Broadscapes: Our Role In The Mitigation Banking Industry

NMBA Conference: Bigger and Better in Texas
Westervelt Ecological Services participated in this year's NMBA conference not only as exhibitors, but also as speakers. WES Vice Presidents Greg Sutter and Craig Denisoff, along with Robert Brumbaugh of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, taught the opening day "Introduction to Mitigation Banking" class. Mr. Brumbaugh gave an outstanding presentation on the history of banking and how the basic tenants of the field have evolved. This is a section all bankers should see.

Denisoff gave the opening session presentation of the conference on "How to Survive the Recession." He used the WES case study - start-up in 2006 with 9 fully-approved banks in projects in 4 states less than 4 years later - and applied examples of challenges all bankers face, like decreased demand for product and ever-increasing competition from other bankers and mitigation options. Denisoff highlighted WES efforts to promote high quality, regionally significant banks, as well as the importance of developing good relationships with government agency staffs.

Finally, Hal Holland gave a very timely and well received presentation on how to establish long-term stewardship accounts and trust agreements to ensure the long-term protection of mitigation bank sites. This topic has increased in importance considering the Mitigation Rule requirement that long-term land management be a part of all mitigation projects.

As always the setting was dynamic and lively, and provided lots of chances to catch up with old friends while connecting with new faces.


Pensacola Bay Mitigation Bank Site Tour
The Northwest Florida Association of Environmental Professionals enjoyed a site tour of Pensacola Bay Mitigation Bank on Friday, May 21, 2010. A total of 28 participants representing both public agencies and private organizations - including the US Army Corps of Engineers, Northwest Florida Water Management District, and The Nature Conservancy - as well as private consultants and students from the University of West Florida, were a lively audience for Project Manager John McGuire's PBMB Project Overview, and WES Vice President Craig Denisoff's Organizational Overview.

The manifestation of restoration efforts was revealed during a walking site tour: Calamovilfa curtissii (Curtiss' Sandgrass), a state-threatened plant was discovered. The Gulf of Mexico oil spill poses far-reaching threats to habitat across the gulf coast. Through collaborative discussion, the importance of projects like PBMB was amplified.

An open house is planned for Pensacola Bay Mitigation Bank in early November, 2010. Information will be sent in future correspondence.


WES Becomes Member of GCPEP
Westervelt Ecological Services has become the first for-profit company to join the Gulf Coastal Plain Ecosystem Partnership (GCPEP), a conglomeration of state, federal and private interests who collectively manage over 1 million acres of land in the Florida panhandle. It is a true partnership of shared ideas, knowledge base, and (in some cases) resources aiding the recovery of rare plant and animal species by the preservation and restoration of large landscapes.

Examples include sharing native plant resources (genotypes requisite for restoration), repairing the plumbing on degraded streams and waterways, controlling noxious weeds, and carefully returning prescription fire to the landscape. Specifically, WES worked with Yellow Marsh State Park this spring to sequence prescribed burning adjacent properties instead of installing a fire break through rare ground cover.

Mainstays: Associate Spotlight

Lucy Triffleman
Lucy Triffleman is a Conservation Planner in the entitlement division of WES. Her primary responsibilities include coordinating with various State and Federal agencies to establish, permit, and manage properties proposed for new conservation and/or mitigation banks throughout California. Prior to joining WES, Ms. Triffleman worked as a section 7 biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Sacramento Field Office) and was involved in numerous consultations with cities, mining operations and large utility companies as well as private entities throughout the San Francisco Bay area. She also worked as a biologist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Bureau of Reclamations (BOR) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) at various locations throughout the southwestern United States.

Ms. Triffleman has overseen the review and implementation of several large recovery actions and mitigation and conservation banks throughout the San Francisco Bay region as a Fish and Wildlife Service biologist, and represented the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for a time at Bay-area Interagency Review Team (IRT) meetings.

A native of Colorado, Lucy received a Bachelor's of Science in Wildlife Biology and a Bachelor's of Arts in Spanish Cultures and Languages from Colorado State University. She also spent several semesters in Paraguay and Ecuador participating in humanitarian and environmental field study programs.

In her free time, Ms. Triffleman coordinates professional events as the President of the Sacramento-Shasta Chapter of The Wildlife Society. She enjoys hiking, kayaking, and camping.

Horizons: Project Updates

A hatchling gopher tortoise at Chickasawhay Conservation Bank.

• As we know, nothing says "healthy habitat" like the balanced reproductive success of its residents. That's why we are thrilled to see gopher tortoise hatchlings at Chickasawhay Conservation Bank in Mississippi this spring. The new residents situated last fall have begun "establishing roots" in this restored longleaf pine habitat.
• A great blue heron rookery was discovered at Big Sandy Mitigation Bank in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, this spring. The great blue herons' practice of dense living eventually destroys their rookeries by over-nitrating the ground beneath, but their presence in the wetlands ecosystem is significant on many other levels.
• Rose pogonia, or snake mouth orchid is uncommon, so much so that it's on the state threatened list in Florida. So we were very excited to discover it blooming at Pensacola Bay Mitigation Bank a few weeks ago.
• A little over one year following habitat construction, Giant Garter Snakes were documented at Sutter Basin Conservation Bank. The researcher performing the survey found the snakes on the first day of visual surveys, within the first hour of coming onto the site!
  
• Given the exceptional winter rains on the West Coast, the Burke Ranch Conservation Bank site had a ten-fold increase in documented California Tiger salamander larvae occurrences on the property. In addition, the vernal pool wildflower display was exceptionally beautiful this year.
• The Van Vleck Rank Mitigation Bank vernal pool restoration project exceeded the initially projected amount of habitat, again in large part due to the exceptional rains on the West Coast. The site was toured by representatives of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Institute of Water Resources in Washington D.C., who were impressed with the site design and conditions of the constructed vernal pools.
• Working in partnership with the Placer Land Trust, WES implemented a vernal pool restoration project on Dotty Ravine in Placer County. Less than two years later, all of the pools were holding water and all had documented listed vernal pool fairy shrimp. The Dotty Ravine site is managed by the Placer Land Trust, with WES performing the vernal pool monitoring.

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