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RestorationThere are several programs available that may provide financial and technical assistance to landowners interested in restoring or enhancing a wetland that has been degraded or lost. There are a number of benefits to landowners who allow restoration to be completed on their property.
Wetland Reserve Program The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) runs the Wetland Reserve Program (WRP) which provides both technical and financial assistance to landowners interested in protecting, restoring, or enhancing wetlands on their property. Lands that qualify for WRP enrollment are primarily wetlands that have been impacted through conversion to agriculture. However, other properties may qualify as well. The NRCS offers several options for enrollment including a permanent easement, where 100% of the easement value and up to 100% of the restoration costs are paid. For more information about WRP you can visit the National WRP website, or the Oklahoma WRP website.
Wetland Registry There are a number of public and private entities that seek out wetland restoration to meet regulatory mandates or to advance conservation in the state. Oklahoma's wetland registry is a database that connects landowners with potentially restorable wetland locations, with parties that desire to restore wetlands. The registry works by providing a voluntary listing of public and private lands available for wetland restoration, which can be queried by location or site characteristics. In this way landowners are able to advertise their land as restorable, and those in need of restoration can find a potential site to meet needs. For those landowners interested in listing a restorable wetland location:
If you have a wetland or stream on your property that you believe is suitable for restoration you can provide information about it here: Submit a potential wetland or stream restoration site If you are seeking wetland or stream restoration you can provide us information and we will return a list of potential sites that match your criteria: Search for restoration sites .
Restorable Wetland Database The Oklahoma Conservation Commission (OCC) is in the process of developing a database of potentially restorable wetland sites that can be restored to improve the water quality of downstream lakes and streams in high priority watersheds. While, restoration would be designed for water quality improvement, restored wetlands will still provide many other benefits to landowners such as:
The Restorable Wetland Database is similar to the Wetland Registry but locations will qualify for listing only if they fall within designated priority watersheds with impaired water quality as a result of non-point source pollution. The Restorable Wetlands Database is currently under development in three priority watersheds (Thunderbird, Horse Creek, and a portion of the North Canadian). For those landowners interested in listing a restorable wetland location:
If you believe you have site suitable for wetland restoration and are interested in this program please contact: Brooks Tramell Director of Monitoring, Assessment and Wetland Programs Oklahoma Conservation Commission (405) 522-6908 Brooks.Tramell@conservation.ok.gov |