- What is the history of mitigation banking?
- Why use a mitigation bank?
- Why else should you choose to purchase credits from a mitigation bank?
What is the history of mitigation banking?
Why use a mitigation bank?
Traditionally, responsible parties had to provide, or contract with consultants to provide, compensatory mitigation to offset development impacts to habitat or waterways. This costs both time and money. Mitigation banking programs offer a number of advantages over this system, including:
- Reducing uncertainty about whether a mitigation project will successfully offset a development project impact;
- Assembling and applying a variety of financial resources, planning, design, and scientific expertise;
- Placing a permanent conservation easement on the land;
- Providing greater ecosystem benefits than a number of small parcel or onsite mitigation efforts;
- Reducing the time needed to process permits; and
- Consolidating efforts to make efficient use of limited agency resources in reviewing and compliance monitoring.
These things help provide more cost-effective compensatory mitigation opportunities and increased overall ecosystem services. The efficiency of the process allows Tellurium Partners to offer price-fixed mitigation credits.
Why else should you choose to purchase credits from a mitigation bank?
Securing mitigation credits from nearby ecosystems allows many large landowners, including the government, to maintain a property in its current management state, instead of breaking it up into suboptimal uses.
By choosing to purchase mitigation credits from a nearby mitigation bank, large landowners can continue to use the land for grazing, timber removal, low-impact recreation, or education, without depleting ecosystem services that are important to the public interest.
Finally, by purchasing credits from a mitigation bank, you know that you are investing in a successful restoration project instead of taking the risk of investing a lot of resources into a mitigation strategy that may or may not succeed. You don’t need to worry about regulatory policy or long-term management risks – these are the responsibility of the mitigation banker.