Welcome to the Upper Yellowstone Mitigation Bank
Beartooth Mitigation, LLC has partnered with the Lazy EL Ranch Corporation near Roscoe, Montana to sponsor the Upper Yellowstone Mitigation Bank, providing credit for both wetland and stream impacts within a broad service area in south central Montana. The sponsor will restore and enhance up to 80 acres of wetlands, and over 50,000 linear feet of streams including Morris Creek, Ingersoll Creek and West Rosebud Creek. The project lies in the Stillwater Basin of the Upper Yellowstone Major Watershed, and represents a significant contribution to the habitat resources of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in Carbon and Stillwater Counties. The Bank has been approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. EPA, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Montana Department of Environmental Quality and the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
Mitigation banking is the creation, restoration and/or protection of areas of wetlands and streams in advance of, and as an offset (mitigation) for, anticipated impacts to those resources within the same watershed. The mitigation banking option provides a means of advance planning that makes the permitting process more predictable and minimizes time and costs. In addition, all of the permittee's liabilities for mitigation are transferred to the Bank as part of the process.
Mitigation banking is different from other forms of mitigation in three key aspects. First, banked wetlands and streams are developed in advance of, or concurrently with, anticipated impacts in the area so that fully functional habitat areas are in place by the time impacts occur. Second, banks are typically large areas which provide credits for numerous contemplated impacts, as opposed to the typical impact-by-impact process associated with conventional wetland permitting. Finally, once the permittee and Bank Sponsor have come to agreement, all of the permittee's liabilities and obligations associated with producing the mitigation transfers to the Bank.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determines the Bank's "value" by quantifying the created or restored wetland and stream functions in terms of "credits". A "Mitigation Banking Instrument" establishes the Bank's goals, ownership, location, size, wetland and stream types included, trading area, crediting methods and accounting procedures, performance and success criteria, monitoring and reporting protocol, contingency plans, financial assurances, long-term responsibility, etc. Subsequent permit applicants proposing wetland and stream impacts must first meet all other normal permitting requirements imposed by state and federal agencies, such as avoidance and minimization of impacts, prior to proposing mitigation. Once the mitigation step is reached, however, purchase of Bank credits is a simple and efficient means of obtaining final approval for a permit. Permittees simply reach a financial agreement with the Bank, and then withdraw credits from the Bank based on anticipated impacts associated with their development activities.
Geographic Service Area
Who Should Use the Bank
• Developers
• Transportation agencies
• Industrial clients (mining, etc)
• Power and energy companies
• Private landowners
Projects Eligible to Use the Bank
• Subdivisions and commercial developments
• Highways, roads, bridges, airports, railways
• Mineral extraction, hauling/loading facilities
• Power plants, wind farms, transmission
• Stream stabilization, wetland fill projects
How the Bank Generates Credits
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determines the Bank’s “value” by quantifying the created or restored wetland and stream functions in terms of “credits”. A “Mitigation Banking Instrument” establishes the Bank’s goals, ownership, location, size, wetland and stream types included, trading area, crediting methods and accounting procedures, performance and success criteria, monitoring and reporting protocol, contingency plans, financial assurances, long-term responsibility, etc. Subsequent permit applicants proposing wetland and stream impacts must first meet all other normal permitting requirements imposed by state and federal agencies, such as avoidance and minimization of impacts, prior to proposing mitigation. Once the mitigation step is reached, however, purchase of Bank credits is a simple and efficient means of obtaining final approval for a permit. Permittees simply reach a financial agreement with the Bank, and then withdraw credits from the Bank based on anticipated impacts associated with their development activities.
Project Location
The Upper Yellowstone Mitigation Bank has been authorized by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, to serve as a stream and wetland mitigation bank within an expanded Upper Yellowstone Major Watershed Basin in south-central Montana. The purpose of the bank is to provide compensatory mitigation for projects which impact wetland and/or stream resources where the Corps of Engineers and/or the Montana DEQ have jurisdiction. As development activities affect the natural resource base in this major watershed basin, the proactive restoration of Morris Creek (Phase I), West Rosebud Creek (Phase II), and Ingersoll Creek (Phase III) and adjacent riparian and wetland habitats creates an opportunity for advanced mitigation of those impacts under Section 404 (Clean Water Act) regulatory program.