Lexington, Kentucky | October 15, 2015
Today United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack approved a grant of $9.4 million to protect, restore and enhance critical wetlands on private lands in the Obion Creek, Bayou du Chien and Mayfield Creek Watersheds which cover 965 square miles and include parts of Ballard, McCracken, Calloway, Hickman, Fulton, Carlisle and Graves counties in Kentucky. Funding will be provided through the Wetland Reserve Enhancement Partnership (WREP), a special enrollment program administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
Under WREP, states, local units of governments, non-governmental organizations and American Indian tribes collaborate with USDA through cooperative and partnership agreements. These partners work with private landowners who voluntarily enroll eligible land into wetland reserve easements, producing benefits such as the enhancement and protection of habitat for wildlife, reduced impacts from flooding, improved drinking water quality, and better groundwater recharge.
“The Conservancy is very excited to enter this next phase of wetland conservation efforts in western Kentucky. ” says Shelly Morris, The Nature Conservancy’s Western Kentucky Project Director. “We have had great success in this area over the past 5 years, and this project aims to use the momentum gained during the previous efforts to continue to increase enrollment in areas that will build upon existing protected lands and ultimately create large blocks of restored wetlands.”
The project aims to enroll up to 2,500 acres along 10 miles of streams into the WREP in priority areas to reduce pollution affecting Obion Creek, Bayou du Chien, Mayfield Creek and the Mississippi River as well as create habitat connecting forest blocks that will increase the ecological integrity of the watershed. The NRCS’s easement programs allow effective integration of wetland restoration on working lands, providing benefits to farmers and ranchers who enroll in the program, as well as benefits to wildlife and the local communities.
“The opportunity to protect large, contiguous blocks of land is a big plus of this project,” says Lee Andrews of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “By strategically focusing on land that is anchored to existing easements, we will be able to work at a scale that will be really meaningful for both water quality and wildlife.”
Wetland habitat supports a diverse assemblage of plants and animal species, many of which are highly dependent on wetlands for critical resources. Several stream segments of Obion Creek and Bayou du Chien have been listed by the Kentucky Division of Water as “non-supporting” for aquatic life, primarily due to sedimentation. Destruction of streamside habitat, channelization, poor bank stability, heavy sediment and nutrient loading, and runoff of animal waste are prevalent throughout the watershed.
“This project will take place in an area that our department has identified as a Priority Conservation Area in our State Wildlife Action Plan ,” says Dan Figert of the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife. “This is crucial work, which is why we have so many partners coming to the table to invest time and money into the WREP .”
According to Jack Kuhn, Assistant State Conservationist for the Kentucky NRCS, “The strong commitment shown by our project partners was a significant factor in Kentucky receiving this funding. Through past partnerships, we have identified high-priority watersheds where focused conservation on agricultural land can make the most gains in improving local, state and regional water quality. This new collaboration will build on those successes.” These project partners include: Kentucky Division of Conservation, Graves County Conservation District, Ingram Barge Company, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission, and the Four Rivers Basin Team. The Nature Conservancy will serve as lead partner.
Compared to the seven surrounding states, Kentucky has the smallest percentage of protected land, with less than 2% being in permanent conservation protection. This makes conservation, in general, and of wetlands in particular, extremely important on private lands. During the period of 1780 to 1980, wetlands in Kentucky declined from about 1.6 million acres to about 300,000 acres. This is a decrease of over 80%, compared to national wetland losses of about 50% during that same time frame. Within Kentucky, the majority of these wetland losses occurred through conversion of bottomland hardwood forests to agricultural fields in the western part of the state. This loss of forested habitat has contributed to declines in migratory bird and bat populations and the conversion to row crop agriculture has caused water quality degradation through an increase in sediment and nutrient loading.
“This project is a big deal for Kentucky, as it enables the NRCS, The Nature Conservancy, and our partners to expand on what is already the largest wetland restoration effort in the state’s history,” says David Phemister, State Director of The Nature Conservancy’s Kentucky Chapter. “This project is great for water quality, great for ducks, great for landowners, and great for conservation. The Conservancy is proud to be a part of it.”
The funding announced today was authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill. The full USDA news releasecan be found online.
Since opening its doors in 1975, The Nature Conservancy’s Kentucky Chapter has protected over 40,000 acres of diverse habitat throughout the state, including more than 8,000 acres by direct ownership and 6,500 acres by conservation easements. During this time, we have also helped to conserve more than 100,000 acres of additional lands and waters throughout the Commonwealth in partnership with corporations, government agencies, conservation organizations and private landowners, partnerships made possible by support of a loyal and dedicated membership.
