Buy Credits

Arrington Bridge Mitigation Bank Phase I & II sites were each granted a conservation easement, recorded around the restoration areas within the overall bank parcel. Located within the Neuse River Basin (below Falls Lake), stormwater runoff from the site was draining into an unnamed tributary of the Neuse River, classified as Class C and Nutrient Sensitive Waters. The bank’s purpose is to improve water quality within the Neuse River watershed by restoring hardwood forest in riparian areas and along with other conveyances. RES’ restoration activities include nearly 11 acres of riparian buffer restoration and 47 acres of nutrient offset. Credits derived from the Arrington Bridge sites provided mitigation for unavoidable impacts resulting from development activities.

The Arrington Bridge III wetland mitigation project is located on a 57.40 acre site three miles southwest of Goldsboro in western Wayne County, NC. One unnamed channelized drainage feature that traverses the site exhibited diminished habitat value as a result of past and on-going agricultural activities. RES identified the site as having potential to help meet the compensatory mitigation requirements for wetland impacts in hydrologic unit 03020201 of the Neuse River Basin.

This project involves the restoration and enhancement of 41.24 acres of wetlands that had been disturbed by historic mining, agricultural activities, and active cattle grazing. The project presents 29.37 acres of wetland restoration and 11.87 acres of wetland enhancement, generating 32.51 Wetland Mitigation Units (WMU’s). This mitigation project is the third of three phases.  Due to its location and improvements, the project provides numerous ecological and water quality benefits within the Neuse River Basin. While many of these benefits are limited to the project area, others, such as pollutant removal and improved aquatic and terrestrial habitat, have more far-reaching effects.

The objective for this restoration project was to restore a continuous bottomland wetland system and enhance the hydrology of existing wetlands. The design was based on reference conditions, USACE guidance (USACE, 2005), and criteria developed during this project to achieve success. Initial site design included the construction of three slough habitats to increase surface water storage and include patches of habitat more typical of reference Cypress-Gum Swamps. Through coordination with the Interagency Review Team (IRT) and the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base (SJAFB), it was requested that the restoration design minimize standing water features that attract birds. Therefore, the slough features and Cypress-Gum Swamp wetlands have been removed from the design and the restoration plan is now exclusively bottomland hardwood forest. Additional project objectives include restoring native vegetation, ensuring hydraulic stability, and eradicating invasive species.

The Baileyton Mitigation Bank is located on 231 acres of a former golf course and agricultural pasture land. Due to previous land use practices, onsite streams have experienced severe degradation, loss of riparian buffers, and direct livestock access to stream channels. Streams chosen for restoration were characterized by bank erosion, loss of floodplain connection, and general instability caused by ongoing channel evolution.

RES is incorporating natural channel design and construction techniques to restore 2.3 miles of degraded and piped headwater intermittent and perennial streams and riparian habitat. The mitigation and restoration activities will generate 9,265 stream credits in the Nolichucky Watershed of Eastern Tennessee. The service areas will also include Holston, Lower French Broad, Nolichucky, Pigeon, South Fork Holston, Upper French Broad, and Watuaga watersheds.

The goal of this Bank was to re-establish, rehabilitate and enhance sustainable bottomland hardwood wetland ecosystems that exhibit natural species composition and to support wildlife habitat typical of healthy bottomland hardwood forests of the lower Mississippi River for compensatory mitigation purposes. The restoration, enhancement, and preservation of forested wetland ecosystems were accomplished through (1) the conversion of pasturelands underlain by hydric soils, and (2) the conversion of areas dominated by existing bottomland hardwood forests that were of relatively low-quality habitat resulting from altered surface hydrology and/or invasive species composition. Through these improvements, the Bank sustains wetland functions, values, and services in accordance with an approved plan. The functional benefit to the Lake Pontchartrain Basin includes an increase in the quantity and quality of forested wetland habitat for resident and migratory wildlife and the conversion of the Bank to a more natural ecosystem. The Bank also benefits the Bayou Manchac watershed through the retention of surface water runoff, streamflow maintenance, nutrient cycling, aquatic productivity, improved plant and wildlife habitat, and the reduction of non-point source pollution (nutrients and suspended solids) originating from agricultural and industrial areas in St. Gabriel, Louisiana.

The Bayou Paul Mitigation Bank restored a forested wetland ecosystem by rehabilitating and maintaining wetland functions, values, and services from land in agriculture. The added value to the Lake Pontchartrain Basin from this project includes increased forested wetland habitat for resident and migratory wildlife, decreased fragmentation of forested wetlands by linking this site with other conservation areas of the Spanish Lake/Bluff Swamp area, increased stormwater attenuation and water purification, increased transpiration within the hydrologic cycle, increased sequestration of carbon and other materials in the planted trees, and increased output of detritus to downstream fisheries resources. In the future, as more areas are developed within the drainage area (agriculturally, commercially and/or residentially), the Bayou Paul Mitigation Bank will provide a greater functional value to the reduction of flooding and point source pollution within the Amite River drainage and subsequently, the Lake Pontchartrain Basin.

RES worked diligently to deliver a custom turkey solution within 90 days for this schedule-driven pipeline. This Permittee’s project spanned 320 miles of 24-inch pipeline, originating in Donaldsonville, LA and terminating in Hastings, TX. RES worked closely with Denbury’s trusted consultants to assess impacts to wetlands and convert this data to an offset requirement. RES located and acquired land commensurate with the restoration preferences of the lead regulatory agency. Finally, RES developed a mitigation plan and obtained regulatory approval within the client’s accelerated timeframe. RES executes ongoing maintenance and monitoring for the client corresponding with its regulatory agreements.

The Bank provides 278.1 acres of Bottomland Hardwoods to compensate for unavoidable wetland impacts for the Vermilion-Teche Basin.

The Bank provides 178.4 acres of bottomland hardwood, bald cypress-tupelo swamp, and fresh marsh to compensate for unavoidable wetland impacts for the Terrebonne Basin watershed area. The site has rehabilitated 104.7 ac of bald cypress-tupelo gum swamp, 53.7 ac of freshwater marsh and 18.2 ac of bottomland hardwood forest wetlands.

The goal of this 48.91 acre nutrient bank located in Culpeper County is to reduce nutrient (phosphorus) and sediment loading into the Rappahannock Watershed via the conversion of active agricultural land into forest; and generate non-point nutrient credits for transfer under existing and future federal, state and local law, programs, regulations and guidance. The site primarily consists of hay field. The land use conversion including Phase I and Phase II will generate 188.30 pounds of nitrogen reduction and 47.93 pounds of phosphorus reduction. Phase I has been completed on 10.26 acres of hay field generating 39.50 pounds of nitrogen and 10.05 pounds of phosphorus credits.

The 88-acre Best Slough Vernal Pool Preserve located in Yuba County consists of preserved and restored vernal pool and swales, and Swainson’s hawk foraging habitat.

The Preserve is owned by Yuba-Sutter Disposal, Inc. as a buffer for the Ostrom Road Landfill and was approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service as mitigation for the Three River Levee Improvements Authority’s Feather River, Bear River, and Western Pacific Interceptor Canal Levee Improvement Projects.

Available Mitigation

• Vernal pool fairy shrimp preservation
• Vernal pool tadpole shrimp preservation
• Swainson’s hawk

The BHP Terrebonne Biodiversity and Resiliency Projects employ cypress swamp plantings and marsh terrace creation – both proven ecological restoration approaches that improve the quality of lands and waters that support human, animal, and marine populations, especially along Louisiana’s fragile, eroding coastline.

These projects maintain the values of the ecosystem as larger-scale public projects in the state’s coastal master plan come online over time. Once completed, the projects will restore 125 acres of wetlands, with an estimated economic value of $1.2 million per year, 280 tons of carbon sequestered per year, and the elimination of up to 265 pounds of phosphorus and 10,600 lbs of nitrogen each year to improve water quality in those areas.

The projects will be the first two listed in America’s Wetland Conservation & Restoration Registry. This Registry is an inventory and reporting of private projects, consistent with Louisiana’s coastal master plan, that has been completed or planned and available for private sponsorship and funding.

As an integral partner in the project, RES is restoring the historic Cypress-Tupelo Swamp habitat through the planting of 30,000 restorative cypress trees, plus invasive species management, with the goal set on bringing the area back to its historic state. Additionally, RES designed, permitted, and is constructing a 25-acre marsh terrace with 5,000 cypress trees and 35,000 marsh grass plugs. Our team is committed to the project through five years of monitoring, mapping, and reporting along with annual drone flights to demonstrate project success.

The Big Bend Mitigation Bank (BBMB) historically existed as BLH wetlands connected hydrologically with adjacent surrounding wetlands of similar habitat type. Prior to the construction of artificial drains, surface water was able to transfer via sheet flow to and from the site and adjacent properties. The BBMB will re-establish (155.4 acres) and rehabilitate (117.5 acres) 272.9 acres of BLH habitat that was converted agricultural fields in the 1970s. The total bank encompasses 303.9 acres with the excess being hydric inclusion (7.0 acres), non-hydric inclusion (16.9 acres) and non-hydric buffer (6.9 acres). The collective goal of the Bank is to provide restored and rehabilitated wetland habitat that can be used to replace the exact function and value of wetlands that are adversely affected by projects within the basin, in accordance with Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.

Big Cypress Mitigation Bank offers compensatory mitigation for wetland impacts in the South Florida West Collier, East Collier, and Estero Bay Basins. The bank provides state and federal freshwater forested and herbaceous WRAP credits permitted by the South Florida Water Management District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Composed of two parallel properties encompassing 2,600 acres north of the Big Cypress Preserve in southwest Hendry County, the bank expands significant habitat vital to some of Florida’s most threatened species. Connecting from the 720,000-acre Big Cypress Preserve and near the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, the bank also offers Panther Habitat Units deemed regionally significant and crucial habitat for the Florida Panther. Each wetland credit includes 8.96 Panther Habitat Units. Additional Panther Habitat Units are available at a competitive price to ensure we are providing our clients with the most overall cost-effective mitigation solution.

Before becoming a mitigation bank, the property was an active-producing citrus grove. Restoration and enhancement activities include, but are not limited to, removal of all citrus, restoration of hydrology, seeding and planting of native freshwater vegetation and trees, and removal of exotic and nuisance vegetative species. All the land is preserved in perpetuity for future generations to enjoy.

Credits available:

• Freshwater Forested (SFWMD)
• Freshwater Transitional (SFWMD)
• Freshwater Herbaceous (SFWMD)
• Palustrine Forested (Federal)
• Palustrine Emergent (Federal)

This 65-acre site is within a Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in the Green River Service Area, and the project is in support of the Kentucky Wetland and Stream In-Lieu-Fee (FILO) Program. The proposed restoration will re-establish two intermittent streams totaling 3,500 linear feet and re-establish 40.6 acres of bottomland hardwood forested wetland in Union County, Kentucky.

The Black Bayou Mitigation Bank includes four phases of restoration activities. Phase I restored 577 acres of agricultural land into Bottomland hardwood forest (BLH). Phase II restored and/or protected 115.1 acres of agricultural land into BLH, including 3.74 miles of stream channel. Phase III restored and/or protected 613.12 acres of agricultural land, including 5.26 acres of non-mitigation ponds. Phase IV restored 996 acres of bottomland hardwood restoration, 171 acres of wetland riparian buffer, and 32 acres of non-mitigation land for access roads and right-of-way (ROW).

RES is providing stream restoration credits to Prince George’s County Maryland Clean Water Partnership (CWP) program. The CWP is a Public-Private Partnership formed to meet the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Water regulatory requirements. The projects delivered through this contract will be enrolled as part of Prince George’s County Bay TMDL Action Plan, with the associated nutrient reductions credited toward compliance with the Bay TMDL. The Black Swamp Creek Stream Restoration site restored 14,810 LF of degraded stream channel providing 296.21 Equivalent Impervious acre Credits to the CWP / Prince George’s County.  

To execute this project RES performed existing site assessments and geomorphic surveys. Using this data along with Natural Channel Design philosophies and published reference data RES designed bankfull channels that provided stable banks and frequent floodplain connectivity. RES designed full realignments of the streams to achieve proper stream sequencing and stable channel geometry. Additionally, RES ensured that there were no offsite floodplain rises and performed all necessary hydrologic and hydraulic modeling. RES acquired all state, federal and local permits necessary to execute the proposed work.  

Upon completion of the design and permitting, RES’ construction staff used a team of subcontractors and in-house construction crews to execute the project. Construction began in September 2020 and was substantially complete by March 2021. During construction, RES’ design staff remained an integral part of the team making frequent site visits, attending multiple site meetings, and ensuring the proper execution of the design.  

The approximately 631-acre Blackburn Vernal Pool Conservation Bank consists of preserved vernal pool, vernal swale, and upland habitats. The Bank supports 23.56-acres of vernal pools, 16.67-acres vernal swales, 4.48-acres of reservoir, 1.24-acres of ephemeral drainage, 7.25-acres of intermittent drainage, and 577.55-acres of annual grassland.

The Bank was approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and provides vernal pool preservation credits for unavoidable permitted impacts to vernal pool fairy shrimp within the Northwestern Sacramento Valley Vernal Pool Region as established by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The service area covers portions of Tehama, Shasta, Glenn, Butte, and Colusa Counties.

The Conservation Bank is preserved by a permanent conservation easement and management and monitoring is funded in perpetuity by an endowment.

Available Credits

• Vernal pool fairy shrimp preservation

To help the U.S. Bureau of Land Management understand the vulnerability to wildfire on 15 of its remote parcels in northeast Minnesota, RES collected aerial imagery and applied remote sensing and GIS techniques to generate high-resolution data and GIS models that estimated wildfire vulnerability.

Flights to collect high-resolution multispectral imagery were strategically timed in October to maximize the diversity of spectral reflection provided by fall colors, thus improving the automated classification of vegetation cover.

Geospatial specialists processed data into four spectral bands (red, green, blue, and near-infrared) stacked as one data layer to further refine land cover classification and assist with interpreting vegetation community types, such as deciduous forest, grassland, herbaceous wetland, etc.

Using the aerial imagery data, RES developed a GIS-based wildfire vulnerability model comprised of three interrelated parts: 1) potential fuel source for ignition (ignition potential model); 2) potential fuel load of vegetation cover; and 3) connectivity between ignition sources and fuel loads.

The final report to BLM provided a Wildfire Vulnerability Score for each parcel and its adjacent half-mile perimeter buffer.

To support the expansion of a Luck Stone project site, RES developed the Blue Heron Permittee-Responsible Mitigation or PRM.

After identifying the 175-acre mitigation site, the team has proposed to restore approximately 2,054 linear feet of stream through the design, construction, and preservation of a stable meandering system with appropriate width/depth ratio, substrate, and stable banks. Through installed features such as brush toes, constructed riffles, log and rock sills, and pools of varying depths, the restored stream will help to improve native wildlife habitat and populations.

An additional 4,738 linear feet of stream will be enhanced through mitigation activities that include bank grading and floodplain benching to enhance hydrologic regimes, installation of in-stream structures to increase hydrologic access to the floodplain, enhance bedforms, and improve habitat and stability, and the eradication and control of invasive vegetation species.

Over 10,000 linear feet of high-quality existing streams will be preserved through the establishment of a conservation easement.

RES was awarded the contract for the largest Permittee Responsible Mitigation (PRM) ecological mitigation project to date, to restore an approximately 17,000-acre area as part of the North Texas Municipal Lake Project.

The environmental mitigation is one important component of the North Texas Municipal Lake Project, an approximately 16,500-acre reservoir being built in Fannin County to provide critical new water services to the 13 cities in the District. RES will provide complete stewardship of the mitigation site, from design and implementation through monitoring and maintenance over the next 20+ years, in accordance with the environmental permit for the lake project. The permit requires that NTMWD offset the unavoidable environmental impacts of building the lake by restoring and permanently protecting wetlands, forests, grasslands, and streams at the mitigation site.

The mitigation plan encompasses over 6,800 acres of wetland restoration and enhancement on the Riverby Ranch in Fannin and Lamar Counties, which will provide wildlife habitat and improve water quality in North Texas and Oklahoma. As part of the project, RES will restore or enhance over 369,000 linear feet (70 miles) of streams and plant more than five million trees. In addition, RES will restore or enhance over 3,000 acres of native grasslands and over 2,600 acres of forests. RES will maintain full-time onsite staff living on the Riverby Ranch property as well as provide full project management of design, construction, and monitoring of the site to ensure the restoration project is successful.

Established in 2011, the 327-acre site was previously deforested, converted to pasture, and used for grazing and hay production. RES restored the hydrology and ecological functions of the site to a contiguous, mature, hardwood flatwood conservation area.

The Bucher Mitigation project is in Durham County approximately seven miles northeast of Durham, NC in Neuse River HUC 03020201 within the Upper Falls Lake Watershed. This project provides a unique opportunity to protect 92.7 acres of riparian habitat (with the potential to protect an additional 5.9 acres in Phase II). The project will restore, enhance and preserve 17,628 linear feet of stream to generate stream credits and improve water quality, habitat, and hydrology within a water supply watershed. Water quality stressors currently affecting the Project streams include impoundment, historic forestry activities, floodplain disconnection and increasing impervious surfaces. Many of the project design goals and objectives will reduce future degradation of water quality and increases in nutrient inputs associated with anticipated suburban development. Construction began in May 2020.

The 121-acre Buena Creek Conservation Bank located in San Diego County consists of Diegan coastal sage scrub and Diegan coastal sage/laurel sumac scrub habitat preserved for the coastal California gnatcatcher.

The Bank was approved by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for impacts to coastal California gnatcatcher and coastal sage scrub. The Service Area encompasses northern San Diego County and portions of the North County Multiple Species Conservation Program Plan as depicted in the service area map.

Available Credit Types

• Coastal California gnatcatcher
• Coastal sage scrub

The Buffalo Branch project is located within an agricultural watershed in Johnston County, North Carolina, approximately four miles North of Selma. The project involved the restoration and protection of streams in the Buffalo Creek watershed, with the overall goal of restoring and enhancing a stream/wetland complex located within the Neuse River Basin (below Falls Lake). Found within USGS HUC 03020201, a Targeted Local Watershed (TLW), the watershed is characterized by 44 percent agricultural land use area, and identified as a high priority watershed for projects that address flow restoration, reduction of impoundments, and buffer restoration. Before restoration and enhancement, the site consisted of cattle pastures and wooded areas, a mix of pines, hardwoods, and invasive species. Channels were severely degraded to a point where they no longer accessed their floodplain, lacked riparian buffers, allowed livestock access, and failed to support aquatic life. Our team’s work entailed the restoration of natural stream characteristics, such as stable cross sections, platform, and in-stream habitat. The floodplain areas were hydrologically reconnected to the channel to provide a natural exchange and storage during flooding events. In addition to the stream restoration, mitigation design preserved and enhanced the hydrology of six wetland seeps, two linear and four hillside, in the project area. Benefits of our efforts included stream banks erosion prevention and a reduction of in-stream sedimentation and nutrients, restoring the riparian buffer with native vegetation, ensuring hydraulic stability, and treating invasive species. The Buffalo Branch Stream Mitigation project is located in the southern portion of the TLW and includes streams that discharge into Buffalo Creek (303d listed). Due to its location and improvements, the project provided numerous ecological and water quality benefits within the TLW and Neuse River Basin.

Bunchs Creek Mitigation Bank will restore agricultural fields and cattle pasture to the bottomland hardwood and pine flatwood/savannah habitats that were on this 621-acre site in the 1920s. This bank will help RES clients in the Calcasieu Basin by providing cost-effective mitigation for their projects’ unavoidable wetland impacts. The site will also perpetually protect a nest location used by a pair of endangered whooping cranes that are part of the experimental population in Louisiana.

2019 Award Winner – Best Restored Beaches from the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA)

The Caminada Headland Beach and Dune Restoration Project is part of a restoration and protection of beach and dune habitat through the direct placement of approximately 5.4 million cubic yards of sandy material from Ship Shoal (an offshore borrow source). The fill material was barged to a staging area near the mouth of West Belle Pass, then pumped via a pipeline for placement on the shoreline.

This project created and enhanced over 300 acres of beach and dune, reinforcing almost six miles of barrier headland habitat, while reducing the impacts of storm events on Port Fourchon and LA Highway 1, a vital hurricane evacuation route for Fourchon and Grand Isle. The restoration project also provided important habitat for nesting shorebirds as well as migratory birds. RES’ role on this project was to install native species on the recently formed project features. Our nursery sourced seed stock from the USDA NRCS Plant Materials Center and had state plant material certification with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry.

Under the State’s direction, RES planted 75,970 four-inch containers of bitter panicum (Panicum amarum) and 30,338 one-gallon containers of sea oats (Uniola paniculate). Site conditions were loose sandy beach, where all mobilization was conducted via land-based routes.

Heat stress on plants was particularly a difficult obstacle for this project. Due to the heat, RES opted to perform multiple deliveries throughout the planting period bringing only enough plants that they could plant each day. Due to the adaptive planting techniques utilized by RES, this large-scale planting effort was very successful, and the mortality of the newly planted vegetation was drastically reduced.

The Bank provides approximately 500 acres of bottomland hardwood and bald cypress-tupelo forest reestablishment to compensate for unavoidable wetland impacts in the Mermentau Basin.

