Deadline Announced for Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program

Randy Meyer sees the benefits of managing land for wildlife just about every time he takes his bird dogs out on his Callaway County farm. He credits the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) for helping him. And, he wishes more of his neighbors would take advantage of the program.

“I had two coveys of quail when I first bought this place, and last year I had five,” Meyer says.

WHIP provides technical expertise and cost-sharing to enhance habitat on eligible land for upland and wetland wildlife, threatened and endangered species, and other types of wildlife identified as rare or declining species. Many types of land, including prairie, grassland, woodland, wetlands, stream and riparian areas, agricultural land and non-agricultural land may be eligible for WHIP funds. WHIP applications may be submitted at any time, but only those received by December 16 will be eligible for the next round of funding.

This year, WHIP applications from certain priority areas will receive additional ranking points, says Roger Hansen, NRCS state conservationist. Hansen says priority will be given to prairie areas in portions of Adair, Barton, Benton, Cedar, Dade, Harrison, Jasper, Johnson, Pettis, St. Clair and Sullivan counties. Priority will also be given to WHIP applications that include restoration of glade and savanna habitat. Hansen says priority applications will be ranked and funded separately from other applications.

Meyer says he started doing some things back in 1989 to make his 239 acres near Wellsville more attractive for wildlife. But he credits the 140 acres he has enrolled in WHIP for making the place his own little hunter’s paradise.

Meyer says WHIP was especially valuable for him because some areas of his farm were not eligible for other programs because they did not have a crop history. Meyer used WHIP to plant food plots, develop edge feathering, control woody cover, plant non-native legumes, establish warm-season grasses, and to install nest structures.

“The reimbursement for the seed was a big factor because I don’t think I could have afforded to do it all on my own,” Meyer says.

He says that, in addition to increasing the numbers of quail on his farm, the feathered edges have become attractive places for wild turkeys to nest. And there is no shortage of whitetail deer, either.

“I wish more people would get into the program,” Meyer says. “You can do a lot on your own place. But when more people around you make improvements, there is a lot of carryover benefit.”

To sign up for WHIP or to get more information about it and other NRCS programs, contact the NRCS office serving your county. To locate an office near you, click here.

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