations must be perpetual per MS103F.515, Subd. 5(3).
Lands Adjacent to Restorable Wetlands
Cropland or noncropland adjacent to restored wetlands to the maximum extent of up to eight acres of cropland or noncropland for each acre of wetland restored. Program specific guidance may have a lesser ratio.
Sensitive Groundwater Area
Land in a geographic area defined by natural features where there is a significant risk of groundwater degradation from activities conducted at or near the land surface. Wellhead protection areas are an example of sensitive groundwater areas. Additional areas may be identified by mapping or other appropriate methods as determined by the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR).
Wellhead Protection Areas
Land area surrounding a well or well field that supplies a public water system, through which contaminants are likely to move toward and reach the well or well field. Acres offered do not need to meet crop history requirements, but priority is given to cropland. At least 51% of the land offered must be in a designated high or very high vulnerability DWSMA.
Riparian Land or Floodplain
Lands adjacent to or near public waters, drainage systems, wetlands, or locally designated priority waters. Corridors or buffers of natural vegetation between the cropped or pastured area and the water body should be included in the easement within program limits, with an approved waiver or as land not monetarily compensated for. Lands subject to the buffer law may be eligible for enrollment and payment dependent on individual program goals and guidance. Public drainage ditch buffers should be excluded from the easement area.
Pastured Land
Land that is used for haying or for grazing by domestic livestock and is not considered land with crop history.
Woodlots on Agricultural Land
A distinct tract of naturally forested land that is surrounded by agricultural land.
Abandoned Building Site on Agricultural Land
A distinct tract of land which was formerly inhabited as a homesite or farmstead and that is surrounded by agricultural land. These sites are only eligible if adjacent to other RIM eligible lands. All existing buildings must be removed from the easement area and all building foundations must be filled prior to conveyance of the easement. Removal of all buildings, filling of building foundations and the associated costs are the responsibility of the landowner. All wells on the easement area must be properly sealed prior to the conveyance of the easement and all associated costs are the responsibility of the landowner.
Land in other Environmentally Sensitive Areas
Land in an environmentally sensitive area includes, but is not limited to, grasslands, peatlands, shorelands, karst geology, trout stream watersheds, and forest lands in priority areas. BWSR has final determination on lands that meet this category.
Working Lands
Under MN Statute 103F.519, BWSR may authorize managed haying and managed livestock grazing, perennial or winter annual cover crop production, forest management, or other activities that the board determines are consistent with the goals of RIM and as appropriation language allows on easement lands.
Access
The state and its representatives must be able to access the easement area from a public road. If the easement boundary is not directly adjacent to a public road right-of-way, the SWCD must include a possible or existing access route location as a part of the application package. In rare circumstances, BWSR may allow access from a public waterway or adjacent recorded RIM easement.
Consideration must also be given to the need for landowners to access other lands not contained in the easement in the future. When delineating the easement boundary, access to areas not under easement should be considered. The terms of the easement require that the conservation practices identified in the conservation plan must remain intact and wildlife habitat must not be altered. Prolonged travel over an area that would damage vegetation could result in the landowner not being in compliance with easement terms.
Lands Enrolled in Other Conservation Programs
The land must not be enrolled in another easement or conservation program whose purpose conflicts with, or substantially duplicates, the terms of a RIM Reserve conservation easement. Existing easements will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to determine whether they substantially duplicate the RIM easement terms. Land may be eligible if the RIM easement provides additional natural resource protection or is a longer duration than the existing program. RIM payment reductions may be calculated based on existing easements.
Land Ownership
The land must have been owned by the applicant, parent of the applicant or a blood relative of the applicant for at least one year before the date of application. Note – Easements taken for the purposes of wellhead/drinking water protection are statutorily exempt from this requirement.
Landowners may be individuals, family farms, family farm partnerships, authorized farm partnerships, family farm corporations, authorized farm corporations, general partnerships, or estates and testamentary trusts.
If the landowner is a corporation, limited partnership, limited liability company (LLC), or irrevocable trust, they must not be prohibited from owning agricultural land under MN Statutes, Ch. 500, Sect 24. If such a landowner has not been certified by the MN Department of Ag (MDA) for owning and operating farm land in Minnesota, the landowner should contact MDA to make sure they have met these requirements. The landowner may need to apply for corporate farm certification or exemption from MDA to be eligible for RIM.
Contact information for Corporate Farm Certification
The land/landowner cannot be in violation or out of compliance with any local, state or federal environmental regulations at the time of application. Documentation of resolution of prior non-compliance may be required to confirm eligibility.
Program-Specific Requirements
In addition to general RIM eligibility requirements each individual RIM program has program eligibility requirements. These are related to resource type (restorable wetlands, presence of wetlands, etc.) or location (certain rivers or watersheds, particular counties, etc.) and are driven by funding sources and appropriation language. To learn more about program-specific requirements, go to the Programs page, then click the link for an individual program. If a proposed easement does not meet the minimum requirements for a specific program, it is ineligible for that program and cannot proceed.
An easement application may be eligible for more than one program. Easement program coordinators should be consulted or may suggest a different program for a submitted easement application and may be dependent on available funding. Providing the program coordinator with sufficient relevant information on the application and ideas on the programs you are considering including an informative map are critical to providing good assistance.
Payment Eligibility
Land with Crop History
All lands compensated at the RIM cropland easement payment rate must meet the RIM statutory definition of land with crop history. Statute defines land with crop history as land that has produced horticultural, row, or close-grown crops or that has been enrolled at a cropland rate in a federal or state conservation program for at least two of the five years preceding an application to enroll the land in a conservation easement program. Land with crop history includes acres devoted to set-aside or conserving use for programs of the United States Department of Agriculture. As a general guide, lands enrolled in CRP at a cropland rate are the only lands that will be automatically considered “land with crop history” under the federal or state conservation program clause. All other scenarios will be reviewed at BWSR’s discretion. Lands with an annual row crop (e.g. corn, soybeans) will meet the horticultural, row, or close-grown crops clause. Other plantings will be reviewed at BWSR’s discretion. BWSR will make final determinations on crop history.
Public Waters
Public Waters and Public Waters Wetlands identified on the DNR Public Waters inventory are eligible for enrollment but cannot be compensated for as part of the easement. Whenever possible, the public water should be included in the easement area. If public water areas need to be modified to restore wetlands on the easement, those acres may be eligible for a non-cropland payment rate.
Public drainage ditches, including a one rod ditch buffer, cannot be included in paid acreage, and should be excluded from the easement. This does not apply when the drainage ditch is offered for enrollment and/or will be abandoned as part of a wetland restoration project.