The Cardinal Site presents an opportunity to restore 9,458 linear feet of stream and riparian corridor, generating a base amount of 9,458 Stream Mitigation Units (SMUs). The Site will provide numerous ecological and water quality benefits within the Yadkin River Basin. These benefits are not limited to the project area but have more far-reaching effects throughout the Yadkin River Basin. The Site will provide improvements to water quality, hydrologic function, and habitat. The project will address stressors identified in the watershed through nutrient removal, sediment removal, runoff filtration, and improved aquatic and terrestrial habitat.

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The Carolina Heelsplitter Conservation Bank was the first aquatic species conservation bank in the Southeast. Due to the presence of a viable population, a low percentage of impervious surface, its location near a focus area for other conservation activities, and the potential to protect large portions of the watershed to have a positive impact, the Flat Creek watershed was chosen for the bank and conservation site. By preserving upland and riparian buffers, the Carolina Heelsplitter Conservation Bank ensures the protection of the endangered Carolina Heelsplitter Mussels’ habitat. The Carolina Heelsplitter Conservation Bank is certified to provide offsets as required under Lancaster County Zoning Ordinance #963 and is approved by the USFWS to offset direct and indirect impacts to the Carolina Heelsplitter Mussel in all of North and South Carolina.

The Casey-King wetland mitigation site of the Neu-Con Umbrella Mitigation Bank is located approximately five miles east of Kinston, North Carolina in Lenoir County and consists of an 86.7-acre property, of which 43.1 acres is under a permanent conservation easement. The targeted wetland system for the restored site was a “non-riverine, wet hardwood forest” with a small component of “coastal plain, small stream swamp” as described by Schafale and Weakley (1990). Site work including vegetation planting was completed March 2002. The project contains 37.3 acres of wetland restoration.

RES is currently performing stream, wetland, riparian buffer, and floodplain restoration on an agricultural site which drains into the Tridelphia Reservoir and Patuxent River in Howard County, MD, resulting in 4,200 linear feet of stream, 62 acres of impervious surface credit, and numerous acres of wetlands. This project will not only improve water quality in Cattail Creek through the restoration practices on the stream and wetlands, but also through the installation of Best Management Practices (BMPs) designed to capture stormwater runoff from the dairy and row crop operations. Restoration will be implemented in a fashion that will have minimal effect on current farming practices. The project provides additional educational opportunities related to environmental stewardship and agricultural sustainability for the Howard Soil Conservation District (HSCD) as the landowner already participates regularly with HSCD.

The Cedar Grove bank parcel is located within the Upper Falls Lake watershed in the Neuse River Basin (HUC 03020201). Prior to restoration, the site operated as a public golf course, with stormwater runoff draining into the East Fork Eno River. The restoration of this site improved and protected water quality within the Falls Lake watershed of the Neuse River Basin, by providing mitigation for unavoidable impacts from development. The mitigation was composed of stream restoration, riparian buffer, and nutrient offsets. Within the conservation easement, existing riparian areas were restored and enhanced to generate both buffer and nutrient offset (nitrogen and phosphorus) credits. In addition, the dimension, pattern, and profile of existing perennial and intermittent stream channels located within the conservation easement were restored at the site. Of the 63-acre conservation easement, approximately 43.74 acres are dedicated to Neuse buffer restoration/enhancement and nutrient offset-related restoration. A total of 15.19 acres of riparian buffer credits were generated. The remaining acreage of the riparian restoration area provided nitrogen and phosphorus offset credits within the Upper Falls Lake watershed.

The Center Bayou Mitigation Bank restores and protects approximately 1261.2 acres of bottomland hardwood (BLH) habitat, including 996 acres of agricultural land restored, 91.9 acres of BLH preservation, 35.4 acres of upland buffers, and 137.9 acres of non-mitigation features comprised of inclusions, upland buffer, existing structures, access roads, open water, and rights-of-way. An addendum was added to include the establishment and maintenance of approximately 1,151.90 acres of bottomland hardwood wetland habitat.

The goal of this 315.96-acre nutrient bank located in Campbell County is to reduce nutrient (phosphorus) and sediment loading into the Roanoke River watershed via the conversion of active agricultural land into forest; and generate non-point nutrient credits for transfer under existing and future federal, state and local law, programs, regulations and guidance. The site primarily consists of a mix of active agriculture and undeveloped forest. This site is within the twelve-digit hydrologic unit code (HUC) 030101011505 within the Roanoke River Basin. Specifically, the Roanoke River is the principle drainage for eight-digit HUC 03010101.

The Chewbacca Mitigation Bank is in McMinn County, Tennessee. The Bank will encompass approximately 148.3 acres within the Hiwassee (HUC 8 – 06020002) watershed. The project is also proposed to serve the Middle Tennessee-Chickamauga (HUC 8 – 06020001), and Watts Bar Lake watersheds (HUC 8 – 06010201) within the state of Tennessee. It will incorporate approximately 7,812 linear feet of intermittent and perennial stream channels.

The Chagrin River Watershed Partners (CRWP) and the City of Kirtland sought a qualified design-build contractor to complete the design and restoration construction of a streambank stabilization project along the East Branch Chagrin River. 

CRWP and the City applied for funding from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) Section 319(h) Nonpoint Source grant program to procure design-build services, in order to develop an innovative Natural Channel Design and streambank bioengineering approach to address significant channel impairments along the project reach.  

While the impetus for the project was the protection of Wisner Road and adjacent infrastructure from rapid bank erosion, our restoration design is multi-faceted and will reestablish equilibrium conditions that efficiently transport water and sediment, reverse systemic erosion, provide enhanced ecological value, restored in-stream habitat, and fisheries, and improved site aesthetics. RES achieved this with a combination of strategically placed in-stream structures and innovative bioengineered bank treatments that replicate the natural stabilization processes in order to regain channel stability and restore the lost functions and values of a robust stream system.  

Our approach relied on rebuilding the toe of the slope, prior to grading eroded banks back to a stable angle of repose. Bank reinforcement included the application of composite revetment, a layered bioengineered bank treatment of rock, geotextile, soil, and live woody cuttings. RES constructed the composite revetment in combination with two rock riffles to strategically direct flow, narrow and deepen the existing channel, and establish stable meander geometry. These structures act as a catalyst for deep center channel development, provide a localized reduction in shear stress, and lead to the development of stable streambanks, pool/riffle habitat, diverse bedforms, and in-stream habitat. Along an adjacent meander bend, a flood bench was reconstructed, using a combination of materials salvaged on-site. These materials included on-site rock and riprap, stream gravel, large timber, and woody debris to create a natural toe-of-slope treatment, called toewood revetment. Toewood revetment mimics the natural recovery processes in riverine systems and provides prime resting and feeding habitats for Salmonids. RES designed, permitted, and constructed the project, completed in June of 2020. 

RES (formerly E Sciences) was awarded a contract with the City of Miami Beach to conduct environmental/coastal engineering services. To date, our team has provided the City with multiple services, including the following:

• Groundwater Elevation Monitoring and Mapping Support, Sunset Harbor: Evaluated the soil storage capacity within this area to support the design and installation of a stormwater management system.
• Sea Level Rise Evaluation: Evaluated low-lying areas vulnerable to flooding and SLR within Miami Beach based on the assumption that groundwater levels were tidally influenced and flooding was influenced or exacerbated by tidal fluctuations.
•  Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) Plans: Prepared SPCC Plans for 12 facilities throughout Miami Beach. These facilities included pump stations, fire stations, public works yard, Miami Beach Golf Club, and the Convention Center. 
• Green Waste Facility: This site was an undeveloped, bermed area previously used for solid waste management, and a portion of the area contained buried debris. Conducted environmental services to evaluate the top two feet of soil layer covering the berm. 
• Fleet Management Facility: Conducted groundwater and soil assessment activities at the active City’s fleet management facility to evaluate the presence of contamination associated with a historical petroleum discharge documented in 1992. 
• Street Tree Inventory: Conducted six phases of street tree inventories for the City of Miami Beach, with more than 49,000 trees inventoried using sub-meter accurate global positioning equipment. 
• Greenspace Canopy Assessment: Using i-Tree Canopy and i-Tree Vue, assessed the extent of the City’s urban forest canopy and the ecological services provided by the trees. 
• Miami Beach Convention Center Adjacent Properties Environmental Site Assessments: 
• Conducted a Phase I&II Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) for land parcels adjacent to the Miami Beach Convention Center (MBCC) to support intended redevelopment. 
• Proposed Miami Beach Convention Center Headquarter Hotel Assessment: Conducted a limited site assessment, including a soil and groundwater sampling, and confirmed the presence of localized soil arsenic impacts and nitrate concentrations above groundwater cleanup criteria at the site. 
• Carl Fisher Seawall State Permitting Support:  The Carl Fisher Clubhouse was constructed in 1916 and is the oldest public standing structure in Miami Beach. It is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a locally designated historic structure. As part of the restoration of the Clubhouse and to protect this historic resource, the City also needed to repair the seawall on Collins Canal, which was severely deteriorated. Mangroves had recruited to the area. RES performed a field assessment with the SFWMD, performed an impact evaluation and functional assessment of the mangroves, and acquired the Environmental Resource Permit from SFWMD. Permitting required coordination with the State Division of Historical Resources and reservation of saltwater mitigation credits from the Everglades Mitigation Bank.
• Mooring Field Feasibility Study: Guided the establishment of a managed mooring field in an unregulated anchorage area in Biscayne Bay and assisted the City through the regulatory permitting process. 
• Baywalk Benthic Resources Survey, Environmental Engineering Continuing Services: The City of Miami Beach is proposing to construct a Baywalk on Biscayne Bay from 10th Street to 12th Street, a length of approximately 1,000 linear feet. This is the first section of the Baywalk that is over the water that is being permitted. RES subcontracted coastal, structural and geotechnical engineering to complete the design. Several species of seagrass were present in the project area. Coral species and incidental observations of aquatic wildlife were also recorded. RES prepared an Environmental Summary Report and the environmental resource permit applications.
• Normandy Shores Golf Course Groundwater Monitoring: Engaged by the City of Miami Beach to implement the required groundwater monitoring based on the documented presence of arsenic impacts at the Normandy Shores Golf Course. 
• 10th Street Terminus Water Quality Sampling: Collected water quality samples and reviewed activities in the area to document if residual impacts from the alleged discharge existed in this area.
• Emergency Surface Water Bacteria Sampling: Collected surface water samples on an emergency basis to evaluate the presence of enterococci and fecal coliform resulting from sanitary sewer leaks. 

RES was contracted to provide engineering services in support of the Clarksville Town Hall Stormwater Basins in Clark County, Indiana.  The project site includes two stormwater basins along the west and north sides of the site.

The Cline Run Mitigation Bank is located on 372.72 acres, on multiple parcels of land. The goal of this site is to restore hydrology, hydraulic and geomorphic functions to stream and riparian ecosystems within the site boundary, yielding 22,210 steam credits and 1.74 wetland credits.

Credits available

• Stream
• Riparian wetland
• Nutrient
• Buffer

This bank is the first wetland/stream mitigation bank in south-central Pennsylvania. Wetland and stream credits from this bank satisfy mitigation requirements in the PA State Waterplan Subbasin #7 (Lower Susquehanna Subbasin) including most of Lancaster, York, Lebanon, Dauphin, Cumberland counties, and portions of Chester, Perry, Franklin Berks, and Adams counties. This site will restore/rehabilitate/enhance 11,466 linear feet of stream channel and 1.63 acres of wetlands on a 51-acre site.

Established in 2017, the goal of Columbia Bottomlands Mitigation Bank is to provide appropriate compensatory mitigation for unavoidable impacts to wetlands authorized by the USACE within the Brazos/Oyster Creek watershed and adjacent areas. The objectives of the Bank are to rehabilitate degraded functions to 8.04 acres of existing jurisdictional wetlands, re-establish and sustain wetland functions to 323.9 acres as bottomland hardwoods wetlands, and re-establish and sustain wetland functions to 21.6 acres as coastal prairie emergent wetlands.

The goal of the Comite Mitigation Bank was to re-establish, rehabilitate, and enhance the area as sustainable forested, hardwood, wetland ecosystems for compensatory mitigation purposes. The Bank increases the quality of the forested wetland habitat for resident and migratory wildlife and restores agricultural lands to a natural ecosystem. The Bank helps to reduce flooding and point source pollution within the Lake Pontchartrain Basin.

The project consisted of restoring two degraded intermittent stream channels in Community Center Park, a public park owned and operated by the City of St. Matthews in Jefferson County, KY. The main intermittent channel was approximately 1,800 feet long, while its unnamed intermittent tributary was approximately 700 feet long.

The Compass Point Mitigation site is located in Yadkin County, approximately 4.5 miles northeast of Boonville. The project presents 5,304 linear feet (LF) of stream restoration and enhancement generating cool stream mitigation Units (SMU) along three unnamed tributaries that drain directly to the Yadkin River within Cataloging Unit 03040101, 12-digit United States Geological Survey (USGS) HUC 030401011001, and North Carolina Department of Water Resources (NCDWR) sub-basin 03-07-02. The current State classification for the Yadkin River at this location is Class C (NCDWQ 2011).

The project’s total easement area is approximately 165 acres within the overall drainage area of 271 acres. Water quality stressors currently affecting the Project include livestock production, agricultural production, and lack of riparian buffer. Grazing livestock have historically had access to most stream reaches within the Project. The lack of riparian buffer vegetation, deep-rooted vegetation, and unstable channel characteristics have contributed to the degradation of stream banks throughout the project area.

The project provides numerous ecological and water quality benefits within the Yadkin River Basin by applying an ecosystem restoration approach. The restoration approach at the reach scale of this project will have the greatest effect on the hydraulic and geomorphology function of the system but will benefit the upper-level functions (physiochemical and biology) over time, and in combination with other projects within the watershed. Buffer improvements filter runoff from agricultural fields, thereby reducing nutrient and sediment loads to the channel. Livestock exclusion fence was installed along the easement boundary. The widening and restoration of the riparian areas will also provide wildlife corridors throughout the Project area. Benefits to be accrued from these activities include improved water quality and terrestrial and aquatic habitat. Stream construction was completed in May 2020.

RES is working with a private client in Ohio to stabilize and revegetate approximately 1500 acres of previous agricultural property.  RES worked with the client early in the project lifecycle to identify revegetation priorities and align project goals with Ohio’s Pollinator Habitat Scorecard and had been following up on the back end, providing construction installation of approximately 1,500 acres of seeding and over 2,000 trees.

A 24-mile natural gas pipeline extension in southeastern Michigan unavoidably impacted 13 wetlands regulated by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. After construction and backfilling using stockpiled wetland soil, the Department required quantitative vegetation monitoring to gauge the recovery of restored wetlands relative to performance standards.

Using standard transect and quadrat protocols, RES conducted the quantitative ecological monitoring at each of the 13 discreet wetlands. Our ecologists recorded 246 plant species, including 183 native species. All 13 wetlands supported a predominance of hydrophytes including many native species, greatly exceeding the required minimum number of native wetland species.

RES is providing stream restoration credits to Prince George’s County Maryland Clean Water Partnership (CWP) program. The CWP is a Public-Private Partnership formed to meet the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Water regulatory requirements. The projects delivered through this contract will be enrolled as part of Prince George’s County Bay TMDL Action Plan, with the associated nutrient reductions credited toward compliance with the Bay TMDL. RES designed and constructed four projects totaling 27,294 LF of restored channel throughout the County. These four projects generate approximately 568 Impervious Acre Credits for Prince George’s County. 

To execute these projects, RES performed existing site assessments and geomorphic surveys. Using this data and Natural Channel Design philosophies and published reference data, RES designed bankfull channels that provided stable banks and frequent floodplain connectivity. Additionally, RES ensured that there were no offsite floodplain rises and performed all necessary hydrologic and hydraulic modeling. RES acquired all state, federal and local permits necessary to execute the proposed work.  

Upon completing the design and permitting a portion of the projects, RES’ construction staff used a team of subcontractors and in-house construction crews to execute the projects. During construction, RES’ design staff remained an integral part of the team, making frequent site visits, attending multiple site meetings, and ensuring the proper execution of the design. 

• Hillmeade Stream Restoration 
• Crain Stream Restoration
• Tributary to Mattawoman Stream Restoration 
• Black Swamp Creek Stream Restoration

RES is providing stream restoration credits to Prince George’s County Maryland Clean Water Partnership (CWP) program. The CWP is a Public-Private Partnership formed to meet the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Water regulatory requirements. The projects delivered through this contract will be enrolled as part of Prince George’s County Bay TMDL Action Plan, with the associated nutrient reductions credited toward compliance with the Bay TMDL. The Crain site restored 4,695LF of degraded stream channel. 

To execute this project RES performed existing site assessments and geomorphic surveys. Using this data along with Natural Channel Design philosophies and published reference data RES designed a bankfull channel that provided stable banks and frequent floodplain connectivity. Additionally, RES ensured that there were no offsite floodplain rises and performed all necessary hydrologic and hydraulic modeling. RES acquired all state, federal, and local permits necessary to execute the proposed work.  

Upon completion of the design and permitting, RES’ construction staff used a team of subcontractors and in-house construction crews to execute the project. Construction began in August 2020 and was substantially complete by February 2021. During construction, RES’ design staff remained an integral part of the team making frequent site visits, attending multiple site meetings, and ensuring the proper execution of the design.  

The goal of this Permittee Responsible Mitigation (PRM) project was to provide off-site compensation for unavoidable project-related impacts to both streams and wetlands resulting from the construction of a proposed petrochemicals complex project (Complex Project). The Complex Project is within the Upper Ohio Watershed (HUC 05030101) and under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Pittsburgh District.

The mitigation activities associated with the PRM Site were performed along three headwater tributaries of South Fork Cross Creek at RES’ Cross Creek Restoration Site. The tributaries were designated as high-quality warm water fisheries (HQ-WWF) (PADEP, 2014). Successful execution of the PRM resulted in restoring and enhancing the functions and values of the sites’ streams, wetlands, and riparian corridors.

The site’s restoration efforts utilized a combination of channel relocation, instream enhancement, floodplain restoration, and riparian corridor enhancement. Restoring the channel pattern and floodplain promotes the spread of high flow storm events to a reconnected floodplain, reducing excessive shear stress values that would otherwise frequently mobilize bed substrate and cause severe bank erosion. Subsurface log and rock structures were utilized to re-establish grade control throughout the systems and improve vertical bed stability. The installed structures promote the re-establishment of bed sediment and provide improved habitats for both fish and macroinvertebrate communities. Furthermore, structural improvements have enhanced large woody debris (LWD) and fine carbon retention, providing additional food sources and unique niches that promote the establishment of unique biotic communities. The re-establishment of stream habitat and floodplain diversity has provided new, improved habitats for amphibians and re-established historic wetland plant communities. In addition, floodplain restoration efforts have improved hydrologic connectivity, water storage capacity, restoration of the streams’ hyporheic zone, and biogeochemical cycling by re-establishing the hyporheic zone.

The Dairyland Stream Mitigation site is located in Orange County, North Carolina, about eight miles southwest of Hillsborough. Dairyland is within the Haw River portion of the Jordan Lake Watershed, 03030002 HUC, which is highly developed along the I-40 Corridor from Greensboro to Chapel Hill, and is dominated by agricultural and forested areas south and north of the I-40 Corridor.

Pre-restoration, the project area exhibited diminished hydrology and habitat value as a result of past agricultural activities. The project watershed is primarily characterized by agriculture, forests, and low-intensity residential areas. Land use at the site is characterized by the row crop production, pasture, impoundments, and disturbed forest. Pre-restoration, riparian zones were primarily composed of herbaceous vegetation and scattered trees located adjacent to the streams. The project area contains two parcels totaling 28.6 acres of conservation easement in the southwestern Orange County, NC. Hudson Branch (HB-1 and HB-2) and two unnamed tributaries (including two ponds) encompass the majority of the northern part of the project area. Watery Fork (WF-1 and WF-2) begins on the northern parcel, then crosses Dairyland Road and flows to the southeast. The project is hydrologically connected to a separate conservation easement downstream of Dairyland Road.

The project presents 3,657 Stream Mitigation Units (SMU) through a combination of stream, restoration, enhancement, and preservation. Construction was completed in 2018. Project benefits include the storage of excess water during flood events, preventing erosion of stream banks, reducing in-stream sedimentation, restoring aquatic passage, thermal regulation, and nutrient reductions.

The 665-acre Daley Ranch Conservation Bank located in Butte County consists of natural vernal pools, vernal swales, clay flat wetlands, seasonal wetlands, and upland habitat. These habitats are maintained so that conditions benefit the continued existence and recovery efforts for the vernal pool fairy shrimp, vernal pool tadpole shrimp, and California linderiella.

The Bank was approved by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service providing vernal pool preservation credits within the Northeastern Sacramento Valley Vernal Pool Region established by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the USFWS Vernal Pool Recovery Plan. The service area encompasses portions of Solano, Colusa, Glenn, Yolo counties.

