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2004 Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) Accomplishments

  • Minnesota received $14 million in Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) funding in Federal Fiscal Year 2004. Funds were obligated with 57 producers on 6,971 acres and in 16 counties. Implementation of restoration progressed at a rapid pace in 2004 including: 2,364 acres of wetlands restored and 3,566 acres of associated uplands restored.
  • Once again applications were prioritized towards migratory wildlife species primarily in the western one-half of the State tied to the Prairie Pothole Region. The Glacial Ridge WRP Special Project continues to have acres restored and new applications funded. On Earth Day in April, Chief Bruce Knight visited this site east of Crookston. In his keynote speech, he highlighted a National key milestone of a net gain in agricultural wetlands.
  • A new geographic prioritization tool was proposed by the WRP Subcommittee of the State Technical Committee and was put into use by the USFWS’s Habitat and Population Evaluation Team and the USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center. This GIS-based system utilizes data sets for waterfowl, song birds, critical habitat and at-risk species combined together in a scoring system that represents up to 20% of the total scoring points.
  • The Minnesota Habitat Corridor Partnership (HCP) recommended by the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCMR) and funded by the Minnesota Legislature had a number of successes this year including:
  1. Forty-six easements on 5,352 acres were funded in 2004 HCP Project Areas and corridors.
  2. Five full-time WRP contract employees were employed through Ducks Unlimited. They provide application, contract, engineering and restoration assistance throughout the State.
  3. Phase I of the HCP effort concluded in 2004, covering the first 2 years of the project. In total $350,000 of State funding was spent to provide technical assistance to WRP in Phase I.
  4. We are now in Phase II of the HCP where $ 465,100 will be spent on technical assistance.
  • Jim Connaughton, Chair of President Bush’s White House Council on Environmental Quality, visited the Straight River WRP project in Steele County in July. He took this opportunity to sign a joint National Memorandum between Ducks Unlimited and NRCS in the accelerated implementation of WRP.

     

Easement Numbers and Costs

Accomplishment Maps

Program Contacts

Tim Koehler, Assistant State Conservationist for Programs
Phone: 651-602-7857
Email: tim.koehler@mn.usda.gov

John Corrigan, Wetlands Reserve Program Specialist
Phone: 651-602-7876
Email: john.corrigan@mn.usda.gov

Jean Sieben, Wetlands Reserve Program Specialist
Phone: 651-602-7873
Email: jean.sieben@mn.usda.gov



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