A WREP Success Story

For more than a decade, the Tri-state Conservation Partnership (TCP) has focused its efforts to support and strengthen the delivery of the Wetland Reserve Easements (WRE) program in the MAV of AR, LA and MS. The TCP is currently enjoying significant success achieved through the NRCS’s Wetland Reserve Enhancement Partnership (WREP) program. Through WREP, the TCP has reached a decade-long milestone for critical habitat restoration and protection in priority portions of the MAV. From 2012 to 2023, WREP funding has been awarded to restore well over 40,000 acres of forested wetlands within the length of the Mississippi River batture. In addition, since 2015 WREP funding has been awarded to restore more than 22,000 acres within priority regions of the MAV outside the batture in AR, LA and MS. Together, these bring the total MAV WREP restoration and protection acres (completed and ongoing) to well over 60,000!  

AR Conservation Estate: WREP in purple, WRE blue, public lands gray

Through the work of the TCP, the WREP program has served as an effective tool for bringing federal, state and private partners together to further bolster the tremendous restoration work being accomplished through the Wetland Reserve Easements (WRE) program. NRCS WREP grants leverage government and non-government funding to prioritize restoration needs within critical portions of the JV region, delivering significant wildlife habitat and water quality improvements in priority areas. In addition, when proposed WREP projects are awarded, the funding comes in addition to the regular annual WRE. Figure 1 contains a portion of the central AR MAV, demonstrating how targeting WREP funding to restore wetlands in priority areas can serve to advance the development of large habitat blocks within the conservation estate.