Conserving America’s Wetlands 2008:
Four Years of Partnering Resulted in
Accomplishing the President's Goal
Appendix C.
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Table C-1. USDA Programs Supporting the President's Wetlands Goal in FY 2009. Funding (millions of dollars)
USDA Programs Supporting the Presidents Wetlands Goal
Farm Service Agency (FSA)
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP):This program establishes permanent vegetative cover on environmentally sensitive lands (including cropped and prior converted wetlands) through long-term rental agreements. Currently, 2.4 million wetland acres, including upland buffers, have been restored and are being maintained under 10- and 15-year contracts with annual rental payments of $126 million. The 2002 Farm Bill authorized that, at any one time, up to 39.2 million acres may be enrolled in CRP during 2002 through 2007, an increase from 36.4 million acres authorized to be enrolled through 2002.
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA) Program:In FY 2007, CTA helped landowners protect water quality on 6,374,280 acres; improve fish and wildlife habitat quality on 2,781,782 acres; and create, restore, or enhance 58,595 acres of wetlands.
Table C-2. USDA Programs Supporting the President's Wetlands Goal in FY,808 acres of wetlands, and an additional 147,302 and FY 2008. 2007, program staff processed 239 new applications totaling 135,996 acres valued at approximately $12,893,272. Of these totals, farmers and ranchers preserved 13,000 acres of wetlands using common management practices to maintain the viability of the conserved grassland.
Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP):
WRP is a voluntary program that assists landowners with restoring and protecting wetlands through conservation easements and cost-share agreements. Since 1992,1,921,144 2007 exceeded 1.92 2006 through 2008, approximately 15,000 acres of wetlands will have been protected, restored, developed, or enhanced under WHIP.
USDA Programs that Maintain the Wetlands Base
NRCS programs help private landowners apply needed conservation techniques on their land. When private landowners use these programs to restore, protect, and improve wetlands on their property, they serve as stewards of our environment. Other cooperative conservation efforts include:
Plant Materials Program: This program focuses on development of plants and technology to help conserve natural resources, including improving the function of wetlands. There are currently 27 plant materials centers (PMC) located across the country. Each PMC develops vegetative solutions to natural resource challenges within its service area. In the wetlands arena, PMCs have selected over 56 improved plants for restoration work, wetland enhancement, and nutrient filtering in constructed wetlands. Forty of these improved plants are useful for revegetation within the Wetlands Reserve Program. The PMCs also develop the technology to successfully propagate, establish, and manage plant materials in wetland settings.
In FY 2008, PMCs are working on 50 studies directly associated with furthering the technology of vegetation in wetlands, as well as an additional 100 studies that will indirectly benefit wetlands. These benefits include technology to protect and restore coastal marshes, improve the establishment of submerged aquatic vegetation, restore or enhance wetlands, protect the shorelines and buffer zones of wetlands, and enhance wetlands for wildlife uses and to support the Wetlands Reserve Program. FY 2009 funding request is $10.9 million.
National Resources Inventory:an average annual increase of 44,000 acres.