The Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS), in a position paper on the organization’s website, formally supports wetland mitigation banking to improve mitigation success and contribute to the goal of no net loss of wetlands.
For more than a century, the U.S. has been losing wetlands at an alarming rate. When wetlands are impacted by development, usually dredged and filled, developers are required to replace the same acreage within the same geographical area. “Banking” wetlands, before those impacts occur, is emerging as a preferred alternative, something we at THI support wholeheartedly.
Banked wetlands are systems that have been restored or created for compensatory mitigation in advance of unavoidable impacts to wetlands permitted by regulatory authorities. The banked wetlands should be managed, protected in perpetuity, functionally similar to the altered systems and within defined geographical areas.
SWS states in its position paper that, “Successful wetland mitigation requires agreement among the regulatory authorities and the proponents on size, type, timeline, required and desired functions, management, funding and oversight. Good science, design, construction and maintenance must support all this.”
Our nation’s wetlands provide critical ecological services that cannot be duplicated artificially. Wetland protection and restoration should be one of our top priorities as we understand the critical importance of freshwater resources.
