LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY | Secretary Aurelia S. Giacometto
A DEPARTMENT OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
A voluntary program offering landowners the opportunity to protect, restore, and enhance wetlands on their property. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) provides technical and financial support to help landowners with their wetland restoration efforts. The NRCS goal is to achieve the greatest wetland functions and values, along with optimum wildlife habitat, on every acre enrolled in the program. This program offers landowners an opportunity to establish long-term conservation and wildlife practices and protection
Working Lands for Wildlife will assist landowners voluntarily create, restore or enhance gopher tortoise habitat, increasing habitat connectivity, and support potential down-listing of the species. Working Lands for Wildlife will complement the existing Longleaf Pine Initiative by providing targeted funding to help enhance, restore and protect gopher tortoise habitat, and increase landowner confidence that the conservation practices they implement will not harm the species or its habitat. Actions include: Protect, maintain, and restore longleaf pine forests; Increase connectivity of existing gopher tortoise habitat; Improve weed and invasive species management; Promote use of government programs that provide incentives for development or restoration of habitat on private lands.