Wetland Bank

Columbia River Wetland Mitigation Bank

The first of its kind in Clark County, the 154-acre Columbia River Wetland Mitigation Bank is a partnership between the port and Clark County Mitigation Partners, LLC, the private-sector entity responsible for planting, monitoring and maintaining the bank. Located on the north side of Lower River Road on the port’s Parcel 6, the bank provides a highly effective way to preserve valuable habitat and ensure responsible development by improving wetlands in the Lower Columbia River watershed.

Typically, mitigation banks consolidate multiple smaller wetland mitigation projects into a larger, potentially more ecologically valuable site. Such consolidation encourages greater diversity of habitat and wetland functions. It also helps create more sustainable systems. Specifically, the port project enhances approximately 78 acres of wetlands, creates an additional 25.5 acres of wetlands and improves other natural areas, including songbird habitat.

Units of restored, created, enhanced or preserved wetlands resulting from wetland mitigation banking are expressed as “credits,” and can then be purchased by both public and private sectors to offset development impacts to wetlands within a pre-approved service area. The service area for the Columbia River Wetland Bank extends from the Cowlitz River to Bonneville Dam and extends inland up the Columbia River tributaries to where the tidal influence from the Columbia River ends.

Contact Habitat Bank NW for more detailed information on purchasing credits.