French Quarter Creek Mitigation Bank

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.