Home Farm Policy Menu Making Sense of Federal Programs Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) Sustainable Farming Connection Where farmers find and share information. Making Sense of Federal Programs: Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) The Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) provides payments and cost sharing to farmers in exchange for restoring farmed wetlands. WRP can compensate farmers for placing restored wetlands either in permanent or in 30-year easements, and can provide cost share assistance for restoration work. Land is eligible for WRP if it is farmed wetland or converted wetland (along with adjacent lands that are functionally dependent upon that particular wetland), so long as it was converted before enactment of the 1985 Farm Bill. Land converted after this time is subject to "Swampbuster" penalties and thus ineligible for inclusion in the WRP. Also eligible are farmed wetlands and adjoining lands in the CRP, if they are likely to return to production when the CRP contract expires. Riparian areas that link wetlands protected by easements are eligible, as are otherwise ineligible wetlands that the USDA determines would add to the "functional value" of an eligible easement. Some limited and compatible economic uses of land in WRP are allowed if specifically permitted in the wetland restoration plan. Examples of compatible uses could include hunting, fishing, managed timber harvest or periodic haying and grazing. If you intend such uses of the land, be sure they are included in your restoration plan. The WRP is designed to compensate farmers for the difference in the fair market value of the land with and without the WRP easement. Payments for non-permanent easements are made in 10 annual installments of equal size, not to exceed $50,000 per year; state or private payments that may be available do not count against the federal limit. In the case of permanent easements, up to 75 percent cost share can be provided for carrying out conservation practices and protecting wetland values. For less than permanent easements, cost share cannot exceed 50 percent. Restoration plans will be developed by landowners and representatives of the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service. Enrollment of land in the WRP can be quite competitive in some states, particularly for permanent easements. The 1996 Farm Bill specified that the WRP budget is to be divided one third each among permanent easements, 30-year easements, and cost-share assistance for restoration work, although demand and interest in permanent easements continue to run much higher than in the two other options. Top of Page Next: Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) Home Farm Policy Menu Making Sense of Federal Programs Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) ©1997 Committee for Sustainable Farm Publishing Please read about our usage permission policy and disclaimer. Send comments, suggestions and questions to the site author: Craig Cramer cdcramer@clarityconnect.com Coded using HoTMetaL Pro 3.0. Best viewed in Netscape 3.0 or later. Please see our credits page for more information. http://sunsite.unc.edu/farming-connection/farmpoli/features/makesens/wrp.htm