When Barack Obama talked about land and wildlife conservation on the campaign trail, hunters and environmentalists got excited.
 
But when Obama released his budget, it was clear land and wildlife conservation programs, such as the Wetland Reserve Program, would not be getting a boost.
 
So far, Obama's record on conservation has been a mixed bag. This particular promise deals with several well-known wildlife preservation programs run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, so we'll take them one by one and see where they stand.
 
The Conservation Security Program: This program is the precursor to the Conservation Stewardship Program, which was authorized for the first time in the 2008 Farm Bill. It's a program that pays farmers to conserve land. Obama allocated $234 million for the old program in his budget for those farmers who had enrolled their land in the program before it was revamped. Obama gave the Conservation Stewardship Program a substantial boost from $230 million in last year's budget to $447 million in this year's. 
 

The Conservation Reserve Program: Another initiative that pays farmers to preserve their land. Obama's budget shortchanged the program by a total of $178 million between now and 2019. Ultimately, Congress opted to fully fund the program in this year's Agriculture Department appropriations bill.
 
The Wetlands Reserve Program: This initiative, which essentially pays farmers to preserve wetlands on their lands, was cut by $26 million, down from $418 million in last year's budget. Congress eventually restored the cut through a USDA funding bill.  
 
The Grasslands Reserve Program: Obama's budget didn't touch funding for this program. As well, Congress opted to fully fund the initiative.
 
In terms of species restoration, Obama's actions have been a bit harder to track. He's championed new habitat restoration programs, such as a bill to restore the Great Lakes and full funding for the North American Wetlands Conservation Act , a program operated by the Department of the Interior that provides matching grants to organizations and individuals to conserve wetlands -- habitats where endangered game species are typically found. And funding from the stimulus bill has gone to specific habitat restoration projects meant to help preserve fowl and fish species .
 
This is a big promise involving several components. Obama has succeeded in fulfilling some parts, such as increasing funding for the Conservation Security Program (now the Conservation Stewardship Program), but fallen short on others. On the whole, however, he has made up more ground than he has lost. For now, we'll rate this one In the Works.