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According to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), "The goal of the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) is to achieve the greatest wetland functions and values, along with optimum wildlife habitat, on every acre enrolled in the program." With this goal in mind, the Wetlands Reserve Enhancement Program (WREP) was created.

The WREP does not alter the nature of the WRP. The emphasis remains the restoration and protection of habitat for migratory birds and other wetland-dependent wildlife. However, this program makes greater use of the significant contributions of conservation partners in defraying program delivery costs and furthering common wetland goals and objectives within the requirements of the WRP. The program allows the WREP project partners to leverage resources and provide additional incentives to landowners in the restoration, protection and enhancement of wetland ecosystems.

The WREP was initiated as a pilot effort in Nebraska and Minnesota in 2004. In 2005, the program was expanded to include nine separate partnerships in seven states (including Mississippi), and in 2006 was made available nationwide.

Wildlife Mississippi is a conservation partner of the NRCS. In 2005, it signed a cooperative agreement with the NRCS to deliver the WREP in Mississippi. To put the scale and potential impact of this project into perspective, consider that Mississippi currently ranks third in the nation in overall WRP enrollment, behind neighboring Louisiana and Arkansas, with approximately 450 projects and 153,000 acres.

In March of 2006, Wildlife Mississippi initiated a statewide survey, seeking input from landowners on a variety of management-related topics regarding their WRP properties. As of this article, Wildlife Mississippi has received responses for approximately 40 percent of tracts statewide. These questionnaires serve an important purpose in that they establish a cornerstone upon which much of the work under this agreement will progress. The responses help to guide Wildlife Mississippi's efforts, and also determine what tools or assistance the landowner may need as site visits are conducted. If you are a WRP landowner who has misplaced your survey or did not receive one, or have returned your survey and would like to schedule a site visit, contact Wildlife Mississippi.
Understandably, some WRP landowners may look at this from a "What's the catch?" or "What are they going to keep me from doing now?" point of view. With the WREP, there is no "catch." Rather, it is a "We're here if you need us" program. Participation is strictly voluntary, with no compulsory fees, obligations or restrictions.

Through initial site visits and subsequent consultations, Wildlife Mississippi can offer several tools to WRP landowners desiring to better manage their wildlife resources. Examples include both financial (cost-share) and technical assistance in the management of moist-soil areas and upland food plots. Comprehensive management plans can be established if so desired. Outreach programs such as electronic updates and workshops on various management topics conducted at selected demonstration areas will be available soon. Additionally, Wildlife Mississippi can provide guidance to landowners who would like to see their properties protected for the future through the use of conservation easements.

In promoting the goal of the WRP, and in meeting the terms of the cooperative agreement with the NRCS, Wildlife Mississippi has established several goals to accomplish within the next 3 years. These include:
• Protect a minimum of 2,500 acres through perpetual conservation easements on lands previously enrolled in the WRP in cost-share agreements and 30-year easements.
• Manage moist-soil plants and hydrology on a minimum of 8,125 acres through collecting baseline data to document current conditions and developing site specific management plans for vegetation and water management to achieve a desired vegetative response.
• Manage a minimum of 650 acres of early successional wildlife openings by providing site specific planting plans to supplement the nutritional needs of a diversity of wildlife.
• Conduct outreach through publishing a moist-soil management handbook, providing WRP landowners with a quarterly electronic newsletter and establishing a minimum of two demonstration areas hosting a minimum of four workshops and field days.

A conservation easement is a restriction that a landowner voluntarily places on specified uses of his or her property to protect natural, productive or cultural features. In the context of the WRP, the vast majority of landowners, such as those with 30-year or perpetual agreements, already have an easement established on their tracts. However, "additional" conservation easements can be tailored to overlay these already-encumbered properties and those under short-term cost-share agreements. Under the WRP, landowners retain the right to subdivide, as well as have a commercial hunting operation on their properties. They may choose to restrict either or both of these uses in perpetuity under a new easement document and receive the federal tax benefits associated with the new restrictions in addition to the full compensation of their original agreement. The leasing of hunting rights is still allowed – only commercial operations are affected.

