Tallahassee, FL – Following an announcement by Secretary Tom Vilsack of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today to provide financial assistance to Florida agriculture and assist with wetlands restoration, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services released the following statement from Commissioner Adam Putnam.
“Agriculture plays an integral role in the restoration of wetlands in the Northern Everglades,” said Putnam. “Agricultural lands have some of the greatest natural resources of any private lands in Florida. The open space allows them to protect ground and surface water resources and preserve critical habitat for endangered and threatened species, while remaining working agricultural lands. USDA’s commitment to the Wetlands Restoration Program (WRP) will enable Florida agriculture to continue its important efforts to enhance the natural resources of the Northern Everglades Watershed.”
USDA announced $100 million in financial assistance, the largest amount of funding Florida has received through the WRP in a single year, to acquire permanent easements from eligible landowners in four counties and assist with wetland restoration on nearly 24,000 acres of agricultural land in the Northern Everglades Watershed.
“This approach, which keeps working agricultural lands on the tax rolls and in business, is a model for smart environmental protection,” added Commissioner Putnam.
This effort aims to reduce the amount of surface water leaving the land, slowing water runoff and the concentration of nutrients entering the public water management system. Ultimately, it will lessen the concentration of nutrients reaching Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades.
Through WRP, USDA will purchase development rights from eligible landowners, maintaining that land as agriculture and open space. USDA will seek permanent easements and assist with wetland restoration in Glades, Hendry, Highlands and Okeechobee Counties. The easements will contribute to the connection of public and private lands and help form a conservation corridor from the Kissimmee River to Everglades National Park.