Bayou Paul Wetland Mitigation Bank

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.

Bayou Paul Field Survey