Funds target flooded farmland

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WORTHINGTON — The federal Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) and the state’s Reinvest in Minnesota (RIM) program are partnering once again, this time to fund up to $26 million in conservation easements for marginal land in southern Minnesota.

The funding, which includes $10 million appropriated for flood recovery through Minnesota’s 2010 special legislative session and $16 million expected in federal dollars, was made available in response to wide-spread flooding issues in southern Minnesota last September.

In all, 29 counties are targeted for the program, which will pay landowners with qualifying marginal land to restore and protect floodplain areas. Especially targeted are lands that are frequently or occasionally flooded.

“The primary goal of these state and federal dollars is to provide additional flood relief and protection on privately owned lands adjacent to water bodies,” said John Jaschke, executive director of the Minnesota Board of Water & Soil Resources.

Dallas Mahoney, WRP restoration specialist with the Area Natural Resources Conservation Service Marshall office, said the program targets permanent easement.

Program sign-up began Jan. 5 and will continue through March 4. Cottonwood, Jackson, Murray, Nobles, Pipestone and Rock county landowners are all eligible to apply, and forms are available from their local NRCS and SWCD offices.

Mahoney said all applications for funding will be ranked by NRCS and SWCD staff. The highest priority sites will undergo restoration of either wetlands or grassland, and priority will be given to sites that sustained damages identified in the federal disaster declaration.

Stephanie McLain, NRCS District Conservationist, said land in the Jack Creek and Elk Creek watersheds in Nobles County, as well as land adjacent to the Kanaranzi and Little Rock creeks and the Rock River, will be targeted for the funds.

The WRP-RIM program will offer those landowners a one-time payment for the permanent easement, in addition to providing 100 percent cost-share for restoration.

“The most common restoration would be to take the land out of production and seed it down to native grasses,” McLain said.

Conservation payments for permanent easements have increased considerably in recent years, making the program more attractive to landowners. McLain said the lowest payment rate they are offering is $4,000 per acre in Leota Township, to a maximum of $5,500 per acre in Elk Township.

“A riparian and flood plain restoration program gives us the opportunity in Nobles County to compete (for funds),” she added.

After the March 4 deadline, Mahoney said they will have one month to process all applications and score them. It isn’t yet known when the funds will be distributed.

The WRP-RIM partnership to target flood prone areas of southern Minnesota is creating a win-win situation for landowners.

“We’re trying to help them out,” Mahoney said. “They’re trying to fight farming land that they’re usually not going to get a good yield out of anyway. They have nothing else to do but farm it if there’s no program.”

In addition to getting paid for keeping the marginal land out of production, Mahoney said the conservation easements will also benefit natural resources by acting as a buffer to help control flooding.

Tags: news, flooded, farmland, funds