H.R. 1420 modifies the federal Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), which pays farmers to preserve land for conservation purposes, to allow enrollment of additional agricultural lands specifically aimed at protecting wetland habitats along the Pacific Flyway, a major migratory bird route. The bill permits farmers to maintain "seasonally flooded" cropland while implementing conservation practices, rather than taking land out of production entirely, and allows the Department of Agriculture to enroll non-eligible lands if necessary to achieve habitat goals. The legislation also enables the Secretary of Agriculture to waive the normal requirement that states and local entities match federal funding in these agreements and directs rental payment rates to be set competitively based on regional costs of maintaining similar wetland habitats. The bill was introduced in February 2025 and has been referred to the House Committee on Agriculture, with no specific funding amounts or implementation timeline detailed in the text.
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