Mitigation Banking for Endangered Species

Posted: 02-May-2003; Updated: 13-Dec-2005

Mitigation banking is a concept originally developed for wetland conservation programs, where it is now in wide use. The first wetland mitigation banks were developed nearly two decades ago, but only in 1995 did federal agencies formulate guidelines for this conservation tool. Since then, wetland banks have become more common. The mitigation banking concept is now also being used for the conservation of rare species. In May 2003, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued conservation banking guidelines to ensure consistent use of conservation banks and to enable landowners to use this conservation tool with a greater understanding of what is expected of them. Environmental Defense issued a summary and analysis of the guidelines.

Most conservation banks to date are in California, the only state to have issued a conservation banking policy, but a few other conservation banks are in operation. In 1998, International Paper Company established a red-cockaded woodpecker conservation bank in Georgia.  A gopher tortoise conservation bank has been underway in Mobile, Alabama since 2001.

A 1999 Environmental Defense report, Mitigation Banking as an Endangered Species Conservation Tool, explores in detail the use of mitigation banking for endangered species, examining how mitigation banks operate and recommending policies for the government to adopt to govern their use for conserving endangered species. The report also contains case studies of six proposed and operating endangered species mitigation banks and a model endangered species mitigation banking agreement.

Mitigation Banking report (225k pdf file)