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7 November/December 2024 | THE DAVEY BULLETIN Twenty-two employees from Davey Resource Group's (DRG) Davey Mitigation team as well as Environmental Consulting services (EC) teams, including Indiana, Ohio Engineering, and Wetland Studies and Solutions, Inc., collaborated with regulatory groups to transform a previous agricultural site to a wetland home for plants and animals. They created the 64-acre Candace Lee Fink Wetland Mitigation Bank in Henry County, Indiana. WHAT IS MITIGATION BANKING AND WHY ARE CREDITS NEEDED? Jennifer Van Houten, senior project manager, Davey Mitigation, explained that mitigation banking is when a parcel of land is identifi ed as one that can be restored back to its original wetland status. Mitigation credits, created by the mitigation banking process, are needed by developers as they are required to purchase credits to offset environmental impacts of their parcels within the same watershed. For this project, the mitigation bank credits offset developments in the Upper White River watershed. HOW WAS THE CANDACE LEE FINK WETLAND MITIGATION BANK CREATED? Davey Mitigation serves as the bank owner. The DRG teams worked together to help Davey Mitigation establish a formal agreement, known as the mitigation banking instrument (MBI), with the regulators, including the United States (U.S.) Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Indiana Department of Natural Resources' Division of Fish & Wildlife, INDIANA WETLAND RESTORED DRG's truck is parked at the mitigation bank as a base of operations. When a spray drone is needed, the truck is where the chemicals and a generator are stored. Mallary Pfl um, environmental scientist, Environmental Consulting services, Davey Resource Group, heads out to the fi eld to record data during a Candace Lee Fink Wetland Mitigation Bank monitoring visit. Below: This is an aerial view of the Candace Lee Fink Mitigation Bank. The bank is split in two parcels across the road from each other, totaling 64 acres. "From an ecological standpoint, what's great about the size of this bank is that it's so much more valuable in terms of an ecological setting, rather than having something that's half an acre," Jennifer Van Houten said. "It's a lot easier for regulatory agencies to oversee larger mitigation banks rather than having hundreds of tiny half acre sites scattered all over the watershed." Indiana Department of Environmental Management, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The MBI included the site's standards, monitoring requirements, and details of mitigation bank credit approval. The DRG teams completed the design, construction and planting of the bank in the spring, and documented their work for the as-built survey report. Seeds, shrubs, and 65,900 trees were planted at the site. In mid-July, the USACE visited the site and approved the as-built survey. The EC Indiana employees are currently conducting the fi rst year of monitoring and maintenance of the bank, which will continue for the next 10 years. Davey Mitigation received an initial credit release of 8.58 credits upon approval of the MBI and received an additional 8.58 credits with approval of the as-built survey. Most of the credits have already been purchased or are currently under contract for purchase. Additional credits will be released after successful completion of each monitoring year. Wildlife has returned to the property. "We are already getting the appropriate wildlife back including sandhill cranes, red-winged blackbirds, white-tailed deer, red-tailed hawks, turkey vultures, American toads, rabbits and coyotes," Van Houten said. VISION

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