The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is accepting applications for enrollment in Wetland Reserve Easements (WRE), which help people, wildlife, and water quality. Landowners interested in applying for funding should contact their local NRCS office as soon as possible to begin the application process, which can take up to two years to complete.
Applications are accepted throughout the year.
Phone numbers and emails for local offices can be found under the “Contact Us” link at the state NRCS website. Search for “NRCS Mississippi.”
The program restores and enhances wetlands and improves wildlife habitat—often on marginal and frequently flooded cropland. Eligible lands include farmed or converted wetlands that can be successfully and cost-effectively restored.
Qualifying landowners receive a one-time, per-acre payment and must agree to cease farming on part or all of their land and maintain replanted wetland forests or existing forests for 30 years or in perpetuity. The program is voluntary.
In Mississippi, payments can be up to $3,100 per acre in Delta counties as well as in Hinds and Madison counties. Easement payments can be up to $2,050 per acre in the rest of the state depending on landuse. NRCS also pays up to 100 percent of the cost of replanting native bottomland hardwoods. Some sites are not planted, but native hardwoods are allowed to regenerate naturally.
Wildlife Mississippi is continuing to work closely with the NRCS to protect and restore bottomland hardwood forests throughout Mississippi in order to more effectively promote and restore the landscapes and habitat types that were historically found throughout the state. This is being done partly through the promotion and assistance to private landowners participating in the Agricultual Conservation Easement Program through signing up for WRE.
When easements are fully implemented, they will reduce sediment and nutrients entering into main waterways and the Gulf of Mexico, decrease flooding and the need for emergency payments, and improve wildlife and fish habitat througout Mississippi.
Throughout Mississippi, nearly 200,000 acres have been placed under WREs. In fiscal year 2020, 11 new easements and were established from the 199 accepted applications totaling 2,054 acres and close to $8 million in funds. WREs were first authorized under the 1990 Farm Bill. In the 2014 Farm Bill, Congress consolidated conservation programs for wetlands, grasslands, and farmland under the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program.
If you are interested in adopting a WRE for your property or have any questions about WRE, please email Wildlife Mississippi’s Farm Bill Conservation Specialist Steven Byrd at sbyrd@wildlifemiss.org or call him at 662.820.9720.
