The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded nearly $4.7 million in grant funding for the Wetland Mitigation Banking Program (WMBP), a grant program that supports the development of mitigation banks for the restoration, creation or enhancement of wetlands to compensate for unavoidable impacts to wetlands at another location.
The awarded funding adds to the more than $17 million that has been provided to 16 partners in 11 states since 2016. This year’s awards prioritized projects in states with significant wetland acreage as well as large numbers of producers with wetland determination requests.
“The Wetland Mitigation Banking Program supports critical wetland restoration and protection while also expanding options for producers,” said Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Chief, Terry Cosby.
“Wetlands provide valuable ecosystem functions, such as sequestering carbon, providing habitat and recharging groundwater. These projects allow us to collaborate with states, local governments and other qualified partners to restore, create and enhance wetland ecosystems.” Awarded projects include: