U.S. Water News Online
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced that the government has settled the National Wildlife Federation, et al. v. Fisher case, involving challenges to wetland determinations in South Dakota.
The lawsuit was filed last year in South Dakota challenging the way the wetland conservation provisions of the Food Security Act of 1985 were being implemented in the state by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The government explored settlement options to quickly resolve the litigation. An agreement has been reached.
Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment James Lyons said, "The key issue all along has been to protect wetlands in compliance with the law while also ensuring that farmers are treated fairly and can rely on the accuracy of the technical information we provide to them."
Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the agency will conduct onsite wetland determinations upon request in order to ensure that accurate and consistent determinations are made. A summary of the settlement agreement will be posted on the South Dakota NRCS website, www.sd.nrcs.usda.gov.
"We believe a settlement is in the best interest of everyone concerned in order to resolve this issue in a timely manner. We look forward to working with our partners in South Dakota in implementing the settlement agreement," said Lyons.
NRCS provides technical and financial assistance for several effective wetland restoration programs and will continue to encourage landowners to voluntarily restore, protect, and enhance wetlands through the Wetlands Reserve Program, Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, Environmental Quality Incentives Program, floodplain easements, and the National Conservation Buffer Initiative. South Dakota landowners already have enrolled more than 19,000 acres in WRP and more than 30,000 acres in the Emergency Watershed Protection Program's floodplain easement option.
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