LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission says it will receive $1.2 million in federal grants over the next five years to help private landowners improve grasslands and croplands for wildlife habitat and agriculture production.

The money comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program. The new program, created in the 2014 Farm Bill, is managed by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. Through service forms a public-private partnership that enables private companies, local communities and other partners to invest in efforts that protect natural resources.

Game and Parks’ assistant wildlife administrator Alicia Hardin says the cost-share grant dollars will be used to enhance grasslands in southeastern Nebraska for livestock grazing and wildlife, such as quail and prairie chickens.