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Vol. 2, No. 1: January 22, 2007
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The Ecosystem Marketplace's Mitigation Mail
Conservation and Wetland News You Can Bank On
Mitigation Banking: A New Year
As the New Year begins wetland banking is receiving intense scrutiny in Florida and increased adoption in other parts of the country. In this month's Mitigation Mail we see signs of mitigation banking growth (and growing pains) around the country – indeed, 2007 looks set to be an interesting year.
Reverberations from the St. Petersburg Times exposé on wetland banking in Florida continue, but have not kept a group of ex-farmers from trying to cultivate mitigation credits. In Texas, the Department of Transportation and the Parks and Wildlife Department have formalized a statewide mitigation banking strategy, and bankers have proposed a large 4,200 acre bank in Kaufman County. Southeastern Massachusetts, meanwhile, is steaming ahead with its launch of a New England mitigation banking pilot program.
In addition to this roundup of mitigation banking news from around the United States, we are pleased to bring you a couple of our own features this month. Find out about the progressive approach one of Australia's largest real estate companies in our January profile, and read about an innovative new conservation development model in Montana in our current feature.
—The Ecosystem Marketplace Team
If you have comments or would like to submit news stories, write to us at mitmail@ecosystemmarketplace.com.
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Ex-farmers ply trade in reverse (1/7/2006)
A group of ex-farmers in Florida are looking to grow and sell wetland ecosystem functions. Through such farmer-like tasks as land-grading, nurturing and transplanting seedlings, this group is reshaping a former farm and cattle ranch into the Corkscrew Regional Mitigation Bank in southeastern Lee County.
– Read the story
'Bank' plan would reclaim 4,200 acres of wetlands Kaufman County, Texas (12/30/2006)
A proposed wetland mitigation bank in Kaufman County, Texas would take land that was historically bottomland floodplain forest, cleared years ago for agriculture, and restore it to pre-settlement conditions. The 4,200 acres of cattle pasture is owned by a branch of Dallas' famous Hunt family, and would be named the Bunker Sands Mitigation Bank.
– Read the story
Wetlands left high and dry (12/24/2006)
In this piece the St. Petersburg Times editorial crew add their voice to the disappointment and outrage over the abuse of mitigation banking tool in Florida. The state has now approved more than 40 wetlands mitigation banks that cover more than 118,000 acres, and they claim there is little evidence of success.
– Read the St. Petersburg Times editorial
Mitigation Agreement to Benefit Texas Wildlife, Highways (12/23/2006)
The Texas Department of Transportation and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department have signed a written agreement to formalize and expand their mitigation banking strategy. The new interagency agreement focuses mitigation on large acreage sites picked in advance for their ecological value.
– Read the story (click link and scroll all the way to bottom)
In wetlands, builders can pay to play (12/21/2006)
A new program, the first of its kind in New England, will let large-scale developers in Southeastern Massachusetts destroy wetlands if, in exchange, they agree to buy "credits" in a new fund called a Pilot Wetlands Mitigation Bank. The bank will, in turn, pay to restore wetlands elsewhere in the region - specifically, in Hanson at what was once known as Bog 18, said to be the largest cranberry bog in the world.
– Read the story
I'm a public official (and Ecobank rep) (12/18/2006)
Kenneth Wright has a number of public and private roles: chairman of the Environmental Regulation Commission that sets standards for environmental regulation in Florida, head of the board that oversees the Orlando-Sanford Airport, and a development attorney and lobbyist. Two sworn depositions claim he took a commission on a wetlands compensation deal he engineered for the airport. He denies that but acknowledges taking commissions later from that same company, Ecobank, for "marketing" wetlands credits to his development clients.
– Read the story in the St. Petersburg Times
Presto: Convert a mine into a wetland (12/17/2006)
Creating a wetland from scratch often fails. But in Ruskin, FL William Casey is turning his mine into the Tampa Bay Mitigation Bank despite this common wisdom. Casey may be risking capital in the project but the environment is likely to be the biggest loser. Before anyone knows if the wetlands Casey builds really work, his bank is allowed to sell 60 percent of its credits.
– Read the story in the St. Petersburg Times
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by Jason Amundsen
Beartooth Capital is pioneering a new relationship between private equity and land conservation in the Western United States. The Ecosystem Marketplace finds out why.
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PROFILE
by Marisa Meizlish
When Greg Paramor started discussing sustainability with the board of his multibillion-dollar development and investment company, new opportunities started to emerge. The managing director of Australia-based Mirvac talks with the Ecosystem Marketplace about how ecosystem maintenance, climate change mitigation and passion make good business sense.
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