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A program designed to incentivize farmers and ranchers to retire productive lands into conservation reserves has been finalized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the State of Montana. The Missouri and Madison River Corridor Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) is administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA), whose Deputy Administrator Juan Garcia said, "This amendment provides flexibility for Montana farmers and ranchers to establish additional cover and increase land stewardship along the 524-mile river corridor."

"The Montana CREP program encourages the development of conservation buffers adjacent to the Madison and Missouri rivers that are designed to improve water quality and enhance wildlife."

USDA implemented the program in 2003 to target 26,000 acres in Blaine, Broadwater, Cascade, Chouteau, Fergus, Gallatin, Lewis & Clark, Madison and Phillips counties. CREP is just one  Conservation Reserve Program that pays agricultural producers to establish conservation practices on their land.

Montana farmers and ranchers are encouraged to voluntarily convert eligible cropland and marginal pasture land to native vegetation. In 2011, USDA enrolled a record number of acres of private working lands in conservation programs, involving more than 500,000 farmers and ranchers.