The tax benefits of a conservation easement can be substantial. However, this should never be the primary reason for granting an easement. Foremost should be the desire to preserve and protect the natural qualities of the land in question, and the knowledge that one's conservation ethic will remain with the land even after one’s ownership comes to an end.

While the entire scope of conservation easements is too broad a subject to completely discuss here, Wildlife Mississippi, and its sister organization, the Mississippi Land Trust, can offer adequate resources to address any questions one might have regarding their use. Easements are discussed with landowners during site visits, and a copy of Conservation Easements, A Handbook For Mississippi Landowners is provided. Copies are also available by calling Wildlife Mississippi at (662) 686-3375. One can also find a comprehensive guide to conservation easements on the internet at www.misslandtrust.org.

A major emphasis of the WREP is the promotion of moist-soil management for waterfowl. Contrary to the traditional practice of flooding harvested or standing crops, moist-soil management involves the manipulation of water levels to promote the germination and production of native plants on exposed mudflats. "Hot" crops such as corn, soybeans and rice can and do attract waterfowl, but waterfowl cannot survive on these crops alone. They can, however, thrive on managed stands of native plants that are often considered weeds in agricultural fields. The seeds and vegetation of native plants provide essential nutrients not found in cereal grains, a much better diversity of food and cover, and management of these plants can cut costs by two-thirds when compared to planting food plots for waterfowl.

In addition, most native plants are less susceptible to drought and insect damage, will flourish in areas too wet for crops, and the seeds last longer than grain when flooded. Native plants preferred by ducks can be easily provided with a little management. Native plant management, also called moist-soil management, is best practiced on lands devoted to wildlife or areas too wet to crop — areas like many of those enrolled in the WRP.

Moist-soil management is discussed with WRP landowners during site visits, and informative materials are provided. Baseline data is established through the examination and identification of dominant plant communities within all hydrology areas and this information is used in the development of management plans that can be requested by the landowners. Wildlife Mississippi and the NRCS have cost-share assistance available to help rehabilitate hydrology areas where the landowner has agreed to implement moist-soil management. Wherever possible, native plant management is incorporated into the WREP plans that are developed for these tracts.

Another area addressed through this WREP project is wildlife food plots. Wildlife Mississippi provides preparation, planting and maintenance recommendations to landowners enrolled in the WRP according to the goals they have for their property and the various species of wildlife they would like to benefit.

Landowners are allowed to designate up to 5 percent of the total acreage of their tract as wildlife food plots. This includes both upland plots and those that are placed in floodable areas. As such, Wildlife Mississippi can assist the landowner in choosing the proper plantings for anything from ducks to deer. All food plot recommendations are included in any management plan that is developed.

Providing timely and topical information to landowners in the WRP on a variety of resource-related subjects is also a large part of this WREP project. This will be accomplished through direct mailings, electronic correspondence, seminars and workshops. Responses on questionnaires are being used to assemble a list of those landowners interested in the various forms of outreach offered.

Wildlife Mississippi is currently working with Kevin Nelms, a NRCS biologist, to produce an updated second printing of his handbook, Wetland Management for Waterfowl. Originally published in 2001, this guide is familiar to many as the "Black Book." Upon completion, a copy will be provided to each WRP landowner and made available electronically on several websites.

Wildlife Mississippi is also working on a WRP management newsletter. The initial edition will be provided in both electronic and hard copy formats. Wildlife Mississippi plans to make the newsletter available via a dedicated section of its website entitled, The Moist Soil Manager. When this section has been established, all persons on the electronic contact list will be sent a link to the site. The site will be periodically updated, and available to users at all times.

Finally, Wildlife Mississippi will host several seminars detailing the use of conservation easements and conduct workshop/field day events at selected demonstration areas. The workshops will focus on moist-soil management for waterfowl, and participants will have the opportunity to see some of these practices in actual use. Persons who have expressed interest in the seminars and workshops through their survey responses will be notified of the times and dates of these events.