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Wetland Mitigation Banking Television Segment that aired on Oregon Public Broadcasting in February of 2009:
Video about wetland mitigation banking available from Oregon Public Broadcasting. This short video investigates the wetland banking industry in Oregon and provides several case studies of wetland mitigation projects. It is a great introduction to the world of wetland mitigation banking.
Please view: http://www.opb.org/programs/ofg/videos/view/269-Wetland-Farming
NEW! Ecosystem Marketplace Article Released February 1, 2009:
Will US Stimulus Lift Mitigation Banks? by Alice Kenny
http://ecosystemmarketplace.com/pages/article.news.php?component_id=6510&component_version_id=9730&language_id=12
Mitigation Rule 2008
In 2008, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers passed a new federal law promoting the development of wetland mitigation banks to serve as a means for accomplishing the country's goal of having a no net loss of wetlands. The past president of the National Mitigation Banking Association, Rich Mogensen, believes that the new rule "will promote a tripling in the size of the U.S. wetland mitigation banking sector from roughly 500 banks today to 1,500 within the next three-to-five years, with continued growth thereafter; And, with Wall Street gun shy from the nose dive of sub-prime mortgages and hedge funds, deep-pocketed investors are expected to move significant capital into this federally-endorsed green venture." (Alice Kenney, Ecosystem Marketplace 2008)
According to Ecosystem Marketplace (http://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/), "wetland banking is the most active ecosystem services market in the United States with estimates of 500 active banks operating across the nation already, and officials at the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers have estimated that the new regulations could help to double this number due to greater market demand for mitigation credits. Based on data gathered from 2000 - 2005 the annual market volume is estimated at nearly $290 million with approximately 7,967 credits sold at a national average $36,357 per credit and over 22,800 acres protected, enhanced or restored to satisfy permit requirements."
"One of few aggregate assertions that can be made is that water concerns are likely to become a significant business issue in the coming years. Even now many companies are beginning to recognize environmental enhancement opportunities capable of turning potential liabilities into assets, such as Chevron's restoration of a wetland at a tapped-out oil field was estimated to be worth $150 million in mitigation credits that they could then utilize to offset impacts at other operations or sell on the open market." (FAO Forest and Trends 2007)
"It has been estimated that the conservation and mitigation markets may now trade more than $1 billion a year, and the new regulations are expected to spur a dramatic growth in the market for tradable wetlands mitigation credits. Until now, approximately 60% of permitted wetland impacts have been mitigated by on-site developers, and wetland banks that have been marketing government approved restoration credits have held about a 33% market share." (Final Environmental Assessment, Finding of No Significant Impact, and Regulatory Analysis for the Compensatory Mitigation Regulation. Department of the Army U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 2007)