Available Credit Types

• Vernal pool fairy shrimp preservation
• Vernal pool tadpole shrimp preservation

RES was awarded a Greened Acre Retrofit Program (GARP) grant to implement the Darien Crossing Regional Stormwater Retrofit (Darien Crossing) on a parcel owned by the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC). The GARP program is a component of the Philadelphia Water Department’s (PWD) innovative Green City, Clean Waters Program, adopted in 2011 as Philadelphia’s plan to reduce stormwater pollution currently entering its combined sewer system through the use of green infrastructure. Darien Crossing is located within the very active stadium district in South Philadelphia, provides PWD a large-scale green stormwater project at a high-profile, highly-visible, impervious-dominated part of the City. The project provided a unique opportunity for RES to develop an innovative solution that addressed PWD’s programmatic goals while maintaining the preferred land use of PIDC and the surrounding stakeholders.

Using the space from a demolished portion of an existing warehouse, RES installed an enormous underground stormwater management basin. The basin was designed to capture and store stormwater minimizing combined sewer overflows at the PWD system.

The system was capped with new parking and landscaping, which will be used and enjoyed aesthetically by visitors to both Lincoln Financial Field and Citizens Bank Park.

Design and permitting, along with demolition for the project, was completed by the close of 2019. Construction began in January 2020. Excavation of the site was completed in phases due to the size constraints of the parcel. The SMP was installed, and the finished work (curbing/paving/landscaping) has been initiated with a projected end date of Fall 2020. Additionally, RES executed a long-term lease agreement with PIDC to operate and maintain the facility for 45 years post-construction. PIDC and other project stakeholders will benefit from significantly reduced stormwater fees after the implementation of the project.

The purpose of this bank site is to continue to provide the regulated community with the opportunity to offset impacts associated with various development activities. The bank provides permit applicants a means to satisfy stream and wetland mitigation requirements for unavoidable impacts to jurisdictional waters associated with Section 404 and 401 of the Clean Water Act, Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act, and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection permit requirements. The bank has yielded 5,987 stream credits and 1.22 wetland credits. The overall objective of this bank is to replace stream functions and values that have been lost or degraded as a result of past and present land use practices at the site. These functions include water quality, flood storage and temperature, habitat, and overall ecological integrity.

The Dead Oak Mitigation Project, located in Buncombe County, is approximately two miles northwest of Alexander, NC, within the French Broad River Basin HUC 06010105. The Project is comprised of a 33.41-acre conservation easement that abuts the 2,767-acre Sandy Mush Game Land, a DMS preservation project. The Project is comprised of 11 unnamed tributaries, three that drain to Turkey Creek and eight that drain to the French Broad River, totaling 12,563 LF of stream, generating over 6,000 Cool Stream Mitigation Units.

The streams proposed for restoration have been significantly impacted by agricultural practices, livestock, and a lack of riparian buffer. Proposed improvements to the Project include establishing riparian buffers, stabilizing banks, installing in-stream structures, preserving direct tributaries to the French Broad River, and excluding livestock from headwater streams.

The 714-acre Deadman Creek Conservation Bank located in Merced County consists of wetlands (vernal pool and swale habitat), and 639.24 acres of upland habitat (annual grassland) for a total size of 683.9 acres.

The Bank was approved by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to provide California tiger salamander, San Joaquin kit fox, and vernal pool species preservation mitigation. The service area for California tiger salamander is the Central Valley California tiger salamander subpopulation, which spans San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Merced counties. The San Joaquin kit fox service area encompasses the eastern side of the San Joaquin Valley. The vernal pool service area is the San Joaquin Valley Vernal Pool Region.

Available Credit Types

• California tiger salamander
• San Joaquin kit fox
• Vernal pool fairy shrimp preservation
• Vernal pool tadpole shrimp preservation

Through its on-call contract with Montgomery County, MD, RES provided construction services to create a series of 10 roadside basins/cells designed to collect and filter roadside run-off before being discharged into Sligo Creek. Several of the basins/cells were constructed on Maryland National Capital Parks and Planning Commission (MNCPPC) park property, while others were constructed along the road and in the right of way between the sidewalk and curb or within the roadway (curb bump-outs). The project was designed so that run-off to each of these basins is conveyed through a series of modified storm drain inlets draining directly into each respective basin. Once the stormwater is collected in each basin, it filters through several layers of filter media (mulch, bioretention soil, and stone) and is collected in an underdrain system connecting each basin to the existing stormwater infrastructure. Each basin was planted with a variety of native grasses and shrubs. This project combined Infiltration and Filtering Practices, as classified by MDE’s Stormwater Design Manual.

The goal of this 379.95-acre nutrient bank located in Southampton County, Virginia is to reduce nutrient (phosphorus) and sediment loading into the Chowan River watershed via tributaries located within and/or in close proximity to the Bank through the conversion of active agricultural land into forest; and generate non-point nutrient Credits for transfer under existing and future federal, state and local law, programs, regulations and guidance, including the DEQ Guidance. This site lies within the twelve-digit hydrologic unit code (HUC) 030102011103 which drains into the Nottoway River. Specifically, the Project drains to Assamoosick Swamp, eventually finding its way to the Nottoway River, the principal drainage for eight-digit HUC 03010201.

The Dogtown Mitigation Bank Site presents an opportunity to restore, enhance, and preserve 11,026 linear feet of stream and riparian corridor, generating a base amount of 7,786 Stream Mitigation Units (SMUs). The site will provide numerous ecological and water quality benefits within the Catawba River Basin. These benefits are not limited to the project area but have more far-reaching effects throughout the Catawba River Basin.
The site will provide improvements to water quality, hydrologic function, and habitat.

As stated in the North Carolina Division of Mitigation Services (DMS) Catawba River Basin Restoration Priorities (RBRP) report (amended 2013), the following restoration and protection goals are listed for the watershed:

1. Protection of drinking water supplies, including the reservoirs of Mountain Island Lake, Lake
   Norman, and Lake Rhodhiss;
2. Restoring impaired biology on creeks impacted by stormwater runoff; and
3. Protecting important species and significant natural and cultural resources in Lyle Creek.

This bank is designed to help meet goals one and two. The project will address stressors identified in the watershed through nutrient removal, sediment removal, runoff filtration, and improved aquatic and
terrestrial habitat.

Additionally, the Dogtown Project presents the opportunity to develop 606,141.24 riparian buffer mitigation credits by establishing or preserving a native forested and herbaceous riparian buffer plant community with a minimum width of 50 feet and a maximum of 200 feet from the top of the bank of the mitigated channels.

The 252-acre Dolan Ranch Conservation Bank consists of preserved wetland and upland habitats in Colusa County. The Conservation Bank site supports a variety of habitats, including vernal pools, seasonal wetlands, emergent marsh and annual grassland.

The Bank was approved by the California Department of Fish & Wildlife and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to provide vernal pool species preservation, Swainson’s hawk, giant garter snake, and burrowing owl mitigation for impacts within Solano, Colusa, Glenn, and Yolo counties.

Available Credit Types

• Vernal pool fairy shrimp preservation
• Vernal pool tadpole shrimp preservation
• Swainson’s hawk
• Burrowing owl

Previously Available Credit Types

• Giant garter snake (sold out)

The Dover Farm Mitigation Bank site was established in 2008, to compensate for unavoidable impacts to, and to conserve and protect Waters of the U.S. Servicing HUC 03010205, the wetland bank consists of 966 acres and is located on the west side of the Dismal Swamp Canal in Chesapeake, VA. This bank site is located within the historic Dismal Swamp and portions of the bank site drain to the Dismal Swamp Canal. The Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge abuts the property to the north and to the west. The tract is known locally as the Dover Farm. The Bank property includes approximately 243.3 acres of wetland preservation, 686.1 acres of wetland restoration, and 33.5 acres of upland. The property was farmed until 2009 when restoration began. Restoration included the filling of internal ditches with material taken from the remnants of the airfield, construction of a water control structure in the northeast corner of the property, and replanting of approximately 200,000 trees.

The Dugout Stream & Wetland Mitigation Site (the Project) is located in southern Cumberland County, NC, approximately seven miles south of Fayetteville. The Project will involve the restoration, enhancement, and preservation of Grays Creek and two of its unnamed tributaries. The project provides 41.3 acres of a proposed conservation easement. The conceptual design presents 7,860 linear feet of stream mitigation, generating 6,496 Stream Mitigation Units (SMUs) and 13.61 acres of wetland mitigation generating 5.78 Riparian Wetland Mitigation Units (WMUs).

The Project has the following objectives that provide functional lift:

• Design and reconstruct stream channels sized to convey bankfull flows that will maintain a stable dimension, profile, and planform based on watershed and referent reach conditions;
• Permanently exclude livestock from stream channels and their associate buffers;
• Add in-stream structures and bank stabilization measures to protect restored and enhanced streams;
• Install habitat features such as brush toes, constructed riffles, woody materials, and pools of varying depths to restore and enhance streams;
• Increase forested riparian buffers to at least 50 feet on both sides of the channel along the project reaches with a hardwood riparian community;
• Raise stream bed elevations adjacent to wetland restoration and enhancement areas, plugging surface ditches, and planting native wetland plant species;

The Project was identified as having the potential to help meet the compensatory mitigation requirements for stream and wetland impacts in the hydrologic unit code (HUC) 03030005 of the Cape Fear River Basin. The 2009 Cape Fear River Basin Restoration Priorities (RBRP) plan for HUC 03030005 recommends a restoration focus on the upper part of the watershed, which is expected to have continued urban growth associated with Fort Bragg. The Dugout Site focuses on being located at the very top of the watershed and immediately downstream of a growing suburban area between Highway 87 and I-95 on the south side of Fayetteville. The project will address stressors identified in the watershed through nutrient removal, sediment removal, runoff filtration, and improved aquatic and terrestrial habitat.

The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County in the Chicago metro region owns more than 9,000 acres of highly urbanized, yet resource-rich forested and riparian land.

In the mid-90s, most county residents had little understanding of ecosystem health and restoration – issues that were plaguing the District. To create a plan for improving ecological conditions in 70 natural areas of the District, RES ecologists inventoried the plant communities and developed recommendations to restore healthy systems to woodlands, stream corridors, and savannas.

Some were controversial at the time. Such as removing buckthorn from public park properties. (This socio-ecological issue became national news – and halted buckthorn removal and savanna restoration in the Cook County Forest Preserves for 5 years – in the late 90s before a moratorium was lifted in 2002.)

DuPage County preserve management recommendations have been followed for more than 20 years now, and natural resources in the District (and beyond) are significantly, measurably improved – and awarded.

The DuPage County Natural Areas Management Program (NAMP) has been used, not only throughout the District to improve ecosystem health, but also as a guideline for ecosystem management throughout the Chicago metropolitan area.

In 2012, RES collected high-resolution aerial imagery of the Lower DuPage River to identify locations of woody invasive plants for eradication.

Twenty years after field inventory for the DuPage NAMP, this new imagery is assisting the District in assessing trouble spots and continuing to lower O+M costs in high-quality natural areas.

The goal of this 190.95-acre Nutrient Bank located in Buckingham County, Virginia is to reduce nutrient (phosphorus) and sediment loading into the Chesapeake Bay watershed via the conversion of active agricultural land into forest; and generate nonpoint nutrient credits for transfer under existing and future federal, state and local law, programs, regulations and guidance, including the DEQ Guidance. This bank consists mostly of fallow pastureland with areas of forest. This bank site is located within the twelve-digit hydrologic unit codes (HUC) 020802031304 (Walton Fork-Ripley Creek) and eight-digit HUC 02080203 (Middle James-Buffalo).

The goal of this 673.87-acre nutrient bank located in Fauquier County is to reduce nutrient (phosphorus) and sediment loading into the Chesapeake Bay watershed via the conversion of active agricultural land into forest; and generate non-point nutrient credits for transfer under existing and future federal, state and local law, programs, regulations and guidance. The site currently consists of agricultural land in hay production with the remainder comprised of either non-agricultural forested land, wooded buffer and/or right-of-way for an active homesite. Conversion activities began in 2016.

The goal of this 43.7 acre nutrient bank located in Clarke County is to reduce nutrient (phosphorus) and sediment loading into the Potomac Watershed via the conversion of active agricultural land into forest; and generate non-point nutrient credits for transfer under existing and future federal, state and local law, programs, regulations and guidance. The site primarily consists of row crop and pasture land. The land use conversion will generate 367.57 pounds of nitrogen reduction and 30.05 pounds of phosphorus reduction.

The Elsie Gridley Mitigation Bank is the largest vernal pool mitigation bank in the State of California. It was established to provide offsite mitigation opportunities for vernal pool grassland and riparian habitats and several associated rare, threatened, and endangered species.

Wetland Resources, LLC received bank approval in 2006, and it has been amended twice. Three phases of vernal pool restoration were implemented, and a fourth and final vernal pool restoration phase is in planning. Wetland Resources, LLC hired RES to conduct the bank’s ecological monitoring, design, and implementation of future phases, compliance reporting, and credit sales.

The 1,815-acre Gridley Bank is located in rural Solano County, California, south of the City of Dixon and adjacent to the Solano Land Trust’s Jepson Prairie Preserve.

Numerous wetlands and vernal pools were preserved or restored within the property, along with habitat for special-status species, including California tiger salamander, vernal pool tadpole shrimp, vernal pool fairy shrimp, vernal pool conservancy shrimp, Swainson’s hawk, Delta green ground, Boggs Lake hedge hyssop, and others.

Key metrics of the bank

• 100 acres of Army Corps Section 404 mitigation credits currently constructed
• Additional 130 acres of Army Corps Section 404 mitigation credits in the design/planning phase
• Largest CTS conservation bank with over 1,500 acres of CTS upland and aquatic credits
• Riparian and linear stream credits, vernal pool crustaceans, burrowing owl, and Swainson’s hawk credits.

RES was contracted by a commercial storage company to repair a stormwater management pond located on one of their storage unit compounds in Bel Air, MD. RES re-established storage capacity of the pond by performing a principle spillway replacement, dredging the pond basin, and disposing excess sediment off-site. Specific RES tasks included excavation and slope grading, replacement of the failing riser and  barrel outfall pipe, and installation of a new clay core in the embankment. RES performed all erosion and sediment control installation, mowed the embankment, and stabilized disturbed areas upon construction completion.

The Enoree River Basin Mitigation (ERBM) project includes approximately 494.75 acres of conservation easement areas comprised of two project sites: Middle Indian Creek (MIC) and Lower Indian Creek (LIC) in Newberry County, South Carolina.

The ERBM project sites are made up of multiple private land holdings located directly adjacent to the Sumter National Forest lands. This Permittee Responsible Mitigation (PRM) project is intended to provide mitigation for jurisdictional stream and wetland impacts associated with the BMW plant expansion located in the Enoree River Basin. This project was completed under an outcome-based performance contract method, based upon the completion of predetermined milestones.

The mitigation plan includes: stream restoration and enhancement of five 1st order perennial headwater streams; floodplain area enhancement and re-vegetation; stream preservation of two 2nd order perennial streams; stream preservation of portions of Indian Creek and Gilders Creek; establishment of a 75-foot buffer to protect all streams within the conservation easement; enhancement and preservation of the surrounding wetlands; and a 50-foot buffer to protect all wetlands within the proposed conservation easements.

RES worked with South Carolina Department of Natural Resources to implement a controlled burning program for the site. BMW also asked RES to assist with public relations activities, including inviting local stakeholders to tour the site post-construction.

Located on 88-acres within the Lower Falls Lake watershed in the Neuse River Basin, stormwater runoff from this site drained into unnamed tributaries of Smith Creek, classified as Class C and Nutrient Sensitive Waters. RES provided mitigation for unavoidable impacts from nearby development to improve and protect water quality within the Neuse River Basin. A nearly 27-acre conservation easement was placed on the site, permanently protecting the mitigation components of the site. Within the easement, RES worked to restore and enhance existing riparian areas to generate both Neuse buffer and nutrient offset (nitrogen and phosphorus) credits. A riparian buffer restoration area of 7.5 acres was used to establish 326,700 SF of Neuse buffer credits. The remaining acres of riparian restoration area on the site provide nutrient offset credits for nitrogen and phosphorus within the Lower Falls Lake watershed.

The Feed & Seed Mitigation Bank (the Project) is located in the Randleman Lake Watershed within the Cape Fear Basin (HUC 03030003). The project streams have been significantly impacted by livestock access and a lack of riparian buffer. Therefore, the project objectives are to install fencing to exclude livestock from the project easement, restore and stabilize degraded streams, and replant native hardwood vegetation within the non-forested area. These objectives will improve water quality in tributaries that drain directly into Randleman Reservoir. The Project will generate approximately 2,828 SMUs for unavoidable stream impacts in HUC 03030003 and approximately 620,000 Randleman buffer credits.

Established in 2014, Festina Lente Ranch Conservation Bank (FLRCB) is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-approved Golden-Cheeked Warbler (GCW) conservation bank located in Bandera County and is fully owned, operated, and maintained by RES. FLRCB supports a large population of the Federally-endangered Golden-Cheeked Warbler (Dendroica chrysoparia) and a smaller number of the Federally endangered Black-Capped Vireo (Vireo atricapilla). The 500-acre site lies across from Lost Maples State Natural Area (SNA), a 2,174-acre preserve managed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department that also supports golden-cheeked warblers and black-capped vireos. FLCB service area covers 13 counties in west Texas and includes Bandera, Bexar, Blanco, Comal, Edwards, Gillespie, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Kinney, Medina, Real, and Uvalde Counties. Currently, FLRCB has 495 GCW credits available for immediate purchase from its first phase, with additional 618 credits from its second phase to be released if demand warrants additional credits.

Five Rivers MetroParks in Dayton, Ohio, had been removing European buckthorn from 1,500 acres of its preserves for two years when they asked RES to map their progress, and work to be done, with strategically timed high-resolution aerial imagery.

The imagery was foundational in helping develop a habitat management plan to enhance ~15,500 acres of natural area from the ecological degradation threatened by invasive species.

To understand and prioritize strategies for future buckthorn management, RES collected aerial imagery at 6-inch resolution with our multi-spectral sensor. The flight was strategically timed in November to collect images during leaf-off tree canopy conditions while understory buckthorn still retained its green leaves.

NAIP images were also collected to enhance the image classification method, and a hierarchal object-oriented, supervised classification approach was applied to map the distribution of invasives.

Key steps in the approach were “just-in-time” image acquisition and object-based classification methods. Image segmentation methods were used to categorized image pixels into meaningful objects based on spectral signatures, image texture, and other characteristics.

Using field data, oblique imagery we collected and other data sources, RES built a model to classify and create maps of the invasive species. This project demonstrates that high resolution photography and remote sensing can be highly effective, cost-saving tools to managing invasive species.

The Foster Run Mitigation Bank is located on approximately 347.03-acres, on five parcels of land. The goal of the Foster Run Mitigation Bank is to restore, enhance, and preserve self-sustaining, functional streams and wetlands to mitigate for the functions lost due to unavoidable off-site impacts to streams and wetlands. The over-arching goal of this project is to restore hydrology, hydraulic, and geomorphic functions to stream and riparian ecosystems within the site boundary.

RES serves as the French Quarter Creek Mitigation Bank (FQC) sponsor and will oversee design, permitting, construction, monitoring, and credit sales. The approximately 440-acre site includes 383.7 acres of bottomland hardwood, longleaf pine savannah wetlands, and gum ponds, which will be restored and enhanced. The hydrologic and vegetative enhancement were achieved through grading, invasive removal, native plantings, and prescribed burns. Upon bank approval, it will provide compensatory mitigation credits for unavoidable impacts to jurisdictional wetlands in the greater Charleston area.

The FQC site was chosen for its unique ability to promote habitat connectivity, as it is situated adjacent to a very large, protected property known as the Keystone Tract within the Francis Marion National Forest. Upon completing the bank, RES will provide six years of ecological site monitoring, reporting, and maintenance to comply with the bank’s required success criteria.

Initial feasibility tasks provided by RES alongside its subcontractor, Wood PLC, included environmental site assessment, wetland delineation, US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) confirmation, Threatened & Endangered Species Studies, water budget development, agency coordination, and other upfront planning tasks as required. RES anticipates obtaining approval for the Mitigation Banking Instrument from the Interagency Review Team (IRT) in early 2023.

Working with AECOM, our Florida team provided environmental permitting support for the FDOT District Five work program. The work included specialized engineering and environmental support and coordination with the Water Management Districts, the US Army Corps of Engineers, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Project responsibilities included the following on-call services: 

• Wetland delineation
• Wildlife and habitat impact analysis
• Natural systems mapping
• Regulatory agency coordination
• Permit application submittals and project management
• Field and scope reviews for project development
• Design plan reviews and comment coordination
• Permit tracking and data management
• Permit renewals and extensions
• Listed species evaluations
• Senate Bill mitigation support and ledger management
• Database management

The Gideon Mitigation site is located within a rural watershed in Surry County, approximately 10 miles north of Elkin and seven miles west of Dobson. The project lies within the Yadkin River Basin, NCDWR sub-basin 03-04-01 and USGS 14-digit HUC 03040101080020, a TLW. The project is comprised of a single easement location along Mill Creek and three unnamed tributaries, totaling 4,782 existing linear feet, which eventually drain into the Yadkin River. The project is between two sections of the 26.14-acre DMS Little Sebastian Site.

The streams proposed for restoration have been significantly impacted by livestock production, agricultural practices, and a lack of riparian buffer. The project proposes to restore 2,283 LF; enhance 1,991 LF; preserve 508 LF of existing stream, generating nearly 3,000 Cool SMUs; and provide water quality benefits for 3,225 acres of project drainage area.

