RES Becomes Operating Manager for 16 Conservation and Mitigation Banks in California and Oregon

RES LLC, the nation’s largest environmental services operating company, has been selected to manage a large portfolio of existing conservation and mitigation banks across California and Oregon. The banks collectively cover 8,000 acres and offer permanently preserved or restored environments for 16 Federal and State-listed species and nine different aquatic habitats. RES will act as the operating manager for the banks, working with regulators and providing monitoring and maintenance services as well as undertaking construction and planting as needed to steward the land. The majority of the banks are well-established and have available credits, for which RES will manage the credit sales.

The projects make up a significant portion of California’s conservation and mitigation banks and include well-known banks such as Liberty Island Conservation Bank in Yolo County, CA, Locust Road Mitigation Bank in Placer County, CA, and Buena Creek Conservation Bank in San Diego County, CA.  The service areas span most of California from San Diego County north to Shasta County, and include preservation for some of the most commonlyimpacted species such as California tiger salamander, vernal pool fairy shrimp, and San Joaquin kit fox as well as more localized niche species and habitats such as Delta smelt and Coastal California gnatcatcher. One bank, the Rogue Valley Mitigation and Conservation Bank, is located in Oregon and provides wetland mitigation and species credits for vernal pool endemics of the Agate Desert.

“We’ve assembled a team of conservation leaders to assure these projects will have dedicated, expert management from day one,” says Tim DeGraff, General Manager of the Western Region for RES. “We are really pleased to bring the strengths of the RES operating model, along with incredible local talent, to these iconic and ecologically important sites. Our local biological knowledge combined with our national land management experience and regional market intelligence is central to how RES organizes around the ongoing needs of each site, ensuring each one is ecologically and financially stable.”

The full list of projects, along with descriptions of available credits and contact details, can be viewed at res.us/projects. Clients seeking credits can also visit the California website for RES for contact details.