Last week we toured a 31 acre wetland mitigation project south of Charlottesville. Virginia has a no net loss policy for wetlands, meaning every acre of wetlands negatively impacted by a construction project must be mitigated through 1) the creation of new wetlands, or 2) the purchase of wetland credits.
This market based approach is not new, however it’s starting the market for credits is starting to see new life after demand dried up during the recession. For landowners willing to create or expand wetlands on their property mitigation projects can be an excellent source of revenue – and for wildlife enthusiasts it offers an opportunity to create a substantial amount of habitat that might otherwise be cost prohibitive.