The goal of this 50.59 acre nutrient bank located in Smyth County, Virginia is to reduce nutrient (phosphorus) and sediment loading into the Chesapeake Bay watershed through the conversion of active agricultural land into forest; and generate non-point nutrient credits for transfer under existing and future federal, state and local law, programs, regulations and guidance, including the DEQ Guidance. This bank consists primarily of pasture with areas of forest along the northern and western boundaries. This bank site is located within the twelve-digit hydrologic unit code (HUC) 060101020305 (Middle Fork Holston River-Walker Creek) and eight digit HUC 06010102 (South Fork Holston).

The goal of the Grand Canard Mitigation bank was the cumulative re-establishment, rehabilitation, and enhancement of 247.2 acres of swamp, bottomland hardwood, and emergent freshwater wetlands in accordance with an approved plan. The remaining 24.5 acres will remain as non-mitigation land which will be comprised of existing levees and roads. An Addendum was included to re-establish and rehabilitate 183.1 acres of swamp, bottomland hardwood, and emergent freshwater wetlands. The remaining 3.0 acres will remain as open water and non-mitigation land which will be comprised of remnants of spoil levee and the access road.

When the City of Grand Marais, Michigan, petitioned for a replacement breakwater to increase the safety of its harbor on Lake Superior—the only significant harbor between Munising and Sault Ste. Marie—the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service worked to ensure the protection of piping plover habitat.

Grand Marais was historically a significant contributor of young piping plover to the endangered Great Lakes subpopulation.

RES was engaged to compare plover nesting and reproductive success to habitat configurations over time, from the 1930s to the present. In addition, RES studied lake level changes, shoreline development, shoreland pedestrian use and wildlife interactions. RES evaluated impacts on habitat due to these factors, and predicted changes in the shoreline at 5- and 30-year intervals, to evaluate different alternatives.

RES studies indicated that a sharply angled breakwater would minimally affect piping plover habitat and populations, and that it would instead create new nesting habitat, despite some impacts to young plovers due to gull predation and other factors.

Overall, the breakwater balances the need for a safe harbor with the need to maintain a healthy plover population at Grand Marais.

The 1,067-acre Great Valley Conservation Bank located in Merced County consists of grasslands and wetlands including approximately 117 acres of vernal pools and swales as well as an additional 950 acres of uplands.

The Bank was approved by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to provide mitigation for impacts to California tiger salamander within the Central Valley California tiger salamander subpopulation, San Joaquin kit fox within eastern side of the San Joaquin Valley historic distribution and known occupied habitat lands of the central and western areas of the San Joaquin Valley, and vernal pool preservation within the Southern Sierra Foothills Vernal Pool Region.

Available Credit Types

• California tiger salamander
• San Joaquin kit fox
• Vernal pool fairy shrimp preservation
• Vernal pool tadpole shrimp preservation

Pending Credit Types

• California tiger salamander uplands (CDFW approved)
• California tiger salamander aquatic (CDFW approved)

RES recently completed a large coastal planting job as part of the GreenShores II Project along the urban shoreline of Pensacola Bay. Our crews installed just under 152,000 containerized plants and plugs that were custom grown from our nursery in Pointe-Aux-Chene, Louisiana. These plants will provide green armoring and critical estuary habitat within the footprint of the project.

This 51-acre parcel located at Halo Ranch can deliver customized solutions for clients to mitigate project impacts to special-status species such as California Ridgway’s rail, California black rail, salt marsh harvest mouse, longfin smelt, and salmonids. This parcel provides high-quality tidal wetland/marsh preservation habitat for these species and can fulfill a client’s need for a full delivery/turnkey option for mitigating impacts related to your project.

RES can provide oversight and guidance on conducting any necessary field surveys, preparing mitigation plans, securing federal and state regulatory approvals, and executing maintenance and monitoring needs.

The Halo Ranch Mitigation Bank is an approximately 175-acre property located in Sonoma County, California, and is ideally located to integrate into existing ecologically valuable conservation areas. The Halo Ranch property connects to the existing tidal marsh within the Petaluma River/marsh complex and is adjacent to the Petaluma Marsh Wildlife Area, which is the largest remaining natural tidal marsh habitat remaining in the San Pablo Bay. The area supports a wide variety of native wildlife including the Federal and State-listed endangered California Ridgway’s rail (Rallus obsoletus obsoletus) and salt marsh harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys raviventris).

The Halo Ranch Mitigation Bank will rehabilitate, re-establish, and enhance threatened and endangered species habitat and habitat credits will be available for impacts permitted under Sections 401 and 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) (33 U.S.C. § 1251 et. seq.) and under the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act (Water Code § 13000 et. seq.).

Available Credits

• Non-perennial stream
• Non-wetland riparian
• Seasonal wetland
• Tidal wetland

Service Areas

TIDAL WETLANDS
1805000208    San Pablo Bay
1805000210    San Francisco Bay (North) West/East Bay
1805000206    Petaluma River-Frontal San Pablo Estuaries
1805000209    Corte Madera Creek—Frontal San Francisco Bay Estuaries

SEASONAL WETLANDS, NON-WETLAND RIPARIAN & NON-PERENNIAL STREAM
1805000208     San Pablo Bay
1805000202     Napa River
1805000201     Conn Creek
1805000206     Petaluma River-Frontal San Pablo Estuaries
1805000203     Sonoma Creek-Frontal San Pablo Estuaries
1805000205     Carneros Creek-Frontal San Pablo Estuaries
1805000204     Tulucay Creek-Frontal San Pablo Estuaries
1805000209     Corte Madera Creek-Frontal San Francisco Bay Estuaries

The Hannah Bridge site is located across six parcels totaling 83 acres, four miles south of Four Oaks in Johnston County, NC. Several unnamed tributaries traverse the site and exhibit diminished habitat value as a result of past and ongoing agricultural activities and ditching. The site was identified by RES as having the potential to help meet the compensatory mitigation requirements for stream impacts in HUC 03020201 of the Upper Neuse River Basin. The Hannah Bridge Site may also be utilized to provide riparian buffer mitigation units through the NC Division of Water Resources.

Specific project goals address stressors identified in the watershed and include the following: nutrient removal, sediment reduction, runoff filtration, invasive species treatment, and improved aquatic and terrestrial habitat. The project goals will be addressed through the following project objectives: exclusion of livestock from stream channels and riparian areas, control of exotic invasive species, the addition of large woody debris to stream channels, enhancement of hydrology in existing riparian wetlands, and restoration of historic flow patterns in valleys.

The Hannah Bridge Site includes approximately 8,524 linear feet of stream restoration and enhancement generating 7,046 Stream Mitigation Units (SMU) and 16.7 acres of wetland restoration and enhancement generating 7.26 Wetland Mitigation Units (WMU).

Located on 88-acres within the Upper Falls Lake watershed in the Neuse River Basin, stormwater runoff from this site drained into South Flat River and two of its unnamed tributaries, classified as Class C and Nutrient Sensitive Waters. RES provided mitigation for unavoidable impacts development to improve and protect water quality within the Neuse River Basin. A 20-acre conservation easement was placed on the site, permanently protecting the mitigation components of the site. Within the easement, RES worked to restore and enhance existing riparian areas to generate both Neuse buffer and nutrient offset (nitrogen and phosphorus) credits for impacts in the Upper Falls Lake watershed. Due to years of agricultural land use and selective timbering, natural forested areas were limited within most of the site. RES restored the riparian buffer producing 7.94 acres of buffer credits, with riparian buffer enhancement including 1.75 acres; generating 0.58 acres of buffer credits. As a result, our work produced a total of 8.52 acres of buffer credits on the Site. The remaining acres of riparian restoration area provided 16,775 pounds of nitrogen offset and phosphorus offset credits.

This 32.53 +/- acre nutrient bank’s, located in Halifax County, goal is to reduce nutrient (phosphorus) and sediment loading into the Roanoke River watershed via tributaries located within and/or in close proximity to the Bank through the conversion of active agricultural land into forest; and generate certified non-point nutrient credits for transfer under existing and future federal, state and local law, programs, regulations and guidance, including the DEQ Guidance.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Jacksonville District is currently conducting a complete rehabilitation of facilities associated with the Herbert Hoover Dike surrounding Lake Okeechobee. The Dike contains 32 culverts, which are either being removed or replaced by several projects being implemented through 2023.

RES, then Sandra Walters Consultants, Inc., was responsible for performing all pre-construction environmental tasks and establishing all species, turbidity, and erosion control monitoring protocols, reporting, and environmental training during construction for one of the first projects being implemented—the replacement of culverts 1 and 1A in Glades County.

SWC accomplishments included:

• Prepared and received USACE approval for Environmental Protection Plan.
• Prepared and received USACE approval for Stormwater Pollution Protection Plan (SWPPP) and amendments.
• Processed NPDES authorization.
• Received USACE approval for required species monitor qualifications.
• Conducted all pre-construction species monitoring and received USACE approval for reports.
• Created and implemented environmental education process for construction personnel, including designing and printing waterproof field booklet for onsite use, and designing Powerpoint presentation for training sessions.
• Conducted environmental training for the first six months of construction.
• Conducting species monitoring during the first four months of construction and preparing and receiving USACE approval of all monitoring reports.
• Successfully processed dewatering permit application in two weeks.
• Prepared Boating Maintenance of Traffic Plan for the federal waterway where construction work is occurring and received USACE, US Coast Guard, and FWC approvals.
• Established procedure for turbidity monitoring, including training all personnel, conducted monitoring for the first six months of construction, and prepared and received USACE approval for all required monitoring reports.

RES performed work at Hickory Elementary School using contracts from both Harford County and Harford County Public Schools. RES’s main tasks for this project were replacing a riser, barrel pipe, and clay core in order to perform the principal spillway replacement. A submerged gravel wetland was installed to help with erosion and sediment controls, along with the installation of rip rap outfall areas from incoming stormwater pipes.

Highlands Ranch Mitigation Bank offers compensatory mitigation for wetland impacts in the Northern St Johns River and Northern Coastal Basin 4. The bank satisfies state and federal freshwater forested UMAM credits permitted by the St. Johns River Water Management District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Encompassing 1,576 acres in Clay County, Highlands Ranch Mitigation Bank is an exemplary example of pine plantation restored into mesic flatwoods and sandhill communities with isolated and contiguous wetlands of enhanced mixed forested wetland and bay swamp within the Ocala to Osceola Greenway. The bank’s substantial upland habitat also serves as a Gopher Tortoise recipient site approved by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Credits available:

• Freshwater Forested (SJRWMD)
• Palustrine Forested (Federal)

RES is providing stream restoration credits to Prince George’s County Maryland Clean Water Partnership (CWP) program. The CWP is a Public-Private Partnership formed to meet the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Water regulatory requirements. The projects delivered through this contract will be enrolled as part of Prince George’s County Bay TMDL Action Plan, with the associated nutrient reductions credited toward compliance with the Bay TMDL. To date, RES has designed four projects totaling 26,838 LF of restored channel and has completed construction on one. These four projects generate approximately 568 Impervious Acre Credits for Prince George’s County.  

The first project designed and constructed under this contract was the Hillmeade Stream Restoration Project. This project restored 2,862 LF of degraded channel along Horsepen Branch and unnamed tributaries. Horsepen Branch is located in a wooded parcel surrounded by a golf course and single-family residential areas and is traversed by multiple utilities. At the terminus of the project area, Horsepen Branch drains approximately 473 acres of suburban development.  

To execute this project RES performed existing site assessments and geomorphic surveys. Using this data along with Natural Channel Design philosophies and published reference data RES designed a bankfull channel that provided stable banks and frequent floodplain connectivity. Additionally, RES ensured that there were no offsite floodplain rises and performed all necessary hydrologic and hydraulic modeling. RES acquired all state, federal and local permits necessary to execute the proposed work.  

Upon completion of the design and permitting phases of the project, RES’ construction staff used a team of subcontractors and in-house construction crews to execute the project. Construction began in June 2020 and was substantially complete by August 2020. During construction, RES’ design staff remained an integral part of the team making frequent site visits, attending multiple site meetings, and ensuring the proper execution of the design. RES expects that the restoration work completed will deliver at least 211 lbs per year of Total Phosphorus (TP) reduction.  

The goal of this 1,160-acre nutrient bank site located in Clarke County is the conversion of active agricultural land (row crops, hay, and pasture) located within the property limits into a less intensive land use condition; reduce nutrient (phosphorus) and sediment loading into the Chesapeake Bay via tributaries located within the Property through the conversion of active agricultural land; improve the water quality, in-stream habitat, bank stability and riparian vegetation conditions of the stream reaches located within the property as well as downstream reaches; generate non-point nutrient credits for transfer under existing and future federal, state and local programs, regulations and guidance; and the development of wildlife corridors to increase habitat connectivity between existing forested tracts. This site is located within Virginia HUC 02070007.

Islamorada, Village of Islands, in partnership with Reynolds Water Islamorada, extended sanitary sewer service to its incorporated islands of Plantation Key, Windley Key, and Upper and Lower Matecumbe keys. Wastewater is now collected from residential and commercial areas and conveyed to the Key Largo Wastewater Treatment Facility via a transmission main installed along US Highway 1 and under seven channels in FDOT right-of-way utilizing Horizontal Directional Drill (HDD) technology.

RES, then Sandra Walters Consultants (SWC), was responsible for acquiring all required HDD environmental permits, including performing all pre-construction data collection tasks.

Work included an extensive marine data collection process in the area of the drill corridors that incorporated more stringent assessment protocols now required due to recent additions of coral species to the federal endangered species list. One of the upland staging area locations also required protected species data collection.

With effective advance coordination and thorough applications, SWC acquired permits from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary within three months of filing the applications, a task that typically takes 12-18 months. SWC and engineers avoided impacts to all wetlands at the staging areas—a major accomplishment that greatly reduced permitting issues.

Specific SWC accomplishments included:

• work with the project engineer to identify corridors and staging areas
• extensive coordination with the staff of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Environmental Protection Agency, National Marine Fisheries Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service before application submittal
• design of benthic habitat survey methodology to assess seven bridge spans across navigational channels
• coordination with project engineers to develop construction plans that avoid and minimize impacts to natural resources
• supervision of field data collection, conducted analysis of data, and prepared a report presenting benthic data
• preparation of permit applications and all attachments to address all questions raised by permit and review agencies
• filing of permit applications within three months of work inception
• working with agencies to address any remaining questions and make requested revisions to permit documents—with no official Requests for Additional Information (RAIs) to slow the process
• acquired all permits in less than three months from filing applications
• conducted full-time permit environmental compliance monitoring and reporting during the drilling process

The Howell Woods mitigation site is located in the Upper Neuse River Basin on the Neuse River Floodplain within USGS HUC 03020201. The project includes 27,250 linear feet of stream preservation and 100.6 acres of forested wetland preservation at the Howell Woods Site in Johnston County, North Carolina. The Howell Woods Environmental Learning Center is a non-profit entity owned and operated by Johnston County Community College. The 2,800-acre property is actively managed for timber production, wildlife, fishing, environmental education, and passive recreation.

The Howell Woods site is located between Mill Creek and the Neuse River approximately 7.5 miles southeast of Smithfield. The easement encompasses 135 acres of contiguous Bottomland Hardwood Forest and Cypress-Gum Swamp on the Neuse River floodplain. The Howell Woods easement protects the north side of Mill Creek. The southern side of Mill Creek across from the Howell Woods easement is protected under existing conservation easements established for Westbrook, Cox, and Cox II mitigation sites. An existing DMS mitigation site is also located on the Howell Woods property, resulting in a large mitigation complex within the Neuse Lowgrounds natural area.

The wetland preservation has a mitigation ratio of 5:1, and has a total of 20 wetland mitigation credits.

In October 2011, The Longwood University Foundation (The Foundation) received approval from the Interagency Review Team to create the Hull Springs Farm Mitigation Bank on a 214-acre farm owned by Longwood University in Westmoreland County, VA. The goal for the property was to generate revenue for the University through credit sales, while conserving open space and offering educational opportunities for students and professors. In 2013, The Foundation selected RES to complete data analysis; final stream and wetland design; construction; as-built reporting; performance monitoring, maintenance, and management of the bank. The stream component of the bank consists of 1,454 LF of stream restoration, 6,012 LF of stream enhancement/preservation, and 16.14 AC of riparian buffer plantings. The wetland component of the project consists of 22.27 AC of wetland restoration, 44.8 AC of wetland enhancement, 85.15 AC of wetland preservation, and 22.79 AC of upland buffer plantings. In addition, RES has established a Nutrient Bank on the property for the sale of TMDL nutrient offset credits. This project, which was implemented in 2017, consists of 57.71 AC of historic agricultural field that has been planted to achieve a forested condition. This project has generated additional revenue for the University in addition to expanding the extents of conserved land on the property. The bank areas, which were predominantly farm land, are now thriving ecosystems that contribute valuable functional uplift to the Potomac River Watershed while providing learning opportunities and revenue for Longwood University.

As Horry County focuses on the probable expansion of necessary infrastructure to accommodate growth within the County, they recognize the need to mitigate unavoidable impacts to the Waters of the US. Accordingly, Horry County Government contracted with RES to develop the Independent Heritage Preserve Wetland Mitigation Bank.

The 3,707-acre site comprises a series of Carolina bays, relic wet pine savanna, xeric longleaf pine sand rim, and non-alluvial swamp forest. In addition to preservation, relic pine savanna will be enhanced by re-initiating a frequent prescribed fire-burning program to enhance the biotic integrity of rare wetland systems and associated plant communities. Not only are these natural communities rare, but they are also considered to be globally unique.

On August 24, 2021, RES received formal approval from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for the first endangered bat species conservation bank in Indiana. The Indiana Statewide Bat Conservation Bank (ISBCB) is the first habitat bank in the country to use the protection and restoration of swarming habitat for a federally endangered bat species to generate credits, providing a new option to offset impacts to Indiana Bats.

The ISBCB includes more than 200 acres of high-quality habitat protection and restoration areas in a Priority I hibernaculum and provides staging/swarming habitat for the Indiana bat. The development of the Bank assures that this habitat, which Indiana bats rely on for feeding before entering hibernation and spring migration, will be protected in perpetuity to help preserve this species.

The ISBCB has over 1,200 credits available for project proponents across the state of Indiana.

RES partnered with the Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts and the Irvine Nature Center to apply for funding from the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund Capital Improvement Grant. The proposal was awarded funding to complete the Irvine Nature Center Stream and Wetland Restoration Project. RES managed and oversaw design, planning, and permitting services which were provided by Biohabitats. Additionally, RES provided construction, invasive control, and planting services. The project also received funding for boardwalks, observation decks and interpretive signs, all which will enhance the visitors’ experience and provide educational opportunities for those who visit the Irvine Nature Center.

The Irvine Nature Center is part of the Jones Falls Watershed. The goal of the project was to transform what was most recently drained agricultural land back into functional wetlands supported by restored streams. RES performed restoration services to 1,381 LF of its waterways and created 60.6 acres of wetlands on the Irvine Nature Center premises. The project was constructed in four phases.

1. In the Eastern Phase RES installed one wetland and restored 594 LF of stream.
2. In the Northern Phase RES installed three wetlands and restored 419 LF of stream.
3. In the Western Phase RES restored 434 LF of stream.
4. In the Central Phase RES installed one wetland and restored 34 LF of stream.

A series of mulch access roads were installed to allow access to each of the phases and were dismantled upon completion. Erosion and Sediments Controls consisted of hardwood matting, temporary bridges, filter log, silt fence, and super silt fence. Pump around systems were installed, as needed, and dismantled per the plans with each phase. Three boulder grade control structures, two downed log structures, 273 LF of riffle, 100 LF of floodplain riffle, and 77 LF of cascade were installed. RES installed approximately 2,000 LF of berm which aided in the creation of the 60.6 acres of wetland. The site was stabilized with hardwood mulch and coir matting.

RES and Biohabitats were committed to implementing creative and environmentally friendly practices throughout this project. To minimize the import of outside materials, dirt generated from the grading efforts of the wetlands was utilized to construct the berms. The berms themselves serve twofold, aiding in the wetland creation while also adding to the Nature Center’s already extensive network of trail systems. RES was allowed to incorporate any cleared trees into the pools of the wetlands to serve as habitat structures. Wood chips that were brought into the site for the mulch access roads were dismantled and reused as the required sediment control to cover all disturbed and graded areas. Planting of the site was completed in Fall 2017 and consisted of 2,183 trees and shrubs.

The Ivey Ferguson site is located within the Upper New Hope Arm of the B. Everett Jordan Lake watershed in Orange County. Stormwater run-off from this site drained into an unnamed tributary of Phils Creek which in turn emptied into University Lake approximately 3.4 miles downstream. Through about 12-acres of a re-forested buffer area, this bank site produced water quality improvements within the watershed. RES planted trees to provide run-off filtration and nutrient uptake along 2,700 linear feet of channel. Due to its location within the sub-watershed, the Ivey Ferguson Bank Parcel has a 40% delivery factor for nitrogen removal and a 19% delivery factor for phosphorus removal.

