# § 3865. Establishment and purposes
**(a)** **Establishment** The Secretary shall establish an agricultural conservation easement program for the conservation of eligible land and natural resources through easements or other interests in land.
**(b)** **Purposes** The purposes of the program are to—
**1** combine the purposes and coordinate the functions of the wetlands reserve program established under section 3837 [^1] of this title, the grassland reserve program established under section 3838n [^1] of this title, and the farmland protection program established under section 3838i [^1] of this title, as such sections were in effect on the day before February 7, 2014;
See References in Text note below.
**(2)** restore, protect, and enhance wetlands on eligible land;
**(3)** protect the agricultural use and future viability, and related conservation values, of eligible land by limiting nonagricultural uses of that land that negatively affect the agricultural uses and conservation values; and
**(4)** protect grazing uses and related conservation values by restoring or conserving eligible land.
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**Source Credit**: (Pub. L. 99–198, title XII, § 1265, as added Pub. L. 113–79, title II, § 2301(a), Feb. 7, 2014, 128 Stat. 731; amended Pub. L. 115–334, title II, § 2601, Dec. 20, 2018, 132 Stat. 4585.)
## Editorial Notes
### References in Text
Sections 3837, 3838n, and 3838i of this title, referred to in subsec. (b)(1), were repealed by , §§ 2703(a), 2704(a), 2705(a), , , 768.
### Amendments
2018—Subsec. (b)(3). , inserted “that negatively affect the agricultural uses and conservation values” after “uses of that land”.
Subsec. (b)(4). , substituted “restoring or conserving” for “restoring and conserving”.