COSTS OF AN AGRICULTURAL WETLAND RESERVE

The Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act of 1990 included a W etland Reserve Program (WRP). Eligibility and costs for wetland restor ation were estimated using data from several large data bases. Estimat ed minimum costs increased from $286 million for a 1-million-acre rese rve to $3.8 billion for 5 million acres, drawn from 55.2 million acres of eligible cropland. The use of eight regional bidding pools increas ed total costs 32 percent over a single national pool. Proportional en rollment was the most expensive of three simulated strategies. Enrollm ent patterns and costs per acre for USDA's nine-state pilot program di ffered from simulated strategies.