Little Eva Mitigation Bank Approved

Resource Environmental Solutions, L.L.C. (RES), announces the approval by the Vicksburg District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers of a new 867.9-acre wetland and stream mitigation bank serving north and central Louisiana. The Little Eva Mitigation Bank, located in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, will establish and maintain 770.5 acres of bottomland hardwood wetlands, over 13,590 linear feet of stream and nearly 60 acres of riparian buffer habitat. Mitigation credits resulting from restoration efforts within the project area will be used to compensate for unavoidable wetland and stream impacts from permitted project activity in the Red River Drainage Basin.

Bottomland hardwood wetlands restoration will enhance a watershed where aquatic resources and functions have been impaired due to the conversion of forested wetlands to open pastureland. This conversion has altered the natural drainage patterns, vegetative composition and habitat continuity and is further attributed to intensive land management for agricultural uses resulting in a lack of both habitat diversity and natural interface of adjoining habitats. Restored wetlands deliver ecological benefits by the retention of surface water runoff, stream flow maintenance, nutrient cycling, aquatic productivity, and the reduction of non-point source pollution (nutrients and suspended solids) originating from agricultural activities.

Historical agricultural practices have also reduced the quality of the stream channels within the property. Restoration efforts for the riparian buffer areas will provide shade, reduce erosion, stabilize the restored banks of each stream reach and improve water quality while once again linking important terrestrial corridors.

The Bank’s service area, which covers portions of Bossier, Caddo, De Soto, Grant, Natchitoches, Rapides, Red River, Sabine, Vernon and Winn Parishes, includes Hydrologic Unit Codes (HUCs) 11140207, 11140206, and 11140202. The Little Eva Mitigation Bank is within the Red River Alluvial Floodplain – a significant flyway for migratory bird species. Building on existing conservation efforts in the area, including an adjacent Wetland Reserve Program (WRP) site and the Red River National Wildlife Refuge, the restoration and rehabilitation activities result in large-scale contiguous wetland ecosystem. The Mitigation Bank also will provide the opportunity to reestablish the headwater stream reaches of Horse Bayou.

With ongoing development of the Haynesville Shale and other hydrocarbon-bearing formations, associated field infrastructure and beneficial economic development, the Little Eva Mitigation Bank is centrally located to supply the mitigation needs of developers requiring permits for their projects’ compliance and one of the few mitigation banks supplying both wetland and stream offset credits.