Conservation Corner: July 5, 1999

WRP Sign-Up To Be June 23 - August 1, 1999
by James L. Cummins

Wetlands are valuable to different people for different reasons. Some prize wetlands for the rich wildlife and fish resources found there. Others see wetlands as important areas for sediment retention, ground water recharge and flood control.

Small, seasonally flooded wetlands along streams and rivers provide places for animals to feed and reproduce. In these areas, small invertebrates occur in great numbers and become food for larger animals which, in turn, become food for even larger animals.

Many wetlands are valuable as roosting sites. For example, hollow trees in a wetland may be used by many cavity-nesting birds from wood ducks to chickadees. Some mammals, like squirrels, use standing, hollow trees as den sites. Others, like raccoons and otters, use hollow trees after they fall.

According to Peyton Self, President of Wildlife Mississippi, "Three-fourths of the wetlands in the United States are controlled by private landowners. These remaining wetlands provide essential habitat for waterfowl and other wetland-dependent wildlife and if we are to ever increase their population, incentives such as the Wetland Reserve Program will not only enable interested landowners to develop waterfowl habitat, but will help compensate them for removing their land from agricultural production."

The Wetlands Reserve Program is one of the landmark environmental steps in the 1990 and 1996 Farm Bills. It is a voluntary program that offers financial incentives to landowners who have previously converted wetlands to cropland or pastureland. Landowners who qualify are compensated for the value of their land in exchange for restoring these areas back to wildlife habitat. If the land offered is eligible, and the compensation requested is acceptable, cost-share assistance will be provided for restoring the land under a 30-year or permanent easement. Land will be restored to bottomland hardwoods and shallow water areas for wildlife. Certain compatible uses of the land under easement by the landowner will be permitted in exchange for continued maintenance of the land.

Currently, Mississippi has approximately 200 landowners participating. These landowners, in partnership with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, have restored over 85,000 acres. Mississippi ranks second in the nation in Wetland Reserve Program enrollment. Nationwide, the goal of the program is to enroll approximately one-million acres by the end of 2002.

Landowners should contact their local office of the Natural Resources Conservation Service in their local U.S. Department of Agriculture Service Center for further information.

James L. Cummins is Executive Director of the Mississippi Fish and Wildlife Foundation in Stoneville, Mississippi. Known as "Wildlife Mississippi," the Foundation is a non-profit, conservation organization founded to conserve, restore and enhance fish, wildlife and plant resources throughout Mississippi.