A comparison of wetland characteristics between Agricultural Conservation Easement Program and public lands wetlands in West Virginia, USA

Abstract

In West Virginia, USA, there are 24 conservation easement program wetlands enrolled in the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP). These wetlands are located on private agricultural land and are passively managed. Due to their location within fragmented agricultural areas, wetlands enrolled in ACEP in West Virginia have the potential to add wetland ecosystem services in areas that are lacking these features. We evaluated ACEP wetlands compared to reference wetlands on public land in West Virginia by using surrounding land cover, vegetative cover, and wetland features and stressors such as the presence or absence of erosion, upland inclusion, algal mats, and evidence of impacts from the surrounding landscape as surrogate measurements of wetland function on 13 ACEP wetlands and 10 reference wetlands. ACEP wetlands had higher percentages of tree coverage and a higher proportion of agricultural land in the areas immediately surrounding the wetland. Reference wetlands had higher percent coverage of emergent vegetation and had a higher proportion of forest in the immediate landscape. Our findings suggest that ACEP wetlands provide valuable early successional and forested wetland cover in a state that is largely forested. Because of this, it is important to maintain and even expand ACEP in West Virginia to continue providing a valuable source of early successional wetland habitat.

Evaluating wetland hydrological performance under three different conservation programs in Nebraska, United States, during 2018–2021

“…The Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) was established in 1990 as part of the Swampbuster provision of the Food Security Act of 1985. It is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture—Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA‐NRCS) and provides agricultural producers with the opportunity to restore or preserve wetlands through 30‐year or permanent easements (Lewis et al, 2020). The Agricultural Act of 2014 further integrated conservation programs in the U.S. by merging three programs—Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP), Grassland Reserve Program (GRP), and WRP—into the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP).…”

“…The Agricultural Act of 2014 further integrated conservation programs in the U.S. by merging three programs—Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP), Grassland Reserve Program (GRP), and WRP—into the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP). The Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) combined the Agricultural Water Enhancement Program (AWEP) with other programs, and the Emergency Watershed Protection Program (EWPP) was established in 1978 and amended in 1996 to add floodplain easements for those lands damaged by flooding (Farmer et al, 2015; Lewis et al, 2019, 2020;). USWFS and Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) have acquired a Waterfowl Production Area (WPA) and manage Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs).…”

Surface Water Quality Differs between Functionally Similar Restored and Natural Wetlands of the Saint Lawrence River Valley in New York

“…Land 2021, 10, 676 2 of 7 Regional assessments of wetland restoration programs indicate that aggregating over restoration projects, wetland restoration programs do augment ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes [4,5], though not necessarily the same quality as the former natural wetlands that had been lost on the landscape due to drainage or other hydrological alterations. There is a lack of studies, however, that evaluate restored wetlands on a project level to natural wetlands in the same landscape [6,7].…”