Storm Water Solution Magazine “Top-Ten Stormwater & Erosion Control Projects for 2013″

The Jack Smith Creek Stormwater Wetlands (JSCSW) project was a partnership between the City of New Bern, North Carolina State University (NCSU), North Carolina Ecosystem Enhancement Program (NCEEP), and the North Carolina Clean Water Management Trust Fund. RES (formerly Carolina Environmental Contracting prior to 2020 acquisition by RES) was selected to construct a stormwater wetland that currently captures and treats runoff from more than 1,000 acres of both residential and commercial properties in New Bern. This project was significant due to not only the volume of stormwater that it can now accommodate but because it is the largest manmade wetland constructed in the state of North Carolina. 

The design of the JSCSW incorporated a multi-cell treatment approach that moves the water through various cells, adjustable weirs and culverts to maximize water quality improvements as these best management practices (BMPs) remove contaminants while the stormwater travels through the various systems. Each cell was constructed differently to maintain various depths and velocities. These differences among the cells will maximize the diversity in the wetland community to encourage a varied habitat for the better long-term viability of both flora and fauna. 

The project consisted of 25 acres of constructed wetlands, more than 10 acres of preserved wetlands, and 2.3 acres of enhanced wetlands. Over 7,000 of the stream was incorporated into the wetland cells. Work included clearing, grubbing, and grading the wetlands. Nine culverts were installed, three with flap gates. Two concrete water control systems, one vinyl sheet pile weir, rock spreaders, and inlet and outlet pools were included in the design to maintain grade control. A permanent maintenance road was constructed and a pump berm was incorporated in the design to assist with the magnitude of high stormwater flow. 

Over 150,000 native wetland plants, trees and shrubs were planted upon completion of construction that will act as filtering components and also will provide extensive habitat for fish and wildlife.  

This large-scale project was the first of its kind in the state due to the unique nature of the project, the partnership with NCSU and NCEEP, the management of the project, the high visibility of the project due to its innovation, and the large quantity of clearing and grading. 

The 1,295-acre Kreyenhagen Conservation Bank located in Fresno County consists of annual grassland, juniper woodland, a seasonal/riparian drainage, and associated habitats.

The Bank was approved in 2005 by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to provide mitigation for unavoidable permitted impacts to the San Joaquin kit fox within Fresno, Kings, and Kern counties, as depicted in the Service Area map.

Available Credit Types

• San Joaquin kit fox

RES partnered with the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa to identify and restore wild rice communities and potential new habitat in a 600-square-mile area of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Funded with a GLRI grant through the Michigan Stewardship Network, our goal was to increase the number and acreage of wild rice stands on the tribe’s traditional lands to enhance watershed quality, wildlife habitat, ecosystem health, and the tribal community values.

RES collected aerial photos and sensor data to identify existing rice beds and locate suitable shallow-water wild rice habitat for restoration. Ecologists and geospatial staff also joined tribal members in actively restoring wild rice stands via traditional harvesting and planting.

In the fall, of 2010, RES collected high-resolution, multi-spectral aerial imagery and data, along with oblique-angle digital photos that, combined with ground-truthing and software “training,” enabled us to analyze the spectral signatures of the vegetation.

Informed with data and images, RES geospatial and ecological staff identified and mapped specific restoration sites and made recommendations for restoration that contribute to tribal, national, regional, and local goals in the Great Lakes Basin.

The 200-acre Laguna Terrace East Conservation Bank located in Sacramento County consists of vernal pools, vernal swales, vernal pool/swale complex, vernal marsh, seasonal wetland, vernal pool tailings, stock pond, and upland habitats within a larger 549.5-acre property.

The Bank was approved by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for vernal pool preservation, vernal pool fairy shrimp, and Swainson’s hawk. Swainson’s hawk mitigation is available for CEQA permitted impacts within Sacramento County.

Available Credit Types

• Swainson’s hawk

Previously Available Credit Types

• Vernal pool fairy shrimp (sold out)

The goal of the bank is to establish, maintain, and protect a freshwater marsh, bottomland hardwood, and bald cypress-tupelo swamp wetland communities as a species-diverse, sustainable ecosystem by restoring unique functions, values, and services. Work required to accomplish these goals includes the restoration of approximately 26.6 acres of bottomland hardwoods, 24.2 acres of swamp, and 200.2 acres of fresh marsh through surface hydrology restoration and vegetation restoration. These actions increase the habitat value for those fishery and wildlife resources utilizing these habitats. The restoration and protection associated with this project will further enhance the longevity of this landmass.

Laurel Hill Creek Mitigation Bank is a large watershed scale mitigation bank intending to restore and preserve self-sustaining functional stream, wetland, and riparian corridors. Across the Project, approximately 19,000 linear feet of streams and 16 acres of wetlands were restored or enhanced. Project development efforts provide an in-kind replacement for the direct loss or functional degradation of stream and wetland resources that result from unavoidable impacts within the Monongahela River Subbasin or adjacent Subbasins.

The Project was approved and constructed in 2020. The Project is entering its first year monitoring period and is expected to demonstrate outstanding performance.

The 186-acre Liberty Island Conservation Bank located in the Yolo Bypass in Yolo County and consists of a mosaic of open water, riparian, marsh, and upland (including seasonally inundated grassland) habitat.

The Bank was approved by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, California Department of Fish & Wildlife, and National Marine Fisheries Service to provide mitigation for authorized impacts to salmonids, longfin smelt, Delta smelt, riparian, and tule marsh. The service area for salmonids and Delta smelt includes the boundaries of the Delta, while the longfin smelt service area includes the Delta, Honker Bay, Suisun Bay, Grizzly Bay, San Pablo Bay, San Francisco Bay, the Napa River and any major tributaries as approved by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Available Credit Types

• Salmonid preservation
• Salmonid restoration
• Longfin smelt restoration
• Delta smelt preservation
• Delta smelt restoration
• Tule marsh shaded riverine aquatic

Previously Available Credit Types

• Riparian shaded riverine aquatic (sold out)

RES provided construction services for Library Square, a stormwater management project located in downtown Baltimore. Library Square focused on utilizing limited urban space to generate nutrient removal and encourage infiltration of rain water.

RES built and installed three micro-bioretention facilities and a large area of permeable pavers. In addition to the functional improvements, hardscape and landscape features including decorative fence, marble stoop seating areas, and plantings were installed to create a more aesthetically pleasing setting integrated with the surrounding neighborhood.

The goal of this 60.29 acre Nutrient Bank located in Wise County, Virginia is to reduce nutrient (phosphorus) and sediment loading into local watersheds. It is located within the twelve-digit hydrologic unit codes (HUC) 050702020503 (Pound River-John W Flannagan Reservoir-Cane Creek) and eight-digit HUC 05070202.

The original Little Eva Mitigation Bank consisted of 435.9 acres of bottomland hardwood rehabilitation, 334.6 acres of re-establishment, 13,594 linear feet of stream channel restoration and 59.9 acres of bottomland hardwood riparian buffer restoration. An Addendum was included to establish and maintain an additional 527.8 acres of bottomland hardwood wetland habitat. This mitigation bank provides mitigation to compensate for impacts to Waters of the US, including wetlands, within the Vicksburg District in 8-digit Hydrologic Unit Codes (HUC)s 11140207, 11140206 and 11140202, which includes portions of Bossier, Caddo, DeSoto, Grant, Natchitoches, Rapides, Red River, Sabine, Vernon and Winn Parishes.

RES is providing a turnkey project to deliver up to 1,440 pounds of Total Phosphorous (TP) removal to the Richmond Department of Public Utilities (DPU). By restoring a stream on the University of Richmond campus, within the City of Richmond, DPU can meet stormwater permit requirements.

RES is partnered with the University of Richmond to restore a 2,300 linear feet stream on campus through an often unused section of the campus. RES is working with a subcontractor to create an Eco-Corridor Masterplan in conjunction with the University for amenities and a trail along the stream. In addition to the 2,300LF stream restoration construction efforts, RES is providing extensive invasive species management. As a unique feature to the vegetation maintenance, goats were contracted for the initial “hooves-on-the-ground” work for the project. The herd grazed approximately ten acres of forest that had been densely vegetated with non-native invasive plant species. The site serves as a “working” classroom, hosting multiple classes where University of Richmond students learned about stream conditions, stream sampling, and invasive species. Future work will include bat surveys using sonic recorders. After construction, RES will conduct additional surveys with students to document the restored site conditions.

The 75-acre Locust Road Conservation Bank located in Placer County consists of vernal pools and swales, seasonal wetlands, intermittent drainage, and annual grassland habitats.

The Bank was approved by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to offset impacts to seasonal wetlands, vernal pools, vernal pool fairy shrimp, and Swainson’s hawk. The service area for Waters of the U.S. includes the Lower American River HUC (18020111) and Auburn-Ravine Coon Creek (180201610). The vernal pool creation and vernal pool fairy shrimp service area follows the above-referenced HUCs within the Southeastern Sacramento Vernal Pool Recovery Unit.

Available Credit Types

• Seasonal wetland re-establishment
• Vernal pool re-establishment
• Vernal pool fairy shrimp restoration

Previously Available Credit Types

• Swainson’s hawk (sold out)

The Lodi Mitigation Bank is located in southeast Tennessee, approximately seven miles west of Athens in the western part of McMinn County. This 101-acre project is situated in the upper portion of the HUC-12 Rogers Creek watershed (060200021405) within the HUC-8 Hiwassee River Embayment of Chickamauga Reservoir watershed (06020002), both of which are within the Middle Tennessee River – Chickamauga basin and part of the Level III Eco-region 67 – Ridge and Valley. When complete, the site will incorporate approximately 3.2 miles (16,736 linear feet (LF)) of intermittent and perennial stream channels along Possum Creek and several unnamed tributaries to Possum Creek.

The goal of this 32.41 acres nutrient bank located in Scott County, Virginia is to reduce nutrient (phosphorus) and sediment loading into the Chesapeake Bay watershed via the conversion of active agricultural land into forest; and generate non-point nutrient credits for transfer under existing and future federal, state and local law, programs, regulations and guidance, including the DEQ Guidance. It is located within the twelve-digit hydrologic unit codes (HUC) 060102050701 (Copper Creek-Grassy Creek) and eight digit HUC 06010205 (Upper Clinch).

The Louisiana Children’s Museum is relocating in 2019 to a larger site in City Park that includes a wetlands feature and a series of associated educational opportunities. To support the museum in its mission, RES donated more than 6,000 plants and provided labor and volunteer coordination for their planting in May of 2018.

The plants were provided by RES’ nearby nursery in Pointe Aux Chenes, Louisiana, and included more than 15 varieties of marsh grasses and bushes. RES’ donation included the plantings, several days of planting labor, and will be working with the museum staff over the next three years to properly maintain these features on the property.

The Maple View Bank Site is located within the Upper New Hope Arm of the B. Everett Jordan Lake watershed. This section of Morgan Creek and two unnamed tributaries traversed the site and exhibited diminished habitat value as a result of past and ongoing agricultural activities and impervious watershed conditions. This bank site provides water quality improvements within the watershed through approximately 7.63 acres of re-forested buffer area. RES planted trees, providing run-off filtration and nutrient uptake along 2,000 linear feet of channel. Due to its location within the sub-watershed, the Maple View bank parcel has an 89% delivery factor for nitrogen removal and a 71% delivery factor for phosphorus removal.

Shawnee RC&D, a regional non-profit, was concerned about the impact woody invasive species (bush and Japanese honeysuckles, autumn olive, and multiflora rose) were having on the quality of natural woodlands in southern Illinois, particularly in the Shawnee National Forest.

To assist in locating and mapping these alien invaders, RES collected aerial imagery in a 100-square-mile project area using both a high-resolution, multi-spectral aerial camera and complementary geo-referenced oblique aerial photography.

Collection of the imagery was completed in mid-November, strategically timed to seasonal phenology – shortly after the deciduous trees lost their leaves, but before the woody invasive shrubs had lost their foliage.

Processing of the multi-spectral imaging involved methods to ortho-rectify, color balance, mosaic, and stack imagery into four bands including red, green, blue, and near-infrared.

The near-infrared band displays the green leaves of the invasive species as the color red, which is particularly valuable for identifying the target species beneath the leaf-off forest canopy.

The imaging process was augmented by on-the-ground field inspections conducted by a RES ecologist in coordination with a GIS/remote sensing specialist. Data were used to “train” the GIS software to reliably recognize the targeted plant species on the imagery.

Through testing and ground confirmation, we determined that a spectral enhancement technique known as Normalized Vegetation Index which uses the red and near-infrared bands produced the most accurate mapping results.

Refinement and calibration produced maps of very high reliability. Thus, through a least-cost process, RES was able to give agency staff highly precise maps complete with coordinates of thousands of individual plants – facilitating their eventual removal in an eradication program.

Beginning in 2018, RES provided full delivery stream restoration services along Mardella Branch in Baltimore County, MD. This project is one of six that RES implemented under Maryland State Highway Administration’s Full Delivery Stream Restoration Services contract to help meet SHA’s total daily maximum load (TMDL) requirements.

The project was broken down into two distinct reaches (North and South) divided by Offutt Road and totaling 2,881 LF. This project was designed utilizing a Natural Channel Design (NCD) approach while also facilitating more frequent floodplain access during high-flow events. In addition to substantial nutrient pollution reduction, the Mardella Branch restoration generated co-benefits including greater floodplain reconnection, wetland generation, and habitat and biodiversity recruitment post-construction. RES’ responsibility included site selection and coordination with private landowners, design, permitting, construction, and long-term monitoring.

During construction RES utilized mulch and deckmat access roads to limit overall ground disturbance and over compaction of subsoils. Having been involved in the site development allowed for a high-use of site-generated materials; all of the trees that were removed for construction were utilized in the creation of stream structures and additional access paths, and the existing streambed material was utilized in the stream pool and riffle areas. Instream structures and features that were implemented included imbricated toe protection, log sills, log drops, toe wood, live lifts, riffle and pool combinations, and the creation of oxbow wetland within portions of the abandoned stream channel.

The Mardella Branch watershed continues to be rapidly developing with yearly increases in the overall impervious area upstream of this site; the implementation of the RES approach will result in the reduction of 392 pounds of phosphorus, 851 pounds of nitrogen, and 68 pounds of sediment per year for this watershed.

This project required close coordination with several interested project participants and entities including the property owners, SHA, Baltimore County, Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and various subcontractors and suppliers. As this stream has a Use III designation and closure period from October 1 through April 30, RES’ coordination and logistics among the project participants allowed for successful and on-time delivery.

The Marston riparian wetland mitigation site is located in Jones County, approximately twelve miles west of Trenton, North Carolina. Ditches on the site were used to promote drainage when the land was under agricultural production. This project restored the main channel, a smaller tributary, and approximately 37 acres of on-site wetlands for the purpose of wetland and stream mitigation. In addition, the site provides riparian buffer restoration and nutrient offset credits. The Marston project restored a “Coastal Plain small stream swamp” and associated buffer area.

In 2017, the Maryland Department of Transportation, State Highway Administration (SHA) selected RES to perform Full Delivery Stream Restoration Services on multiple sites throughout the state. Under this contract, RES fully delivered more than 22,000 linear feet of stream restoration at 6 private land sites throughout the state. For each project, RES was responsible for site selection, land acquisition, survey, design, permitting, construction, monitoring, and adaptive management to support the SHA’s Chesapeake Bay restoration goals. RES’ six projects were located in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, and Frederick Counties.

Exemplary of RES’ design and construction versatility, site-specific restoration approaches were determined by each site’s conditions and implementation feasibility. Across the six projects, RES designed and constructed projects utilizing Natural Channel Design and Integrated Floodplain Wetland approaches, as well as hybrid approaches utilizing techniques from both NCD and IFW, determined on a site-by-site basis.

Site design is a team effort, with designs provided by RES’ in-house stream designers and engineers as well as from staff of our partner firms. This collaborative team provided oversight during construction to ensure project components were built according to approved plans.

Stream construction tasks consisted of mobilization, erosion and sediment control installation, clearing and grubbing, maintenance of streamflow, rock/log structure installation, riffle grade control installation, bank stabilization matting, seeding, and planting.

Projects implemented under this contract include:

• Bens Branch – Frederick Co. – 4,877 linear feet
• Mardella Branch – Baltimore Co. – 2,881 linear feet
• Tarnans Branch – Anne Arundel Co. – 4,421 linear feet
• UT to Broad Run – Frederick Co. – 5,325 linear feet
• UT to Patapsco Creek – Baltimore Co. – 1,462 linear feet
• UT to Talbot Branch – Frederick Co. – 3,132 linear feet

This Permittee-Responsible Mitigation (PRM) project was designed to mitigate for a new pipeline with unavoidable impacts to 450 acres of wetlands in Eastern Louisiana, within a Wildlife Management Area managed by Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Restoration of the PRM tracts, contained entirely within the Maurepas Swamp, was coordinated to support proposed freshwater introductions sponsored by various state and federal agencies.

The Maurepas Swamp has been in a steady state of decline since the 1920’s and 1930’s when most of the area was heavily logged for cypress timber. The implementation of diversions and facilitated drainage had increased stagnation of the swamp areas within the Lake Maurepas basin. The lack of freshwater inflow over time has gradually decreased the nutrient load and hampered the growth of forested habitats.

The PRM project sites are in areas that were historically composed of primarily old growth cypress-tupelo swamps with some hardwood component on the ridges of the interior. Restoration and preservation under the PRM covered enhancing 485 acres of bottomland hardwood habitat and 67 acres of cypress/tupelo swamp, and rehabilitating 85 acres of cypress/tupelo swamp. These activities were coordinated with a number of stakeholders, including the ESACE New Orleans District and Louisiana Department of Natural Resources Office of Coastal Management, to best support the landscape-scape restoration goals for the swamp, and included a donation of land by RES of 7,039 acres of forested wetlands to Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries for inclusion within the Maurepas Swamp Wildlife Management Area.

The Meadow Spring mitigation site is located three miles north of Smithfield and contains three parcels totaling 246-acres in Johnston County. The Site involved the restoration and enhancement of streams and wetland along an unnamed tributary to the Neuse River. The site is located within the Neuse River Basin, below Falls Lake, USGS HUC 03020201 and in the Meadow Spring Creek Watershed, a Targeted Local Watershed (TLW). RES’ efforts resulted in significant ecological improvements including water quality improvement, habitat restoration, and a decrease in non-point source pollution from stormwater and agricultural practices. Our design addressed degraded water quality and nutrient input from farming, items previously identified as major watershed stressors in the 2010 Neuse RBRP. These issues were combated with the restoration of riparian buffers to filter runoff from agricultural operations and improve terrestrial habitat, and through the construction of in-stream structures to improve habitat diversity. In addition to the stream restoration, the site provides nutrient offset mitigation and riparian buffer mitigation through the NC Division of Water Resources (DWR) Neuse Riparian Buffer Mitigation program. The buffer and nutrient offset mitigation were developed through a separate banking instrument.

The goal of this 28.0 acre Nutrient Bank located in Northampton County, Virginia is to reduce nutrient (phosphorus) and sediment loading into the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Watershed via the conversion of active agricultural land into forest; and generate nonpoint nutrient credits for transfer under existing and future federal, state and local law, programs, regulations and guidance. The site primarily consists of crop production.

The goal of this 35.54 acre nutrient bank located in Northumberland County is to reduce nutrient (phosphorus) and sediment loading into the Potomac River Watershed via the conversion of active agricultural land into forest; and generate non-point nutrient credits for transfer under existing and future federal, state and local law, programs, regulations and guidance. The site primarily consists of a hayfield. The land-use conversion will generate 164.91 pounds of nitrogen reduction and 24.17 pounds of phosphorus reduction.

CF Industries had completed a forested wetland mitigation project near their Claremore, Oklahoma facility, but found that over time, the site wasn’t performing to the standards required by the USACE.

RES field staff conducted an ecological assessment of the project to determine soil and hydrology condition. This analysis found that watershed conditions and in-stream restrictions were preventing the quantity and timing of surface water flows to sustain wetland hydrology and support vegetation.

Ecologists developed a new mitigation plan to address these issues, and RES restoration crews installed a variety of wetland herbaceous species as well as 3,200 forested wetland trees on slightly elevated tree islands. Hydrological and vegetation monitoring continues to occur to evaluate progress and inform adaptive management strategies.

The bank’s restoration objective was to restore approximately 435 acres of wet longleaf pine savannah and 160 acres of wet slash pine-pond cypress woodlands; rehabilitate approximately 651 acres of wet longleaf pine savannah and 361 acres of wet slash pine-pond cypress woodlands; restore/rehabilitate 23 acres of mixed bedded and non-bedded longleaf pine savannah; restore/rehabilitate 287.2 acres of longleaf pine flatwoods as upland buffers/inclusions; and enhance 369 acres of bayhead swamp.

The Mud Creek Stream Mitigation Bank site is in east central Tennessee, approximately 27 miles northeast of Crossville in the central part of Morgan County in the town of Wartburg. The site has one main access point located on the northern side of Letory Road (36.107390, -84.571612). Approximately 34 acres of this property is located within the HUC-12 Middle Emory River watershed and the remainder of the property, approximately 914 acres, is located within the HUC-12 Crooked Fork watershed. These watersheds are both located within the HUC-8 Emory River watershed, which is within the Upper Tennessee basin and falls on the line of the Level III eco-regions 68 (Southwestern Appalachians) and 69 (Central Appalachians). The site will incorporate approximately 6.9 miles (36,234 LF) of headwater intermittent and perennial stream channels along the main channel and several unnamed tributaries to Mud Creek.

