Illinois Success Story

Lasting Benefits with EWP

By: Jill Creamean, NRCS Public Affairs Specialist
Date: May 2003

Through NRCS’s Emergency Watershed Protection-Floodplain Easement Program (EWP-FEP), Lawrence County landowners Bob and Peggy Morecraft and Rusty Morris realized their dream of developing wildlife habitat on their frequently flooded bottomland cropland.

The Morecrafts began working with Lawrence County District Conservationist Jim Moye in April 1999 after they, along with Peggy’s brother Rusty, had purchased cropland in the Embarras River bottoms north of Lawrenceville. The farm flooded often and remained wet for an extended time each spring. An active member of the National Wild Turkey Federation, Rusty recognized the land’s potential for wildlife and recreation.

The Morecrafts enrolled their 264-acre tract into EWP-FEP, a program designed to mitigate soil erosion and water quality impairment from excessive flooding. In 2000, their application was accepted into the Floodplain Easement Program administered by NRCS. NRCS staff worked with Bob, Peggy, and Rusty to develop a restoration plan to help them fulfill their dream as stewards of the resources.

Restoration began in 2001 with the establishment of 13 acres of permanent and annual food plots. In the spring of 2002, 23 acres of prairie were planted after 4 feet of floodwater had receded. That summer, 5 water impoundments were installed to restore 30 acres of shallow water areas for wildlife. NRCS staff helped the Morecrafts obtain permits to construct the impoundments. In 2003, the Morecrafts will plant over 35 acres of oaks, cypress, and pecan trees and allow another 25 acres to regenerate naturally. Restoration was funded with EWP cost share and designed with NRCS resource planning and technical assistance.

The Morecrafts earned a lump-sum easement payment for their marginal land based on a certified agricultural appraisal, and wildlife benefits are already visible. Soon after construction, the impoundments held water from a 1-inch rainfall and began to attract ducks to the site.

"The benefits of the Morecraft’s restoration go far beyond their tract of land," said Moye. "The entire area benefits with increased wildlife habitat, slowed water runoff, increased water infiltration and retention, reduced effects from flooding downstream, better filtering of sediments and nutrients in floodwater, and no disaster or crop insurance to pay," Moye continued. To date, Lawrence County has enrolled a total of 3,630 acres in wetland easements.

Photo caption: NRCS District Conservationist Jim Moye (left) with Rusty Morris and Peggy and Bob Morecraft at their Lawrence County wetland restoration.