农业部投入440万美元支持7个湿地缓解银行项目：助农户守住项目资格、保护湿地生态
美国农业部（USDA）10月29日在 Washington 宣布，将投入440万美元支持7个湿地缓解银行（wetland mitigation bank）开发项目，帮助农业生产者应对湿地保护合规需求，并保护湿地生态系统。这笔资金通过农业部自然资源保护局（Natural Resources Conservation Service，NRCS）的湿地缓解银行计划（Wetland Mitigation Banking Program，WMBP）发放：湿地经恢复、新建或提升后产生可交易的缓解额度，生产者可购买额度，抵偿其在另一地点对湿地造成的影响。
NRCS 局长 Colton L. Buckley 表示，农业部把农户放在首位，通过投资扩大全国湿地缓解银行的机会，支持农业用地、推进自愿保护，并帮助生产者保留参加农业部项目的资格。农业部说明，今年的遴选优先考虑位于湿地数量多、湿地面积大、保护合规申请多的州的缓解银行。
按计划规则，参加多数农业部项目的生产者须遵守湿地保护条款，不得在已改造的湿地上种植农产品，也不得改造湿地用于农业生产；当避开湿地或就地缓解难以做到时，《农业法案》（Farm Bill）允许通过购买缓解银行额度进行异地缓解。购买额度为生产者在改造农业湿地后维持农业部项目福利资格提供了合法途径。
受助方可用这笔资金支付开发与设立缓解银行的成本，包括选址、编制缓解银行文书、场地恢复、土地测量、许可与产权检索、市场研究等；资金不得用于购买土地或保护地役权。每个项目最高可申请100万美元，期限最长四年；缓解银行设立后，土地所有权与使用权仍归土地所有者，保护地役权则防止湿地遭受不相容的破坏活动。
NRCS 自2016年首次发放 WMBP 补助以来，已资助41个项目，支持在14个州创建或扩建湿地缓解银行。NRCS 表示，该机构90多年来一直帮助农户、牧场主与林地所有者改善空气、水、土壤与野生动物栖息地质量，并通过自愿、激励型的保护项目提供一对一技术建议与资金援助。
USDA Invests $4.4 Million in Seven Wetland Mitigation Banking Projects to Support Producers and Protect Wetlands
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced in Washington on October 29 that it is investing $4.4 million in seven projects to support the development of wetland mitigation banks for agricultural producers. Through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Wetland Mitigation Banking Program (WMBP), wetlands are restored, created or enhanced, generating credits that producers can purchase to compensate for impacts to wetlands at another location.
NRCS Chief Colton L. Buckley said USDA is putting farmers first by investing in projects that expand wetland mitigation banking opportunities across the country, supporting working lands, advancing voluntary conservation and helping producers remain eligible for USDA programs. USDA said priority was given to banks in states with significant numbers of individual wetlands, wetland acres and conservation compliance requests.
To participate in most USDA programs, producers agree to comply with wetland conservation provisions, meaning they will not plant agricultural commodities on converted wetlands or convert wetlands to enable production. Where avoidance or on-site mitigation is challenging, the Farm Bill allows off-site mitigation through the purchase of mitigation banking credits, providing a legal mechanism for producers to maintain eligibility for USDA program benefits if they convert agricultural wetlands.
Awardees may use the funding for costs of developing and establishing a mitigation bank, including site identification, development of a mitigation banking instrument, site restoration, land surveys, permitting and title searches, and market research; WMBP funding cannot be used to purchase land or a conservation easement. Projects may request up to $1 million and last up to four years. When a bank is established, the landowner retains ownership and use of the property, while a conservation easement protects the wetlands from incompatible degrading activities.
NRCS awarded the first WMBP grants in 2016 and has since awarded 41 projects supporting the creation or expansion of wetland mitigation banks in 14 states. NRCS said it has helped farmers, ranchers and forestland owners for more than 90 years to improve air, water, soil and wildlife habitat through voluntary, incentive-based conservation programs.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：湿地与森林景观航拍。美国鱼类及野生动物管理局（USFWS）照片，摄影 Sarah Yates／USFWS，公有领域。 / Aerial view of wetlands and forests on the landscape. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service photo by Sarah Yates/USFWS, public domain.
