07/07/06 WRP reverse auction for one ID county

Landowners along the Lower Henry's Fork River in Madison County can bid for conservation easements as part of a special Wetland Reserve Program sign-up this month. Bob Bartholomew of the Natural Resources Conservation Service says they're holding this reverse auction sign-up to help landowners receive financial incentives to restore, protect and enhance wetlands along the Lower Henry's Fork in exchange for retiring marginal land from agriculture. This pilot program is different because it will involve a self-assessment of future wetland values and a per-acre bid to create an environmental benefit index. Bids exceeding $1500 per acre will not be considered. BARTHOLOMEW "NRCS will go and verify that their assessment was correct, we'll calculate the EBI's or the Environmental Benefits Index for all the people who have applied and then we will send a list out of all of the EBI's. They'll then be given an opportunity on a shorter term, only two weeks, to resubmit a bid. NRCS will be looking for options to purchase land and easements prior to the mid-September deadline. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott