Landowners interested in establishing a wetland mitigation bank on their property should consult with local and state agencies, as well as a wetland consultant, to help evaluate and determine the potential of their land in becoming established as a wetland bank.

Landowners will work with consultants under guidance of an Interagency Review Team (IRT) made up of federal agencies such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and state agencies such as the Wisconsin DNR-WDNR (Wisconsin) and the Board of Water and Soil Resources -BWSR (Minnesota), to establish and maintain a potential wetland mitigation bank.

Read More: “Wetland Identification: Do I Have A Wetland On My Property?”

If the land is deemed as a good candidate for establishing a wetland bank, the next step is to develop a wetland bank prospectus.

A prospectus document is developed by a private consultant for the IRT to review the proposed wetland mitigation bank and wetland habitat restoration plan.

Mitigation Bank Instrument (MBI) approval. An approved MBI will have details on all conditions of the proposed mitigation bank that include baseline conditions of the site, proposed construction documents, seeding, restoration and land management plans, and long term monitoring and maintenance of the bank.

A successful MBI will outline performance standards for construction, seeding and vegetation establishment and enhancement, hydrological conditions, and any additional factors that will affect the success of the project over the long term. A draft financial assurance document and draft conservation easement are also important pieces of this document.

Restoration starts with construction, which involves removal of drain tile, filling drainage ditches, scraping, earth berming or damning, and grading of soil or removal of excessive fill, etc.

Then, native plant seeding and plug, shrub or tree planting follows. Depending on the site conditions this will be done by a combination of tractors, tracked ATVs or other specialized machinery such as ARGO’s, Marsh Masters or even barges or floating pontoons.

Land management involves selective herbicide treatments for persistent invasive species, controlled burning for grasslands and woodland sites, establishment mowing and sometimes hand removal or other mechanical removal of undesirable shrubs and trees.

Ongoing monitoring is typically needed for 5-10 years post construction with annual monitoring reports submitted to the IRT for approval of a specific percentage of credit release each year.

Following the approval of MBI and completion of the first year’s construction and management activities, an initial credit release can be expected. After meeting the performance standards for the establishment of the wetland bank each year, the bank will receive credit releases on a pre-approved schedule.

Read More: “Wetland Monitoring: A Critical Component of any Wetland Restoration Project”