Esshup,
I'd just go in and inquire about all their different conservation programs. They get hundreds of millions of dollars a year through the Farm Bill for the various programs like Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP), Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP), Wetland Reserve Program (WRP), Conservation Security Program (CSP) just to name a few. Without getting into too much detail, all the programs have specific landowner/property eligibility requirements. I've included the webpages for WHIP and WRP since they are the most common conservation programs that I've used.
You want to think about it from their prospective when you are seeking government assistance. They may have specific goals that on the outside don't match up with your goals, but they may be willing to meet you half way. In my case, I was okay with incorporating the native forb/hedgerow into my project and they were then okay with helping me on my pond and pump.
You also need to be as creative as possible when you let them in on your plans. When I speak to them about my pond I never refer to it as a fish (bass) pond. I say that it's a permanent wetland that we excavated deeper than usual to preclude encroachment of emergent vegetation (aka. cattails, tules, etc).
When we talk about the species that will benefit from the pond, we talk about all the sensitive wetland dependent species that live in my area (eg. western pond turtles, giant garter snakes, American bitterns and locally breeding waterfowl to name a few). All state and federally listed species as well as waterfowl are what are known as "Federal Trust Resources" and projects benefitting these are a program priority.
Your neck of the woods may be different, but in my area no one wants to fund a bass pond. However, because fish find their way into nearly every watercourse then having fish in a permanent wetland isn't considered a travesty. I just don't advertise that I'm actively putting them in there.
In the case of aquaculture, NRCS is big on this and cost share and assistance is readily available to benefit these operations.
I can be more specific about the requirements and goals of easch individual projects if needed, but my recommendation is to enquire from them as to what types of projects have been spending their money on locally and then try to figure out how to incorporate some of their ideas into your own plan.
Good luck and let me know how it goes. Maybe I can give you some pointers.
DD
[/url]
[url=http://coralreef.gov/grants/nrcs/Wildlife_Hab_Prog_Factsheet.pdf] 
