The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is accepting proposals until August 16, 2024 for their Wetland Reserve Enhancement Partnership (WREP).
NRCS is investing up to $50 million through WREP to support conservation partners with local projects that help protect, restore and enhance critical wetlands on agricultural lands and help mitigate climate change. The program allows eligible conservation partners to work with local agriculture producers to protect, restore and enhance high-priority wetlands on agricultural lands.
WREP enables effective integration of wetland restoration on working agricultural landscapes, providing meaningful benefits to farmers and ranchers who enroll in the program and to the communities where the wetlands exist.
WREP is part of the?Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP). Through WREP, states, local units of government, non-governmental organizations, and Tribal Nations collaborate with NRCS through cooperative and partnership agreements. These partners work with Tribal and private landowners who voluntarily enroll eligible land into easements to protect, restore and enhance wetlands on their properties.?This includes marginal croplands, which are less productive because of repeated flooding or standing water.
Proposals must be limited to $10 million in federal funding and should include a breakdown of project activities. Partners can apply through their NRCS state office.