Program overview
Wisconsin Wetland Conservation Trust — Learn
The Wisconsin Wetland Conservation Trust (WWCT) is a statewide wetland mitigation in-lieu fee (ILF) program sponsored and administered by the Wisconsin DNR. Operational since November 2014, the WWCT allows permittees or exempt project proponents with unavoidable wetland impacts to mitigate through the purchase of credits. The program is available in all watersheds in Wisconsin.
Credit fees are used to restore, establish, enhance, or preserve wetlands within the same watershed as the impact. The WWCT operates in 12 Service Areas, or major watersheds, across Wisconsin. Fees from several scattered wetland impacts are used for wetland restoration projects to provide for lost ecological values and functions. Read our annual reports for a summary of program activity.
The WWCT has prioritized restoration need according to Service Area by using tools such as the Wetlands and Watersheds Explore and writing these priorities into the Compensation Planning Framework of the Program Instrument.
WWCT service area map
The WWCT also tracks credit sales by HUC8 watersheds to ensure consistency with requirements in 2019 Wisconsin Act 59 and provide transparency in mitigation decision-making.
The WWCT issues a Request for Proposals (RFP) with available funding and credit needs for new projects on a quarterly schedule (December 1, March 1, June 1, October 1). As of January 1, 2024, the WWCT has 15 projects in the monitoring phase.
Regulatory Structure
The WWCT is regulated by an Interagency Review Team (IRT) made up of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In 2014, the IRT approved the WWCT Instrument, the guiding document for all policies and procedures for the program. The Wisconsin DNR sponsors the program, coordinating credit sales, mitigation projects, and all administration of the program.
- WWCT Program Instrument – Guiding document for ILF program operations, approved by USACE.
- USACE 33 CFR part 332 – The 2008 federal compensatory mitigation rule.
- Chapter NR 350, Wis. Adm. Code – DNR administrative code for wetland compensatory mitigation processes and requirements.
- Section 281.36, Wis. Stats. – State requirements for wetland permitting and compensatory mitigation.
- Section 281.37, Wis. Stats. – Specific WWCT requirements.
