By John Howell Sr.

Eligible Panola County landowners whose land floods must apply by Friday, March 27, for the funds that will soon become available through the Emergency Watershed Protection Program, according to Terry Myers of the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Batesville.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will provide up to $145 million to eligible landowners nationwide through the floodplain easement component of its Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Program, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced. The land can be cropland, pasture or woods, Myers said.

The funds will be used to restore frequently flooded land to its natural state and to create jobs.

“We will be working with landowners who voluntarily agree to restore the floodplains to their natural condition by placing their land into easements,” Vilsack said.

“The land will have to be planted to trees if trees are not already established,” Myers said. “USDA will require a perpetual easement and will pay the landowner X dollar amounts for this easement,” Myers continued. “I do not know the exact dollar figure yet.”

“These easements will convert environmentally sensitive lands into riparian corridors (river banks) and wooded bottomlands that are so vital for fish and wildlife habitat and to mitigate downstream flooding.”

Jobs will be created mostly in the engineering, biology and construction fields when trees and native grasses are planted and the hydrology of the floodplain is restored.

All funds will be spent on targeted projects that can be completed with economic stimulus monies. The goal is to have all floodplain easements acquired and restored within 12-18 months.

For information about EWP Program floodplain easements, please contact Myers at the Natural Resources Conservation Service, 175 Broome Ridge Road in Batesville 662-578-8045, Ext. 3.