Land Grants-Mercedes Conservation Program Eligibility Act of 2017

Land Grants-Mercedes Conservation Program Eligibility Act of 2017

This bill amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to authorize the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to enter into an alternative funding arrangement under any USDA conservation program with a land grant-merced.

A land grant-merced is a community, town, colony, or pueblo that: (1) includes certain land granted by Mexico or Spain; or (2) asserted title pursuant to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, through the Office of the Surveyor General for New Mexico or the U.S. Court of Private Land Claims.

(An alternative funding arrangement allows a land grant-merced to receive assistance directly from the conservation programs.) USDA may also provide technical and administrative assistance under the alternative funding arrangement.

USDA may enter into an arrangement if: (1) the goals and objectives of the applicable conservation program will be met by the arrangement, and (2) statutory limitations regarding contracts with individual producers will not be exceeded by any member of the land grant-merced.