The Nahunta Swamp riparian mitigation site is located in Wayne County, North Carolina approximately eight miles northeast of Goldsboro. All project properties are located adjacent to Nahunta Swamp. The entire project site is approximately 249 acres in size, with approximately 126 acres of prior-converted cropland. The Nahunta project restored “Coastal Plain small stream swamp,” and “non-riverine hardwood forest” communities. Stream and wetland restoration involved raising the bottom elevation and re-establishing a normal pattern on six of the tributaries draining into Nahunta Swamp. These measures raised the local water table and restored wetland and stream hydrology on the mitigation site. Riparian buffer restoration included restoring a hardwood forest community. The entire mitigation area is protected with a permanent conservation easement. The mitigation practices have resulted in approximately 33.5 acres of riparian buffer restoration and 164,158 pounds of nitrogen offset credit.

To assist in mining operations planning, RES and partners performed a baseline botanical survey on 3,200 acres of native rangeland administered by the Bureau of Land Management on the east flank of the Singatse Range in Mason Valley, Nevada. The survey was used in preparation of an Environmental Assessment for exploration drilling at the site under NEPA.

RES conducted extensive field work and surveys to ascertain the presence and probability of the presence of special status and T&E species based on the appropriateness of habitat and ecological settings. RES also monitored for noxious and invasive species.

The project area consists of steep slopes, rolling hills, rockslides, washes, bed rock flats, ridge tops, and scree-covered slopes. Upland vegetation in the Northern Basin and Range eco-region is generally dominated by saltbush-greasewood associations (Atriplex-Sarcobatus).

RES reviewed and verified the Ecological Site Inventory and NRCS soils information data, as well as Nevada Natural Heritage Program and Nevada Division of Wildlife data. A GPS log was maintained during the field survey work to assure proper coverage and documentation of field findings.

To identify ash trees and other hazard trees, the RES Geospatial team provided LiDAR mapping, high-resolution multi-spectral imagery, and vegetation mapping and analysis for 245 linear miles in a corridor of mixed voltage transmission lines in the state of New York.

Aerial imagery and reflectance values associated with forest canopy were used for the distinction of species and conditions. Ash tree and hazard tree identification were completed using a combination of LiDAR and imagery data.

The project team utilized an object-based supervised classification method for delineating and characterizing tree canopy extents using the following steps for this cutting-edge classification system:

• Training Data: Geo-located points associated with known tree species, used to inform the “training” of a supervised classification strategy
• Data Segmentation: Rule-based automated process which generates polygons that represent key features of interest, based on input data (LiDAR and orthophotography)
• Classification: Utilizes segment attributes (spectral characteristics: spectral reflection, the size of an object, and its texture, shape, and context) associated with delineated objects for classifying feature type or tree canopy

RES is developing the proposed the Newark Slough Wetland Mitigation and Species Conservation Bank (Bank) on approximately 65.4 acres of property along the San Francisco Bay in the City of Newark, Alameda County, California. This former tidal marsh habitat was manipulated for the production of salt, with the native soil and restorable connection to tidal hydrology still intact. As a result, RES believes the property offers a great opportunity to restore tidal wetlands and endangered species habitat consistent with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Tidal Marsh Recovery Plan and other regional plans covering the San Francisco Bay shoreline.

The Bank is proposed to provide mitigation for including tidal wetlands under Section 404/401 of the Clean Water Act as well as the State’s Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act. In addition, the Bank will offer conservation credits for saltmarsh harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys raviventris), and Ridgway’s rail (Rallus obsoletus) (formerly known as the California clapper rail, and Rallus longirostris obsoletus). The Bank is currently being reviewed by the Interagency Review Team (IRT) members including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB), and USFWS.

Restoration of the Bank property will rehabilitate the former mosaic of tidal wetlands, mudflats, and channels that previously existed on the property. Wetland functions such as short-term storage of water, energy dissipation, moderation of groundwater discharge, nutrient cycling, organic matter export, retention of particulates, removal of elements/compounds, as well as maintenance of plant and animal communities will be restored as a result of the project. The rehabilitation of the Bank property will also improve the connection to adjacent existing tidal marsh habitats and improve the ability for sensitive wildlife species to travel between natural landscape blocks along the San Francisco Bay shoreline.

Available Credits

• Vernal pool fairy shrimp preservation

The Nookachamps Wetland Mitigation Bank (“Bank”) is a 282-acre site located along the Skagit River in Skagit County, Washington. Many of the historic forest and wetland habitats in the Skagit River floodplain have been replaced with agricultural uses. As a result, off-channel sloughs, floodplain wetland, and riparian habitats are now limited and severely degraded along most of the lower Skagit River.

The main ecological goal of the Bank is to enhance and restore these much-needed habitat types within the Skagit River system and re-establish the critical functions of wetlands and riparian habitats within the historic floodplain. Prior to the restoration activities occurring, the Bank site was actively farmed in row crops, was hydrologically disconnected from the Skagit River, and provided limited wildlife habitat and wetland functions.

The Bank now consists of 282 acres of re-established floodplain wetlands, floodplain forest, open water channels, and riparian habitats. Historic habitats, hydrologic regimes, and connectivity to the river have been restored through grading, the planting of native vegetation, and the installation of habitat features such as woody debris. The restoration activities at the Bank have successfully enhanced degraded habitats within the Skagit River Basin resulting in improvements to critical water quality and hydrologic functions. The Bank is also within critical habitat for Puget Sound Chinook salmon and bull trout, thus providing important off-channel rearing habitat for Skagit River salmonids.

The implementation of the Bank was developed in coordination and partnership with federal, state, and local entities. The mitigation bank was approved by an Interagency Review Team comprised of representatives from EPA, USACE, Washington State Department of Ecology.

Project Highlights

• Chinook Salmon (no salmonid conservation credits at this time)
• Within Water Resource Inventory Area (WRIA) 3
• Provides habitat for Puget Sound Chinook Salmon and Bull Trout
• Restored habitats include riparian floodplain forest, channels, and floodplain wetland

Service Area

• The wetland credit service area extends within Water Resources Inventory Area 03 (WRIA 03), located in the Lower Skagit River Basin, but is not all-encompassing as shown in the service area map.
• Buffer mitigation may be used within Skagit County as approved on a case-by-case basis.

Approving Agencies

• U.S. Department of Engineers
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Washington Department of Ecology
• City of Mount Vernon
• Skagit County

Credits Available

• Wetland
• Buffer

RES was retained by the Columbia Land Conservancy and AKRF to perform a Natural Resource Inventory (NRI) and Program Suitability Plan (PSP) for the future North Bay Recreation Area in Hudson, New York. The Columbia Land Conservancy, working with and on behalf of the City of Hudson and in partnership with Columbia County, requested a conceptual master plan for the site to include passive recreational trails, restored and protected areas of habitat, picnic areas, an outdoor events space, a kayak/canoe launch in the North Bay, a possible outdoor sculpture space, and a boardwalk and viewing platform.

Situated along the Hudson River, the site includes an existing 20-acre capped landfill, approximately 120 acres of surrounding land with brownfield industrial remnants, and significant habitat. The site contains a Class 1 stream-fed freshwater marsh, which is affected by the tidal influxes of the Hudson River and is part of the larger Stockport Creek and Flats area, which has been deemed by the State of New York as a significant coastal fish and wildlife habitat. The Stockport Creek and Flats Habitat provides irreplaceable spawning areas for fish and critical nesting and feeding areas for waterfowl during seasonal migrations.

From the NRI of the North Bay site, RES created a series of overlay maps. The overlay maps graphically represented the findings from the NRI and were compared and weighed against the master plan program goals and were communicated visually through a Program Suitability Plan (PSP). The PSP formed the foundation from which the master plan was derived by classifying different zones of the site from most to least suitable areas for development. The PSP also identified potential areas of habitat restoration while exploring opportunities for making larger physical and symbolic regional connections to the adjacent Greenport Conservation Area, The Hudson River Valley, The Catskill Mountains, and surrounding neighborhoods, schools, and parks within the City of Hudson.

This project, for the North Carolina Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Department of Mitigation Services (DMS), is for the delivery of water credits. The project covers the delivery of ecological restoration credits for NCDOT and DMS in the form of 35+ full delivery/turnkey projects, generating $70 million worth of water quality improvements. It comprises 270+ riparian acres generating 260+ credits, 170+ non-riparian acres generating 100+ credits, 284,000+ LF of stream generating 227,000+ credits, and 65 acres of buffer.

Recipient of a 2017 Bubba Award for Best Stream Restoration, presented by the Chesapeake Stormwater Network

In 2012, Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works (DPW) contracted RES’ Angler Construction division to restore approximately 3,000 linear feet of main-stem stream, 900 linear feet of tributary drainages and seven acres of wetlands on the North Branch of Cypress Creek. The restoration utilized many techniques to manage the stormwater discharge in the main channel and its tributaries while creating floodplain wetlands that transition to tidal waters and removing significant pollutant load from the upstream impervious area.

The project design created an open water and shallow wetland feature to attenuate stormwater flows and reduce peak discharges through the system. Additionally, regenerative stormwater conveyances were installed to convey flow from road-based culverts. The main channel was restored to flow out of the headwater wetland into a single thread channel that conveys flow through rock and log step pools into an anastomosed or DA-type channel, which is a stream with multiple channels and islands. The middle reaches along the North Branch were excavated and filled to create floodplain wetlands. Old dam embankments were lowered, repaired, and graded to impound shallow water in the wetlands. The transition from the floodplain wetlands to the tidal channel section was reconstructed as an E-type channel to provide a gradual riffle that reconnected the tidal channel to its floodplain. This riffle allows for fish passage from the tidal area into the floodplain wetland impoundments and as far upstream as the headwater wetland.

Structures installed by RES included:

• Fifteen cobble weirs
• Fifteen sandstone outfalls 
• Six floodplain grade control structures (cobble/sandstone mix)
• Four log grade control structures
• Nine boulder cobble cascades
• Six log/ boulder step-pools

Over 25,000 native plants added to the habitat creation throughout the project site. A diversity of plant species was used to create both upland and wetland habitat.

The 811-acre North Delta Fish Conservation Bank (Bank) is located on Liberty Island within the Yolo Bypass in Yolo County, California. The Bank lies on the northern tip of the island next to the Liberty Island Conservation Bank. Liberty Island is situated within the Cache Slough Complex, a critical portion of the North Delta Habitat Arc, which is an area positioned to provide some of the best opportunity to restore, recover, and protect native Delta fish species, including Delta smelt, green sturgeon, Chinook salmon, and steelhead. The site is also located in critical habitat for Delta smelt, green sturgeon, Chinook salmon, and steelhead.

The goal of the North Delta bank is to restore, enhance and manage habitat beneficial to Delta fish species. Restoration activities at the Bank will create and enhance accessible rearing habitat consisting of tidal marsh complex (a mosaic of tidal emergent marsh, seasonal wetland, interior riparian scrub shrub, and shallow open water habitat), tidal channel, open water, upland level, tule shaded riverine aquatic (SRA), and riparian SRA.

The bank was approved by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, California Department of Fish & Wildlife, and National Marine Fisheries Service for projects requiring salmonid, Delta smelt, and longfin smelt mitigation. The service area for salmonids and Delta smelt includes the boundaries of the Delta, while the longfin smelt service area includes the Delta, Honker Bay, Suisun Bay, Grizzly Bay, San Pablo Bay, San Francisco Bay, the Napa River, and any major tributaries as approved by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Credit Types

• Salmonids
• Delta smelt
• Longfin smelt
• Riparian shaded riverine aquatic
• Tule shaded riverine aquatic
• AB 360

The 612-acre North Suisun Mitigation Bank located in Solano County consists of preserved and re-established vernal pools and swales, preserved and re-established California tiger salamander breeding and upland habitat, playa vernal pools, seasonal drainages, and annual grassland.

The Bank was approved by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for impacts to vernal pool habitats, and credits include vernal pool re-establishment, vernal pool fairy shrimp preservation, vernal pool tadpole shrimp preservation, California tiger salamander, and Contra Costa goldfields. The service area for vernal pool fairy shrimp, vernal pool tadpole shrimp, and Contra Costa goldfields is consistent with the Solano-Colusa vernal pool region. The California tiger salamander service area includes portions of Colusa, Yolo, Sutter, Sacramento, Solano, Contra Costa and San Joaquin Counties.

Available Credit Types

• California tiger salamander uplands
• California tiger salamander aquatic
• Vernal pool fairy shrimp preservation
• Vernal pool tadpole shrimp preservation
• Contra Cost goldfields

Previously Available Credit Types

• Vernal Pool re-establishment (sold out)

The goal of this 110.14-acre nutrient bank located in Fauquier County is to reduce nutrient (phosphorus) and sediment loading into the Chesapeake Bay watershed via the conversion of active agricultural land into forest; and generate non-point nutrient credits for transfer under existing and future federal, state and local law, programs, regulations and guidance. The site currently consists of agricultural land in active crop production with the remainder comprised of non-agricultural forested land and/or wooded buffer. Conversion activities began in 2015.

The 273-acre Pajaro River Mitigation Bank located in San Benito County consists of a mosaic of 125.78 acres of upland and 147.59 acres of wetlands. The wetland habitats on the Bank consist of previously existing natural wetlands as well as constructed seasonal marsh, semi-permanent emergent marsh, and seasonally open water/mudflat habitats.

The Bank was approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for impacts to Wetland/Waters of the U.S occurring within the Pajaro River HUC (18060002).

Available Credit Types

• Wetland/Waters of the U.S.

RES was an active team member for the Parklands of Floyds Fork Project in Louisville, Kentucky.  The purpose of the project was to establish a greenway along the perennial stream Floyds Fork in eastern Jefferson County, Kentucky that would consist of a network of trails, roads, parks, and associated amenities along approximately 3,200 acres and distributed over 19 miles.

The Bank provides 187.5 acres of BLH to compensate for unavoidable wetland impacts for the Vermilion-Teche Basin.

The Pennsylvania Statewide Bat Conservation Bank is the first U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS)-approved species Conservation Bank of its kind in Pennsylvania. Over the course of three years, RES collaborated with the USFWS Pennsylvania field office to select a site, develop a crediting methodology, and finalize the first endangered species conservation banking instrument in the State. The purpose of the Pennsylvania Statewide Bat Conservation Bank (Bank) is to provide and protect high-quality self-sustaining bat habitat to offset statewide impacts to the federally listed Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) and its habitat. This objective supports the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (87 Stat. 884, as amended; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), which was enacted to ensure the protection of endangered species such as the Indiana bat. This objective is also consistent with the policies described in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Mitigation Policy (46 FR 7644-7663, January 23, 1981) and Guidance for the Establishment, Use, and Operation of Conservation Banks (68 FR 24753, May 8, 2003). Conservation banking creates a collaborative incentive-based approach where habitat for listed species is treated as an asset rather than a liability.

By permanently protecting high-quality forested habitat in a critical Indiana bat habitat zone, the Pennsylvania Statewide Bat Conservation Bank provides an advance compensatory mitigation mechanism to support the Endangered Species Act and the relevant federal mitigation initiatives. The Bank is located within the known range of the Indiana bat and includes more than 438 contiguous acres of high-quality habitat used by two Indiana bat maternity colonies. Although Indiana bats have experienced significant population declines due to a malady known as white-nose syndrome, the Indiana bat maternity areas in Washington and Greene Counties persist. The maternity area includes three partially conjoined maternity colonies consisting of primary and alternate roost trees and the surrounding 2.5-3-mile foraging habitat (USFWS 2016).

In addition to providing extremely high-quality bat habitat, the Pennsylvania Statewide Bat Conservation Bank site abuts two known Biodiversity areas identified by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and hosts the Mixed-Mesophysic Forest Target Plant Community, an extremely rich terrestrial community type on deep soils in protected concave coves or lower slopes only in Greene County, PA. The Site also includes the known range of one endangered plant Nuttall’s Hedge-nettle (Stachys cordata) and special concern plant species Single-headed Pussy-toes (Antennaria solitaria), American Beakgrain (Diarrhena americana), and Leaf-cup (Smallanthus uvedalius).

The goal of the Bank was to re-establish and rehabilitate sustainable bottomland hardwood and bald cypress forested wetland ecosystems for compensatory mitigation purposes. The re-establishment and rehabilitation of bottomland hardwood and bald cypress wetland ecosystems was accomplished by converting existing agricultural and pasture and Chinese tallow (Triadica sebifera) forests to a natural species composition indicative of a bottomland hardwood and bald cypress wetland forest and subsequently, increasing wetland functions, values, and services.

This site is providing mitigation credits from the restoration, preservation, and enhancement of 70,115 linear feet of streams and the preservation and restoration of 359 acres of riparian buffers within Buckingham and Albemarle Counties. The Piedmont Farms Bank is made up of two individual bank sites: Eastview Farms and Fulfillment Farms Bank Sites.

The goal of this 216.04 acre nutrient bank located in Suffolk County, Virginia is to reduce nutrient (phosphorus) and sediment loading into watersheds via tributaries located within and/or in close proximity to the Bank through the conversion of active agricultural land into forest; and generate certified non-point nutrient credits for transfer under existing and future federal, state and local law, programs, regulations and guidance, including the DEQ Guidance.

The bank established approximately 240.50 acres of bottomland hardwood wetland habitat.

Pleasant Run Creek (PRC) is an urban stream with an approximately 12.4-square mile (1,135-acre) watershed that bisects an 87-acre former Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP) within Indianapolis, Indiana.

The Polecat mitigation site is located within a watershed dominated by agricultural land use in Johnston County, North Carolina, approximately two miles southeast of Smithfield. The project streams have been significantly impacted by livestock access, row crop production, and nearby urbanization. The project will involve the restoration and protection of streams in the Neuse River watershed on approximately 53 acres of conservation easement. The purpose of this mitigation site is to restore and enhance a stream complex located within the Neuse River Basin. The site supports many of the Neuse River Basin Restoration Priorities Pan (RBRP) and Neuse Regional Watershed Plan (RWP) goals. The project’s watershed is primarily rural with Interstate 95 occupying the western portion of the watershed. The project parcels have been in agricultural use for several decades.

The site includes streams that directly discharge into the Neuse River. Many of the project design goals and objectives, including restoration of riparian buffers to filter runoff from agricultural operations and improve terrestrial habitat, and construction of in-stream structures to improve habitat diversity, will address the degraded water quality and nutrient input from farming that were identified as major watershed stressors in the 2010 Neuse RBRP. Water quality stressors affecting the site include livestock access, row crop production, and impervious surface. The project presents 8,178 linear feet of stream restoration and enhancement generating 6,567 Stream Mitigation Units (SMU).

The Poplar Creek project is located in Johnston County, approximately three miles north of Smithfield within the Neuse River Basin HUC 03020201. Water quality stressors affecting the project area included livestock production, agricultural production, closed drainage system, and an impoundment. Goals for the project include an increase to hydrologic function and restoration to ecological function within the existing stream and riparian corridor, and the protection of these features in perpetuity. These were accomplished by removing an agricultural impoundment, planting the riparian buffer, excluding livestock from the conservation easement through fencing, and returning the existing streams to stable conditions by constructing a stream channel with appropriate dimensions and pattern and reconnecting the channel to the floodplain. The project presents 4,273 linear feet of stream restoration and enhancement, generating 3,926 Stream Mitigation Units along three unnamed tributaries that drain into Poplar Creek. The Poplar Creek project also generates approximately 93,766 SF of riparian buffer restoration credits, 76,454. SF of riparian buffer enhancement credits via cattle exclusion, 8,220.5 SF of riparian buffer preservation credits, and 1,454.73 lbs of nitrogen credits. Construction was completed in 2019

The Puncheon Fork Mitigation Project is located within a rural watershed in Madison County, North Carolina, approximately five miles northwest of Swiss, NC. The Project lies within the French Broad River Basin, and USGS 12-digit HUC 060101051001. The Project is being designed to help meet compensatory mitigation requirements for cold stream and riparian wetland impacts in HUC 06010105. The Project area is comprised of a 13.27-acre easement involving Puncheon Fork and three of its unnamed tributaries as well as a segment of Hampton Creek, which all drain into Upper Big Laurel Creek and, eventually, the French Broad River.

The streams and wetlands proposed for restoration and enhancement have been significantly impacted by long-term agricultural practices, specifically livestock husbandry, which has contributed to degraded stream channels and the lack of riparian wetland and buffer vegetation throughout the Project. Puncheon Fork and Hampton Creek are trout waters and have increased sedimentation from hoof shear, bank erosion, and pasture runoff. Proposed improvements to the Project include bank stabilization, stream habitat structure installation, cattle exclusion fencing, and buffer planting.  The Project presents 3,157 Cold SMUs, and 1.00 Riparian WMUs.

The goal of this 147.08-acre nutrient bank located in Campbell County is to reduce nutrient (phosphorus) and sediment loading into the Roanoke River watershed via the conversion of active agricultural land into forest; and generate non-point nutrient credits for transfer under existing and future federal, state and local law, programs, regulations and guidance. The site primarily consists of agricultural land in hay production and pasture. This site is within the twelve-digit hydrologic unit code (HUC) 030101021505 within the Roanoke River Basin. Specifically, the Roanoke River is the principle drainage for eight-digit HUC 03010102.

