Environmentally Sensitive Land – Land that benefits, protects and enhances meadows, wetlands, rivers and streams, and often provides land base for stormwater quality projects. Often these lands are fragile and have steep, highly erodible slopes. Apart from water quality, environmentally sensitive land may also be acquired for public access, SEZ enhancement, or wildlife protection.

Acquire – Land is acquired when state or federal agencies buy land from willing-to-sell private landowners, making it public land which is unavailable for development or disposal. Acquired lands are shifted from private to public ownership, and managed for public use and benefit.

Protect – Land is protected when it is acquired - converted from private to public land with protective measures in place to ensure that no activity degrades water quality or threatens the survival of a special status species.

Restore – Land is restored when actions have been taken that re-establish or substantially rehabilitate that land with the goal of returning natural or historic functions and characteristics.

Information on the number of acres of environmentally sensitive land acquired should be compiled during the year and entered into the EIP Database by the implementing entity’s reporting manager by December 31st of that year. EIP managers will start compiling reported data in October and will continue through December each year. Any information reported after December 31st will not be included in that year’s reporting totals.