Supporting Conservation Through Mitigation Banking
Mitigation banking plays a vital role in restoring wetlands, streams, and habitats while ensuring responsible land development. TBG works to connect landowners, investors, and conservation initiatives to create lasting environmental and economic benefits.
What Is A Mitigation Bank?
A mitigation bank is a large wetland and/or series of streams that are restored or enhanced to compensate for streams or wetlands impacted during land development elsewhere. The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) regulates and permits those negative impacts (“debits”), and requires land developers to purchase “credits” awarded to mitigation banks for their restoration efforts.
Mitigation banking puts the burden of permitting, restoring, and maintaining high functioning wetlands and streams on environmental professionals, while simplifying and improving regulatory oversight. Before the mid-2000s and the development of mitigation banking, land developers generally were limited to restoring or enhancing wetlands at or nearby a development site to mitigate for their impacts, but these projects often failed, were costly to maintain, or resulted in poor-quality ecosystems that did not replace impacts from development.
TBG Mitigation Services
TBG can do it all because we have seen it all. Our mitigation banking team has a combined 60-year record in wetland and stream mitigation projects. Our projects include over 160,000 linear feet of stream restored and multiple wetlands over 18 mitigation banks.
Site Selection
Expert site selection backed by market analysis and feasibility studies to ensure strategic land investment and conservation success.
Bank Design & Establishment
We integrate geomorphic, biological, and engineering expertise to design and implement effective restoration solutions.
Monitoring and Maintenance
Ongoing monitoring, environmental assessments, and site maintenance to ensure the long-term success and sustainability of each project.
Long-term Stewardship and Easement Holder
Long-term stewardship and easement holding services focus on the ongoing care and management of conserved properties, including property maintenance, endowment oversight, and upholding conservation easement agreements.
The Benefits of Mitigation Banking
Mitigation banks are inherently ecological wins because they involve environmental restoration at large scale. They emphasize large tracts of land with a higher likelihood to deliver ecological and human benefits, such as better water quality, pollutant filtering, flood control, and rare species preservation. But they also bridge the gap between conservation and economic development.
Investing In Mitigation Banking
To landowners and investors, mitigation banks offer lucrative financial incentives in a low-risk, land-based investment participating in a well-established nationwide industry.
Key aspects of mitigation banks include:
- Voluntary landowner participation
- Monetization of less productive property areas
- Price controlled by non-governmental, private property owners
- Successful 30-year nationwide industry
- Partner in the restoration of streams, wetlands, and forests.
Maximizing Returns with Strategic Mitigation Banking
Mitigation banks that we develop have a minimum return (IRR) from 25% to well over 100%. The three largest costs include land acquisition, bank establishment, and construction. These vary significantly from site to site, and state to state.
Revenues are generated from sales of released credits. The approved banking instrument, which governs your bank, includes a credit release schedule based on milestone achievement. Individual bankers determine credit prices relative to supply, demand, and competition. Land developers call banks to buy credits. Major purchasers include Departments of Transportation, municipalities, and commercial developers.
Mitigation Banking Services for Lasting Success
We partner with property owners and mitigation bankers to design, establish, and manage mitigation banks that deliver strong ecological and financial returns. Our expert team guides every phase of the project, from site selection and permitting to construction, monitoring, and long-term management, ensuring smooth execution and successful outcomes.