July 2013 - Parks & Recreation - 42

M I T I G AT I O N B A N K I N G

Active restoration of 5,160 linear feet of
stream at Locust Shade Park by Angler
Environmental.

the continued deterioration taking
place. In some streams, there was as
much as a 15-foot vertical drop from
the top of the bank to the stream
bed. The stream banks were being
cut away and then big trees started
toppling - it was a mess. "
Around this time, the Prince William County Watershed Services department performed a comprehensive
survey of streams and found that a
number of them were significantly impaired. When a local environmental
design and construction firm, Angler
Environmental, made an unsolicited
proposal to permanently restore a significant portion of these streams at no
cost to the public, the proposal proved
to be exactly the right idea at just the
right moment. At that time, Andrew
says, there were no mitigation banks in
the county - any credits purchased by
developers were purchased elsewhere,
far away, and sometimes not even in
the same watershed.
Eventually, after considering the
proposal, the county issued a for-

Parks & Recreation

mal request for proposals. After a
review of qualifications of all the
proposals received, they eventually
chose Angler as the bank sponsor.
Negotiating the details of this firstof-its-kind contract was a challenge
for the county, but all actual and
potential obstacles, such as ensuring
long-term protection, determining a
payment schedule and many other
issues, were eventually specified in
a Public Private Partnership Agreement (PPEA) that was approved by
the agency and the county.
The first completed segment of
Prince William Environmental Bank
was dedicated by the county last summer with a large sense of satisfaction
and completion. " The condition of
these streams has been so much improved, and our residents truly appreciate it, " Andrew says. " And it
has proven to be a great opportunity
for environmental education. James
Long High School is directly adjacent to one of the bank sites, and it
has proven to be an excellent way to
involve students and citizens in understanding the long-term benefits of
stream restoration. "

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Lessons Learned, Challenges Faced
Even under the best of circumstances, bringing a stream mitigation bank
from concept stage to completion is a
long process, in some cases taking up
to three years. Nonetheless, agencies
participating in the pilot of Parks for
Mitigation are willingly taking the
long view, recognizing that the benefits will be worth the investment of
time. Among the agencies that have
expressed initial interest or have already begun work on proposals to
develop a stream mitigation bank are:
City of Fairfax Department of
Parks and Recreation, Virginia
Arlington County Department of
Parks and Recreation, Virginia
City of Alexandria Department of
Parks and Recreation, Virginia
Northern Virginia Regional Park
Authority, six local jurisdictions in
northern Virginia
Maryland-National Capital Park
and Planning Commission, Department of Parks and Recreation,
Prince George's County, Maryland
Howard County Department of
Parks and Recreation, Maryland
One of the reasons that mitigation
banks have rapidly become a preferred
alternative to payment of in-lieu fees
or onsite mitigation actions is that
banks are a very cost-effective method
of mitigation and they have a proven
track record of success. In contrast,
onsite alternatives may or may not be
successful over the long haul because
they can require continual monitoring
and management for years, something
a developer wants to avoid.
Another reason that public park
lands might be such an attractive option is that banks on public lands are
likely to be located very near impact
areas. Permittees, such as corporations or real estate developers, may
much prefer to be linked to restoration
of environmentally damaged streams
in parks near their development activ-

July 2013 - Parks & Recreation

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