WRP

[Howboutthemdawgs]

I like hearing the opinions on both sides. I think Homer brings up some good ones that aren’t always comfortable to hear.
Certainly not a black and white topic. I think for the people who can justify it, it makes sense to them. For the others it absolutely doesn’t.

As far as paying for access to private land. In the utopian view of government redistribution it selfishly makes more sense than wrp or crp but I’m not sure it pencils out for the 90% that aren’t hunters unfortunately. Wonder if we’d all be better to buy land if the government didn’t use our money to funnel to all kinds of interests, these programs just being a drop in the ocean of waste. But you can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube so I guess take advantage of what suits you.

 

[MadMadHoosier]

We grew up a lower middle income family from southern Indiana. My uncle farmed and as a kid I loved playing in his woods. I remember his son, my cousin, buying 100 acres to add to their joint farm, and I thought that was "so cool" to own that much land. Never dreamed I would be able to do something similar.

Many years later, with a lot of hard work and a little luck, we have slowly acquired +/-670 contiguous acres in western Kentucky. It is retirement/recreation for the most part with a few acres farmed and hayed by a local farmer. The first parcel was 200 acres and our most recent addition was 114. The newest addition included 35 acres of WRP and 17 acres of CRP. This is the last year of the 10-year CRP, and I will probably not renew. The WRP is perpetual.

The perpetual WRP was a real thorn in my side while considering the purchase. They planted trees on much of the 35 acres and I'm not allowed to build, plant, mow, create trails or shooting lanes without a written plan and their written permission. There is a previous gas line easement (about 4.5 acres) across this property that gets mowed annually and as such .gov could not plant trees there. I've tried to get permission to put food plots on that gas line, and they will only allow 5% of the total 35 acres (1.75 acres) to be put in flood plot - and then only with a written plan and written permission.

While they have been nice enought to talk to, they seem determined to get my signature acknowledging the origninal (and I suspect some modified) terms of the WRP. I've explained that I've never had to sign such a document before for gas line and power line easements already on other parcels I purchased, and I don't understand their desire for my signature on this easement. Every time I asked about permission to do something on this 35, they bring up written permission with new signed documents. I just don't trust their intentions, or the intentions of their government successors.

I've considered trying to buy it back out of the WRP program, but the previous owner got $90,000 and there would be additional fees and penalties - for 35 acres. Too high for acres I've already paid a premium for, and not worth it from my perspective. I've finally come to peace with the idea that I don't need to work this portion of land, and it will just become habitat sanctuary.

Not sure what else to say, so I'll end it there.

 

[Spike_Horn_Shooter]

958 County Route 31 LOT WP001, Lisbon, NY 13658 | Zillow

958 County Route 31 Lot Wp001, Lisbon NY, is a Vacant Land home. The Rent Zestimate for this Vacant Land is $1,122/mo, which has increased by $1,122/mo in the last 30 days.

www.zillow.com

 

[Spike_Horn_Shooter]

I looked at this place before I bought mine. Has WRP, but otherwise kind of a hunters dream for ducks and deer (Northern NY deer have a tough time with age and antler size).

This place sat on the market for quite some time, and went probably well under the listing price of around 1k/acre. Likely due to the WRP. That’s even with a really good listing from Whitetail Properties (listing agent was dialed in when I talked to him).

WRP must have been a really good deal for the original owner, but not great for the guy that purchases after. The second property owner seems to be paying 10-25% under market value, yet may have to deal with many encumbrances.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

Kinda common for wealthy guys and groups to buy up tracts and put them in easements for the tax benefits and then dump leaving the property encumbered for perpetuity so they can weasel the system. I wonder if they do that with wrp? Buy some cheaper wetlands, get some cash for locking it up, and then dump.

 

[Spike_Horn_Shooter]

I don’t care about the money. We’ve probably spent more exterminating the Palestinians over the past two years than we spent on WRP since it began. My beef is those land use rights are gone forever. No family can ever homestead on that land ever again. Nobody can grow food, not crops, but food. More kids will be confined to growing up in town with 3D gaming goggles strapped to their head.

I’m not against hunter access and habitat improvement, but the way it is done now is the most inefficient way possible. The government couldn’t blow anymore dollars per acre than they currently do.

