IA DNR: Cost Share Money Available for Improving Wildlife Habitat

DES MOINES - The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) helps landowners enhance, protect, and develop wildlife habitat on their property and has been allocated a large amount of funds to spend in Iowa.

"WHIP is a great program to help landowners improve habitat on their properties," said Matt Dollison, private lands wildlife biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR). "It provides about 60 percent cost share for approved practices. Landowners can actually get paid to improve the habitat themselves or can hire a contractor to do the work."

This is a federal program that specializes in creating habitat on land without any cropping history. Eligible WHIP practices include brush management, native grass seeding, edge feathering, forest stand improvement, tree and shrub establishment, prescribed burning, and much more.

Applying for WHIP is easy, he said. First, work with your local wildlife specialist to plan the habitat practices that are right for you and the wildlife you wish to attract, Dollison said. Next fill out an application. The specialist will make sure the application is ranked and will contact you if the application is funded.

"We have a limited amount of time to allocate money to projects. This means the sooner you apply, the better chance you have that your application will be funded so don't delay," said Dollison.

Contact an Iowa Department of Natural Resources biologist to find out about WHIP or other wildlife habitat programs by calling 515-281-5918, or by stopping in at your county's USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Office and ask about the program.