By Elena Stewart, Easement Program Manager

Do you have a part of your field that is always wet and unproductive? Would you like to enhance wildlife habitat on your land? Then the Wetland Reserve Easement (WRE) program may be right for you. The program offers landowners financial incentives to restore, protect, and enhance wetlands while maximizing wildlife benefits.

Over the last 250 years, Delaware has lost about 50 percent of its wetlands due to the conversion of land to farm fields and development. Since then, people have come to realize the important benefits of wetlands, which includes providing habitat for migratory waterfowl and other wetland dependent wildlife. They also filter water, reduce soil erosion, reduce flooding, recharge groundwater, and sequester carbon from the atmosphere. All these functions contribute to better water quality, healthier soil, and a more stable climate.

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) works with farmers and landowners to restore and enhance wetlands through the WRE component of the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP). NRCS may be able to offer solutions to landowners interested in wetland practices to create shallow water systems which attract migratory birds and other wildlife. The WRE program can also help those that have experienced wet, flood-prone, unproductive farmland or woodlands and are considering alternatives.

NRCS offers technical and financial assistance to restore previously drained farm or forest land into a profitable and environmentally beneficial wetland through its easement program. The program offers funding for permanent easements and 30-year-term easements to restore, protect, and enhance wetlands while maximizing wildlife benefits. Applications are considered on a rolling basis and if selected, landowners are compensated for a portion of the value of the property while still retaining ownership of the land. NRCS also pays to survey, design and implement the restoration practices agreed upon with the landowner. The established WRE becomes a partnership with NRCS, where NRCS can also help with subsequent management of the land to ensure the wetland functions as designed. Increased incentives for the program are also available to participating Delaware landowners.

Eligible land includes (but is not limited to):

• Forest, woodland, cropland, hayland, and pasture where the hydrology has been significantly degraded and can be restored;
• Previously converted cropland, hayland, and pasture (crop fields that were once considered wetlands before significant changes to the hydrology); and
• Land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program
• Land may be eligible if it’s in an Agricultural District but not if it currently is under an Agricultural Preservation Easement.  

Landowners are paid per acre for their WRE easement. For permanent easements, NRCS pays 100 percent of the easement purchase cost and 100 percent of the restoration costs. For 30-year easements, NRCS pays 75 percent of the easement purchase cost and 75 percent of the restoration costs. Once cropland is enrolled in WRE, it must be restored to wildlife habitat and can no longer be cropped.  

Interested landowners will need to provide NRCS with documentation showing ownership of the land for the past two years and a copy of the land deed at the time of application. Landowners will also need to complete all USDA eligibility requirements.

Contact your local NRCS service center to explore opportunities for protecting and restoring your wetlands. That small step can lead to immediate benefits for your land, the environment, and contribute to the well-being of future generations as well.