A better plan would be to relocate those dollars to long term walk-in area contracts. MN spends north of a billion dollars per year buying land and WRP contracts. If they spent 10% of that on walk in acres at $25/ac, they could open 4 million new acres for public hunting and keep it open for the rest of time. Imagine what another $200 million could do going into private landowners cost share habitat improvements. 50/50 those funds with private landowners, and the habitat could see $400 million in improvements every year.

How would that impact our wildlife outcomes? MN has a very hostile relationship with private landowners. They will not give anything without the exchange of deeds or land use rights, either temporary or permanent. SD has all sorts of private landowner programs, and for a state with no trees and very few lakes, most of us go there for good hunting and fishing.


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I would personally would have no problem with a couple hundred dollar donation to a fish and game department in the form of license fee if that money was going to purchasing walk-in hunting rights on properties.

 

[bwoods11]

I’m actually for CRP, WHIP, CREP, WRP, etc. Public land hunting areas .

Some of it is over the top and too much government control, like WRP— you have to know what you are doing before you buy it, or enter into a contract (easement)!

Without it, my county would not have a tree line, slough, pond, or grassland area left . It would all be farm land or pasture. The farmers still plow everything in the fall. It would all be black .

There is a happy medium and that is where it is now. We have some beautiful CRP, wetland farms, and some dang nice tree rows including my own. Government funded cost share … yes !

There are some great programs out there, not saying WRP is “great” it’s too restrictive.

CRP tree plantings are the most bang for the buck—especially in farm county . CRP is a 10 or 15 year contract so it’s not on your deed.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

Well said bwood. It’s sad we have to incentivize people to do the right thing or they’d just destroy it

 

[H20fwler]

A couple years ago a coworker who is crazy into deer hunting bought 140 acres in southeastern Illinois that was half in WRP other half not enrolled, broken off from a huge parcel that a group of guys owned together for hunting. No tillable ground, just native grasses and woods.

The WRP ground had some large deeper ponds on it that had been put in and the fishing and duck hunting was pretty good, there was also a bunch of shooting huts on both parts of the property, and he added a few more. First year owning he killed a nice 150" and his wife killed a 140", he also had turkeys all over it but he doesn't turkey hunt. Then last year he held out wanting a booner only even though he had never gotten pics of any on camera....just a lot of 140"+ bucks. He hunted it hard bow and gun making the long drive down there every other weekend and burning vacation weeks to go down.
Discouraged he put it up for sale and sold it within a couple months for a profit of $30K. Ended up buying a good-sized hunting property in southern Ohio.

 

[bwoods11]

US federal duck stamp money … 90% goes to acquire & protect wetland habitat . That hunters protecting habitat . Not all taxpayers money.

I’ve personally been involved in several parcels of land being purchased by Pheasants Forever in Minnesota . One example-400 acres of marginal soil in a heavy farming area. That is public land now open to hunting. Good deer, waterfowl & pheasant.

Minnesota also charges $7.50 for an annual pheasant stamp .

 

[SwampCat]

We lease 800 acres WRP to duck hunt on. Also some dang nice deer but nobody has got around to hunting it yet for deer. A fair bit of private WRP all along the river. It has become somewhat of a secondary waterfowl migration corridor. The folks on the public benefit - without the private wrp - there would not be enough prime habitat to keep numbers of ducks in the area. Without a doubt, those who control the WRP are much better stewards of land than are the public land users.

 

[H20fwler]

The absolute most asinine government spending I see here is the state spends money on upkeep of a huge waterfowl refuge on the corner of our lake, it is covered in wetland ponds, channels and marsh. They put in maybe a hundred acres or more of row crops on part of it and harvest them to supplemental feed the birds in late winter.

I the late spring on pretty much every state park in the state with water including our local lake…they round up flightless Canada geese from goslings to adults and euthanize them by the hundreds and bury them in pits. Apparently to appease the summer homeowners around the lakes.

When I first heard this, I thought it had to be BS…why wouldn’t they just increase the bag limit crazy high and let hunters utilize them? I asked the retired Park Superintendent in our area about it..HE CONFIRMED IT! Told me to just google it same all over Ohio.

So in Ohio we pay taxes to upkeep the waterfowl refuges around the state to protect ducks and geese…then use tax dollars to kill them?