06/30/08 Wetlands Reserve cut-off date approaching

Washington Ag June 30, 2008 A cut-off date for landowners wishing to participate in USDA's Wetland Reserve Program, WRP, is coming up in July. Natural Resources Conservation Service Assistance State Conservationist Dave Brown, explains. Brown: "Like all of our farm bill programs we take applications for the Wetland Reserve Program, the Environmental Quality Incentive Program and others on a year round basis. But once or twice a year we take the applications that we have in hand, we go through a ranking process with those applications and we select our highest ranking applications for funding. And that period is coming up for WRP and we set it for July the 15th." Brown says the 2008 Farm Bill included a provision that immediately simplifies the process NRCS uses to assess property values used in determining easement payments to landowners. Brown: "Here in Washington we have a rate cap set for western Washington at 25-hundred dollars per acre and a rate cap for central and eastern Washington of 15-hundred dollars per acre." WRP offers participants three options; ten year cost-share restoration agreements; 30 year conservation easements or permanent easements. Again July 15th is the cut-off for this round of funding for the WRP, and also the EQIP program. I'm Bob Hoff.