Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP)

The Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) is a voluntary program that provides technical and financial assistance to eligible landowners to address wetland, wildlife habitat, soil, water, and related natural resource concerns. The program provides an opportunity for landowners to receive financial incentives to enhance wetlands in exchange for retiring marginal land from agriculture.

The program offers three enrollment options. These are establishing a permanent easement, granting a 30-year easement and re-establishing degraded or lost wetland habitat through a restoration cost-share agreement.

Eligible land must be restorable and suitable for wildlife benefits. This includes:

• wetlands farmed under natural conditions
• farmed wetlands
• prior converted cropland
• farmed wetland pasture
• riparian areas which link protected wetlands
• farmland that has become a wetland as a result of flooding
• rangeland, pasture, or production forest land where the hydrology has been significantly degraded and can be restored
• previously restored wetlands that need long-term protection

For additional information contact:

Seth Fiedler
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
Albuquerque, NM
(505) 761-4416

Seth.Fiedler@nm.usda.gov