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Wetlands Reserve ProgramDragonfly

2009 News Release
Learn about American Wetlands Month - May, 2009.

FrogWhat is WRP?

The Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) is a voluntary conservation program that offers landowners the means and opportunity to protect, restore, and enhance wetlands on their property through perpetual easements, 30 year easements or Land Treatment Contracts. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) manages the program as well as provides technical and financial support to help landowners who participate in WRP.

Eligibility

There are two components of eligibility to consider for participation in WRP, the landowner eligibility and the land eligibility.

Requirements for landowner eligibility include:
  • Compliance with the highly erodible land and wetland conservation provisions. (Sodbuster/Swampbuster)
  • Meet the Adjusted Gross Income Limitation (producers with adjusted nonfarm gross income, averaged over 3 years, of over $1 million are not eligible unless 66.66% or more of total income is average adjusted gross farm income.)
  • For easement applications, demonstrate ownership of the land for the past 7 years or more (with certain exceptions such as inheritance).
Land eligibility requirements include:
  • Privately owned land.
  • Wetlands cleared and/or drained for farming, pasture, or timber production.
  • Lands adjacent to restorable wetlands that contribute significantly to wetland functions and values.
  • Previously restored wetlands that need long-term protection.
  • Drained wooded wetlands where hydrology will be restored.
  • Existing or restorable riparian habitat corridors that connect protected wetlands. >
  • Lands substantially altered by flooding where there is a likelihood of successful wetland restoration at a reasonable cost.

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Ineligible Land
  • Wetlands converted after December 23, 1985
  • Certain Conservation Reserve Program contract lands where trees have been successfully established.
  • Federal Lands.
  • Lands where conditions make restoration impossible.

Landowner Enrollment Options

WRP offers four enrollment options:

  1. Permanent Easement is a conservation easement in perpetuity. USDA pays 100 percent of the easement value and up to 100 percent of the restoration costs.
  2. 30-Year Easement is an easement that expires after 30 years. USDA pays up to 75 percent of the easement value and up to 75 percent of the restoration costs. For both permanent and 30-year easements, USDA pays all costs associated with recording the easement in the local land records office, including recording fees, charges for abstracts, survey and appraisal fees, and title insurance.
  3. Restoration Cost-Share Agreement is an agreement to restore or enhance the wetland functions and values without placing an easement on the enrolled acres. USDA pays up to 75 percent of the restoration costs.
  4. 30-Year Contract – available only to acreage owned by Indian Tribes.
     

Application Procedure

To apply for WRP, contact any of the NRCS Field Offices throughout Ohio for an application.

This document requires Adobe Acrobat

Application Form (AD-1153) (PDF; 108 KB)

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WRP Project Highlight

The Putnam Wetlands - This website features a wetland restoration in Hardin County, Ohio.  Photographs, including aerial shots, demonstrate the restoration process from beginning to end.

For more details on WRP:

Review the NRCS national web page on WRP by clicking here:  http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/wrp/

For more information on Ohio's WRP program, contact:

John Armentano, WRP Coordinator
Natural Resources Conservation Service
200 North High Street, Room 522
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Phone: 614-255-2469
E-mail: john.armentano@oh.usda.gov