Overview

USDA Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Wetlands Restoration Initiative aims to restore up to 250,000 acres of wetlands and playa lakes that are located outside of the 100-year floodplain.

Wetlands are low-lying ecosystems where the water table is always at or near the surface.  Playas are shallow, depressional, rechargeable wetlands formed through a combination of wind, wave, and dissolution processes with each wetland existing in its own watershed.  Playa lakes are scattered across the western Great Plains and average 17 acres in size.  A threat to playas is sedimentation from cultivation of adjacent cropland.

Benefits

This initiative will further the large-scale accomplishments of CRP, which, as of July 2004, had restored 1.8 million wetland and wetland buffer acres nationwide.

Creating an additional 250,000 acres of large wetland complexes will:

• provide vital habitat for many wildlife species, such as upland ducks and sandhill cranes;
• filter runoff;
• recharge groundwater supplies;
• protect drinking water;
• reduce downstream flooding; and
• provide recreational opportunities, such as bird watching and hunting.

Restoring playa lakes will:

• provide habitat for migratory waterfowl during migration and winter.  In fact, over 90 percent of the region’s over-wintering waterfowl depend on the playas, and over 90 percent of the mid-continental population of sandhill cranes over-winter in the region;
• benefit many other species of birds, animals, and plants.
• recharge the Ogallala aquifer, one of the world’s largest aquifers that lies beneath Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Colorado; and
• recharge groundwater supplies critical for drinking water, irrigation, and wildlife.

Eligibility

Enrollment is limited to wetlands, including playa lakes, that are beyond the 100-year floodplain.  The wetlands acreage must also not be currently eligible for enrollment in either:

• CRP continuous sign-up practice CP23, Wetland Restoration, which targets land located in the 100-year floodplain; or
• FSA’s Farmable Wetlands Program, which protects farmed and previously converted wetlands of less than 40 acres per tract.

In addition, cropland must be suitably located and adaptable to the establishment of wetlands.  In addition, the applicant must satisfy the basic eligibility and cropping history criteria for CRP.  These requirements are listed in the CRP fact sheet, available on FSA’s Web site at: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/pas/publications/facts/pubfacts.htm

To determine individual eligibility for the initiative, landowners should check with their local FSA office.

Allocated Acreage

The acreage for the initiative is allocated to states as follows:

State                              Acres
Alabama                            700
Arizona                              100
Arkansas                        2,000
California                        1,000
Colorado                        1,600
Connecticut                       100
Delaware                           100
Florida                            1,000
Georgia                             700
Hawaii                               100
Idaho                                 200
Illinois                             4,000
Indiana                              700
Iowa                               3,000
Kansas                        11,000
Kentucky                           100
Louisiana                    12,000
Maine                                900
Maryland                           200
Massachusetts                 300
Michigan                        2,600
Minnesota                   36,000
Mississippi                    1,500
Missouri                         1,400
Montana                         1,400
Nebraska                    14,000
Nevada                             100
New Hampshire               100
New Jersey                      200
New Mexico                  3,500
New York                      4,000
North Carolina                 200
North Dakota              65,000
Ohio                              1,100
Oklahoma                     1,500
Oregon                          1,900
Pennsylvania                   150
Rhode Island                   100
South Carolina                100
South Dakota             33,000
Tennessee                       100
Texas                          25,000
Utah                                  200
Vermont                           900
Virginia                            150
Washington                     600
West Virginia                  100
Wisconsin                    4,700
Wyoming                         600
Reserve                      10,000
Total                         250,000

Approved Conservation Practice

Program participants must apply conservation practice CP23A, Wetland Restoration Non-Floodplain, on eligible cropland.  The purpose of this practice is to restore the functions and values of wetland ecosystems that have been devoted to agricultural use.

Payments

FSA estimates the program will provide $200 million in payments to participants through 2007.  FSA will offer the following types of payments:

• A Wetland Restoration Incentive Payment equal to 25 percent of the cost of restoring the hydrology of the site;

• An Annual Rental Payment; and

• Cost-share Assistance of up to 50 percent of eligible practice installation costs.

Sign-up

Program sign-up at local FSA offices will begin Oct. 1, 2004, and will run on a continuous basis  -- meaning eligible land may be enrolled at any time -- until 250,000 acres have been enrolled, or Dec. 31, 2007, whichever comes first.

For More Information

More information on the CRP Wetlands Restoration Initiative is available at local FSA offices and on FSA’s Web site at: www.fsa.usda.gov

 

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