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Making a Difference for Wetlands

"Making a Difference for Wetlands" Remarks by Bruce I. Knight, Chief, Natural Resources Conservation Service, at the National Wetlands Awards Ceremony, Washington, DC

Washington, DC
May 20, 2004

Thank you, Leslie. It is a pleasure to be here this evening for the National Wetlands Awards Ceremony. The Natural Resources Conservation Service is proud to be a co-sponsor of these awards.

I am particularly happy to present this year’s Landowner Stewardship award to Mr. Jack Branning, who has been working for years to restore wetlands on his farm near Vicksburg, Mississippi. In fact, Jack Branning has enrolled his entire farm in the Wetlands Reserve Program.

He has restored nearly 3,500 acres to native bottomland hardwood wetlands and has created habitat for migratory wetland birds and other wetland-dependent wildlife.

This is the largest Wetlands Reserve Program tract in Mississippi. His farm was chosen as the site for the Mississippi Wetland Reserve Program’s 100,000-acre celebration a few years ago. It is adjacent to the Delta National Forest, the only national forest with a bottomland hardwood forest. The work Jack is doing complements the activities of the USDA Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the area.

He enrolled the farm in WRP in 1996 under the permanent easement option, and developed a wetland restoration plan in 1998. He has had various reforestation and construction projects going on ever since.

I would also like to congratulate Frank Golet on receiving the Science Research award. Dr. Golet (GO-let) has worked closely with the NRCS employees in Rhode Island and throughout New England. This award is a well deserved recognition of your life-long devotion to wetlands.
Judy Doerner, State Conservationist in Rhode Island, says, “Hi.” Our staff in Mississippi really enjoy working with Jack.


Net Gain in Wetlands

Jack Branning’s accomplishments are an outstanding example of what landowners around the country have been able to get done through their own efforts and with the help of programs such as the Wetlands Reserve Program. Since 1992, WRP has enrolled nearly 8,000 projects on nearly 1-1/2 million acres.

The hard work of landowners such as Jack, and the contributions of programs such as the Wetlands Reserve Program, are really paying off. Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman recently announced that farmers and ranchers produced a net increase of 131,400 acres of wetlands from 1997 through 2002. These figures came from the 2002 National Resources Inventory – NRI – recently released by NRCS.

Agriculture’s net gain in wetlands includes gains of nearly 183,000 acres of wetlands, partially offset by losses of only 51,000 acres. The net gain is a tribute to the hard work of America’s farmers and ranchers. Jack Branning’s accomplishments are part of this success. In fact, the Mississippi Delta States and the Corn Belt accounted for much of the gain in wetlands.


A New National Goal for Wetlands

Being able to announce a net gain in wetlands due to agriculture is certainly a major milestone and a tribute to the work already done. But we in the wetlands community have even more to be thankful for this year as we celebrate National Wetlands Month.

As Senator Chafee highlighted, President Bush recently announced a new national goal for wetlands. He said, “Instead of just limiting our losses, we will expand the wetlands of America.”

The goal – to be accomplished over the next five years – is to restore at least one million acres of new wetlands through incentive and partnership measures such as the Wetlands Reserve Program, improve the quality of a million acres of existing wetlands through expanded public-private efforts, and protect a million acres of wetlands by increasing grants for land protection programs.


Conclusion

Reaching the President’s goal will require hard work on the part of everyone who feels that America’s wetlands are a valuable resource. Fortunately, we have Jack Branning and like-minded landowners all over the country who are willing to work hard to make this goal a reality.
Working together, landowners like Jack Branning, conservation groups, States, and Federal agencies will meet the President’s goal.

Congratulations, Jack, on receiving this year’s Landowner Stewardship Award. Thank you for showing that individual actions can, indeed, make a difference.