Mitigation Banking: Good for Native Turtle Conservation?

1. Mitigation Banking:Good for Native Turtle Conservation? Larry Devroy, Port of Portland, Mitigation Program Manager March 20, 2009

2. Mitigation Banking Overview • Mitigation Banks are usually habitat restoration, creation, enhancement or even preservation done on large scales in advance of anticipated smaller wetland impacts • As of 2005, 450 approved banks, 198 proposed, including well over 170,000 acres of land on national scene • In Oregon in 2009: 17 banks in operation, 7 in process. Mainly Willamette River Valley, a couple in Rogue and Umpqua River Valleys

3. Mitigation Banks in General • Can be wetland banks, conservation banks, or can merge with other credit trading systems – carbon, pollinators, temperature regulation • Citing of banks should be done to maximize ecological benefits while also supplying credits to those who need them • Important to recognize that banks are established where permitting of negative impacts to habitat will result in habitat loss • A banks is usually one site, but nothing precludes a single bank from including any number of sites

4. Banking and Native Turtles • Banks are usually a combination of wetland or upland habitats so all of the habitat requirements of turtles can be accommodated in their design • Banks can serve as a means to create corridors for habitat connectivity for turtles • Since Oregon mitigation banks so far are focused on wetlands and wildlife other than turtles, turtle habitat recommendations must come from advocacy by as concerned citizens, scientists, ODFW, etc. • Banks are not a panacea for turtle habitat improvements: they are simply another tool that can be used to help improve conditions for turtles and many other species of plants and animals