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Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP)
Support Agency
Program Contact
Is this a rolling date? :
YesDates Link:
RollingPurpose:
This program, administered through the Natural Resource Conservation Service, seeks to secure conservation easements and provide cost-share assistance to restore, protect and enhance wetlands and eligible buffers.Support Type:
BothAvailable Funding:
Permanent easement payment of lesser than value of land, established cap or landowner offer and 100% of the restoration costs; Thirty year easement payment is 75% of that for permanent easement and 75% of the restoration costs; ten-year cost share offers 75% of restoration costs.Funding Range:
For restoration cost-share agreements, annual payments may not exceed $50,000 per year.Restoration Activity:
Restore, protect, and enhance wetlands in exchange for retiring eligible land from agriculture.Eligibility:
Landowner must have owned the land for at least one year; landowner retains private ownership. A conservation easement is a transfer of rights in which the landowner voluntarily limits future use of the land, yet retains private ownership. To enter into such an agreement, the landowner must have owned the land for the preceding seven years.<< Back to WRA Directory
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Featured Fellow
Leone Yisrael is a cephalopod-loving scuba diver, cook, and loves to try new activities. She conducts genetic analysis and fieldwork at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center through the Coastal Disease Ecology Lab.
Featured Research Project
Exploring the Use of Benthic Microbial Fuel Cells to Remove Sulfide While Harvesting Energy from Oyster Aquaculture Biodeposits
Oyster aquaculture is a rapidly growing industry in Maryland’s Chesapeake waters which stimulates economic activity and may provide a host of ecosystem benefits. A potential concern associated with the intensification of the oyster aquaculture is the local production and accumulation of oyster biodeposits, which can lead to a porewater sulfide accumulation and declining bioturbation, symptoms of declining ecosystem function. Sulfide is naturally removed from the seafloor by the interactions between bioturbating infauna and sulfide oxidizing bacteria.
Chesapeake Quarterly Magazine
A Growing Industry: Advancing Oyster Aquaculture in Maryland