In 2020, RES completed the construction of the Quaker Mitigation Bank project in Berks County, Pennsylvania. This project re-created a stream and floodplain wetland complex in an area long used for agriculture. The design approach is based on the design of valley topography to produce a high frequency, high duration, and large extent of surface water and groundwater exchange between the channel and floodplain and to promote retention of organic matter, sediment, nutrients, and water within the channel and floodplain.

During flood events, the increased flow in the stream channel is designed to disperse into the wetlands in a more controlled manner, allowing for flood flow storage in the floodplain and preventing erosion damage to streambanks and adjacent property. Deposition of sediment, nutrients, and water into the floodplain during these events promotes the successful establishment of wetland vegetation and the creation of a habitat for wetland fauna.

The site met all necessary monitoring requirements to achieve Stage 1 monitoring in 2021.

The goal of this 28.0 acre nutrient bank located in Accomack County is to reduce nutrient (phosphorus) and sediment loading into the Eastern Shore Watershed via the conversion of active agricultural land into forest; and generate nonpoint nutrient credits for transfer under existing and future federal, state and local law, programs, regulations and guidance. The site primarily consists of crop production. The land use conversion will generate 576.29 pounds of nitrogen reduction and 54.57 pounds of phosphorus reduction.

The 250-acre Rancho Jamul Mitigation Bank included the re-establishment, rehabilitation, and enhancement of riparian and wetland habitat within the Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve in San Diego County.

The Bank was approved in 2000. Phase IIB is currently under review with the regulatory agencies: California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Los Angeles District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“USACE”), Region IX of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“USEPA”), San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board (“RWQCB”), and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (“CDFW”), South Coast Region. The service area for The Waters of the U.S. and RWQCB Waters of the State Primary service area includes portions of the San Diego River 8-digit HUC (18070304) and Cottonwood Creek-Tijuana River 8-digit HUC (18070305); the Secondary service area includes the remaining 10-digit HUCs within the San Diego River and Cottonwood Creek-Tijuana River 8-digit HUCs as shown in the service area map. The CDFW Waters of the State service area corresponds with the Waters of the U.S. and RWQCB Waters of the State Primary service area.

Note: The use of credits within the Primary and Secondary Service Areas are at the discretion of the applicable regulatory agency(ies) and may be subject to limitations; please contact us for more information.

The Randolph-1 Mitigation Bank is located on 100 acres of a larger 407-acre tract of land. The goal of the Randolph-1 Mitigation Bank is to establish, restore, enhance and preserve self-sustaining, functional streams and wetlands while restoring riparian areas to be properly functioning. In addition to stream mitigation, this site will restore pockets of red spruce to an area where this species natively occurred but are no longer present. The site will also provide and protect habitat for other threatened and endangered species such as Indiana bat, Northern long-eared bat, and Virginia Big-eared Bat. The site anticipates to yield 3,392 stream credits and 2.27 wetland credits.

The goal of this 50.10 acre nutrient bank located in Gloucester County is to reduce nutrient (phosphorus) and sediment loading into the York Watershed via the conversion of active agricultural land into forest; and generate non-point nutrient credits for transfer under existing and future federal, state and local law, programs, regulations and guidance. The site primarily consists of crop production. The land use conversion will generate 447.13 pounds of nitrogen reduction and 42.92 pounds of phosphorus reduction.

The holistic goal is to restore the Red Chute Mitigation Bank to its historical wetland characteristics, cumulatively reestablish, rehabilitate, and preserve 935.0 acres of bottomland hardwood wetland, provide compensatory mitigation alternatives for impairments to wetlands associated with authorized (permitted) impacts within the approved bank service area. Additionally, the bank will help aid in the State’s goal to achieve a no net loss of wetlands due to permitted activities.

The Richards Mitigation Bank is located on 348 acres on South Dividing Ridge Road, approximately a mile south of the intersection of South Dividing Ridge Road and Kentucky Highway 32 (Davis Road) near Sadieville, Kentucky. Currently, the site consists primarily of young to mature forest habitats with several large, maintained open fields containing groups of mature trees. The streams within the project site have been historically impacted by past agricultural practices such as channelization, stream relocation, riparian corridor deforestation, filling of channels, open water impoundments, and pasture grazing, as well as the installation and maintenance of internal access trails.

RES is incorporating natural channel design and construction techniques to restore 1.5 miles of degraded and headwater intermittent and perennial streams and riparian habitat. The mitigation and restoration activities will generate 25,107 stream credits in Service Area 6 of Northern Kentucky. The site is in the Level 3 Ecoregion-Interior Plateau and the Inner Bluegrass physiographic region, which is part of Service Area 6.

The goal of this 23.29 acre nutrient bank located in Wythe County, Virginia is to reduce nutrient (phosphorus) and sediment loading into the Roanoke River watershed via tributaries located within and/or in close proximity to the Bank through the conversion of active agricultural land into forest; and generate certified non-point nutrient credits for transfer under existing and future federal, state and local law, programs, regulations and guidance, including the DEQ Guidance.

The goal of RFMB1 is to restore and preserve self-sustaining, functional streams, wetlands, and riparian corridors. RES has prioritized implementation of a watershed scale restoration approach for this project. The scale of this project purposefully considered the the importance of headwater control as well as main stem restoration. By following these goals, we strive to replace the functions and values lost from adverse impacts to streams and wetland areas due to various permitted development projects within the Ohio River Subbasin (Pennsylvania State Water Plan Subbasin 20). RFMB1 development efforts will provide in-kind replacement for the direct loss or functional degradation of the stream, wetland, and riparian resources that result from unavoidable aquatic resource impacts.

The 131-acre Rogue Valley mitigation and conservation bank, located in Jackson County, Oregon, was established to protect Agate Desert vernal pool complex habitat. The Bank serves as compensatory mitigation for habitat losses and conservation of the Federally threatened vernal pool fairy shrimp and the Federally endangered Cook’s lomatium and large-flowered wooly meadowfoam. The Bank is approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Oregon Department of State Lands, in coordination with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, and Rogue Valley Council of Governments.

The Bank preserves special wetland resources and federally listed species habitat in the Agate Desert and supports a large intact expanse of vernal pools and swales in designated critical habitat for vernal pool fairy shrimp

Available Credit Types

• Wetlands preservation
• Vernal pool fairy shrimp
• Large-flowered wooly meadowfoam
• Cook’s lomatium

Established in 2021, the goal of the Sabine Lake Mitigation Bank is to provide appropriate compensatory mitigation for unavoidable impacts to wetlands authorized by the USACE within the Sabine Lake watershed and adjacent areas. The bank reestablished 127.27 acres of forested wetlands.

The 498-acre Sand Creek Conservation Bank located in Tulare County consists of  seasonal wetlands, vernal pool and vernal swale habitat, as well as upland annual grassland habitat.

The bank was approve by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for impacts requiring vernal pool preservation, San Joaquin kit fox, and California tiger salamander mitigation. The California tiger salamander service area is based on the Southern San Joaquin California tiger salamander subpopulation. The San Joaquin kit fox service area includes the historic distribution within San Joaquin Valley east of Interstate 5 in portions of Fresno, Merced, Mariposa, Stanislaus, and Tulare counties.

Available Credit Types

• California tiger salamander
• San Joaquin kit fox

Previously Available Credit Types

• Vernal pool fairy shrimp (sold out)

Pending Credit Types

• California tiger salamander uplands (CDFW approved)
• California tiger salamander aquatic (CDFW approved)

The Sandhill Bank site is in middle Tennessee, three miles northeast of Eagleville in Rutherford County, Tennessee. Its located within the Harpeth River watershed (HUC 8 – 05130204), ultimately within the Cumberland River basin. The Bank will also service the Stones watershed (HUC 8 – 05130203) and the Cheatham Lake watershed (HUC 8 – 05130202). The project falls within the Interior Plateau physiographic region of Tennessee, in the Inner Nashville Basin Tennessee ecoregion. This Bank will reestablish 68.4 acres of forested wetland.

The Scout Mitigation project is located within an agricultural watershed in Davie County, approximately eight miles west of Clemmons and five miles northwest of Bermuda Run within Yadkin River HUC 03040101, in TLW 03040101160010. The project area is comprised of a single easement located along Hauser Creek and two unnamed tributaries. The project is located between two sections of the overall 27-acre DMS Mockingbird site, and upstream of the closed out DMS UT to Hauser Creek project. The DMS Catbird site is in an adjacent catchment to the east. The streams proposed for restoration have been historically impacted by livestock production, agricultural practices, and a lack of riparian buffer.

Goals for the project include an increase to hydrologic function and restoration to ecological function within the existing stream and riparian corridor and protecting these features in perpetuity. These will be accomplished by returning the existing streams to stable conditions by constructing an E/C type stream with appropriate dimensions and pattern, reconnecting Hauser Creek to the floodplain, and backfilling the abandoned channel. In-stream structures will be installed for vertical stability and to improve habitat, where necessary. Buffer improvements will filter runoff from the surrounding pasture lands. The project presents 3,144 LF of stream restoration and enhancement, generating 2,918 Warm SMUs. Construction was completed in May 2020.

The goal of this 438.56-acre nutrient bank located in Halifax County is to reduce nutrient (phosphorus) and sediment loading into the Chesapeake Bay watershed via the conversion of active agricultural land into forest; and generate non-point nutrient credits for transfer under existing and future federal, state and local law, programs, regulations and guidance. The site primarily consists of: approximately 146.33 +/- acres of agricultural land in hay production and 26.27 +/- acres of row crop with the remainder in forest or other non-agricultural use. This site is within the twelve-digit hydrologic unit code (HUC) 030101040304. Specifically, the site drains to the Dan River, the Dan River is the principle drainage for eight-digit HUC 03010104.

The Selma Mill riparian buffer and nutrient bank’s service area is Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) 03020201 of the Neuse River watershed, below Falls Lake. Before restoration, agricultural impacts were prevalent, including nonpoint source runoff and hydrologic modification. Priority projects for this watershed included projects that promoted nutrient and sediment reduction, as well as focusing restoration on achieving the most functional improvement to the ecosystem possible. A secondary priority concentrated on developing projects that reestablish riparian buffers and corridors of substantial width to improve connectivity to larger intact conservation areas. The Selma Mill Buffer and Nutrient Offset Site is located in southeast Johnston County, NC, immediately north of Selma. The site easement includes three unnamed tributaries and stormwater runoff from adjacent pastures that flow directly to Mill Creek. A majority of the site was previously used for livestock grazing, pasture, and row-crop production. Restoration of the riparian buffer resulted in immediate water quality benefits within the vicinity of the site through the removal of livestock access to site streams. The riparian restoration activities on the site also resulted in improved water quality to the downstream watershed.

The stream mitigation bank encompasses 59.2 acres across three adjoining tracts located near Allisona, Williamson County. The mitigation project restores approximately 3.29 miles (± 17,359 linear feet) of ephemeral, intermittent and perennial stream channels in Overall Creek, North Fork Flat Creek, and West Fork Spring Creek watersheds, which are tributaries of the Harpeth River, which ultimately drains into the Cumberland River. This bank provides compensatory stream mitigation for permitted impacts within the proposed geographic service area of the Harpeth (05130204), Lower Cumberland- Sycamore (05130202), and Stones (05130203) HUC 8 watersheds.

The Seven Pines Mitigation Bank is located on eight parcels of land, all held by various landowners, which total approximately 384-acres. The goal of the bank is to restore, enhance and preserve self-sustaining, functional streams and wetlands to mitigate for lost functions due to unavoidable off-site impacts to streams and wetlands. This project will restore hydrology, hydraulic and geomorphic functions to stream and riparian ecosystems within the site boundary and produce 11,602 stream credits and 3.81 wetland credits.

The Shiitake Ridge Site is located in Henderson County, approximately three miles north of Hendersonville, NC.

The Site involves the restoration and enhancement of two unnamed tributaries of Mud Creek that have been disturbed by agricultural activities and cattle grazing. The Site is contained in one parcel totaling approximately 24.52 acres of the conservation easement and is located within a lightly developed residential and commercial area. Land use within the project watershed is comprised primarily of agricultural, residential, and forested land uses.

The conceptual design presents the opportunity to provide up to 3,595.667 Cool SMUs. The Site will provide significant ecological uplift, including the reduction of nutrient inputs via livestock exclusion and the reduction of sediment inputs from eroding stream banks. Streams will be restored by constructing channel pattern, dimension, and profile to reference reach conditions.

The Sinking Springs project was implemented for PennDOT through a competitively bid, design-build-operate-maintain solicitation. RES won the project to deliver a stream restoration Best Management Practice, or BMP, to provide over 167,000 pounds of sediment reduction towards PennDOT’s MS4 permit reduction goal for the current (and future) MS4 permits. RES acquired the rights to private property to execute and maintain the BMP – designing, permitting, and constructing it within 12 months.

The Smokestack Mitigation Bank is in southwest Tennessee, less than 20 miles from the City of Memphis in Shelby County. SSMB is jointly located within the City of Lakeland and Arlington Township at the convergence of the Loosahatchie River and Cypress Creek. The site is approximately 345 acres in size. Mitigation activities at this site will occur throughout the property totaling an estimated 6,105 linear feet of existing stream corridor.

The year-long ecological assessment of this large community center campus was federally funded because of its ecological features that are important to fish and wildlife goals.

Naturally occurring wetlands and upland plant communities throughout the site offered suitable habitat for the federally listed bog turtle (Glyptemys muhlenbergii) as well as state-endangered amphibians and mussels.

Faunal surveys documented more than 150 bird species, a dozen mammals, amphibians, and reptiles on the 300-acre historic landscape. Macroinvertebrate, mussel, fish, and insect studies produced insightful results, as did in-stream habitat assessment and water quality sampling.

The goal of this 103.22-acre nutrient bank located in Floyd County is to reduce nutrient (phosphorus) and sediment loading into the New River watershed via the conversion of active agricultural land into forest; and generate non-point nutrient credits for transfer under existing and future federal, state and local law, programs, regulations and guidance, including the DEQ Guidance. This bank consists mostly of fallow pastureland with areas of forest. This bank site is within twelve-digit hydrologic unit code (HUC) 050500011703. The New River is the principle drainage for eight-digit HUC 05050001.

The goal of this 949-acre nutrient bank located in Warren and Clarke Counties is to reduce nutrient (phosphorus) and sediment loading into the Chesapeake Bay watershed via the conversion of active agricultural land into forest; and generate non-point nutrient credits for transfer under existing and future federal, state and local law, programs, regulations and guidance. The site currently consists of agricultural land in hay production with the remainder in forest or other non-agricultural use. This site sits within the twelve-digit hydrologic unit code (HUC) 020700070103. Specifically, the Project drains to both Wolfe Marsh Run and Borden Marsh Run, both of which then run directly into the Shenandoah River, the principle drainage for eight-digit hydrologic unit code (HUC) 02070007.

The Stone Creek mitigation site is located approximately 14 miles southeast of Smithfield and contains three parcels totaling 161-acres in Johnston County, NC. The site involves the restoration and enhancement of unnamed tributaries to Mill Creek. The site was identified by RES as having potential to help meet the compensatory mitigation requirements for stream impacts in hydrologic unit 03020201 of the Neuse River Basin.

This proposed site will result in significant ecological improvements including water quality improvement, habitat restoration and a decrease in non-point source pollution from stormwater and agricultural practices. The site is located in the Mill Creek Watershed, a Targeted Local Watershed (TLW)  and supports many of the Neuse River Basin Restoration Priorities Plan (RBRP) and Neuse Regional Watershed Plan (RWP) goals.

Many of the project design goals and objectives, including restoration of riparian buffers to filter runoff from agricultural operations and improve terrestrial habitat, and construction of in-stream structures to improve habitat diversity, will address the degraded water quality and nutrient input from farming that were identified as major watershed stressors in the 2010 Neuse RBRP.

The conceptual design presents 5,886 linear feet of stream mitigation generating 4,547 Stream Mitigation Units (SMU). In addition to the stream restoration, the site could potentially provide nutrient offset mitigation and riparian buffer mitigation through the NC Division of Water Resources (DWR) Neuse Riparian Buffer Mitigation program. The buffer and nutrient offset mitigation will be developed through a separate banking instrument.

RES is working with Anne Arundel County to provide cost-effective pollutant (i.e. nitrogen, phosphorus, sediment) reductions and equivalent “impervious acres treated” on private lands throughout the County. These projects include outfall stabilization, and wet and dry pond retrofits, and continuous monitoring on four sites. In total, these projects will produce an estimated 188.6 Impervious Acre Credits for the County. Our external partners provide stormwater retrofit engineering and Municipal Separate Sewer (MS4) support services, as well as a cloud-based platform to monitor and control stormwater facilities. The technology, known as Continuous Monitoring and Adaptive Control (CMAC), uses data from on-site sensors, weather forecasts, and site-specific parameters to make intelligent and predictive control decisions about when water is discharged from stormwater facilities.

When RES assessed the IDNR-designated Illinois Natural Area remnant on the private property of the Stronghold Retreat Center, the landowner understood their role as steward of this ecological jewel. In response, the Retreat Center engaged RES to conduct a comprehensive Natural Resource Inventory and Ecosystem Management Plan for the historic 326-acre property.

The property occupies picturesque, forested bluff lands of the Rock River in Northern Illinois, featuring unique savanna and hill prairie communities harboring some of the state’s most rare biological diversity. Investigations included mapping of natural and cultural features, and floristic quality and ecosystem health assessments.

Among the plan’s goals is the stewardship of healthy and attractive ecological settings that will continue to provide a naturally beautiful and inspirational setting for the Stronghold environmental education, and camp and retreat activities.

The plan also integrates ecosystem management principles into the site’s sustainable timber management program, balancing the need to protect critical habitat for regional and migratory songbirds and other wildlife, and important educational and recreational opportunities.

In the process of ecological restoration planning, RES developed an extensive geospatial database using high-resolution aerial imagery and remote sensing for conducting field investigations and as a tool for long-term management and education.

RES’ geospatial team used both bare earth and first return LiDAR datasets to better understand the natural resources and cultural history of the 326-acre Stronghold property. Situated along the scenic bluffs of the Rock River, this property includes an IDNR-designated Illinois Natural Area and has a diverse and rich combination of karst, cultural, and vegetation resources. These were explored and mapped quickly and accurately with the help of State of Illinois LiDAR data.

Sixteen sinkholes of various sizes, ten historic quarries, numerous historic trails, and other cultural impacts were easily detected and mapped using a bare earth digital elevation model (DEM) along with 2-foot generated contours and shaded relief visualization. Hydrologic features such as drainages and erosion gullies were also mapped.

With the predominance of woodlands in this area, the Canopy Height Model derived from the first return LiDAR provided tremendous insight into the current forest structure and the historical impacts that created it. This led to the important discovery, collaborated with historical aerial photos, of former agricultural fields that were clearly visible in both the canopy height model and the surface DEM.

These findings greatly improved the delineation of vegetation communities and guided the restoration plans. The LiDAR data provided flexibility in generating derivative map products, such as contours at multiple intervals, slope, shaded relief, and elevations which greatly improved understanding and communication.

In 2020, RES completed stream restoration design and construction services along Tarnans Branch in Anne Arundel County, MD. This project was submitted as part of the 2017 Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) Full Delivery Stream Restoration Services RFP, to help meet SHA’s total daily maximum load (TMDL) requirements.  

The project required the restoration and stabilization of 4,421 LF of a degraded and unstable stream channel as well as the restoration of a 4.54-acre wetland floodplain. This project was designed utilizing a hybrid of natural channel design and floodplain reconnection approach. Beneficial outcomes of this project included greater stability within the stream channel and stream banks, floodplain accessibility, and habitat and biodiversity recruitment post-construction. RES’ work on this project included property owner recruitment and buy-in during site selection evaluation, design, permitting, and construction.  

The Tarnans Branch watershed continues to develop rapidly with yearly increases in the overall impervious area upstream of this site; the implementation of the RES approach will result in the reduction of 659 pounds of phosphorus, 1,431 pounds of nitrogen, and 38 tons of sediment per year for this watershed. 

This project required close coordination with several interested project participants and entities including the property owner, SHA, Anne Arundel County, Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and various subcontractors and suppliers. RES’ coordination and logistics among the project participants allowed for the successful and on-time delivery of this work.  

The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) selected RES to provide environmental mitigation credits to offset unavoidable environmental impacts due to roadway projects across Tennessee. RES was awarded three sites, resulting in a total of 68,593 linear feet of stream restoration, enhancement, and preservation.

For each, RES is responsible for site selection, land acquisition, survey, design, permitting, construction, monitoring, and adaptive management to support the TDOT’s restoration goals. RES is performing restoration efforts in multiple locations across the state including the Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Memphis area. Environmental feasibility services provided by RES included delineation of wetlands and streams on the site subject to jurisdiction by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. RES utilized the currently accepted 1987 Corps of Engineers Wetlands Delineation Manual, and appropriate Regional Supplement, to delineate and flag potentially jurisdictional areas on-site, as well as collect all necessary data. Stream construction tasks will consist of mobilization, erosion and sediment control installation, clearing and grubbing, maintenance of stream flow, rock/log structure installation, riffle grade control installation, bank stabilization matting, seeding, and planting.

