The Wetlands Solutions Mitigation Bank in George County was developed to provide mitigation for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permits for unavoidable impacts to wetlands.
The purchase of the George County site for habitat restoration, enhancement, and preservation of bottomland hardwoods and wetlands, prevented it from being broken up and sold into smaller parcels for residential development.
The bank’s restoration, enhancement, and preservation activities will generate wetland credits that can be sold to others to offset unavoidable wetland impacts within the geographic service area. A conservation easement secures perpetual preservation.
Historically, this site has been a bottomland hardwood system in the Pascagoula River floodplain. The bank’s objective is to restore and replicate the historic bottomland hardwood conditions. All credits are bottomland hardwood wetland credits and will be used to offset impacts on similar habitat in the area.
There are 149 acres of uplands in the bank, but there are no available credits for non-wetland acres. However, the ecology and function of the two habitat types are interdependent. This mixture of upland and wetland habitat on the site increases the overall biological diversity.
Success Stories
Read through the stories of 12 landowners and the success that the conservation easements had.
Nash Buckingham’s Beaver Dam was a duck club organized in 1882. It was the property of the Owen family. Nash Buckingham, a renowned and well-loved outdoor writer, frequented Beaver Dam. The conservation easement is approximately 159 acres in the historic Mississippi River Alluvial Floodplain in Tunica County. Tunica County is mostly agricultural, producing cotton, corn,
The Caulk Island property is in the southeast portion of Desha County, Arkansas, on the east side (Mississippi Side) of the Mississippi River and the unprotected (batture) side of the Mississippi River mainline levee system. Lake Whittington forms part of the boundary of the island. This lake, formerly Bolivar Bend, was cut off from the
Coles Creek Land and Timber Company is located approximately 10 miles north of Natchez, Mississippi. This 1,355-acre tract is in a strategic area of the Mississippi Flyway. About 500 acres were reforested to bottomland hardwoods in 2001. Coles Creek’s owners strive to provide diverse habitat types to ensure the needs of all animals, not just
The Dead Tiger Mitigation Bank was organized to compensate for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permits for unavoidable negative impacts to wetlands and streams. The bank is located within the buffer zone of the Stennis Space Center. The buffer zone restricts residential and commercial development, which will aid the bank’s long-term success. This mitigation bank
The late Grey Ferris of Vicksburg donated a 2,114-acre conservation easement with bottomland hardwoods and a small portion of pasture. The Mississippi Land Trust and Ferris negotiated the conservation easement terms together. This binding agreement prohibits any development not compatible with a relatively natural preserve. The property’s roads, walking paths, and a small shed can