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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 these land use practices, onsite streams have experienced severe degradation, loss of riparian buffers, and direct livestock access to stream channels. Streams chosen for restoration are 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, stream flow 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.

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, Virginia is to reduce nutrient (phosphorus) and sediment loading into the Rappahannock 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 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 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.

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).

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 Buffalo Branch Stream Mitigation 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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 5,929 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 Dover Farm Mitigation Bank site was established in 2008, to compensate for unavoidable impacts to, and to conserve and to protect Waters of the US. 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 goal of the Bank Site is to restore and preserve self-sustaining, functional streams, wetlands, and riparian corridors. By following this goal, the Bank Site strives to replace the functions and values lost from adverse impacts to streams and wetlands due to various permitted development projects within the Ohio River Sub-basin (State Water Plan Watershed Subbasin 20). The Bank Site 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. Implementation of these improvements in advance of the impacts will serve to eliminate the temporal loss of function that may result from alternative mitigation approaches.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 on-going agricultural activities and ditching. The site was identified by RES as having 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, 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).

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 with 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.

The goal of the bank is to establish, maintain and protect a freshwater marsh, bottomland hardwood and baldcypress-tupelo swamp wetland communities as a species diverse, sustainable ecosystems by restoring unique functions, values, and services. Work required to accomplish these goals include 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.

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.

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 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.

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 combatted 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 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 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.

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

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 goal of this 28.0 acre Nutrient Bank located in Accomack County, Virginia 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 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 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 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

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 project generated riparian buffer and nutrient mitigation credits for the Selma Mill Riparian Buffer and Nutrient Mitigation Bank.

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 Seven Pines Mitigation 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 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.

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 (StateWater Plan Watershed Subbasin 4). The Bank Site development efforts will 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 Bank Site 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 bioengineering techniques, grade control and in-stream structures, and establishment of forested riparian zones. The Bank Site rehabilitates and conserves riparian zones along both banks of streams including wetlands identified within the limits of the project area. The 27.5 +/- acre property within the Bank Site limits is being protected by a Declaration of Restrictive Covenant by the Bank Sponsor as described below.

The USRMB2 encompasses 134.43 total acres of land to be protected in perpetuity. The goal of the USRMB2 is to restore and preserve self-sustaining, functional stream, wetland, and riparian corridors to replace the functions and services lost from adverse impacts to streams and wetlands due to various permitted development projects within the Upper Susquehanna River Subbasin (State Water Plan Watershed Subbasin 4). The USRMB2 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. USRMB2 provides a great opportunity for ecological uplift, as areas currently existing as managed timber area monoculture replaced what was once hardwood forest habitat.

The goals of the bank 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 occurring within the Southeastern United States.

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. Four miles of stream and riparian habitat restoration will generate 12,517 stream credits in the Barren Watershed north of Nashville. The service area will also include the Red and Lower Cumberland watersheds.