The Northern Grassland Restoration Incentive Program, or N-GRIP, assists with conservation delivery in the NGPJV. It is designed to complement the various programs offered by our partners in the landscape, especially the USDA, which is the largest conservation funder in the region. N-GRIP consolidates various funding sources into a streamlined program that works across jurisdictions with the goal of restoring, enhancing, and retaining grasslands in the Northern Great Plains.

N-GRIP focuses on assisting landowners with the management of intact habitats (i.e. prairie) as well as restoring—and then managing—habitats that have been converted to other uses (i.e. farming). We typically work with producers who are retaining native grasslands through an active and sustainable ranching enterprise.

The foundation of N-GRIP is to restore and enhance the function of grasslands and the ecological processes that they provide, which has mutual benefits for producers and wildlife. 

A practical measure of success for the NGPJV is to monitor the impact of conservation actions on important birds. There are five declining species we use as a barometer for ecological conditions in the Northern Great Plains: Baird’s Sparrow, Chestnut-collared Longspur, Lark Bunting, Thick-billed Longspur, and Sprague’s Pipit. If we can reverse population declines, in part through N-GRIP and the various work of producers and our partners, we will achieve many other conservation and societal objectives. An important one is maintaining a viable ranching community.