Saving Wetlands Around the World In 1971, world governments agreed to work together to save wetlands. This historic event took place on the shores of the Caspian Sea, in the city of Ramsar, Iran. More than one hundred countries have joined this effort and have listed more than one thousand wetlands sites in the "Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance." Since the United States joined the convention, more than one million acres of American wetlands have been placed on the list. In the U.S., the Ramsar sites are managed by the Office of International Affairs of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. For information on the entire program, go to www.ramsar.org.

Protecting Wetlands

Suppose you live near a wetland that is surrounded by land slated for development. What could you do to protect this wetland? Begin by bringing in wetlands experts to delineate and define the wetland. Identify adjacent landowners and other interested people; invite them to tour the site and then meet to discuss a plan. Establish goals, which will probably include:

• Establish protection for the wetland.
• Prevent any further damage from occurring.
• Repair what damage you can.
• Educate the public about the presence of the wetland and how they can help.

You can work with private landowners, local governments, and area conservation groups to evaluate and choose from a number of protection options, including:

• Conservation easement: This voluntary legal agreement, usually between a private landowner and an agency or nonprofit organization, such as a land trust, restricts the amount and type of development and protects natural features such as wetlands. The landowner can sell or give the property to heirs, but all future owners must comply with the easement. Easements vary from site to site.
• Lease: You can agree to rent the wetland to a government agency or nonprofit organization for a specific period of time.
• Donation: The landowner gives the property to a nonprofit organization and receives a generous tax deduction and the assurance that the land will be maintained as a wetland.
• Sale: You can sell the land to a nonprofit organization that will either maintain the land or turn it over to an appropriate government agency.

Northern Idaho retains less than half the wetlands it had when Euroamericans began arriving in the area. Of that amount, seventy-five percent remain in private hands and are at risk unless the landowner places a conservation easement on the land. Less than four percent of these vital habitats is protected by government or nonprofit ownership.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) administers the following programs:

Conservation Reserve Program
Through rental payments and cost-sharing, the federal government helps landowners develop conservation plantings and other habitat enhancements on and around agricultural land. Wetlands Reserve Program-The federal government purchases a conservation easement, which limits future use of the land but allows continued agricultural practices while setting aside and restoring valuable wildlife habitat.

Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program
This cost-sharing program enables landowners to create and improve wildlife habitat in collaboration with the NRCS.

For more information: www.nrcs.usda.gov.

Protection Success

Rancher: On Flat Ranch, on the Henry's Fork of the Snake River in Idaho, you are as likely to see sandhill cranes (photo to left, by William H. Mullins) as you are cows, plus birders and anglers-or cowboys. This 1600-acre ranch keeps cows moving in a grazing rotation that protects the land. The riparian areas are being revegetated with willows and other wetlands plants. And each year more visitors come to enjoy the recreation provided on this ranch, which is owned by the Nature Conservancy.

Partnerships: Nonprofit groups and government agencies formed a partnership to protect one of Idaho's last high-desert, spring-fed wetlands. Chilly Slough, in the Big Lost River Valley, provides habitat for rare plants and more than 134 bird species. Its 1,000 acres are maintained by The Nature Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

School group: Fifth graders from Wendell Elementary, in Wendell, Idaho, have planted marsh grasses to restore an eroded wetland and help a larger wetland mitigation project that will use wetlands to clean irrigation water.

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