The Voluntary Stewardship Program (VSP) is a collaborative process that helps our community ensure healthy landscapes and strong farms today and for the future. Through VSP, Benton County and our agricultural landowners are offered farm-friendly options for complying with state requirements to protect fragile and/or hazardous natural resources — referred to as “critical areas” — in places where agricultural activity is conducted.

Benton Conservation District (BCD) is the lead entity to manage Benton County's VSP. As the lead entity, BCD is responsible for outreach, conservation practice documentation, and landowner assistance.

Instead of enacting further critical area regulations on agricultural lands, VSP provides an alternative approach to protecting critical areas by promoting, implementing, and evaluating voluntary measures while promoting agriculture in Benton County. Benton CD works with landowners to develop voluntary, site-specific stewardship plans to protect critical areas on agricultural lands while maintaining and enhancing the viability of agriculture.