Agricultural Wetland Bank- General Information
Agricultural wetland banking is a subset of the overall wetland banking system. The "ag bank" is solely for replacing wetlands impacted on agricultural lands for agricultural purposes. It cannot be used for projects that convert agricultural land to a non-agricultural use or projects that convert non-agricultural land to agricultural land. Agricultural Wetland Bank vs Regular Wetland Bank Fact Sheet 2013 (pdf)
The use of the ag bank is governed by the following Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between BWSR and the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS). This MOU also establishes a Wetland Conservation Act (WCA) exemption for agricultural activities on agricultural land that is subject to the Swampbuster provisions of the federal farm program. This exemption is authorized in this manner per WCA rules 8420.0420 Subp. 2 G.
BWSR-NRCS Agricultural Wetland Bank Memorandum of Understanding (pdf)
The bank service area restrictions do not apply to agricultural wetland banks established prior to the effective date of the MOU (Grandfathered Agricultural Wetland Banks (pdf))
Applicants/Landowners can use the Agricultural Wetland Bank Credit Transaction Form for USDA Federal Farm Program participants on the Wetland Bank Transaction Forms page to utilize the exemption. Agricultural producers who are not participants in the USDA Federal Farm Program can apply to impact wetlands for agricultural purposes using credits from the Agricultural Wetland Bank by using the Agricultural Bank Wetland Credit Withdrawal and Application Form on the Wetland Bank Transaction Forms page.
The following documents provide information and guidance on site selection, evaluation, review and crediting for establishing agricultural wetland banks.
Wetland Bank Site Selection and Establishment (pdf)
Generating Wetland Credits from Previously Restored Wetlands (pdf)
Fact Sheet for Restored Wetlands on Expired CRP (pdf)
Wetland Bank Evaluation Tool (pdf)
BWSR has developed a web calculator Ag Bank Evaluation Tool Web Calculator for the above Ag Bank Evaluation Tool. Answers to the questions should be entered into the tool for calculation of resulting functional level scores. The tool and resulting scores should be used in conjunction with the above Ag Bank form Previously Restored Wetlands Guidance dated 4/19/12.