KELSO – Washington state’s first joint wetland and fish
habitat bank was signed into operation May 5. This landmark event certifies
that the 302-acre mitigation bank along the Coweeman River will now protect
wetland functions and create habitat for several life-stages of salmon.
The Washington Department of Ecology and the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers (Corps) have certified the Coweeman River Mitigation Bank
to operate in the Lower Columbia River
floodplain and the Cowlitz River watershed. Once developed, this wetland bank
will provide an option for developers to purchase credits to mitigate for
unavoidable impacts to wetlands or aquatic resources. The bank will
re-establish, rehabilitate and enhance wetland functions across the site. In
addition, the bank will create off-channel rearing, refuge and potential
spawning habitat for Endangered Species Act listed salmon as they migrate along
this reach of the Coweeman River.
“We’re truly excited to see this bank signed into
operation,” said Gordon White, Ecology Shorelands Program manager. “Not only is
it the state’s very first joint wetland and fish habitat bank, but the
collaboration between everyone involved has developed strong partnerships that
will benefit the environment long-term.”
The Coweeman River Mitigation Bank project provided an
opportunity for Ecology and the Corps to partner with NOAA Fisheries and the
Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife. The agencies also worked
closely with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cowlitz County, City of
Kelso, and the Cowlitz Indian Tribe.
Jeffrey Fisher, NOAA Fisheries Lower Columbia Branch
chief, commended the establishment of the bank. “This bank is a testament that
private-public partnerships can work, and is in keeping with the President’s
Memorandum on embracing new approaches for meaningful mitigation in order to
preserve our natural environment and the human and ecological services it
provides. Such approaches may need to be more assertively embraced if we are to
achieve the recovery objectives for endangered salmonids in the West Coast
Region.”
“Seattle District’s Mitigation Banking Program has been
steadily expanding over the past decade, and the Coweeman River Mitigation Bank
represents a new direction and emerging effort for collaboration among
regulatory agencies and Native American tribes,” said Gail Terzi, Mitigation
Program manager for the Corps Regulatory Branch. “This collaboration is
essential to address and provide multi-resource credits at mitigation banks for
unavoidable environmental impacts and will result in better mitigation
projects.”
Wetland banks engage the private market for conservation
Wetlands are essential for protecting Washington waters.
They support and protect communities and businesses by filtering drinking
water, holding flood waters, providing fish and wildlife habitat, and
supporting wildlife-related recreation. Wetland mitigation banks are an important strategy for engaging the
private sector and power of the marketplace to sustain Washington’s remaining
wetlands. This bank will be no exception.