Wetland Mitigation Banking Program

Special Announcement:

Amazon Prairie Mitigation Bank is in Operation! 
Our first phase of construction at Eugene's newest wetland mitigation bank, Amazon Prairie has been completed!

Amazon Prairie is located west of the Eugene Airport and adjacent to Clear Lake, which was formed by a dam on Amazon C reek. This is the same Amazon Creek with headwaters originating in the Ridgeline Park System on the flanks of our iconic Spencer Butte. The creek begins in forested hillsides and flows through parks, our city, the West Eugene Wetlands, agricultural lands, Amazon Prairie, and then continues north to join the Long Tom River.

Over the next several years, including 175 acres in the second phase, we intend to restore a 320-acre matrix of wetland, upland prairie, and riparian habitat.

Coyote Prairie North Mitigation Bank

The Coyote Prairie North Wetland Mitigation Bank is still operational and will continue to provide limited credits for compensatory wetland mitigation for Palustrine Emergent / Slope-Flats wetland types until credits have been depleted.    
      
Service Area for Mitigation Banks
The service area for both banks outlines the area within which the Bank is permitted to sell credits to potential developers seeking compensatory mitigation for Palustrine Emergent wetlands. The Bank’s service area includes a large geographic region in the southern Willamette Valley up to the 600’ elevation contour in an area extending from just north of Cottage Grove to west of Salem and includes the communities of Eugene, Springfield, Goshen, Veneta, Junction City, Harrisburg, Monroe, Halsey, Coburg, Lowell, Creswell, west Lebanon, Brownsville, Corvallis, Albany, Millersburg, Falls City, and others. 
 
This printable map of our service area can be used for general reference, or potential customers can search and zoom in to determine if a project is within the service area using this interactive map.  
     
Credit Availability
Current credit inventory - updated December 20, 2022  

How to Purchase Mitigation Credits

Contact us using the the link at the top right of this page to send an email to inquire about pricing and confirm credit availability. Bank customers can reserve credits for purchase within sixty days of providing a completed Purchase Agreement

Information from your Joint Permit Application related to your project and associated wetland impacts is required for City staff to draft a Purchase Agreement.

Guidance on Replacement Ratios

The regulating agencies will work with you to determine replacement ratios for your project. However, if your project is within the boundary of the West Eugene Wetlands Planthe replacement ratios are described in section 4.17 of the plan. For more information on the default ratios and possible ratio reductions for projects within the West Eugene Wetland plan boundary, please refer to the Habitat Quality Assessment (HQA) documents below.

     HQA Guidance

     HQA Example

What are the Benefits of a Wetland Mitigation Bank? 
Mitigation Banks create, restore, or enhance wetland functions and are approved to sell credits to permittees as compensatory wetland mitigation as a requirement of their approved Joint Permit Application from the Department of State Lands (DSL) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Both mitigation bank projects are large-scale, ecosystem-oriented wetland restoration designed and implemented to provide sustainable ecological benefits in advance of unavoidable impacts to wetlands caused by human activity and provide a comprehensive, effective, and high-quality solution to compensatory wetland mitigation. Mitigation banking provides private developers, utility providers, and state and local agencies with the opportunity to pay a one-time fee to purchase credits from the bank, thereby satisfying all or a portion of the statutory mitigation requirements for a specified project. 

Goals

The City of Eugene's Mitigation Banking Program Bank functions to serve two major goals: 

• Provide mitigation credits for sale to private and public entities for development impacts located within the Bank’s service area. 
• Restore and enhance an interconnected system of local wetland habitats to a high ecological standard.

Benefits 
Both mitigation projects sponsored by the City of Eugene have significantly advanced the science of wetland restoration by implementing the latest restoration and enhancement techniques and carefully monitoring project performance. Our restoration staff has undertaken projects that set a very high standard by establishing rare species, achieving high species diversity, and putting long-term stewardship plans in place. This effort has resulted in some of the highest-quality wetland restoration projects in the Pacific Northwest. Our restoration techniques have created mitigation bank sites that have won numerous awards and are generally recognized as the “gold standard” of wetland restoration in Oregon. 

The City of Eugene’s wetland mitigation sites provide significant benefits to the community including: 

• Enhanced air and water quality treatment for non-point source pollution. 
• Flood control and water quality treatment through an interconnected system of wetland and riparian areas. 
• A diverse array of native plants and animals, and significant connected system of wildlife habitats. 
• Access to large and interconnected natural areas for all citizens to enjoy. 
• Educational and recreational opportunities in and along the wetlands and stream corridors.

Short URLs to this page:

www.eugene-or.gov/mitigationbank

www.eugene-or.gov/mitigationplan