Compensatory Mitigation Needs Improvement, Panel Says

2001 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 209-211 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Compensatory Mitigation

scholarly journals Successional dynamics of a 35 year old freshwater mitigation wetland in southeastern New Hampshire

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. e0251748
Author(s):  
J. Grant McKown ◽  
Gregg E. Moore ◽  
Andrew R. Payne ◽  
Natalie A. White ◽  
Jennifer L. Gibson
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
New Hampshire ◽  
Wetland Restoration ◽  
Wetland Mitigation ◽  
Freshwater Wetland ◽  
Compensatory Mitigation ◽  
Avian Community ◽  
Long Term Monitoring ◽  
Term Monitoring

The long-term ecological success of compensatory freshwater wetland projects has come into question based on follow-up monitoring studies over the past few decades. Given that wetland restoration may require many years to decades to converge to desired outcomes, long-term monitoring of successional patterns may increase our ability to fully evaluate success of wetland mitigation projects or guide adaptive management when needed. In Portsmouth, New Hampshire a 4 ha wetland was constructed in an abandoned gravel quarry as off-site compensatory mitigation for impacts to a scrub-shrub swamp associated with property expansion. Building upon prior evaluations from 1992 and 2002, we conducted a floral survey in 2020 to compare results with prior surveys to document vegetation successional trends over time. In addition, we monitored the avian community throughout the growing season as a measure of habitat quality. The plant community mirrored documented successional trends of freshwater wetland restoration projects as native hydrophytes dominated species composition. Plant species composition stabilized as the rate of turnover, the measurement of succession, declined by nearly half after 17 years. Researchers should consider long-term monitoring of specific sites to better understand successional patterns of created wetlands as we documented long time frames required for the development of scrub-shrub swamps, red maple swamps, and sedge meadows. High species richness was attributed to beaver activity, topographic heterogeneity from Carex stricta tussocks, and the seed bank from the application of peat from the original wetland. Habitat heterogeneity of open water, herbaceous cover, and woody vegetation supports a diverse avian community including 11 wetland dependent species. Although the mitigation project has not created the full area of lost scrub-shrub swamp after 35 years, it has developed a structurally complex habitat and diverse avian community that effectively provides the functions and values of the impacted system.

North Carolina's Ecosystem Enhancement Program

2005 ◽  
Vol 1941 (1) ◽  
pp. 175-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet D'Ignazio ◽  
Kathryn McDermott ◽  
Bill Gilmore ◽  
Chris Russo
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Army Corps ◽  
Cumulative Impacts ◽  
Army Corps Of Engineers ◽  
Compensatory Mitigation ◽  
Implementation Processes ◽  
North Carolina Department ◽  
The North

Even before FHWA's focus on ecosystem conservation as part of its vital goals, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) had begun to examine how and where compensatory mitigation was being implemented in the state. Over the past 4 years, NCDOT, the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers–Wilmington District have partnered to redesign the mitigation process with one goal in mind: to create a compensatory mitigation program that delivers guaranteed environmental benefits. The result of these efforts is the Ecosystem Enhancement Program (EEP). Instead of focusing on individual highway project impacts, the EEP concept revolves around watershed plans and considers cumulative impacts associated with a given watershed. Accordingly, EEP provides cumulative mitigation for cumulative impacts. It was clear from the start that EEP was going to change fundamentally the goals, approach, and structure of providing mitigation in North Carolina. Although the mitigation experts knew how the mitigation process needed to change, they lacked expertise in how to manage that change. Not surprisingly, this has presented several hurdles that the sponsoring agencies are still trying to scale today. As implementation moves forward, many valuable lessons are being learned, which are laying the groundwork for successful change. This paper describes the origins of the EEP concept, outlines the implementation processes, discusses “change barriers” experienced and lessons learned, and provides an EEP progress report 2 years into the program's implementation.

scholarly journals An assessment of wetland impacts and compensatory mitigation in the Cuyahoga River Watershed, Ohio, USA

Wetlands ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chad I. Kettlewell ◽  
Virginie Bouchard ◽  
Deni Porej ◽  
Mick Micacchion ◽  
John J. Mack ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Compensatory Mitigation ◽  
River Watershed
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