The overall goal of the Bank is to restore, to the greatest extent possible, the ecological function of the highly degraded aquatic resources with each of the sites. A primary objective of achieving this goal will be to generate stream compensation credits that fully mitigate authorized losses of streams, which are waters of the U.S. (WOUS), in a manner that best contributes to the long-term ecological health of the watershed. The Bank will accomplish this objective through the implementation of various mitigation measures, including stream re-establishment, restoration, enhancement, and riparian buffer planting. These activities are intended to produce watershed-scale improvements of ecological services that will replace the chemical, physical, and biological function of stream channels and riparian areas within the proposed service area lost as a result of authorized impacts.

The goal of this 397.51-acre Nutrient Bank located in Northumberland County is to reduce nutrient (phosphorus) and sediment loading into the Potomac River watershed via the conversion of active agricultural land into forest; and generate non-point nutrient credits for transfer under existing and future federal, state and local law, programs, regulations and guidance. The site primarily consists of agricultural land in row crop production and fallow land that was deforested around 2012. This site is within eight-digit hydrologic unit code (HUC) 02070011, and twelve-digit HUC 020700110804.

In 2007, RES partnered with the Prince William County Department of Parks and Recreation (PWC) to restore approximately 147,000 LF – well over 20 miles – of stream and riparian buffer on almost 2,000 acres of parklands. RES established a public-private partnership (P3) with PWC to enable stream restoration across the County at no cost to the County by combining the benefits of stream restoration and preservation within PWC parks with the demand for stream mitigation credits in the watershed. The Prince William Environmental Bank (PWEB) is the only P3 agreement of its kind in the Commonwealth. All design, permitting, planning, and construction are being implemented by HGS. The most recent project completed under this program is a 7,215 LF stream restoration at James Long Park in Haymarket, VA. HGS provided all design, permitting, and construction for the project. Within the park, 14,850 LF of streams and 109 acres of riparian buffer were protected by conservation easements, while 7,215 LF of impaired streams were restored. HGS field ecology staff currently monitor James Long for compliance with success criteria. Annual reports are submitted to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and the US Army Corps of Engineers to demonstrate project success.

The Thunder Swamp Mitigation Bank is located within the Neuse River Basin in Wayne County near Mount Olive, North Carolina. This project consists of conservation easements that will total a combined 82 acres and codeveloped with a contracted NC Division of Mitigation Services (DMS) project. Previously, much of the Project area was used extensively for agricultural purposes for at least 70 years. The Project reaches, and adjacent areas, were in either crop production or degraded forest. Water quality stressors that affected the Projects included heavily manipulated/relocated and maintained stream channels, nutrient loadings from active crop production, and lack of forested riparian buffers.

The goal of this Project was to restore, enhance, and preserve the ecological function of the existing stream and its associated riparian areas by establishing appropriate plant communities while minimizing temporal and land disturbing impacts. Buffer and surrounding riparian area improvements will filter runoff from agricultural fields, thereby reducing nutrient and sediment loads to Project channels and provide water quality benefit to the overall watershed. This Project has the potential to generate up to 551,335.133 square feet of riparian buffer mitigation credits and provide 93,051.943 lbs of N of nutrient offset credits.

RES is providing stream restoration credits to Prince George’s County Maryland Clean Water Partnership (CWP) program. The CWP is a Public-Private Partnership formed to meet the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Water regulatory requirements. The projects delivered through this contract will be enrolled as part of Prince George’s County Bay TMDL Action Plan, with associated nutrient reductions credited toward compliance with the Bay TMDL. The Tributary to Mattawoman Stream Restoration Project restored 4,926 LF of degraded stream channel, generating 98.53 Equivalent Impervious Acre Credits for CWP / Prince George’s County.  

To execute this project RES performed existing site assessments and geomorphic surveys. Using this data along with Natural Channel Design philosophies and published reference data, RES designed bankfull channels that provided stable banks and frequent floodplain connectivity. RES designed full realignments of the streams to achieve proper stream sequencing and stable channel geometry. Additionally, RES ensured that there were no offsite floodplain rises and performed all necessary hydrologic and hydraulic modeling. RES acquired all state, federal, and local permits necessary to execute the proposed work.  

Upon completion of the design and permitting, RES’ construction staff used a team of subcontractors and in-house construction crews to execute the project. Construction began in January 2021 and was substantially complete by May 2021. During construction, RES’ design staff remained an integral part of the team making frequent site visits, attending multiple site meetings, and ensuring the proper execution of the design.  

The goal of this 31.89 acre nutrient bank located in Henrico County is to reduce nutrient (phosphorus) and sediment loading into the James Watershed via the conversion of active agricultural land into forest; and generate non-point nutrient credits for transfer under existing and future federal, state and local law, programs, regulations and guidance. The site primarily consists of cropland, hayfield, and pasture. The land use conversion will generate 389.96 pounds of nitrogen reduction and 60.57 pounds of phosphorus reduction.

The Twiman Mitigation site is located within a rural watershed dominated by agricultural and low-density residential land use in Yadkin County. The project is located in the Yadkin River Basin within Cataloging Unit 03040101, 14-digit USGS HUC 03040101130010 and DWR sub-basin 03-07-02. The project area is comprised of three easement areas totaling 30.5 acres along multiple tributaries that flow into North Deep Creek. The project is designed to help meet compensatory mitigation requirements for warm stream impacts in the HUC 03040101.

The project proposes to restore 4,074 LF and enhance 5,074 LF of warm stream, producing warm SMUs. The streams proposed for restoration have been significantly impacted by livestock production, impoundments, agricultural production, and lack of riparian buffer. Goals for the Project include an increase to hydrologic function and restoration to ecological function within the existing stream and riparian corridor and protecting these features in perpetuity. These will be accomplished by removing two farm ponds, returning the existing streams to stable conditions, reconnecting channels to their floodplain, and backfilling the abandoned channels. In-stream structures will be utilized for vertical stability and to improve habitat. Buffer improvements will filter runoff from agricultural fields, thereby reducing nutrient and sediment loads to the channel. Livestock exclusion fence will be installed along the easement boundary. Benefits from these activities include improved water quality, and terrestrial and aquatic habitat. Construction is nearly complete as of May 2020.

In partnership with The University of Toledo Foundation and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, RES developed the turn-key UT CADE Restoration Project in Toledo, Ohio. The 49-acre project, located on The UT Foundation’s property, is fully funded by ODNR’s H2Ohio program aimed at reducing nutrient runoff into the Western Lake Erie Basin. RES is working alongside these partners from project inception through design, permitting, construction, and maintenance of the site long term.

Currently, existing stream channels (Tributaries to the Ottawa River) through the CADE (Center for Alumni & Donor Engagement) project are deeply incised and subject to systemic bank erosion. Consequently, associated resources (Wetlands, Riparian Areas, and Upland Buffers) have also undergone direct and indirect historic and ongoing impacts. This restoration project will restore stable, meandering stream channels with improved hydraulic connectivity to the adjacent floodplains and associated wetland complexes, utilizing a hybrid approach of floodplain excavation and grading in tandem with Natural Channel Design methods.

The restoration approach will involve the installation of stream enhancement structures (log vanes/log weirs) as well as the excavation/repair of eroding banks. Wetland and riparian floodplain reconnection will also be enhanced by the strategic installation of log sill grade control structures, log cross vanes, and rock riffles.
Adjacent wetland areas will be hydrologically and vegetatively re-established and/or rehabilitated using shallow soil scrapes, followed by extensive native seeding and planting. Vegetative restoration will include applied planting palettes to create a wetland mosaic that contains native emergent, scrub-shrub, and forested wetland types.

Wooded riparian areas (areas beyond the identified wetlands) will be enhanced by controlling invasive plant species and planting and/or seeding vegetation native to the region. In addition, disturbed upland regions will undergo native upland seeding to promote an upland buffer and pollinator habitat reflective of undisturbed reference sites throughout the region.

This project will help reduce sediment, nitrogen, and phosphorous pollutants. Secondary benefits include stream stabilization, erosion and flood mitigation, improved terrestrial and aquatic habitats, and improved educational and recreational opportunities at the CADE campus. Additional long-term benefits will include using the property by University academics as an outdoor classroom for ecological instruction, studies, and graduate research.

The goal of the bank site is to restore and preserve self-sustaining, functional, stream, wetland, and riparian corridors to replace the functions and values lost from adverse impacts to streams and wetlands due to various permitted development projects within the Upper Susquehanna River Subbasin. The development efforts provide an in-kind replacement for the direct loss or functional degradation of stream, wetland, and riparian resources that result from unavoidable aquatic resource impacts. In addition, the structural establishment of these functional improvements in advance of the compensated functional impacts will serve to eliminate the temporal loss of function which may result from alternative mitigation approaches.

The project includes restoration of all stream channels onsite and the rehabilitation or conservation of their associated riparian zones. Some of the targeted aquatic functions restored include improvements to wildlife habitat, water quality, flood conveyance and storage, and erosion control through the implementation of natural channel design, vegetation controls, and long-term land protection. Restoration modifications include natural channel design techniques, channel cross section and pattern alterations, bank stabilization and bio-engineering techniques, grade control and in-stream structures, and establishment of forested riparian zones. Our work rehabilitates and conserves riparian zones along both banks of streams including wetlands.

This mitigation bank encompasses 134.43 total acres of land to be protected in perpetuity. The bank restores and preserves self-sustaining, functional stream, wetland, and riparian corridors and replaces the functions and services lost from adverse impacts to streams and wetlands due to various permitted development projects within the Upper Susquehanna River Subbasin. These development efforts will provide an in-kind replacement for the direct loss or functional degradation of the stream, wetland, and riparian resources that result from unavoidable aquatic resource impacts. Also, the structural establishment of these functional improvements in advance of the compensated functional impacts will serve to eliminate the temporal loss of function that may result from alternative mitigation approaches.

RES, formerly  SWC, was charged with the highly-detailed assessment of submerged aquatic vegetation along shorelines associated with beach renourishment project. Work included a thorough review of the client-specified scope of work and field data sheets; oversight of full AAUS 4-person SCUBA dive team, boats, and operators conducting 143 transects with characterization, photos, and Braun Blanquet data was taken every five meters. The team prepared a final report that was fully approved by USACE.

The Uzzle Stream Mitigation site is located in Johnston County, approximately six miles southeast of Clayton in the Neuse River Basin within the HUC 03020201. Water quality stressors affecting the site include livestock production, agricultural production, and improper flow dynamics due to impervious surface runoff. Goals for the site include an increase to hydrological function and restoration to ecological function within the existing stream and riparian corridor and protecting these features in perpetuity. These goals have been accomplished by returning streams to stable conditions by constructing channels with appropriate dimensions and pattern. Riparian buffer improvements also were constructed to filter runoff from the agricultural fields and neighboring car lot, thereby reducing nutrient and sediment loads to the channel. Livestock exclusion fence was installed along the easement boundary. Benefits from these activities include improved water quality and terrestrial aquatic habitat. The site presents 5,897 linear feet of stream restoration and enhancement generating 2,876 Stream Mitigation Units along Little Poplar Creek and two unnamed tributaries and 268,834 SF of buffer enhancement credits. Construction was completed in 2019.

RES was selected to supply the mitigation offset solution for Volvo’s manufacturing plant in Berkeley County, South Carolina. The 1.5 million square foot manufacturing facility was developed on a 575-acre tract in the Lowcountry.

RES supplied a comprehensive mitigation work plan for the preservation, enhancement, and restoration of 2,488.04 acres of protected land, with six protected tracts.  This included enhancement and preservation of the Bannister and Dean Swamp tracts and preservation of the Long, Mims, Singletary, and Salisbury tracts within the Four Hole Swamp watershed.

The primary mitigation tracts (Bannister) placed 1,668.84 acres under a permanent protective agreement with SCDNR to dedicate the tract as a Heritage Trust Preserve. The other tracts include the protection and enhancement of approximately 819.21 acres in the Four Holes Swamp watershed. These tracts will be owned and managed as part of the 17,000-acre Audubon Center and Sanctuary at Francis Beidler Forest, a RAMSAR Wetlands of International Importance and Globally Important Bird Area. The mitigation work plan included the preservation of bottomland hardwoods and the reforestation of the Longleaf Pine Savanah. A prescribed fire schedule was implemented that mimics the natural burn cycle.

Through a collaborative approach with the South Carolina Department of Commerce, leading private company experts, federal and state regulatory agencies, and regional conservation groups, Volvo was able to permit one of the largest economic development projects in South Carolina in record time. This mitigation plan resulted in the restoration and protection of 2,488.04 acres of land critical to protecting one of South Carolina’s natural treasures, Four Hole Swamp.

The bank’s goals are to enhance the vegetation of 267 acres of relic wet pine savanna and Carolina Bay through prescribed burning, mechanical treatment, and chemical treatment as necessary and to preserve 248 acres of fully functional Carolina bay and relic wet pine savanna. This site provides preferred conditions for many rare and endemic plant species in the Southeastern United States and added 754.19 acres to the Lewis Ocean Bay Heritage Preserve.

The Walnut Shade Mitigation Bank is located in northern, middle Tennessee, approximately 57 miles northeast of Nashville in the eastern part of Macon County in the Town of Red Boiling Springs. This 321-acre property has historically been used for agricultural pasture, hay, and cropland and includes seven impoundments of 21,141 linear feet headwater perennial and intermittent streams. Current stream conditions show signs commonly exhibited by livestock access and extensive channelization including significant sections of eroding and sloughing banks, sparse riparian canopy, and excessive sedimentation resulting in embedded substrate. Consequently, current degraded stream reaches are potentially contributing to water quality issues such as nutrient overloading, turbidity, total suspended solids, and elevated water temperature.

RES is using natural channel design and construction techniques to restore channel hydrology, geomorphology, water quality, and aquatic and riparian habitat. The Walnut Shade mitigation bank will rehabilitate, reestablish or enhance 21,103 linear feet of stream. The Bank’s proposed primary service area watersheds are the Barren River (HUC 8 – 05110002), Red River (HUC 8 – 05130206), Upper Cumberland-Cordell Hull Reservoir (HUC 8 – 05130106), Old Hickory Lake (HUC 8 – 05130201), and Cheatham Lake-Lower Cumberland Sycamore Creek (HUC 8 – 05130202) as a secondary service area.

The Walnut Wood Mitigation Project is located within Guilford County, less than five miles east of Julian. The Project lies within the Cape Fear River Basin and Haw River Sub-Watershed. The Project is comprised of three unnamed tributaries that drain directly into Climax Creek. Located on a former golf course, the streams proposed for restoration have been significantly impacted by impoundments and two reaches have been buried and piped entirely. The goals of the project are to improve water quality, habitat, and hydrology by daylighting piped streams, removing impoundments, and restoring the riparian buffer area throughout the project. Through stream restoration and enhancement, the Project presents 7,417 LF of proposed stream, generating 5,797.000 base Warm Stream Mitigation Units. Additionally, the Project presents the opportunity to perform 1,745,337.531 ft2 (40.07 acres) of a riparian buffer planting, generating approximately 298,048 riparian buffer restoration credits, 19,494 buffer preservation credits, 13,704.379 lb delivered nitrogen, and 408.880 lb delivered phosphorus credits.

RES is providing an innovative turnkey stream restoration project on VDOT’s behalf. The project will be enrolled as part of VDOT’s Bay TMDL Action Plan, with the associated nutrient reductions credited toward compliance with the Bay TMDL Special Conditions applicable to VDOT as a regulated MS4 under Virginia’s MS4 General Permit Program. This project is being completed under RES’ VDOT Statewide MS4/TMDL Implementation & Related Activities On-Call Contract.

This project involves the restoration of approximately seven miles of degraded channel along Wancopin Creek, as well as several unnamed perennial and intermittent tributaries to Wancopin Creek and Goose Creek. The project is located on a 900+ acre private property near Middleburg, VA. As the project is situated on private land, RES has acquired all rights necessary to implement the project and seek credit certification on behalf of VDOT. All land acquisition, design, permitting, construction, monitoring, and maintenance work has or will be performed by RES.

The project has already been issued a 404 permit and is in final design. The non-floodplain reaches will go to construction in August, 2018 while the FEMA floodplain reaches have just begun construction. RES has completed design and an assessment of stream conditions supporting a site-specific crediting calculation for the project pursuant to the Expert Panel Report and TMDL Action Plan Guidance. Based on preliminary design and site erosion rate calculations, the Project is expected to yield between 2,205 and 3,748 lbs of Total Phosphorous (TP) reduction. RES has developed technical approaches to load calculations and reductions that produce up to 85% efficiency in load reduction, significantly higher than the 50% allowed by the Expert Panel.

This project was for the Waupaca Foundry – Plant 5 Facility (Waupaca) located in Perry County, Indiana (just north of Hancock and Breckinridge Counties, Kentucky) to provide mitigation for a facility expansion that included new development pads, entrance roads, and utilities. Construction was completed in January of 2021 and included over 8,200 linear feet of stream reestablishment, rehabilitation, preservation, or enhancement.

RES was contracted to complete mitigation bank permitting, construction oversight, and monitoring services in support of the West Kentucky Wetwoods Mitigation Bank (WKWMB), which is located in northeastern Hickman County, Kentucky. The project restored and established a diverse bottomland hardwood forest complex within the Obion Creek watershed that provided 79.8 mitigation credits for sale to be used as compensation for lost wetland functions and values within surrounding watersheds of the Jackson Purchase region.

The 210-acre Western Placer Schools Conservation Bank located in Placer County contains vernal pools and vernal swales, seasonal wetlands, and annual grassland habitats.

The Bank was approved by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for unavoidable permitted impacts requiring Vernal pool preservation mitigation within Placer County.

Available Credit Types

• Vernal pool fairy shrimp preservation
• Vernal pool tadpole shrimp preservation
• Swainson’s hawk

The Wolf King Mitigation Bank is located within the Neuse River Basin (03020201) in Wayne County. The project restored 8.75 acres of riparian habitat that was extensively used for agricultural production for over 50 years. Water quality stressors that were affecting the site included pollution from crop production, lack of forested riparian buffer, and manipulation of stream features within the project area. The buffer conditions were significantly degrading with the loss of stabilizing vegetation because of continued crop production.

The goal of the project was to restore and preserve the ecological function of the existing stream and ditch features and their associated riparian buffer areas by establishing appropriate plant communities while minimizing temporal and land disturbing impacts and permanently protecting the newly restored buffer in perpetuity through a conservation easement. Buffer and surrounding riparian area improvements will filter runoff from agricultural fields, thereby reducing nutrient and sediment loads to the site channels and provide water quality benefit to the overall watershed. The bank generates riparian buffer mitigation credits and nutrient offset credits.

As salmon resources dwindle worldwide, the importance of spawning grounds in Alaska’s Wood Tik-Chik Park and the Bristol Bay region has become increasingly important. To protect the pacific salmon stock, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service initiated a project to ensure that private properties important to the salmon resources receive high levels of conservation protection.

To assess the conservation potential of 100+ Alaskan native in-holdings in the 1.7-million-acre park, RES partnered with The Conservation Fund to perform ecological assessments and GIS data collection.

The team developed conservation strategies for the highest-ranked parcels and summarized each property’s conservation values. Conservation values were assessed using available data on salmonid use, wildlife use, and field inspections.

Parcels were recommended for protection strategies because of the potential for significant impacts from future development on anadromous fish, migratory birds, other fish, and wildlife.

Protection strategies were grouped into categories: financial, policy and legislation, land use, and education. The analysis suggested a combination of strategies could effectively protect the highest-priority parcels in Wood Tik-Chik. Ongoing work in Alaska is implementing recommendations to meet local and global objectives.

RES developed a Permittee-Responsible Mitigation or PRM for Gallo Wineries in anticipation of the expansion of their manufacturing facility.

After identifying the 501-acre site, RES is currently restoring approximately 8,000 linear feet of stream through the design and construction of a stable meandering channel with the appropriate width/depth ratio and stable banks. Additionally, approximately 10,598 linear feet of the stream will be enhanced through invasive control, planting native riparian communities, and some bioengineered and Rosgen stream stabilization techniques. Native fish and other aquatic habitats and populations will improve the installation of features such as brush toes, constructed riffles, log and rock sills, and pools of varying depths. Overall, water quality will improve within restored and enhanced streams by reducing sediment load caused by erosion through channel stabilization.

The RES team will work to remove an existing dam and associated impoundment and restore historical stream reach and hydrology and the riparian buffer that was present initially while restoring natural flow and fish passage from the headwaters to the Catawba River.

Approximately 3 acres of onsite wetlands and buffers will be enhanced, with an additional 2.81 acres of wetlands restored adjacent to restored stream channels within the on-site pond footprint. Of these 2.81 acres, 2.77 acres will generate wetland restoration credit, with the remaining 0.04 areas left to potentially remain as ponded areas that are likely to revegetate naturally.

Overall, a permanent conservation easement in perpetuity will be established on this 501.33-acre site. Approximately 32 acres will be donated to the Catawba Indian Nation, with the remainder of the property to be donated to South Carolina Parks and Recreation and Tourism, expanding adjacent Landsford Canal State Park, with 239 acres within the mitigation project.

York Nutrient Bank is an 86.3-acre property located in New Kent County. The land conversion area within the bank encompasses 44.79+/- acres. During the 2005 baseline date, the property was cultivated for hay and utilized as pasture. It was planted with various hardwood species in the winter of 2015.