American Wetlands, Inc. Donation of Conservation Easement.
As one travels throughout North Carolina, signs of road construction, expansion and repair are quite evident. While the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) makes every attempt to minimize the impact of this inevitable road work on the surrounding environment, impacts occur. In some cases the impacts result in the loss or degradation of wetlands. The Clean Water Act requires NCDOT to mitigate any wetland impacts so that there is no net loss of wetlands in terms of acres and ecological function. Prior to road construction, the Army Corps of Engineers determines how many mitigation credits the Department of Transportation must acquire to achieve the required no net loss. Most often, former wetlands will be acquired and restored to a functioning wetland. Depending on the size and the restored functionality of the wetland, the Army Corps of Engineers will assign a certain number of credits to the restored wetlands. In some instances NCDOT does this work themselves while in other instances they rely on private wetland mitigation companies. Ring Wetland is an example of a former wetland that was acquired and restored by a wetland mitigation company who then sold the mitigation credits to the NCDOT. To ensure that these restored wetlands are not destroyed in the future, the Army Corps of Engineers requires that a conservation easement be placed over them.
Located along the Fisher River in Surry
County, this parcel was formerly part of a dairy farm.
During its use for agricultural purposes, the wetland area encompassed by this
parcel was ditched and drained. Upon acquisition of the land by American
Wetlands, the wetland area was restored. This parcel represents the largest
area of hydric (wetland) soils in Surry County. American Wetlands sold the
mitigation credits earned for restoring this wetland to the NC DOT and PLC
accepted a conservation easement.
Project funding provided by the landowner and the NC Department of Transportation.