More funding needed for Wetlands Reserve Program, farmers say

July 27, 2000 Web posted at: 11:14 AM EDT (1514 GMT)

GOSPORT, Indiana (AP) -- If Todd Brinson wants to hunt wild turkey, follow the tracks of an ambling raccoon or simply sit back and take in nature's beauty, he has to look no farther than his own back yard.

Brinson and five other men purchased about 60 acres of farmland in this town just north of Bloomington and restored it to its native wetlands under the Wetlands Reserve Program, a federal initiative that provides incentives to landowners who opt for conservation.

But hundreds of other farmers who have volunteered to restore wetlands on their acreage are waiting for federal dollars to flow their way.

http://www.cnn.com/2000/NATURE/07/27/wetlands.program.ap/index.html

-- K (infosurf@yahoo.com), July 28, 2000