Wetlands Reserve Program
Overview
The Wetlands Reserve Program is a voluntary program offering landowners the opportunity to protect, restore and enhance wetlands on their property. Restoring, protecting and enhancing the functions and values of wetland ecosystems remain the focus of Wetlands Reserve Program in Arkansas.
Specifically, the focus is narrowed in Arkansas to restoring bottomland hardwood forest ecosystems and improvement of water quality in the Lower Mississippi River Valley through reforestation and hydrology restoration.
Arkansas is currently ranked second in the nation in enrolled Wetlands Reserve Program acres. This equals approximately 149,049 active acres of Wetlands Reserve Program lands enrolled with approximately 39,000 acres of shallow water habitat created and
80,000 acres of reforested lands.
Accomplishments
By placing agricultural lands into Wetlands Reserve Program, the Natural Resources Conservation Service provides resting, loafing and foraging habitat for migratory waterfowl, songbirds, shorebirds, wading birds and other wetland species.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service in Arkansas is a national leader in developing new techniques for restoring and managing wetland complexes, using the latest technology to annually reforest 8,000 acres of bottomland hardwoods and restore hydrology on more than
6,000 acres.
The 2003 hydrology construction season was an especially productive time for Arkansas. Field staff completed a record 7,700 acres of shallow water habitat in a single construction year.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service in Arkansas takes great pride in contributing to the many species of water birds observed on Wetlands Reserve Program lands. Many of these species have not been reported since the turn of the century or have never been documented in the state.
Outlook
The improvement of water quality as a value of wetlands and wetland restoration is an often overlooked benefit of the Wetlands Reserve Program. Enrolling large contiguous tracts of erosion-prone farmland has greatly decreased sediment in major rivers such as the White and Black rivers in central Arkansas.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service in Arkansas also sees great potential in enrolling more acreage statewide in the Wetlands Reserve Program as the 2002 Farm Bill progresses.
Additional Information
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