Wetlands Mitigation

Wetlands are a vital ecological link between the water and the land. The four basic types of wetlands are marshes, bogs, swamps, and fens. These areas are characterized by their heavy water saturation throughout the year and are primarily differentiated by the types of vegetation they support. Wetlands provide habitat to a myriad of aquatic and terrestrial plants and animals, including fish, frogs, migratory birds, and waterfowl, as well as serve many beneficial functions like flood storage and water quality protection.

The United States loses more than 50,000 wetlands per year, often as the result of commercial and residential development. Because they are such a unique and important part of our ecology, the destruction of wetlands may have serious consequences for our environment. The State of North Carolina has adopted Wetlands Banking and Mitigation as one method of conserving wetlands habitats.

Wetlands Mitigation occurs where a developer specifically preserves, enhances, or restores a wetland to compensate for adverse impacts to similarly situated nearby systems. Mitigation is most effective when large wetland tracts can be conserved together as one large ecosystem rather than as several piecemeal tracts. This practice if often referred to as Mitigation Banking. In effect, Wetlands Mitigation works to maintain an environmental balance by providing new wetlands areas when others have been damaged or destroyed. In many states, Mitigation is required by law for anyone seeking a permit to build on or develop existing wetlands.

Our attorneys have worked extensively with wetlands conservation and Mitigation issues and have an understanding of both environmental law and regulatory guidelines in this rapidly and ever-changing area of law.

For more information please call (919) 754-1600 or email us.