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MRBI WREP

The Wetlands Reserve Enhancement Program (WREP) aims to protect, restore, and enhance wetland function in western Kentucky, leveraging federal funds and partnering with organizations for wetland restoration. High agricultural watersheds with nutrient runoff to the Mississippi River provide opportunities for reducing sediment and nutrient inputs, benefiting threatened species. The project's success is attributed to strategic marketing efforts, strong partnerships, and growing interest from stakeholders and educational institutions like Murray State University.

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MRBI WREP

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  1. MRBI WREP OCTOBER 2014 Summary

  2. Wetlands Reserve Enhancement Program (WREP) • Special funding source through the national Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI) • Component of the USDA Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) • Project area: watersheds of Obion Creek, Bayou du Chien, and lower Mayfield Creek

  3. Why Here?? • Much of far western KY was historically wetlands; large potential for wetland restoration in this area • Highly agricultural watersheds with high nutrient runoff to Mississippi River • Opportunity to reduce sediment and nutrient inputs to local watersheds and Mississippi River basin • Benefit to threatened and endangered species such as Indiana bat and relict darter • Lack of levee along Mississippi River

  4. WREP Program Objectives • 2011-2015: 4 year goal of enrolling5,500acres, leveraging $1 m in private funding to bring over $20 m of federal funds to this area • Purchase conservation easements from willing landowners • Protect, restore, and enhance wetland function and wildlife habitat on enrolled acres

  5. Partnerships • NRCS/TNC – Have entered into a formal agreement in order to share staff and resources. Has been vital to this project being a success. • KDOC/Graves County Conservation District – Host for WRP Technician position; co funded by NRCS and TNC • West KY Wetland Reserve Easement includes: NRCS, USFWS, KDFWR, Graves SWCD, & TNC

  6. Marketing and Outreach • Prioritized marketing efforts based presence of eligible soils, proximity to protected areas, and known TE records • Initial efforts targeted the “Upper Bottoms Focus Area”, then outward to the three “HUC12 Priority Areas”, then out to the rest of the WREP eligible area • As time went on additional “hot spots” appeared.

  7. Marketing and Outreach • WREP Brochure • “Fact Sheets” • Table Top Display • 300 Letters • 190 Postcards • 4 Newspaper articles • 2 Formal landowner meetings • Oodles and oodles of phone calls • TNC Video • TNC Website • Yielded: Over 53 applications covering 8016 acres

  8. Grand Totals!!

  9. Other things to cheer about!! • Kentucky is paving the way in the realm of degraded wetland restoration • Strengthened partnerships leading to increased capacity • Increased awareness of WRE in the project area • We have had more projects than we can fund • Great deal of interest from Murray State University to conduct monitoring/research on effects of WREP restoration

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