Currently, environmental mitigation is typically done on the development site itself.  This can create problems for the mitigation projects that result in the low success rate we’ve seen.  First, projects are completed by the developer, rather than by scientists, ecologists, or other people who have experience restoring and maintaining natural areas.  Second, mitigation projects can be surrounded by development, creating new hazards such as pollution and high-impact recreation pursuits. 

However, a concept called watershed-based mitigation may help make mitigation more successful.  With watershed-based mitigation, science about the surrounding landscape is used to decide where the unavoidable impacts can best be offset. This may be on the site, off the site, or a mixture of both.  Developers who need to offset their impacts can connect with experienced restoration specialists via an offset market.  These specialists can then undertake the required restoration.

New Tools: Mitigation Banking and In-Lieu Fee Programs
Projects that take the watershed-based approach can be completed on a project-by-project basis, so that a single restoration project is undertaken to offset a single development project.  More exciting, however, are the market-based tools that pool smaller development impacts together and offset them with a larger restoration project. Mitigation banks and in-lieu-fee programs are examples of this strategy. 

Mitigation Banking

Mitigation banks enable developers whose projects result in unavoidable impacts to wetlands to buy "credits" in an approved wetland mitigation bank instead of mitigating for impacts on-site. Mitigation banks are typically located where high quality, successful restoration can occur.  This creates larger, more ecologically effective wetlands that provide lasting habitat for a large variety of plant and animal species. 

Cascade Land Conservancy has been involved in mitigation banking for several years because it supports good conservation practices.  CLC has been granted a conservation easement on 225 acres of wetlands in Snohomish County for Habitat Bank, one of the first mitigation banks in Washington State.

In-Lieu Fee

Aside from being largely unsuccessful, current on-site mitigation is also very expensive and time consuming.  Many developers and members of the environmental community have expressed interest in developing an in-lieu fee program.  This is a program where a developer would pay an offset fee into a fund instead of completing their own mitigation project.  The fund would then be used to allow a non-profit or other third party to purchase and restore sites that will offset the impacts from the project. 

This program is different from mitigation banking in that the mitigation happens after the impacts have occurred.  In general, pre-impact mitigation is preferable, however large scale restoration projects can be very expensive, and many conservation organizations lack the up front funding for construction. Because the process can allow conservation organizations to restore more high-value natural areas and can be more efficient for developers, these programs can be a win-win situation for both developers and the environment.